Pause for hot chocolate and licking the cake bowl

It must simply be a part of my kink, but I love hyper-organizing massive cooking projects. Last night I did a rather sketchy time-line organization of all the party prep (nothing nearly as tightly scheduled as, for example, an SCA feast or big family dinner). At this point I'm more or less right on schedule. And with the cake in the oven and the dishwasher running (which ties up the sink) I have a more or less enforced kitchen break. Just for amusement, here's the party menu: ( for those who care )

The weather forecasts haven't quite decided whether it'll be cloudy for the party tomorrow. Well, it would be nice to have a garden party, but it would be equally nice if people stay indoors. Not much that can be done about it.

On geekery and psychological quirks

Geekery: Having performed the requisite QC testing under controlled conditions, I have determined that the candles selected for my cake have a burn time in still air of slightly in excess of 12 minutes. Quirk: It seems perfectly normal and natural to be arranging and catering for my own B-day party. It seems slightly less natural to be baking my own cake. And it feels downright wrong to contemplate lighting my own candles for the presentation of the cake. I'm sure I can tap someone else for the task, but it's a curious manifestation of some set of internal symbolism that I haven't quite figured out yet. P.S., the whole-wheat pastry flour for the cake is so not a problem in the finished product. Mmmmm crumbs. (Actually, I have an entire extra layer because the 1.5x recipe that should have been necessary to fill the four graduated layer pans turns out to have been ... surprise ... 1.5x what I needed. Tragedy. Extra cake.)