A White Christmas

This year's Christmas was wonderful, but it flew by way too fast. I'm used to getting two full weeks off for Christmas, but this year I worked up until two days before. I guess I got a taste of reality like those working in non-education related fields. To top it off, there were no snow days before Christmas this year. I always depend on a snow day or two to finish my Christmas baking, gift wrapping, and decorating. So, this month's cupcakes came after the 25th, but before New Year's Eve. They commemorate our beautiful white Christmas here in Missouri. Although my fiance and I had a long drive on Christmas day, we were happy to be together, got to see both families, and we had an amazing view of the snow stretching across the state.

This will be the last post of 2010, and I'm proud to say that I managed to contribute at least one post a month to my blog. More importantly, I've stuck with my new hobby (cupcake making) for a full year! This past year couldn't have gone better, and I have so much to look forward to in 2011 (A WEDDING!!!). But, as far as cupcakes go, I have some new ideas and motivation to try the latest craze in cupcakes-cake pops! My sister gave me this book, and I can't wait to get started on this new project in 2011...

Thanksgiving Cupcake Feast

It's almost Thanksgiving, and I carved out some time this week to create a sweet version of the staple dish at every Thanksgiving dinner. Many variations on traditional turkeys have become popular over the years. Some families indulge in deep fried turkey and others go completely overboard by combining three meats to create turducken. I, on the other hand, prefer to have turkey for dessert. These cupcakes are made with caramels rolled out and cut to be molded around a mountain of icing. They are stuffed with crunchy granola and sugary sprinkles to represent parsley. The drumsticks are caramels shaped around wheat sticks and tipped with icing. The turkeys rest in a lettuce bed created from corn flakes coated in green icing. Making these cupcakes reminds me how thankful I am that I have such a wonderful fiance (one who will unwrap 72 caramels and shape some of them around wheat sticks to make 24 drumsticks). I have so much to be thankful for: a great place to live, a supportive family, dependable friends, a rewarding job, and great hobbies (like cupcakes!).

Cupcake Cones

Do you remember these delicious treats from your childhood? Our treat theme for work tomorrow is "flashback favorites," and these cupcake cones are a flashback to my elementary school days. I remember going to birthday parties and being amazed that cupcakes could be baked inside ice-cream cones. It turns out, all those kids' moms didn't have special baking skills; it's a simple treat to make. Just mix cake batter as usual and fill each cone about 1/2 full. Then, stand the cones up in cupcake tins and bake. I chose Funfetti cake mix with Funfetti icing since rainbow sprinkles are quite a novelty for kids. These treats are a delicious blast from the past!

Tailgating Treats

It's fall, and along with fall comes wonderful weather, colorful leaves, and football! At work we welcomed the fall season with a treat day. The theme was "Tailgating Treats," and I had to rack my brain for cupcake ideas. Some people take tailgating very seriously and set out quite a spread. The food possibilities for this theme were endless. In the end, I decided hamburgers were a must for tailgating. These little sliders were created by slicing a cupcake in half horizontally. Round cookie cutters were used to slice gooey brownies into meat patties. I used colored icing to create condiments, and the lettuce was a mix of coconut and green food coloring. The finishing touch was the sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Now if only I had fries to go with these burgers...

Chocolate Raspberry Deliciousness

It was a wonderful September weekend filled with good company, pleasant weather, and delicious food. I had a great reason to make cupcakes, because I got to see my parents and my future in-laws on Saturday. We met in Boonville to eat a nice dinner and celebrate the recent engagement. I brought my in-laws a batch of cupcakes, and I saved some back for my parents to eat for dessert when we returned to Columbia. I decided to try the same "from scratch" devil's food cupcakes I'd made earlier this summer. Then, I filled them with seedless raspberry jam. I topped them with real whipped cream, and I added a hint of raspberry jam to give the cream a subtle fruity flavor. They were a perfect combination of rich chocolate and sweet raspberry. A taste comparison occurred late on Sunday after my mother and I returned from a wedding show with several cake samples from local bakeries. The verdict: My chocolate raspberry cupcakes were better than all of the samples we tried. Of course, that came from my mother, father, and fiance who know the right thing to say if they want more cupcakes anytime soon. In fact, my finance and I discussed how we might have to make chocolate raspberry one of the choices for cake at our wedding. I'm assuming you know when I say "cake" at the wedding, I mean cupcakes. But, we'll have to find a superb bakery, because I, the bride, will not be baking on the day before our wedding.

