More Cake Balls and Disasters

Thanksgiving is coming up, and if all the holiday specials on the Food Network weren't enough of an indication, 'tis the season for delicious food!

Last week I made two different kinds of cake balls: I tried banana again, this time with a dark chocolate coating (not almond bark) and vanilla/candy corn.

The candy corn was interesting, to say the least. Joy and Haley helped me make them, and honestly, I don't think I would've ever tried if they hadn't suggested it. We made a plain ol' vanilla cake but chopped up candy corn pieces when we rolled them into cake balls. Then we tried to melt the candy corn to use as a coating, instead of chocolate.

The first problem was that the melted CC was very thick and difficult for dipping. Honey to the rescue! I suppose corn syrup would've been a good thinner too but we didn't have any of that.

The second problem was that the coating never really hardened. We put them in the freezer and everything but once they were sitting out at room temp, they got all mushy and sticky.

The solution? Coat the balls again in chocolate. The chocolate helped retain the moisture, and the candy corn took on an almost caramel-y texture and taste. The double-layer of candy coating actually turned out well. This is definitely an experiment I want to explore more.

And let me just say that tempering chocolate? It's magical. It's also pretty difficult, and I ended up with a lot of streaky chocolate, but thanks to my friends Hillary (for giving me the directions and confidence to try tempering) and Grant (who loaned me the all-too-important thermometer), I think I did pretty good.

I got some more cake ball requests from my family for Thanksgiving, so I'll try pumpkin or something equally delicious and festive. And Wednesday is the Disaster Party (an excuse to get together with friends and watch horribly corny apocalyptic movies and eat cake) which Hillary & I have been planning for a year, so I'm making the cake for that this afternoon.

So there's my baking update! I'll have lots more to share this week! :)

Helloooo Summer!

Good news, loyal blog readers! I am officially on my summer vacation! No school, no textbooks, no finals, no 2,000 words papers... at least until August.

On the one hand, I'm disappointed, because I got a B+ in Concepts of Wellness, AKA the easiest class ever, but maybe that's because I didn't take it seriously enough... Ah, hindsight.

On the other hand, I have four long months stretched ahead of me, filled with sun, sleep, friends, and cake! I applied for a job at Publix today, and I have a really, really good feeling about that. The managers were super nice and I'm really hoping I'll get an interview, and then, of course, a job. I'm also really nervous, too, so just send your thoughts or prayers or positive vibes my way! :-)

This Sunday is Wizarding Independence Day, which is totally one of the most important holidays on the obsessive Harry Potter fan's calendar, right up there with Harry's birthday (July 31) and the release of Deathly Hallows (November 19). However, we won't be celebrating until the following weekend, when everyone else is home from college. Oh! And I'll be making a Hogwarts cake and/or Golden Snitch cake balls.

See, Hillary, I totally drew a sketch of the Hogwarts cake!

But in all seriousness, I do have a pretty good mental image of what I want the cake to look like. Now all I need is a good execution! And suggestions about what the flavors should be (hint, hint).

Now I'm off to make a cake with my little brothers before they pester me to death about it! More cakey goodness later!

Cupcake Curiosities

If you noticed, there was recently a poll on the blog about your favorite cupcake flavors.

According to TLC Cooking, these are the 10 most popular cupcake flavors:

1. Chocolate & Vanilla-- It's classic, simple, and has something for everyone.
2. Red Velvet-- 'Nuff said
3. Carrot Cake-- Vegetables in cupcake form? Oh yeah.
4. Peanut Butter-- Why didn't I think of this combo??
5. Lemon-- If life gives you lemons, make lemon cupcakes
6. Chocolate-- a personal favorite
7. Coffee-- One of the few times I love coffee
8. Banana-- I love banana bread but never tried a banana cupcake
9. Pumpkin-- one of my favorites
10. Vanilla-- Booooring ;)

And according to my blog readers, these are the favorites:

1. Chocolate/vanilla combo-- Surprise! But what do you like better: chocolate icing with vanilla cake, or vanilla icing with chocolate cake?
2. Chocolate with chocolate frosting
3. Vanilla with vanilla frosting-- apparently y'all aren't very adventurous with your favorite cupcakes. Chocolate...vanilla...chocolate...vanilla... But the people have spoken!
4. Strawberry and Red Velvet tied for fourth
5. German Chocolate, Lemon, and Banana are fifth
6. Carrot Cake, Coffee, Coconut, and Peanut Butter all got one vote each for 6th place

Mostly I was just curious about what other people think of cupcakes. In my family it's pretty biased: the majority wants a chocolate cupcake, but there are strong contenders for lemon and vanilla.

