MSCC- June 2011

Today marks my first blog post for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club (MSCC). I have to say, either I did something horribly wrong, or I am just all around disappointed.

First, we were to make the Father's Day Tee Time Cupcake recipe, decorated as a golf green for Father's Day. I chose to make mine, instead, in a soccer-themed wrapper and decorate it with green sugar as "grass" for my soccer-referee dad.

I measured the ingredients exactly as the recipe book instructed, baked them for the time it suggested, and voila: a dry, pasty, crumbly cupcake. Disappointment number 1.

The cupcake was to be topped with Swiss Meringue Buttercream - sounds complicated, right? And compared to the buttercream and other frostings I typically make, it was. It involved a double boiler, lots of egg whites, etc. The recipe called for a pinch of salt.... well, I do blame this problem on myself... the icing turned out SALTY! It was horrible. Disappointment number 2.

My original intent in making these cupcakes was to decorate them in a soccer theme with a cupcake pick of a soccer ball on top. It ended up not working out, so they're really boring. But honestly, since the cupcakes turned out so poorly and with salty icing, I'm glad the effort to make the soccer ball pick wasn't wasted! Disappointment number 3.

So, Martha, I'm a little bummed about my first cupcake experience with your recipe book. I am positive there are plenty of other recipes that will be better, but this will not be an earmarked page in my book.

Here are a few pics of the cupcake.... despite the poor quality photos, it doesn't look as bad as it is in person. I seriously think I might be able to break a glass window if I threw this cupcake through it!

You can find other MSCC member's cupcakes here. I hope they had better luck than I did!

Move over, Martha!

My creative juices are seriously flowing!

I have an unbelievable blessing in my life- a standing order of "three dozen of whatever you feel like making" for every weekend. SOOOOO I get to make yummy treats of my choice AND it gives me a chance to experiment. Most often, I make cupcakes because I am starting to get a little bit obsessed with these adorable bites of sweetness. So obsessed, in fact, that I decided to join a group called Martha Stewart Cupcake Club.

In order to find inspiration for cupcake flavors and other kitchen creations, I've been doing a lot of blog-reading. I have found a few really awesome blogs suggested from friends... check these out: Annie's Eats, Sweetopia, and i am baker. Those are just a few of the greats I've been stalking. Another page I'm addicted to is pinterest. My sister got me hooked on this a few weeks ago, and I've never looked back. This site has seriously made hours of my life magically disappear. I even found ideas for Ben's first birthday which isn't for 5 months! 

While I was doing some of this blog-stalking, I've often seen this:

A club? Can I be in this club? I like cupcakes! I bake cupcakes! Sign me up!

So I did some research. To be in this club, you have to have this cookbook. I've looked for it everywhere but didn't want to pay $30. Finally, I stumbled upon it at TJ Maxx (another sick addiction of mine) and it was less than half that price. Purchase? Uh... I didn't have to think twice! There are a few other requirements for the club (can you walk a straight line with a cupcake delicately balancing on your head? Can you make marshmallow frosting from scratch with one hand tied behind your back?....... or holding a 7 month old in my case? Can you hop on one foot while piping icing roses?) I'm totally kidding about these, but there are other requirements that you can read about here. As if I needed an excuse to bake more often, I decided to apply for the club. And guess what??? I was accepted!!!! This way I would have some other bakers who could give me some constructive criticism about my work and *hopefully* teach me a few things about food photography. Because unless you haven't noticed, my skills in THAT are ridiculously poor. Thank goodness Lorrin helped me out with some pics, but it's hard to run every baked good I ever make to her so that she can snap a few shots of it.

SO starting in June, I'll be posting my MSCC treat. This month it will be a special cupcake for Father's Day... can't wait!! Stay tuned!!! :) :)

I am totally behind on posting images of my recent treats, but here are a few:

 My proudest moment... a White Chocolate covered Cookie Fruit Tart... delish...



 Raspberry cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream frosting, and a Blackberry filled cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting... mmm...

S'mores..... mmmmmm........

An experiment... Cinnamon scented cupcake with cinnamon chips, topped with cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and a few extra cinnamon chips

A classic... red velvet with cream cheese frosting

A coffee cake muffin -- next time this will have a crumbly streusel topping

An arial shot of a cherry almond muffin... not the pretties but one of the yummiest!

Super soft banana muffins.... as Lorrin put this, "You hit the nail on the head!"

Ok now here come the uglies..... These are images from my cell phone:

Watch for an upcoming blog post about these cookies.... these were a LOT of work but totally worth it! In the words of A, "These were the best sugar cookies I've ever eaten." :) :) :)

Yowzas... it's a good thing this tasted good. Creative? yes. Cute? yes. Got a good response? yes. RIDICULOUSLY SLOPPY? YES!!!!



