Festive Cupcakes

Friday's promised cupcake post was preempted by sickness -- mine. Blech. Still feeling yucky, but good enough to share pics of these fun cupcakes I made for my Sunday School party. I love the icy blue tint of the frosting, sprinkled with chips of peppermint candy (to match the cupcake liners) See how I did that there? Matched the cupcake to the liner? Genius, right?

And, I couldn't resist experimenting with making tiny snowflakes for the top. (to match the snowflakes on the liners) Sensing a pattern? Jeff came into the kitchen and saw these lined up on the counter and asked where I got them. I told him I made them, to which he replied, "No, seriously, where did you get them?" Me: (facepalm)...replied, "I have a little talent, you know. Geez..."

And what's a snowflake without a little sparkle? I'm in love with sanding sugar.

Finished product - pretty and yummy

Cupcakes Even a Grinch Would Like

My friend, Elisa, just happened upon several pages worth of cupcake recipes last week. They included this Cookies 'n Cream recipe that looked interesting. They are so fattening, however, I couldn't bring myself to eat one.  I did have a couple Tablespoons of icing though, so it's not like I'm being good or anything.  When I took this first photo I didn't realize the stack of Christmas books were in the background. Guess the Grinch is still being "grinch-y" after all these years!

The whipped cream cheese icing was SO GOOD! And with 3 dozen Oreos scattered throughout only 24 cupcakes you can imagine the taste of those as well.

Neat factor: This is the bottom of the cupcake. Cute!

On the mess making factor? I think I'd have to give them a 10. I'm still finding little black crumbs on my countertops a day later.

Christmas cupcakes coming Friday!

School - Day #48

Someone sweetly reminded me yesterday that I had not been taking photos of the girls on schooldays. And I'm so relieved she did because MY SCRAPBOOK PAGE! (Thank you, Sylvia.)

As you can see, the weather is a bit cooler here, but Abigail has the same pained look of tolerance on her face that she usually does. But, it's Casual Friday so everybody is usually in a happier mood because they can wear jeans and Grace Prep shirts and not have to bother with uniforms.

Making Twinkies

In recent days the cries of "No more Twinkies ever!" have been resounding around the U.S. I'll be honest...I haven't even tasted a Twinkie since I was in elementary school and I don't remember liking them that much then. All I remember is a very dry no-taste cake with a sticky center. So, when I posted on Facebook a few days ago about saving the world with my homemade Twinkie and Ding Dong Cupcakes, I thought "hey, why not look for a recipe?" And here we are.

I will say that I am going to have a hard time making these again. They are extremely time consuming when compared to the cupcakes I normally make and, like their namesakes, I don't think you get that much taste for your buck. They are better tasting than "real" Twinkies to be sure, but I'm just not sure they are worth that much effort. (Maybe the Ding Dongs will be better? They are chocolate after all.)

Right out of the oven. They look very Twinkie-ish in color.

Centers were carved out (by hand) by my extremely capable assistant, Abigail

Marshmallow Creme filling was piped in,

cores were returned to place,

And Marshmallow Creme frosting was added. Yes, I know Twinkies don't have icing on the outside, but these are cupcakes after all.

And...tahdah! 

Early taste testers revealed their surprise at how much they tasted like actual Twinkies, but better. For now they've gone into the freezer to wait for serving on Thanksgiving Day.  Stay tuned for "Making Hostess Ding Dongs Better," coming soon to a blog near you. This one.

Photo of the Day

There's nothing special about this cupcake. I just thought after yesterday's post this might be a little happier. And, I love the bluish-purplish colors. Lovely...

Dead Flies in the Fridge and Other Things That Irritate Me

I opened my fridge this morning and there, upside down, motionless was a fly. Gross. It irritated me that he had flown in there in the first place and then apparently stayed long enough to "freeze" to death. This led to pulling out the shelf, which led to awareness that caramel sauce from some unknown container had run down the entire back of the fridge. Oh joy...

Here's a few things that are irritating me today: (Aren't you glad you stopped by the blog?)

people who have the opportunity to be prepared and don't take it

people who are skinny and don't have to watch what they eat

laundry

dishes

dry cupcakes

dry eyes

our government being trillions of dollars in debt

the liberal media

the fact that I hate exercise in any form but desperately need to be doing it

junk mail

dark circles under my eyes


Happy Day, Everyone! I'm going to go find my eye cream, put my Restasis drops in, start a load in the washer and find a rice cake to eat for lunch.