However, depending on how things go, I might put this information to use when (if) I participate as a vendor in my town's annual arts & crafts fair. I want to sell cupcakes, cookies, and cake balls, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to, due to time constraints and the like. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted though!

OK, Blog Readers: I Have Questions!

I would like to sell some of my baked goods (cookies, cake balls, cupcakes, etc) this summer at our city's annual crafts fair. I remember last year I thought about selling crocheted items, but that is a lot of time to invest so I sorta scratched that idea. And I like cookies better anyway. :-)

But I don't know what the laws are like in my state (Georgia)... do I need a licensed or commercial kitchen? Or is my home kitchen sufficient? Do I need a permit to sell at this festival? It's just a one-time deal, maybe I'll do it again the next year if it's a success.

So if you know the answers or where I can find information, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!!!

XOXO,
Kelsie

Harry Potter Fest

Right now, I'm super stoked about the upcoming Harry Potter movie .

My friends and I are all planning to do see the midnight showing next Tuesday night.  Only nine days away!

You're probably wondering why I am sharing my extreme excitement on my blog.

Don't worry.  I have a reason.

I'm planning on making Harry Potter themed cupcakes (and possibly sugar cookies) for the big event.  (And when I say decorated cupcakes, I don't just mean putting a plastic ring with Harry's face on it like the grocery stores sometimes do. Not that I'm hating on grocery store cupcakes.  Just that I'm a little crazier. :-) ) I'm going to go all out with glitter and fondant and crazy colors and flavors.  It will be cupcaketastic and definitely epic.

So stay tuned for more of my Harry Potter/cupcake/baking adventures!  You'll also probably hear about my Threadcakes entry and a couple other contests I want to enter, but Harry Potter comes first.  I know, I probably sound like a crazy fangirl right now.

In the meantime, if you'd like to share any ideas you'd like to see manifested in my HP cupcakes, feel free to drop me a comment!

(poster image from cineposters.com )

I knew it!

Last night, when I went to bed, I was thinking a lot about how much I wanted to bake.  It is the new year, after all, and I haven't done any new baking.  Not since the cookies, but those were last year's cookies.

So I was thinking about cupcakes.  And how much I really wanted to eat the chocolate ganache icing in my fridge, but how I knew that I needed to use it on a cake or cupcakes or something, and I can't just eat it straight out of the container.  However, I didn't want to make any cupcakes until I knew what the ICE challenge is.

The next thought that popped into my head was "I wonder what the January challenge will be?"  So I thought about it.  Something festive, probably... Or really interesting...  Something in the same vein as cranberries, chillis, cheese, etc.  Some of my thoughts for what the challenge should be include some interesting/weird spices, like anise, or curry, or cloves, or something.  Or maybe an exotic fruit, like dragon fruit.  I thought of all kind of ideas, including something worth ringing in the new year.  Like chamagne or wine.

Wine?

Exactly!  Just in this morning, the challenge theme for January is wine!  I don't know how I knew a day in advance, except that maybe I'm just a lucky guesser. :-)

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do for this challenge.  Especially considering that I doubt my mom wants me to use our wine in some cupcakes.  Even though the alcohol cooks out if it's in the actual batter.  And, by the way, how does alcohol affect the baking of a cupcake?  I've never used alcohol in my cooking/baking before.  And then there's the whole fact that I'm only 17, and the legal age to drink is 21.  Although I'm not really drinking, I'm just baking and eating (not drinking).  And it is for the new year and all that.

Anyway, I've got a lot to think about, and 22 days to think about it (the challenge closes on the 24th).  I hope I have time; January is going to be a very busy month!

Happy New Year, everyone!

(P.S. Thanks for voting for me @ No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner!  I appreciate it!)

Ah-Ha! Dessert Revelations

Right now, my entries into the Iron Cupcake: Earth Challenge are in the oven.  And they will be delicious, I'm sure of it this time.

And there are cake balls in the freezer just waiting to be covered in chocolate and eaten. ;-)

Also, I just decided, not even an hour ago, that the gingerbread house that I'm making this year is going to be a castle.  Not just a house; not even a mansion; a full-blown castle-- with towers and everything.

And it's going to have little gumpaste figurines and ice cream cone trees and lots of candy and royal icing decorations.  Adorable, right?