An Apple for the Teacher

It's the start of a new school year for me and for my 27 new students. Tomorrow is the first day of the 2010-2011 school year, and I'm starting my 7th year with the largest class I've ever had. It wouldn't be the start of the year without excitement mixed with nerves. I can't help but wonder what challenges are ahead of me, and I'm excited to meet those challenges with energy and knowledge. It's always a little bit sad when I delete the names of last year's kids from my computerized class list to replace them with this year's list. But the chance for a fresh start and the hope of bonding with a new group makes it worth the new start each August. I made these "back to school" cupcakes for our teacher meetings at the beginning of the week. I promised a co-worker some cupcakes for doing a favor for me, and she was nice enough to share these "apples" with other teachers. The cupcakes are neatly displayed on my new cupcake stand from my future mother-in-law. What a nice way to show off my creations. Hopefully I can make some time to keep up the cupcake hobby throughout this school year!

S'more Cupcakes Please!

Over the past two weeks my fiancé and I traveled throughout the northwestern United States and through Canada by motorcycle. We began the journey in Missouri and drove north until we reached North Dakota. After two days of driving west across North Dakota and Montana, we arrived at Glacier National Park where crystal clear waters reflected towering mountains. It was beautiful! After traveling across the Canadian border, we spent our first night camping instead of continuing our formerly established pattern of crashing in small town motels. I have to admit, I was less than excited about camping. The last time I went camping was in early college, and it was only for one night. I knew this could be multiple nights, and we were limited on supplies we could bring due to the lack of motorcycle trunk space. (Well, we might have had a trailer, but I still had to bring fewer pairs of shoes than desired). Much to my surprise, I had a fantastic time camping. My fiancé and I enjoyed the challenges of putting up a tent together for the first time, and I especially enjoyed making S'mores over the campfire. I managed to survive camping for three nights in a row. These cupcakes are in honor of my new found joy for camping. I was able to find campfire cupcake “aprons” to put around the liners. Another great part of these treats is they are filled with marshmallow creme with the help of an amazing contraption that allows you to fill cupcakes with just about anything. Yes, below you will see pictures of a recent gift from my future mother-in-law. It’s easy to use and makes filling cupcakes a simple process. I received another great cupcake gift, and I have plans to use it in my next post. Thanks, mom-in-law! I am obviously joining the right family!

Dreamsicle Cupcakes

Wow, it's been hot lately. When you step out the door and feel the humidity hit you like a brick wall, you know it's July in Missouri. On a run yesterday morning at 6:45, even my hands were sweating-that's gross. So, in an attempt to cool down and give everyone a refreshing treat, I made dreamsicle cupcakes. The idea came from a cake recipe my coworker shared. It reminded me of the delicious treats that mom sometimes stocked in our freezer on the hot summer days of my childhood. The cupcakes are made from orange cake mix. Then, a combination of orange Jello and Orange Crush soda is poured over the cupcakes to soak in and give a sweet, intense, orange flavor throughout. They are topped with a dollop of real whipped cream and garnished with a sugary orange slice.

Death by Chocolate

Tonight is the eve of the last day of summer school; a day for celebrating! I'll have a full month off to to rejuvenate, travel, and to shorten my list of things to do. Our theme for teacher treats tomorrow is "chocolate," and we'll need plenty of it to survive the last day. I decided to take it to the extreme by making devil's food cupcakes with a chocolate ganache glaze topped with chocolate shavings. I'm taking my cupcake making to a new level by making "from scratch" cupcakes and glaze. Yep, no boxed mix for me this time. I received two cupcake baking books for Christmas-one from my sister and one from my fiance. My sister gave me a bonus gift with the book by mixing up the dry ingredients for a few of the cupcakes. She sealed the mixes in Ziploc bags and labeled each bag with the page number for the recipe. What a great gift idea! This made the baking and the clean up much quicker. I got the recipes for the batter and glaze from these two books, and after a taste test, rave reviews were given. (Not just by me-from a friend who was over and the future huz too). In fact, the cupcakes had a brownie-like taste to them. They reminded me of one of my favorite Columbia desserts at Flat Branch, the "stout brownie." With the success of these cupcakes, I have certainly outdone Duncan Hines.