Like I said, my creative juices are flowing... A few years ago one of my students' moms brought these in for my class. The teachers thought they were the cutest thing that we'd ever seen. The kids wanted nothing to do with them. This time I tried my luck with them at the Spaghetti Dinner at church... I think because it was mostly adults I got a better reaction :) Reports said "they were DELISH!"

Another experiment.... sweet potato cupcakes with toasted marshmallow frosting made from scratch. Yikes. These were a LOT of work!

Did someone say Nutella? Uhhhhhh yes, please!

Nutella swirled cupcakes with Nutella buttercream frosting

Caramel Apple cupcakes.... these are super sticky sweet......

Apple spice cake with caramel buttercream frosting.... yummo :)

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm a thief.

When I first started teaching, I had to go to an induction program at the Intermediate Unit and during one of the sessions, we watched a video by Harry Wong called "The First Days of School." He also has a book that you can purchase here. Anyway, one of the things that he said that really stuck with me was that the BEST teachers are thieves. They beg, borrow, and steal ideas from other teachers they admire to better themselves. Well, I wouldn't call myself the best teacher or anywhere near it, but I definitely did try to steal things from people that I admire.

So now that I'm hard-core baking, I'm again becoming a thief! I have learned to beg, borrow, and steal, especially from other bloggers. I usually tweak recipes or take the cake from one person and frosting from another to make my own creations, but I don't believe in reinventing the wheel.

One of the BEST blogs that I absolutely fell in love with is Ice Cream Before Dinner. This girl can cook! I originally stole (yes, stole) her recipe for Pear Muffins with Gingersnap Crumble. But don't search her blog for those, because you'll then realize that mine, in comparison, are lame. I love this blog, and the owner has no idea.

Ice Cream Before Dinner is now hosting a contest to win one of their cupcake stands and I REALLY want to win! If there was voting involved, I would definitely ask you all to vote. Check out the blog and send her some virtual love on my behalf. :)

Yoohoo!!!!

Aww shnikies! I have really let this page get away from me! I am going to try to start it back up here and hopefully I'll be a more dedicated blogger this time.

I've recently started adding more cupcakes to my repertoire and let me just tell you, I am having the BEST time baking, decorating, and of course (best part here...) taste-testing! I've been scouring the internet looking for inspiration. I'm finding myself more creative than ever before, and so excited to try all of the new ideas I'm coming up with. Here's what I've whipped up so far:

S'mores cupcakes
Triple Chocolate cupcakes (pictured below)
Peanut butter Cup cupcakes (also pictured below)
Chocolate Toffee Crunchcakes (again, see below)
Strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
Cinnamon Swirlcakes (These were THE BEST! Photo to come soon!)
Raspberry White Chocolate cupcakes
Blackberry cupcakes
Red Velvet (like your long lost best friend)
Chocolate Covered Pretzel cakes (Thanks, Dudak!)

Here's an amazing photo of some of my creations that a good friend, Lorrin Sell, took for me:

Now if you haven't heard of Lorrin Sell, I'd bet you may have heard of her photography company, Itty Bitty. She is INCREDIBLE. Her photos are unbelievable, and I'm not just talking about images of cupcakes! Lorrin is one of the sweetest, sensitive, most talented women I know, and she is also such a great mom. When I took B to her for his photos as a newborn, she captured magical moments with him and I knew I just had to keep coming back.

 Just because I'm a proud momma, I have to share this picture that Lorrin also took of me with B:

She's good, right?? Although I do think he's pretty photogenic, anyway!

If you want contact info for Lorrin, please let me know!



So anyway, I am going to be working on more and more cupcakes and hopefully you'll all want to try them out. Coming soon, watch out for Tiramisu cupcakes, Lemon-raspberry cupcakes, Sangria cupcakes, and a handful of others. Mmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Let her eat CAKE!

Well... a gob, that is!

I've finally started re-introducing dairy into my diet now that B can tolerate it a little bit. Something happens when you become a mom and your own wants go out the window if it goes against what your child needs. For the last 3 1/2 months I've deprived myself of milk, butter, cheese, etc. and all foods that contain dairy. (Oh, pizza, how I've missed you!!) But hey, if it will keep B feeling good and not screaming, I'll go for the rest of my life with no dairy! I still haven't had any pizza, but on Friday (and Saturday!!) I ate a gob. And can I just tell you, I enjoyed every single bite. I think I even made sound effects to show how much I really enjoyed them. Soft, moist, rich red velvet cake with sweet and smooth cream cheese frosting. Mmmmmm....

I've been baking so much lately and I am SO thankful that I can finally dive right in and taste-test the goods! Strawberry shortcake muffins, chocolate chunk cookies, apple cinnamon bread, cinnamon chip scones... who's hungry?!