Speaking of gumpaste, I actually went to Michael's last Saturday and bought some cake stuff:  parchment bags, piping bags (the disposible plastic kind), and ingredients to make my own gumpaste (I think it's glucose and tylose powder).  I know that the ingredients are more expensive than the pre-mix, but in the long run, I think I'll come out on top.  Yeah, sure, and the process seems longer, too, but again, the effort and the initial investment will pay off in the end.  However, I do owe my dad $40 from the entire shopping trip.  And I owe my mom almost $30 for something else...  Ah well, the price you have to pay to be a cake decorator/buy your friends Christmas gifts.

OK, so I'm going to go check on my chocolate cupcakes.  I'll be back later with pictures and the recipe!

How to Make Your Cupcakes Moist

Like I referenced in my earlier post, cupcakes dry out faster than cakes because they don't have that layer of icing to seal in the moisture.  One way of making your cupcakes less dry is to add more liquid to the batter.  Some other tips that I picked up include:

• Baking the cupcakes at a higher temperature for less time and take them out as soon as they're done-- not a minute later. (15 minutes at 375)
  
• Make sure your batter isn't too heavy.
• Put a small Pyrex dish with some water in the oven on the lowest rack while baking for added moisture.
• Don't overbeat the batter! (This is true for regular cakes, too)
• Use oil instead of butter.

My "chocolate with a twist" cupcakes are coming along really well, but they're not done yet.  Actually, they are super dry, which is why I made this post.  I think I'm just going to have to try, try again.

Oh well.  I forsee chocolate pineapple cake balls in the future.  Oops.  Did I just spoil the surprise? ;-P  Yes, I'm making chocolate pineapple cupcakes, because pineapple is my favorite fruit.  I just need to tweak the recipe around some more for Take II.  I also need to decide if I want to use pineapple buttercream or chocolate ganache for the icing...

In the meantime, I have a secret anniverary cake that I'm making for one of my friends.  It was pretty cool of him to ask me to make the cake for the occation. :)  Pictures of everything coming soon... (Sorry I'm not blogging much these days, but it will be easier after finals are through, I promise!)

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving

Glitter Graphics - GlitterLive.com


And there is so much to be done!

For starters, there are cupcakes, Chex Mix, and a cake for Sunday.
But there's also a turkey to bake, pies to bake, potatoes to bake (and then mash), casseroles to bake, bread to bake...  You get the idea.

I'm in charge of desserts, though, so that's why I'm making cupcakes today.  And maybe some cookies, if there's time.  (Chocolate chip cookies, except we're out of chocolate chips.  Gee, I guess I'll just have to use the dark chocolate M&M's...)  I can't remember if Dad bought a pecan pie or not at Kroger today, but I sure hope so.  I love pecan pie.

The Chex Mix, I am aware, is not a dessert, but it is a family staple, and as I wandered down the cereal aisle at Kroger for what seemed like the hundreth time, I saw the box of Rice Chex, the box of Wheat Chex, and the box of Corn Chex.  And I realized:  we have to have Chex Mix.  Normally my mom or aunt makes it, but I seem to recall that last year, either everyone forgot or they thought someone else was making it when in fact, no one was.  So I took it upon myself this year to make the Chex Mix.

And what about Sunday?  Sunday is the first day of Advent.  I know!  It snuck up on me too!  I had so much on my plate that I totally forgot that this is the last week of the liturgical calendar!  So, of course, as a tradition, I have to make a cake.  I already have a really good, tasty plan formulated, which I shall share in the near future.

As I am baking up a storm and trying not to make a mess in the kitchen, so that there's enough room to make a mess tomorrow, I shall leave you with this amazing video that I found on YouTube:

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  I just want to let you know that I am very thankful for all of you for your kind comments, suggestions, and ideas.  All the comments and e-mails I recieve from my wonderful blog readers means so much to me!  It's been a year since my first post (actually, I'm 2 days late), but it's been a great year and I look forward to many more!  I could not have done it without all of you: THANK YOU!




Glitter Graphics - GlitterLive.com

It's the Holiday Season

Has anyone else noticed that on November 1st (and in some places, earlier), everyone has begun to advertise Christmas?  And by everyone, I mean all the stores and businesses, like Wal-Mart, Coke, Sears, etc.  Everywhere is red and green.  I went to Wal-Mart last week and realized that I was humming along to Christmas tunes not just because of the festive decorations but because they were playing music on the loudspeakers!