And In Other News...

Texas A&M beat Alabama 

tonight in Tuscaloosa!!!

29-24

FROM ESPN: INSTANT ANALYSIS

What it means: The Crimson Tide's (9-1, 6-1 SEC) BCS Championship Game hopes took a huge hit with this loss. Three teams -- Oregon, Kansas State and Notre Dame -- could remain undefeated after their games on Saturday night and jump Alabama in the BCS standings. And on the flip side: Welcome to the SEC, Texas A&M. Many wondered whether the Aggies could compete in the SEC when they made the move to the country's premier football league. Not only have the Aggies (8-2, 5-2) shown they can compete, they've shown they can beat the best teams the league has to offer. Kevin Sumlin has this team peaking, and it could jump into the top 10 with this win. It's definitely a new era in College Station, Texas. 

Dear Santa,

How about tickets to a bowl game this year?

Signed,

Excited Aggie in Ft. Worth

Apple Cider Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

A most tasty treat are these cupcakes. I'm actually horrified by the amount of butter that went in to making them, which is why I only ate one. The rest will be doled out tomorrow at church.

View from the top

I wish my mother was here to have one with a cup of hot tea. I was going to make them while she was here and we spent too much time shopping. So, Mother, I'll owe you one at Christmas.

Fall Festival: Read at Your Own Risk

We spent our usual Halloween at church working Fall Festival. These first two photos are of the Worship Center where a giant pumpkin welcomed kids and talked to them about God's love. I loved the special effects.

This cute little nurse helped hand out candy during "trunk or treat."

Here's the disturbing part of this post. I hope you understand that me as a halfway dressed Green Lantern is not the scary part. Yes, that is Jeff dressed as one of his Jr. High football coaches. He had everyone in stitches the entire night.

Here he is with our referee friend, Jeremy. Don't they make a cute couple?

Sorry for the disturbing images, but I just had to share! : )

Shopping Lessons I Never Learned

I'm the first to admit that I don't enjoy shopping like I used to. (Jeff probably would say this is false.) He lies.  I guess it's most accurate to say I enjoy an occasional shopping day, like when Katherine is in town. Yay for Katherine in town! We spent a few hours at Kohl's yesterday, digging through the clearance racks. At the end of our time Katherine came home with a bag of cuteness and I had one sweater to wear with my uniform black pants on Sundays. Yippee...

I told Katherine in the car, "When will I ever learn these basic rules of shopping?"

Lesson #1: The amount of items you find is in direct opposition to the amount on your coupon. Let me explain.  You have a coupon for 10% off your entire order (which is practically nothing), you will find an overflowing basket of things you must have.  You have a coupon for 30% off, you find practically nothing, except one sweater to wear with your uniform black pants on Sunday. Heavy sigh...

Lesson #2:  Never, and I mean NEVER, hold up a pair of pants and say, "These things look huge!" for they will most assuredly fit you perfectly. Every. single. time.

Lesson #3:  Don't allow yourself to shop with an adorable, petite, small-boned college student. She will look fantastic in everything while you spend your time going back and forth from the dressing room getting her smaller sizes.

Don't shop the hard way. Learn from my mistakes. And, if you see me on Sunday, yes I will be wearing my new sweater - originally $54.00, on sale at 50% off and with my 30% off coupon, final cost of $18.90. Kinda takes the sting off finding only one item. And, yes, I'll be wearing my "old" black pants.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Clearly my brain is on hiatus. I usually try to think of a clever title for my blog posts, some type of play on words or whatnot...today I've got nothin'. Nada. Zip. Zero. Let's just blame it on allergies, shall we? I blame everything on allergies. Can't sleep? Allergies. Bad grade on your test? Allergies. Forgot to pay the house note? Duh, allergies! Anyhoo...

These chocolate chip cupcakes came about as Jeff was searching the kitchen for chocolate the other night. I realized I had never used chocolate chips in a batter. So, after a spirited debate on Facebook about the importance of white vs. dark chocolate and nuts vs. no nuts, these were the winning recipe - Dark Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream.

 I had extra batter so I ventured into the world of mini cupcakes. Aren't they cute? They use only 1 Tablespoon of batter per cupcake.

a little patriotic action going on...

Here are the babies...Jeff said this size is just enough to make you mad. I say they're perfect!

Changed up the design on this one. I'm working on a fancy topper for an anniversary party in December. What do you think? I can't decide. Is it fancy or are you thinking of a wadded up piece of string?