Fire and Ice

I'm teaching the second half of summer school this summer (12 days), and although I'd rather be out at the pool, it's been mostly painless. It's a long day to be inside with people who'd rather be on vacation, so we do a lot to keep the kids and teachers happy. For the kids we have drawings for prizes and frozen popsicles, and for the adults we have weekly scheduled happy hours and themed snack days. Today's snack theme was "Fire and Ice." My coworker and I split the work, so she created the "ice" cupcakes and I created the "fire" cupcakes. The ice cupcakes were topped off with white chocolate shimmery snowflakes and the fire cupcakes were flames of red, yellow, and orange icing/sprinkles. We displayed them side by side near the teachers lounge. They were a great treat, but they especially made me wish I was in Hawaii (viewing volcanoes flows), in Alaska (hiking through the mountains), or, well, anywhere else.

Happy Birthday America (and Grandpa)!

It was an exciting weekend with the celebration of the 4th of July, Grandpa Green's 94th birthday, and our engagement. It couldn't have been more perfect, since we got to visit both families. First to St. Louis to see my family for fried zucchini and wiffle ball, then to Slater to see his family for barbecue and fireworks. I made two pans of "kupcake kabobs" as my contribution to the delicious food we ate. The red cupcakes are made with red velvet cake, and the blue cupcakes are tinted with food coloring. The fruit was a nice touch-you know, keeps them somewhat healthy. It turns, out all ages enjoyed them. I watched as my 2 year old nephew, 11 year old niece, and 83 year old grandma all scrambled to get their hands on one. It was a memorable day!

Engagement Surprise

Wednesday, June 30 was an exciting and surprising evening. My boyfriend and I came home from the gym, and we cooked dinner together. As we finished eating he began to tell me what a wonderful part of his life I am, and the next thing I knew he was down on his knee next to me. Of course, I said "yes," and he slipped a diamond ring on my finger. It took me a few minutes to stop jumping up and down, and he played some guitar for me before we made phone calls to announce the news. I was eager to show off my new piece of jewelry, and we wanted to share the news with some friends in town. I didn't have the time or the focus to make engagement cupcakes, but I was able to come up with a plan. I made cupcakes for the 4th of July, and I was saving them back. So, I grabbed a few of them and headed to the store. I didn't have time to ice them, but I did manage to find some Ring Pop candy to put on top. When we got to our friend's house it was almost 11:00pm. But, they weren't all that surprised to see me outside the door with a container of cupcakes. I opened the container and looked at a confused face. While I hid my ring finger under the container, I asked my friend what type of candy she saw on top. She screamed, grabbed my hand, and congratulated us both. These might not be my most detailed or creative cupcakes, but they have to be the most special, by far.

Cosmo Cuptails

The girls are back! "Sex and the City 2" was released last week, and I created these chic cupcakes for the midnight showing of the movie. It was a big week for me, considering I don't watch many shows. It was the same week that "Lost" aired the series finale. I guess I could have made island themed cupcakes, but since I had already made beach cupcakes at New Year's, I decided to go with the "Sex and the City" theme. These sweet treats are the cupcake version of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte's favorite cocktail-the Cosmo. Although the movie got terrible reviews, most "Sex and the City" fans will thoroughly enjoy it. It was like a nice visit with old friends, and there are plenty of laughs to be had.

Head of the Class

Last weekend was a double cupcake weekend. My boyfriend's niece graduated from high school, and I couldn't resist a chance to make some cupcakes out of my latest book, "What's New Cupcake." It was fun to be creative with with the hair of these graduates, and I used Fruit Loops, chocolate sprinkles/icing, and Juicy Fruit to create brunettes, redheads, and blonds. Reese's mini peanut butter cups topped with square trimmed cookies created the mortarboard caps. A mini M&M secured the icing tassel. Good luck, graduates!

Happy 2nd birthday!