Now, I love Christmas; it's my favorite time of year.  Despite the absolutely freezing temperatures, Christmas time makes me happy.  But not for the same reasons that Wal-Mart would want me to think.  It's not buying out their entire store that I love, but the atmosphere: the music, the love, the happy little kids, not being in school, etc.  So even though I'm loving all the little holiday reminders, it's really starting to annoy me when Christmas is associated with shopping.  Because that's just not right.

What I will associate Christmas-- and most holidays-- with is baking!  However, I'm going to reign in my urge to make little fondant Santas and snowmen for just a little while longer.  Right now, I have Thanksgiving to worry about.  Talk about some baking...

So as I'm planning my dessert scheming, I remember Iron Cupcake.  Last month I didn't participate in ICE because, well, I forgot.  I was sick, remember.  This month, though, I plan on making something good, and making something within the next 2 weeks.  I'm just not sure what yet.  The theme for November is Cranberries!

I do have a list of possible ingredients...

• pecans
• walnuts
• macadamia nuts
• almonds
  
• caramel
• marshmallows
• butter cream sauce
• orange juice glaze
• molasses
• pears
• zucchini
• coconut
• pumpkin
• apple
• white chocolate
• peaches
• ginger
• cheesecake
• lemon
• strawberries
• orange
• cream cheese icing
• chocolate
• chocolate chips
• white chocolate icing
• pineapple

So, based on that list, I'm going to make some cupcakes including one or more of those ingredients.  But not all of them.  That would be a little... excessive. ;-)

While I'm thinking and baking and humming along to "Let It Snow" (even as I wish that it doesn't get anywhere near cold enough to snow), I hope that all of you are getting into the holiday season as well.  Because we have a lot of fun baking ahead of us! :-)

Cake Balls, Take 2

I really wanted to try to make cake balls after that gooey fiasco.  I don't really have an excuse for making them, other than that I want to.  I suppose that is a good enough reason, right?  So I bought some red velvet cake and some cream cheese icing (I know!  Store bought!  But I wanted the process to be as little messy as possible so that I could concentrate on doing everything correctly).

Last night, I baked the cake.  Just a regular ol' box mix in my regular ol' (actually, it's kinda new) 9" x 13" rectangular pan.  I didn't bother with flower nails in the middle or even Crisco/flouring the pan; I just used that spray-on fake butter stuff.  I wasn't concerned with how the cake turned out because, well, I was just going to crumble it all up anyway.

Lo, and behold:  the cake was flat!  I don't understand.  I mean, I didn't try at all with this cake; but everything about it was perfect:  It came out of the oven perfectly; it's a perfect shade of red; it's not too lumpy in the middle (although there is a slight hump).  I just don't get it.  Why?!  Of all the times that I have make cakes, praying for them to be flat, why did this one cake turn out flat?

It's so perfect that I almost want to just leave it as a cake...

...Or maybe I'll smush it up and make red velvet cake balls like I originally planned.  I mean, either way, cake balls or no, it's going to get eaten.  So I might as well have fun with it.

So I'll try to finish these babies up this weekend (which would be quite a feat, considered the amound of homework that I have!) and next week I have 2 other cakes:  my brother's birthday cake (he wants a lemon cake?! But he still hasn't decided on the theme), and a surprise cake that I'm making for someone at school (chocolate).  And, of course, the week after that, my BFFF turns 18 and I get to make her delicious cake!

What is Hillary's Birthday?

My best friend turns 18 in less than a month (wow, she's old!)  She's asked me to make her cake because she seems to think, for some odd reason, that I'm good at cake decorating or something. ;-)

Her cake theme is Jeopardy, but the cake will be German Chocolate.  My plan is to make a 2-layer German Chocolate cake with the pecan/coconut filling in between the two layers.  The top of the cake will be blue with yellow/white icing, and will look like the Jeopardy game board screen thingy.  Whatever it's called.  The categories with be birthday related.

She drew me a picture, actually:

I think what I'm going to do around the sides of the cake is have more coconut/pecan filling.  (Like this cake.)Although I'm not 100% sure on that yet.  I've got a month to work about any possible problem, and since her birthday is during our Fall Break from school, I'll have plenty of time to decorate.  Yay!

I wonder if there is a way to flavor the buttercream to better match the cake flavor.  Since G.C. cakes typically have the chocolate, coconut, and pecan flavors, perhaps I could find a coconut or pecan extract.  (Maybe like this?)

Possible Recipes that I'll Use:
Recipe #1
Recipe #2
(both from CakeCentral)

Margaritaville

 

So you would think that because I'm fairly good at making cakes, that I would be a pretty proficient artist with marker and paper, but apparently I can't draw as well as I can ice and frost! :)

This is the cake idea that I have for my brother's best friend's older sister.  The idea from this cake comes from a variety of sources:  different cakes found online, her mom's ideas, my own thoughts.  It's a mix of a lot of different concepts rolled into one really cool cake.

