Our Visit to TLC's The Cake Boss

Our son and his family live in Maryland, outside of Washington, DC. He and his wife have three beautiful girls. The girls have fallen in love with the TLC program called "Cake Boss" and just love the challenges and awesome cakes they bake. They knew all the family members by name and we decided to join them on their trek to Carlo's Bakery on Washington Street in Hoboken, NJ.

We arrived on Friday, November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving and it was windy and cold. The line to enter the bakery was down the block and not moving very fast. A few at a time were allowed to enter and it took us about forty minutes to be next to go in. As we arrived at the door anticipating our entrance, Chef Mauro, Buddy's brother-in-law came out and talked to us and posed for a picture. We told him we hailed from Jersey City; one of the neighboring towns of Hoboken. He told us he came from Jersey City too and mentioned a few things that we were all familiar with. We told him where we now lived and it was our turn to go in. We also were told that Buddy, the star of the show was here and would sign autographs and any clothing we purchased. My daughter-in-law was busy purchasing shirts for the girls as Buddy's sister Grace had the girls trying on hoodies to make sure they had the proper sizes. She has the patience of a saint and took pains to make sure they got everything they wanted. I purchased a T-shirt and a baseball cap for my husband. Grace signed the hat, but we did not have the shirt signed. After we paid for the clothing, we headed for the good stuff...the cakes and pastries. All the way down the line, the family members and employees signed my hubby's hat.

When we got to the back of the bakery; there he stood in his glory;Buddy Valastro, while people were snapping pictures with cameras, camcorders and cellphones. What a nice family. I know they do a lot of yelling when they work because they are perfectionists; but each and every member of the Valastro family and crew is kindhearted and gracious. Nobody acted like they were stars; just regular nice people welcoming us as their guests.

Now for the real good stuff: we bought Italian pastries and beautiful cupcakes. After dinner we had a wonderful time reminiscing about the great day we had and enjoying the delicious pastries and cupcakes. Would we go back again? Absolutely and the DVR is permanently set for "The Cake Boss."

You can check out their website and even purchase shirts, hats, aprons and chef hats online.