The White Falcon - 19.11.1971, Blaðsíða 7

Marine wife finds wrist twisting a success
Story & Photos by JOC Mike McC;
Some people snap their fingers
hoping for results they never
quite achieve. But, have you
tried twisting the wrist?
Chieko "Charlie" Cooney, a de-
pendent wife on the naval sta-
tion, follows this latter formula
and finds the results not only
successful, but self-satisfying
and pleasurable to others.
She bakes and decorates cakes
for nearly every imaginable and
celebrated occasion.
According to "Charlie" anyone
with a few lessons, patience and
the basic decorating utensils,
can turn out a beautifully decor-
ated cake.
Chieko, who arrived in Iceland
last December, was a newcomer to
the art of cake decorating until
March when she took a ten-lesson
course. Now, she bakes and de-
corates at least four to six
cakes weekly.
One of her most recent and ma-
jor successes was a three-tier
wedding cake that took some 18
hours to complete. The baking
ook about seven hours while an-
ther hour was devoted to icing
he cake and six hours to make
12 dozen roses of various sizes.
It then took three hours to apply
the finished decorations and give
the cake design.
For the non-working female
member of a household, cake de-
corating can provide the outlet
from what some wives term boring
Chieko applies the finishing tou-
hes to an owl design on a cake
lomeone will be getting for their
irthday.
Chieko shows student Mary Dison the correct twist of the wrist tech-
nique used when making an ornate flower.
life. "Charlie" says, "Cake bak-
ing and decorating for various
occasions stimulates thinking and
originality." Often times she
receives an order for a special
occasion cake and must originate
a design depicting the event.
This in itself is a separate
challenge and Chieko generally
ties the design in with the per-
sons, job or personality.
"At first I was afraid to at-
tempt the many delicate and ar-
tistic designs because it re-
quired a steady hand", says the
petite Japanese wife. After much
practice however, she now finds
the task to be easy.
Asked how she feels about see-
ing her finished work being cut
up and devoured, Chieko comment-
ed that people at first don't
want to cut the cake but just
stand back and do a lot of "ooing
and ahing."
She prefers not to be around
when "her" cakes are cut and
people begin feasting. "I like
to remember the cake as a piece
of art."
It may sound like cake baking
and decorating takes up a good
portion of her time. It does.
But she still fills out the day
by bowling in three different
leagues and is an active member
of the Fleet Reserve Women's Aux-
iliary .
Until "Charlie" and her Marine
husband rotate in August, she
will continue her twisting of the
wrist and production of almost
immediate and desired success in
cake baking and decorating. In
the meantime too, she adds to the
talents of other wives through
classes she conducts periodical-
ly-
A twist of the wrist and a
rose appears...in Iceland, that
may sound like magic. But, not
if you decorate cakes like Chieko
"Charlie" Cooney.
Teacher offers student a guiding
hand.
WHITE FALCON
7