Here's the background:  my brother's friend's sister turns 21 next week, although she's celebrating this weekend.  Her mom asked me to make the cake, so I e-mailed her some pictures that I found online to give her ideas.  She saw this cake and wanted it more margarita themed-- and that's what you see in the drawing above!

I promise that the cake that I see in my head is much nicer looking that what I attempted to draw, but I'm hoping that it conveys what I want the cake to look like.

Fantastic Cake Idea For My Fantastic 17th Birthday

So while I was sitting all by myself at the Wound Center Reception Desk at the Hospital, waiting to greet patients, and feeling just a tad bit bored, I found myself some scrap paper and started doodling cake ideas.

Well, I came up with some interesting ideas: how to decorate Maggie's cake (her party is this Saturday); some ideas for Adam's Yoda cake, which he keep changing his mind about; and will probably continue to change before September; a boring 17th birthday cake idea; and then it hit me.

BAM!  I know EXACTLY how I'm going to decorate my cake.  Oh, it's going to gorgeous, I just know it!  I know that it has to be gorgeous, because I remembered to spell gorgeous with an "e" this time without the spell checker-- that must be a good sign!

So... it's going to be a round 9" in cake, covered in buttercream with fondant accents.  The buttercream will be colored dark purple. --Just like that.  And the fondant will all be white (which means I will have to make some more fondant until I want to use the icky tasting pre-made stuff).  So, fondant accents, right.  Pearls.  Lots and lots of little fondant pearls along the bottom border of the cake-- and covered with some pretty sparkly stuff to make them look like, ya know, pearls.  Maybe some, oh, I don't know, pearl dust?

And then, along the top border of the cake, have some fabric-ruffle like stuff, also made of pearly fondant.  If you click on the pearl dust link, then you'll see a picture of a cake that has the kind of border I'm talking about-- but white, and prettier. ;-)

And the top of the cake will say "Happy 17th Birthday Kelsie!" (of course) and along the sides of the top of the cake will be 17 white birthday candles that I get to blow out. :-)  For my 11th birthday, I had pink, purple, and white candles that were sparkly... I wonder if I could find some sparkly white birthday candles?  Hmmm...

Okay, so anyway, my cake is going to fantabulously gorgeous.  No doubt about it.

And, despite the fact that school starts 6 days before my birthday (did you hear that?  That was the sound of me groaning in protest), I will NOT procrastinate on this cake, and it will NOT lean like last year's cake.

Oh, I'm so excited!  And this Saturday is my baby sister's 13th birthday party.  She's growing up...  But she came up with a pretty cool cake idea for her party, which I will implement in a few days, take lots of pictures of, and blog about.  Oh, and eat it.  Duh.  So you have that to look forward to, as well!  I love August/September/October!  So many birthdays, so many cakes...

Tab Cake Recipe

I'm planning on make this later in the week...

10 oz. Tab (or other diet soda)
1 box cake mix (any flavor)
2 egg whites

Mix it all up and bake according to the box's instructions.
9" x 13", 9" round, cupcakes, whatever.
Let it cool before frosting.

Here's a frosting recipe I found:
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon cocoa
6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
1 box confectioner's sugar, (1pound)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
In a saucepan, bring butter, cocoa, and Coca-Cola to a boil. Stir in the sugar and mix well. Stir in nuts. Spread over the cake while both cake and frosting are still warm.

But I'm just going to use up some extra buttercream that I have, and color it pink. :)

So, results will be posted later in the week.

Golf Chocolate Day is This Sunday

Also known as Father's Day.

Why the golf? Because it's my dad's favorite sport to play. One year for Father's Day, when I first started exploring cake decorating, I made him a sheet cake with a picture of a golf ball on it. Nothing fancy, but it was yummy (because it was chocolate).

Why the chocolate? Because my dad agrees with me when I say that chocolate is the best food group ever. :) Every cake that I've ever made for him was chocolate: cake and icing. Double yummy.

Last year's Father's Day cake was star-shaped with store-bought (gasp!) chocolate icing. The decorations were butterceam, though. For the decorations, as well as writing the standard "Happy Father's Day!", I also made little icing pictures of my dad and my grandpa. I wish I knew how to transfer the picture (taken with a traditional film camera) to the computer, because it's a really cute cake.