Check back soon for another post in which I will try to have a clever title, a different topic than cupcakes and will charm you with my rapier wit. Rapier wit? Name that movie. No, really...name that movie line. I didn't make that up. I had to have heard that in a movie, but I have no idea which one.

It's Fall and That Means Pumpkin

I'm not a big fan of the color orange. Pretty much the only orange things I can tolerate are pumpkins and, well, oranges. When I saw these orange cupcake liners yesterday at Marshall's I knew they would be perfect for the next cupcake I wanted to try. Let me just say these are a little bit of fall and a lot of delicious.

Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes with Pumpkin Whipped Cream

If you've never had pumpkin whipped cream I feel like there is something missing from your life. Trust me on this. Pumpkin and chocolate, who knew?

Art Imitating Life

I cannot even describe how this painting makes me feel. Proud. Amazed. Giddy. Speechless. Well, I'm never speechless, I guess. I just look at this work of art and think, "My kid painted this!" I can't claim to have had any part in this talent, with the exception of giving birth to her. (Of course, now that I think about it, that's a pretty big part in the process.) 

I was able to meet her painting professor this week when her class came to the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth. I told him how impressed I was with how he had helped to develop her talent and that we felt like we were "getting our money's worth at SFA." His response? "She's coming along...," delivered with a big smile.

I'll say she's "coming along." And, I can't wait to see where she takes us next.

Proud mom.

Just Call Me Crabby

Before you think it, yes, I know the last several posts have been about food. What can I say? It's what defines me.  I love to try new recipes, especially when I can claim they are somewhat healthy. Crab meat was on sale this week and, on impulse, I threw a package in my cart. Cooks.com helped me to find a simple recipe for crab salad.

As I'm putting the salad together, here are the comments...

Person A: What IS that?
Me: Crab
Person A: Why is it so...so pink?
Me: Because it's not blue crab. (heh, heh)
Person B: (walking into kitchen after my conversation with person A) What IS that?
Me: Crab
Person B: Why are you ruining it with cucumber?
Me: I love cucumber.
Person B: Cucumber is blech.
Me: It also has cucumber dressing in it.
Person B: Double blech!
Me: More for me then.
Person A: (reading the crab packaging) This is FAKE CRAB! It says imitation on the package.
Me: I know. So what? What does it matter? You're not going to have any of it.
Person A: I'm going to have real food. I'm making myself some Ramen Noodles.
Me: Yeah...cause those aren't fake at all...

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Cupcakes

These cupcakes were made just because I liked how they looked in the magazine. Food stylist might be a job that's underrated. Beautiful food photography gets me every single time! While my cupcakes were as beautiful as the magazine's, the amount of time I spent making them from scratch, along with freshly squeezing juice for the frosting, and sugar glazing the lemon for the top...well, let's just say my time might have been better spent on a nap. Don't get me wrong, the taste is good, but I actually feel like the Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme box mix could compete. Still, the little sugary fresh lemon slice on the top makes me feel happy, as well as those beautiful lemony yellow lemons. Say lemons over and over. It starts to feel weird. I'm so strange...

These Cupcakes are a Dream

A couple of my college kids are home for the weekend and one of them said he had gone over two weeks without one of my cupcakes and he didn't know if he was going to last much longer. So, what's a substitute mother to do except make him some? These were fun to make and actually taste just like a dreamsicle, complete with tiny bit of ice cream (white icing) coming out at the base of the popsicle stick. 

On a completely related, but not, note I am part of a team this morning that will be icing 528 cupcakes for our pastor's 25th anniversary reception tomorrow night. I have no idea how that is going to play out. I'm just hoping I don't need carpal tunnel surgery next week! Pictures will follow!

School - Day #17

This Day #17 School Picture is brought to you by Abigail's 15th birthday and See You at The Pole, which explains Abigail holding a cupcake, in the dark and Rebecca impatiently in the driver's seat because "get in the car, we're going to be late to pray at school!"

Homecoming 2012

Rebecca had a great senior homecoming week at school. Of course, I documented it in pictures. After all, what's a senior year without your mother running around behind you snapping those "lasts!" 

NERD DAY

TWIN DAY

NEON DAY

FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

ABIGAIL AND FRIENDS

SENIOR RECOGNITION AT HALFTIME

CUTIE IN THE PURPLE DRESS

CHEERING FOR THE LIONS

HANGING OUT WITH THE GUYS

A WIN FOR THE LIONS AFTER TRIPLE OVERTIME!