My nephew's 2nd birthday was last week, and, as promised, I created his birthday cupcakes. I wanted a train theme, but didn't necessarily want "Thomas the Train" themed decorations. It was harder to find generic train themed items than I thought. So, I went to the Internet for ideas and found someone who used tin boxes to make a train. Then, I decided to put some empty tin boxes behind the engine to hold the cupcake cargo. The cupcakes were blue and orange to match the plates, napkins, and balloons. My nephew might not have appreciated the thoughtful decorating, but he sure did love the cake.

Kentucky Derby

Last weekend I gathered with some of my college friends to attend the Kentucky Derby. We went to visit one of our friends who lives in Kentucky, and we took along our decorated Derby hats and our infield tickets for the big show. Everyone brought something to snack on, and I just had to make festive horse cupcakes. "Hello, Cupcake" has a fairly simple design for horses, complete with edible hay. The horse cupcakes went well with our mint juleps, chocolate bourbon balls, and Derby pie. Although it rained during most of the day, we still had a great time tromping around in our cute wellies that were purchased at Target on the way to Kentucky. Best $25 I've ever spent.

Rivals

My boyfriend's 30th birthday was at the end of April. I wanted to make him some special cupcakes. I thought through a list of ideas that matched his interests-guitar, motorcycles, basketball, etc. My friend suggested an idea that shocked me, because it involved making cupcakes that resemble the mascot of our college's biggest rival. You see, he grew up a Kansas Jayhawk fan. I am a Mizzou grad, and a dedicated Tiger fan. But, because it was his big day, I decided to go for it and make Jayhawk cupcakes. If nothing else, I would get pleasure from devouring and destroying them. There weren't any books with directions on how to create a cupcake to resemble this fictitious bird, so my friend and I walked up and down the aisles of the grocery store to find food items for our creation. I left the grocery store $50 poorer with items like mini M&M's, Twinkies, marshmallows, Peeps brand Bunnies, icing, and more. We worked late into the night to create the Jayhawk cupcakes, but finally found success with a small tip of a Twinkie, the yellow ears of the Bunnies, and lot of dyed homemade butter-cream icing. He loved the cupcakes and held back his urge to say...Rock, Chalk...oh, I can't even say it.

Naughty or Nice?

My friend threw a birthday party over the weekend, and to celebrate another great year the party was themed "naughty or nice?" Considering last year we went to Vegas around this time of year, this was a slightly tamer event. Many people came dressed in costumes, and the birthday girl dressed as one of Tiger Wood's mistresses. Yep, you guessed it, she was portraying the naughty part of the theme. There were "naughty and nice" flavored drinks and, of course, "naughty and nice" cupcakes. I served as a consultant on this one, since my good friend from work was in charge of bringing the desert. When she called me to discuss the themed cupcakes, she asked if "Hello Cupcake" had any devil/angel cupcake ideas. The book does not have them, so we planned them out over a less than 20 minute conversation. I must say, they turned out wonderfully. The devil cupcakes are made with red Starburst for triangular ears and the tip of the tail, and Twizzlers Pull-And-Peel were used for the main part o the tail. She baked them with devil's food cake (clever, huh?) and iced them with homemade butter-cream icing tinted with red coloring. The angel wings were crafted with melted white chocolate almond bark and were piped onto wax paper. They were covered in edible sparkles, and the icing was tinted pale yellow. She has inspired me to start making my own icing, since it was obviously much more delicious than the canned stuff. If "Hello, Cupcake" is accepting suggestions for their third book, then I think these "naughty/nice" cupcakes should be on the list!

Happy Easter!

Easter this year was absolutely perfect with 80 degree weather and fully blossomed Bradford pear trees blowing in the breeze. I always love Easter and can't help but indulge in some of my favorite candies, including Peeps, Reese's Eggs, Cadbury Mini Eggs, Starburst Jellybeans, raspberry filled eggs, strawberry filled eggs, and marshmallow eggs. I guess it's something about chocolate egg shaped candy filled with sweetness that makes my mouth water. My Easter cupcakes were inspired by eggs, and they were made by trimming graham crackers into an egg shape. Then, sprinkles and icing was used to decorate the eggs. Last, green icing squeezed from a Ziploc bag created grass for the eggs to nest in.