One of the things that I love most about baking is trying out new recipes. I've seen other people join groups with other bloggers working their way through a specific cookbook or cupcake recipes, etc. but for me, I want to leave my options open and not commit to just one cookbook or one category of baked good. So this week, I'm starting a challenge with..... myself!


B. Sweet Saturdays: This week I'm going to start something new. During the week, I'll choose a recipe and test it out at home. Then, I'll post a picture on here and on facebook along with the name of the treat, and I'll offer it for one day only- on Saturdays. If you want to taste-test the treat, respond to the post and I'll make you an order.  Then you can come pick yours up on the following Saturday! Fun, right?!

So, I'm off to find some inspiration. I'm thinking I might do something "chai" because I LOVE chai tea lattes. Mmmmm dairy!! <3 Wish me luck!

Sticks and Stones may Break My Bones...

But words can never hurt me? HA! What a bunch of hooie!

There have been some pretty nasty rumors flying about B and my family lately so I just want to clear them up.

No, Ben doesn't have something "seriously wrong" with him. He is a strong-willed baby who knows what he wants! The doctors say that's because he's so smart! I'm sure he's going to give me a run for my money for many years!

When I went back to work, Ben refused to drink from a bottle. He starved himself during the day, then wanted to eat all night. That meant we both weren't sleeping. He'd be up at least six (usually more like 10) times every night to eat and/or be held just to be close to me. It took it's tole on all three of us. A kept getting sick, B kept getting sick, and I was on the verge of a break-down. I stuck it out and worked for six weeks while getting only about 3 broken hours of sleep each night. I just couldn't continue doing that. It wasn't fair to my family and it wasn't fair to the kids in my room.

Think I'm weak? I'd like to see you try it! Go ahead and set your alarm clock to wake you up every 45 minutes. Set it on the loudest possible setting, and even better, try to find an alarm clock that makes baby screaming sounds. Now put the alarm clock right next to your head. After the alarm clock goes off, stay awake for 45 minutes before you lay back down. Pace the floors of your house during that time just for good measure. Now go back to sleep and repeat every 45 minutes for the rest of the night. Now continue doing this for months on end. Good luck!

I knew that having a baby would change my life. I did. I didn't expect to have a little angel that waltzed in and didn't change my world. I knew I'd be missing out on a lot of sleep and I'd probably not eat a hot meal for a long time and it would be hard to go places for a while with a carseat, diaper bag, etc. in tow. But I had no idea that it would make me more sensitive than I already was! My momma claws are out and they are sharp!

Gossip is so hurtful. Why do we take part in it? Let's all make a conscious effort to only say kind things about one another from now on because, after all, isn't that what God wants us to do?? Love your neighbor like yourself...

What if....?

I am a horrible worrier. I lay awake at night sometimes worrying about the most ridiculous things. Becoming a mom has only made it worse. Lately, it's been things about B: What if he gets a horrible disesase? What if I dropped him?  What if he never sleeps through the night? What if people think he's a pain in the rear? It goes on and on... The logical side of me sees that I am being crazy. The other side of me thinks this is normal and maybe it's just part of being a mom! (I only worry because I love him so much, so I think maybe that means I am becoming a good mom... or at least I'm trying!)

So I've decided, I've had enough of this stupid "What if" game. From now on, for every negative "What if" I ask myself, I am going to force myself to come up with a positive "what if" to counter it. What if he gets a horrible disease? ---- What if he's perfectly healthy and strong and all this worry is for nothing?

I'm also "What-if"ing my baking.... "What if people don't like it?" "What if they think I'm not good enough?" "What if I put my heart into this and it fails?"  So I counter it again... "What if people LOVE my baked goods!?" "What if they keep buying them and it turns out to be a great success?!" "What if someday I can open the bakery that I've always wanted to?!" "What if someday Oprah hears about me and she tells the whole world about my bake shop??" HAHA! Dream big, right??

I think these two things that I worry about have a common denominator: They are the things I love the most.

I love B with all of my heart. Even when he's screaming. Even when he's been up in the middle of the night 6 times. Even when he throws up all over me (and if you know me, you know how I feel about vomit.)

I love baking with all of my heart, too. Even when my bread falls in the middle. Even when I fill the muffin pans too full and they overflow and burn on the bottom of my oven. Even when I forget to add the flour to my cookies and end up with soup on the cookie sheet (yes, I did that once... it was a long time ago!)

So the worrying is just because I am so passionate and in love. In love with B. In love with baking. I make mistakes. I'm human. But I sure as hell amy trying my best. I certainly hope I don't fail at either one.



I don't know what the problem is but I can't upload pictures on the blog right now. Check out my facebook page for pictures of my Red Velvet Gobs, Chocolate Cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream frosting, Lemon Blueberry Muffins, and Apple Cinnamon Muffins....