Rub-a Dub-Dub Plastic Babies In A Tub: Cupcakes

As promised from yesterday's underworld of cake decorations post here's an idea of how to use plastic baby decorations in a good way.

Bubble Bath Baby Cupcakes ~
Here's what you'll need:

• Tips #4 and #8 or similar sizes

• Pastry bag/coupler

• Baby decoration

• Royal icing ducks (you can make your own with the same number tips as above) or purchase if you only need a few. This saves a lot of time.

• Disco Dust in Rainbow

Seriously. How cute is this tush?

Spread a base of icing on the cupcake and place the baby on top.Next, squeeze drops from the larger tube in a random pattern over the cupcake and the baby except the head and arms. Cover the icing surface with these. If you find yourself making drops with little spiky tops, wait a few minutes for them to set and get a tad crusty and then push them down. This will give you a rounder bubble.


Change out to the smaller tip and make smaller bubbles here and there on top of the larger ones.

Sprinkle with Disco Dust and place a couple of ducks in the tub!

Note: When placing royal icing decorations into buttercream, don't add them more than a day ahead. The grease in the buttercream will start to break down the sugar and meringue base.


It's bath time!

Icing Tips ~
If you use a Buttercream Icing with vanilla and butter, the icing will not be pure white.
I used Amer-Color Bright White to brighten up the color. It's a liquid. I used quite a bit, about 1/4 cup for a double batch of icing. Cut down on the amount of liquid in your icing recipe to compensate on using added liquid coloring.
If you don't like to use as much of this coloring, use an icing recipe that has only white ingredients.

Here's my recipe I use when I need a true white decorating icing.
It is a tad labor intensive with mixing 2 separate parts and then combining them but it produces a light and fluffy icing with a great flavor.

Decorating Icing

Part 1
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
2 Tbls. Meringue Powder
1/2 cup (less 2 Tbls.) Water (very hot)
1/4 tsp. salt (optional)
1/2 tsp. almond extract or other clear flavoring

Beat until stiff peaks form with a whisk attachment if using a Kitchen Aid mixer. (Any amount of grease will keep the icing from getting stiff.)

Part 2
2 cups Crisco Shortening
1 lb. Powdered Sugar

Mix until light and fluffy with a paddle attachment if using a Kitchen Aid mixer.

Mix Part 1 into Part 2 and beat well on high speed with a paddle attachment about 8-10 minutes scrapping the bowl and beater. Do not refrigerate.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

Happy 20th Birthday to my sweet, baby boy!


May you find the same joy in your heart today as when you opened your present on your third birthday and found exactly what you wished for.

xoxo

The Underworld of Cake Decorations

Well, as you know, there's no bun in the oven but I still have the urge to bake something.

I was at my not-so-local cake decorating store (60 miles round trip) and was intrigued by all the plastic cake toys. (I'm making something which I'd like to put in a video for you if I can ever figure out how to do that. If anyone can tutor me there might be some cookies in it for you. :) )

Anyway, I needed plastic babies. Found one type to use but I needed another type so I came home and googled 'plastic babies'.

Join me for a tour of the underworld of plastic cake decorations.

Hold my hand. It gets creepy.

These look like the carrot riding babies with mohawks made famous by Cake Wrecks.

Alien Invasion. Think I saw these in a video flying around Mexico City.

Congratulations C3PO!
Your little clones are just precious.

B.Y.O.Diapers

Okay. Not so bad.

Until....

Rosemary's baby!! Yikes!

Tune in tomorrow to see cute retro cupcakes using adorable non-creepy plastic babies. :)

The Pregnancy Test

An hour before we were to leave for our weekend trip I blurted out from the other room, “and while you’re there get a pregnancy test”. This was the addendum to the list after cat food.

Silence. Then ruckus laughter that held undertones of mixed joy and disbelief from the father of my children. It’s not what I wanted to hear. “Don’t go all stupid on me. I won’t be able to do this”. This, meaning nothing and everything jointly. My brow contorted as if to say, ‘don’t *mess* with me’ although clearly this may have been a moot point.

