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.