Welcome to the family!

My nephew and his new bride had already sent out invitations to their wedding and reception when they began to add up the deposits and see the projected total for the celebration. With the costs of everything seemingly escalating at every turn they began to rethink the whole day.

A new venue was procured, and then thinking all was better they were again faced with more and more expense. Finally they looked at each other and decided the best way to begin their marriage would be as close to debt free as possible.

A explanatory letter was sent out, apologies for inconveniences made, and a new revised plan set into place. The bridal party (who had already purchased clothing for the event) would be invited, along with parents and grandparents; all others were asked to understand their decision to forgo the pomp in favour of the minimum on a sea side cliff.

A few weeks went by, the honey moon in Mexico provided by generous relatives and then they returned. Aunts, being who we are by nature, decided that they still needed some kind of family celebration. So we called up the families on both sides, set a date and had a barbecue. Assignments were made for food and dink, and I offered to bring the cake and decorate the picnic tables. (White and sand colours, lots of sea shells and pretty candles!)

Of course Robyn came to the rescue and lent me not only her kitchen, but made me dinner, helped with the cake, and generally made herself irreplaceable. We made cake and while it baked we visited while we made little chocolate shells. The cake was a hit. The party, I think, was a bigger hit. Nothing more fun that welcoming a new member into the fold while eating terrific food and having a great time!

cake. cake. and more cake!

Oy! This month has been so unbelievably busy. Case in point: today.

Those would be my lovely digits covered in cake goo ala cake pops! Granted, our first try out was less than stellar, but the 70+ pops we made for a leadership meeting this week turned out cute enough!

After the pops were wrapped and readied to go, I headed home to bake a few cakes for the Trunk or Treat cake walk tonight. They are only a single layer, but I made a dozen of them! Yummy home made cakes with yummy add ins (like always!) and homemade buttercream frosting to make them look like mummies, Jack Skelington, and spider webs. Again, not as ornate as if I were charging for them, but tasty and fast and they'll make do for little monsters who will just be goblin' them down tomorrow anyway!

This is Halloween...CupCakes!

This is Halloween!
Originally uploaded by S'mee.

More Halloween goodies from the past. Nothing says fun like cool treats that aren't from the store. You can whip up a bunch of these for the kids you personally know and they will love gobblin' them up! This tutorial is a repeat from 2005, however they are pretty fun so here we go!

O.k. So this is the first run of cupcakes! I wasn't prepared for the decorations with special candies or frostings, but went ahead and came up with these little beauties with what we had on hand:

Dunked in Jelly Bellies, You're Bugging Me!, Spike, & Don't Forget to Floss.

Jack Skelington, Oogie Boogie, Sally, & Stock

High Anxiety, Buck, I only have eyes for you, & Miss Spider.

All cupcakes were chocolate with vanilla or chocolate frostings. I used Mega M&Ms, tiny M&Ms, Jelly Bellies, Life Savers, Sour Patch Strips, Green Apple Gum, Eclipse Gum, Jolly Rancher Rocks, and black Jimmies.

Frosting was applied via a zip lock bag snipped at one corner or with a butter knife. I also used a bamboo skewer to aid in the placement of many Jimmies! I am sure when I actually get out the cake gear and use the pro stuff they will come out even better. In the mean time, we're eatin' cupcakes for dessert tonight!

To view cupcake details more closely, click on the photo above. This will take you to my photo page at Flicker! Find the photo stream st the top right of the page and click the "next" photo, it should be titled: "I'm ready for my close up!" double click. It will come up full screen and with much better detail.

Best laid plans...

Well, tonight I was supposed to begin a once a month class on cake decorating. Tonight we were just going over tools and recipes and I panned a small demo to give the ladies attending some "secrets" that I've learned over the years.

Let me preface this by saying as I got in my car to go home at 9:00 in the evening, it was 90 degrees and there were thunderheads with lightning in the distance (read: Heat and Humidity).

Anyone who knows anything about cake decorating knows that heat plus humidity equals disaster; and disaster is what we had tonight! We got a late start, and then the frosting "broke" meaning the heat got to it and the sugars broke down making a nice thin mess. The cake refused to cool down at all, making the thin icing a lava flow of melting buttercream! I was racing to get the darn thing frosted just so we could cut it up and eat it before it slid to the floor!

The gals were really supportive, had a great laugh and promised to come back next month for more instruction. I tell ya, I am ordering some cooler weather for next month's class!

Oh, and the cake in the photo was made a couple of months ago! No such luck when your teaching!

What's your bid?

Two layers of dark devil's food chocolate, with pudding in the mix for extra moist goodness. An inch and a half of real whipped cream and crushed double stuffed mint Oreos. Real butter, butter cream frosting with Dutch cocoa and Hershey Syrup Swirls. Each piece topped with a whole double stuffed mint Oreo.

So, what's your bid?

Auction Update: After some haggling and a small fist fight it went for $29.00

o.k. no fist fight, but it made for a great "ward party" story, don't you think?