April Fools!

Hey, honey, I made vegetables for dinner. Just kidding! They're cupcakes! The corn cob is made from Jelly Belly jellybeans. The mashed potatoes are just piled icing, drizzled caramel sauce, and yellow Starburst butter patties. The peas and carrots are green Runts candy and cubed orange Starburst. Another successful piece of cupcake artwork (idea from "Hello, Cupcake," of course). And, they are also a celebration of the release of a new book by the same authors called "What's New Cupcake?" It was nice to have the first week of April off for spring break, and thank goodness April Fool's Day fell over the break. Third graders relish at the opportunity to trick their teacher, but this year all the jokes went to parents instead of teachers. Over the days off I obviously made cupcakes, and I enjoyed a trip to Georgia to visit my 22 month old nephew, who has really blossomed since I last saw him at Christmas. Now he can say my name "Kee-yee" instead of calling me "Da-da." He is also into trains now (choo-choos) and loves his Teddy, Buzz, and Woody. His second birthday party is fast approaching, and I promised him a train cake. I'll be searching for ideas to create the perfect train cake complete with a long line of cupcake cargo. As my nephew would say, "Eat choo-choo!"

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching, and I can't help but be happy on the day when my last name is honored. I have several shirts to wear on the special day, including shirts with phrases like: Little Miss Green, Being Green is Hot, Go Green, It's Not Easy Being Green and Green is the New Black. Today I pulled on my green and white striped knee socks and participated in a St. Patrick's Day 5K race. I managed to run it in just a few seconds over 24 minutes (official times aren't posted yet). It wasn't a pr (personal record) for me, but I was pleased with the time I shaved off since my last 5K in December. I've been hitting the gym regularly, and it paid off. In my last post I mentioned how I had survived the brutal end to winter without getting sick. But, of course, soon after I finished typing those words, I got a cold. It was a fairly fast recovery, though. So far, 2010 has been a healthy and productive year! To celebrate my run and the upcoming holiday, I baked my latest creation (seen above and below). The Irish flag cupcakes reveal surprise stripes of green, white and orange baked into the batter.

Goodbye February

Today is the first day of March, and I am thankful. February was a short month, and although less days made for a sooner monthly paycheck, the month was a whirlwind of busyness. First of all, it was a cold month with temperatures routinely below average. It seemed like snow was on the ground for most of the month. This weekend was the first time I'd seen the sun peek out from behind it's permanent gloomy cloud in the sky. The beach cupcakes pictured below are to give us all hope for warmer weather. I made them as part of our New Year's trip to Florida. O.K., maybe this month wasn't that bad. The good news is that I haven't been sick since before the new year. This is a big deal for a teacher who just made it through the stress of grade cards and parent/teacher conferences. I sent many kids home for sore throats, earaches, stomachaches, and other aliments while I doused my hands in "Germ-X" hand sanitizer. Maybe it was due to the increase in vegetables and fruits I've been taking in, but I'm hoping to keep the healthy streak going. While staying healthy this month I realized the multitude of events that occur in February. Being a teacher, I relish in opportunities to celebrate holidays and special events. The month started with Groundhog’s Day (he saw his shadow, of course), Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day. We honored Black History Month and stuffed ourselves with food at Superbowl parties. The Grammy's and Golden Globes were awarded and Oscar buzz began. Then, the event that left me slightly sleep deprived for two weeks began-the Olympics (see previous post). Somewhere in there my students and I celebrated the hundredth day of school and slept with our lucky pajamas on backwards which payed off with 2.5 snow days. Somewhere in the middle of all that we layered on the Mardi Gras beads and cheered on college basketball teams. The month was sealed with Columbia's "True/False" film festival. Thank goodness this year wasn't a leap year, since that would be just one more thing to document for the month of February. For goodness sake, please tell me St. Patrick's Day the only event in March.