This year, I want to up the ante so to speak, and make this cake extra chocolately. Chocolate cake (probably the really yummy recipe that I already use) with chocolate ganache. Mmmm, ganache... And chocolate buttercream underneath the ganache, of course.

Have you seen the commercial for the Publix chocolate ganache supreme cake? That's my inspiration.

Only, my cake will be better because it will be made with love. :)

I want to decorate the cake differently, though. Although I like the cool little bow and the chocolate fudge shells, I have to be unique and special, you know? What I don't know, however, is how exactly I'm going to decorate it. Except, it will be chocolate.

Recipes:

• Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Ganache (pour over cake warm)
  
• Whipped Chocolate Ganache (used like buttercream)
  
• (which ganache?!)
• Chocolate Buttercream
• Or Maybe Chocolate Fudge Frosting?

Well, if I can't figure out all the "unknowns" by Saturday, I could always make a German chocolate cake (another one of Dad's favorites). I think I'll figure it out though.

Blog Updates

• I'm back from vacation and I had a blast!
  
• I was blogged! Not sure when/where/who/why/how but I was. I did just update some of the information today, though, but thank you to whomever blogged me. :)
• I made a new blog today. Not exactly cake related but there's always the potential.
• I'm making a chocolate cake for Father's Day (also known as U.S. Open Day at my house :) ). I want to find a different recipe... I know that I love that to-die-for chocolate cake recipe, but I love variety too! :)
• Okay, something that doesn't start with "I"... My sister's best friend's birthday is coming up and I'm making her a cake that looks like that pink one I just made, but different.
• Sorry, that's all for now. It's summer now!!!!!! so more blogging to come... :)
  

Cakes of the Future

Or at least the Cakes of my future.

Future meaning the next few weeks! :)

First of all, after I made that Puerto Rico cake, I was asked to make a birthday cake for my brother's teacher's husband's birthday on the last week of school (on a side note, only 9 days left!). I'm excited about that, but I need to buy a new rectangular pan and red icing paste, so hopefully Michael's is also in my future...

And I still have cream cheese from that humongous block that Mom bought at Costo's, so I want to make another cheesecake. This time in the 9" pan instead of the 11".

After school ends, hopefully, I will have more free time (although since I'm doing volunteer work at the hospital and may or may not try to get a job at a bakery), and can make that TaB cake I wanted to bake...

Oh, and on Wednesday my healthcare class is having a "food day," so I think I'm supposed to make sugar cookies, but I need to double-check on that... (Shouldn't be a problem; I have dough in the freeze from the Pack Cookies.)

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I found my digital camera again, so I can take pictures of the next few baking items, unlike for the cheesecake I made for Mother's Day. :( It still tasted good though!

I'm off to do some homework and think about cake designs :) Oh, and Prince Caspian! :-D (A great movie, by the way!)

What's Been Going On In My Kitchen Lately

Honestly?

Not much.

But in the future...

It'll be busy.

For example, the blood drive at my school is Thursday. Not only am I volunteering (not to give blood. I have tiny veins.), but I'm baking sugar cookies, and browies, and cupcakes if I have the time.

My brother has a project on Puerto Rico due in the middle of May. He's going to make a model of the territory... out of cake! How cool? And I'll be assisting. So I won't have to do all the hard stuff, I just tell him "use shredding coconut and green food coloring mixed together in a plastic bag for the grass" and "mold the mountains out of Rice Krispie Treats then cover them with fondant." It'll be fun! :)

More recently, next week is Career Day at the middle school, and I'm either making chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies and I need to decide how much to charge some time within... the next 2 hours. So I should get to work on that...

Cookie Procrastination

The Cute Cookie Contest from Taste of Home ends April 15th (which is, by the way, also tax day). I made some lemon-lime icebox cookies for the contest, for the "refrigerator cookies" category, but I recently had an idea for the "sugar cookies" category, and I'm going to bake those today.

I can't believe that I waited 2 days until the contest deadline to bake these cookies! Actually... I can believe it. I'm a huge, horrible procrastinator, and I'm not proud of it. But, that's the way I am, and I haven't changed for 16 1/2 years, so I doubt I'll stop procrastinating now (sorry, mom). Anyway, I think that I still have a shot at making it before the deadline.

My idea is so cute! Which is good, because the point of this contest is to find the cutest cookie. The $300 top prize isn't so bad either. I'll keep the design a secret until I actually make the cookies, that way it'll be more fun! :)

Hopefully you'll see me in a Taste of Home magazine soon! (Keep your fingers crossed!)