Potpourri of Flowers 25th Anniversary Edition!

Eighteen years ago, in 1999, Chef Nicholas published the first edition of Potpourri of Flowers. That book contained fifteen beautiful, life-sized gumpaste flowers. This book was to be the first of a trilogy of textbooks Chef Nicholas authored on gumpaste flowers. In 2014, New Trends in Sugar Flowers was released, and just last year in 2016, Spring & Summer Flowers in Gumpaste was released as the final book of the trilogy. While all three of these books have been extremely popular as instructional guides for making botanically accurate sugar flowers, Potpourri of Flowers has always stood out among the three.

The first edition of Potpourri of Flowers was so wildly popular that Chef Nicholas released a second edition in 2012 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the International Sugar Art Collection. The second edition added five flowers to the original fifteen; twenty flowers to celebrate twenty years. This year, 2017, marks the 25th anniversary of ISAC. It only seemed fitting to rerelease Potpourri of Flowers in it's third edition, with a total of twenty-five flowers! If you don't own a copy of the first or second editions of this book, let me share all the amazing flowers that Chef Nicholas can bring into your cake decorating world!

The fifteen flowers in the first edition of Potpourri of Flowers were:

• Bearded Iris
• Calla Lily
• Cattleya Orchid
• Chrysanthemum
• Gardenia
• Gerbera Daisy
• Hibiscus
• Longiflorum Lily
• Magnolia
• Moth Orchid
• Poinsettia
• Rose
• Stargazer Lily
• Sunflower
• Tulip

The second edition added five flowers:

• Cymbidium Orchid
• Hydrangea
• Lisianthus
• Peony (classic)
• Sweet Pea

The third edition, honoring the 25th anniversary of ISAC, added five more, bringing the total to twenty-five flowers:

• Bird of Paradise
• Day Lily
• Vanilla Orchid
• Water Lily with dragonfly
• Wisteria

Two of the newest flowers hold special significance for Chef Nicholas and Scott. You may have noticed that each week this year I have included the 25th Anniversary logo at the end of each blog. In that logo are three flowers; wisteria, day lily, and rose. Chef Nicholas' mother, Rosalind, loved wisteria. Scott's mother, Zelna, loves day lilies. Chef Nicholas and Scott wanted to honor both of their mothers for their love and support, so they added the rose to symbolize their love. This book is special not only because it is in its third edition, and because it's our 25th Anniversary. It is special because of all of you, not just Rosalind and Zelna, who have helped and supported Chef Nicholas and Scott. Whether through family, friendship, taking classes with Nicholas, shopping in our store, enjoying Scott's cookies, or being a member of our ISAC family- you have all hand a hand in getting ISAC to our 25th Anniversary and allowing us to release the third edition of Potpourri of Flowers. 

Chef Nicholas was pleased to debut the newest edition of Potpourri of Flowers at this year's SoFlo Cake and Candy Expo in Miami, Florida. If you weren't lucky enough to be there to get a copy for yourself, they are now available on our website here. Don't forget, even if you order a book online, you can request Chef Nicholas to sign it! Oh, and don't forget that this isn't ISAC's only 25th Anniversary Publication! Scott's Lunch is Ready was recently featured on our blog; it's now in its second edition with the top 100 recipes from Scott's lunches, desserts, and cookies!

ISAC 25th Anniversary Fun Fact: In June 2011 Scott negotiates to take over the next additional space, suite F, beginning on November 1st. After the devastation of the September 11 terrorist attacks on USA soil, Scott wonders if he has make the correct decision to expand at this time.

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

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Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award.