Just spotted those apricots in the Valley’s stores. Should go grab a bag.

I’m going to Vancouver on Wed. Any places I should not miss?

Hélène :)

Your cake is just lovely, Allen! Those rich colors and textures just pop right off of the screen. I can almost taste it. Perhaps I will soon. I just bought a bag of Red Velvet Apricots at the market too!

…You just took me back to 1984, where I seated my strawberry shortcake doll into her musical buggy and we went on magical adventures each day. :)

Do tell us more about the food blog convention! I wanted to go but was low on funds.

Lorraine: I didn’t like my photos of the cream so unfortunately, you don’t see them in the post. However, it tasted amazing — sweet and slightly spiced … forget about the cake, just eat spoonfuls of the cream!

Kate: Oh no, more food scented toys! I don’t blame you … I’d be sniffing them too, just don’t let your daughter catch you.

Jen: Wow, still fragrant after all these years? Well, they used the really good chemicals back then before all of these regulations :-)

Gera: Glad you liked it!

Peter: The apricot variety is new to me as well — I just loved how they looked and photographed. The taste is ‘ok’.

Foodlibrarian: Thank you!

Culinary Cory: I had thought about all of those characters, but I liked them too. Wow, those marketers are sneaky ;-)

Christina: Thank you!

Jen Yu: I agree about the hybrids, just not the same as the original.

Billy: I haven’t tried apple but bet it would turn out just as delicious.

Tartlette: Thank you!

Helen: I heard about the Strawberry Shortcake makeover … my goodness. I also discovered that some of the original dolls magically changed gender over the years … who knew.

Elle: I never used to be this way about food but I’ve become a bit more aggressive :-)

Did you ever read that Strawberry Shortcake got a “fruit-forward” makeover a few years back? She lost the bloomers, and now has a cellphone in place of her cat, Custard. Sigh.