Olympic Spirit

USA! USA! USA! I find myself cheering, chanting, and on the edge of my seat every two years during the Olympics. It doesn't matter whether it's the summer or winter Olympics; I love them all. I don't need HDTV (or cable for that matter) to enjoy the spirit of the Olympic games. I'm just happy our country broadcasts so much coverage on a free station. It's something about the entire world coming together to compete in so many sports; it just gets me revved up and excited. Those feature stories that give us an exclusive inside view of the athletes' lives pull at my heartstrings and convince me to cheer for athletes from places all over the world. The journalists have a knack for highlighting the struggles and failures in the athletes' lives that give you hope and inspiration. So, needless to say, I have been operating on less sleep this week from staying up late each night to see every last medal ceremony. In 2008, during the Beijing summer Olympics, I couldn't keep my eyes off Michael Phelps as he broke the record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympics (8). But, for me, this year Phelps is out and Lysacek is in. He took the gold Thursday evening in my favorite sport, while several friends came over for a small Olympic party. Last night Apolo Anton Ohno earned his 7th medal to become the most decorated U.S. winter Olympian. And he still has more events to go. A picture of some Olympic themed desserts I made are above and below. Team USA!

Hello Valentine!

This was a great Valentine's weekend, and I was given 2 snow days early in the week to prepare. I was able to make and mail Valentine's cards, and I even had time to bake. Below is a photo of my Valentine's day mini cupcakes. The best part was that we got to snack on the chocolates that came in the heart shape box to make room for the cupcakes. They are decorated with various candies and are made to look like a special handmade box of chocolates.

Vampires

It all started when my friend suggested I read a book her middle school students were immersed in, "Twilight." She said it was awesome, and, being a teacher, I was interested. This was before the hype had really hit. Twilight Moms and Team Jacob/Edward weren't phrases many people knew. I finally got around to reading the book when I had the summer off, and I was happy to have a new book to take to the pool. At first, I remember thinking it was cheesy, but then, I was, well, obsessed. I grabbed a copy of the second book and didn't stop reading. I'm proud to say I attended the book release party at Barnes and Noble for the fourth book. Since then, I've lent the books to many friends and co-workers. So, when the movies came out, of course I was excited. I didn't have high expectations, which turned out to be a good thing. It was still fun to participate in the hype that surrounded them. So, for "New Moon" my friends and I had a vampire themed party. Of course I had to put some of the skills from my new hobby to use. Below you will see the Team Jacob and Team Edward cupcakes I made. It was no competition-Team Jacob, for sure.

Hobbies

I've had many hobbies over the years. When I was young I was mainly just into sports, and I spent most of my time being active. In high school I got interested in scrapbooking, and since then I've been through LOTS of hobbies. The problem is, I get into something, and I feel the need to buy every item associated with that hobby. It gets expensive, but even more, it takes up a lot of space. I currently have an entire linen closet that holds no linens, just crafts. I have all the supplies one needs for scrapbooking, card-making, sewing, knitting, and more. I realize that I rarely open that closet, except when I'm off work in the summer. My most recent hobby involves taking up space in an entirely different area of my condo-the kitchen. I now find myself engrossed in baking and cupcake decorating. It's a lot like scrapbooking; you create a background (the cupcake) and you embellish (the sprinkles). O.K., that sounds simple, but these cupcakes can be very time consuming. I now have kitchen cabinets full of sprinkles, candies, icing, muffin pans, cupcake tupperware, and most importantly, cupcake books. I am the type of creator who needs design templates for scrapbooking and cupcakes alike. My first purchase was "Hello, Cupcake" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. It's a great book for ideas and simple directions to make awesome cupcakes.

Birthday Cupcakes (my first decorated cupcakes from last year)

Hello 2010!

Another year passes, and we all prepare for the new year ahead. Some are happy to put the past behind them and have a hopeful outlook. Others are thankful for many blessings from the past year and reminisce with gladness. Many are making New Year's resolutions, and some of the more popular include: improving health, saving money, improving self and well being, learning something new, and being more charitable. Most people have made resolutions one year or another and some have been achieved. More likely, they are pushed to the back of the mind by March. This tends to leave people less likely to make resolutions, because they set themselves up for failure or because a new year isn't necessarily a reason to make a change. Any time of the year is a good time to make a change for the better. I, for instance, have wanted to start a blog for a while now. So the New Year was a kick start for me-a reason to get going with it. It's a way for me to keep track of a little piece of my life. So my blog begins in 2010; a new decade-the "twenty-tens."