On and off for the past few months I thought this could be a remote possibility. Very remote but nevertheless not a medical miracle. You’ve heard of it happening – the ovaries send out word like a spam email blast – “Going-out-of-business sale! All inventory must go! Everything available for a limited time only”!

Or this –

“You are cordially invited to attend the party of the century – The last dance, the last hurrah! RSVP-ASAP”!

I know for a fact this occurs. It happened to my parents. The ‘X’ chromosome RSVPed. My dad was 53 when I was born, my age. My mom was in her early to mid forties. It was very much a surprise party and nine months later, I was the party favor!

Within 20 minutes a long thin box was handed to me as cans of cat food were placed on the kitchen counter. It had been 21 years since I last opened one of those boxes with giddy excitement in hope of adding a sibling for our 2 year-old son. I was 33 then. A generation ago. I didn't feel that way anymore.

As my heart beat in my throat, the directions seemed written in gibberish. My eyes started at the top of the page and made it to the bottom several times without comprehension. I asked for assistance without commentary and handed over my reading glasses to the father of my children.

Relieved of the burden of not having to think, suddenly a moment of false clarity based on avoidance and fear - “I’ll take it after the weekend. It’ll ruin our trip”.

Our destination was to visit our youngest son in college who turns 20 this week. I was using his birthday as the excuse for the all inclusive ‘well child check/frig restock/mom needs a hug’ mission accompanied by a wonderfully romantic winery hopping side trip.

Whatever decisions may or may not have to be made in case of a positive result, I could not be intentionally irresponsible. This was the sudden urgency I felt. I had to know before we left if I could partake on my side trip or be sidelined.

The male voice behind my purple reading glasses said, “Get it over with so you can enjoy yourself”, (‘You’ distinctly meaning him) as he read and explained what end of the stick went where in the new millennium.

Three minutes later the father of my children asked from the safety of the other room – “Is it blinking”?

“Yes. Now it stopped”.

“What does it say”?

“There is a god”.

I came around the corner smiling, happy and relieved until we came close enough to touch. We looked at each other and I felt the corners of my mouth turn downward and my eyes begin to water. I buried my face in his chest with my arms at my sides. My shoulders hiccupped in a couple short emotional breaths. I stayed melted into him as comforting hands ran up and down my spine. I heard a conflicted muffled voice.

“I feel old”. It was mine.

“Me too”.

Store closed.

Vera Bradley "All Wrapped Up" Jewelry Roll

Little $18 promotional Vera Bradley jewelry cases called 'All Wrapped Up'.
*LOVE*
They were very difficult to find round these parts as not every VB retailer carried them but they are as cute as can be as in 'adorable' and 'girlie' and 'you've got a find one and make it your own'. Definitely worth the hunt if you can still find them even if perhaps they have gone back up to $28.


Up close and personal~


A magnet keeps the compartments stationary and in a stack.


And who can resist little secret nooks? I can't.


Doesn't it say, 'tuck me into your duffle and let's go away for the weekend to find the perfect Merlot'?

That's what I'm hearing.


And I always listen to my jewelry.

Blog Name Poll - Cast Your Vote!

The preliminary names are in for my spin-off baking/cookie blog and I've gotta tell ya, I've got some mighty clever and creative blogging friends (and FB friends) out there.

I've put together a list of everyone's wonderful suggestions (well, almost all of them) for you to vote on because I can be too easily swayed by a pun or play on words when I'm giggling. Yep, I'm that easy.

Of course, I don't know what name is already taken in the web world but this is as good a place to start as any. :)

You can vote for as many names as you like!

Thanks for your help!

Founding Father Cookies

Can you guess which founding father these cookies represent?


Here's another hint...


I bet you're getting warm.

What about if I added bifocal glasses?
Over the past few years, I am personally thankful he invented these.
I could not decorate cookies without my 'cheaters'. :)


Here's all the clues together.


If you guessed Benjamin Franklin, you're right!

Bowers Museum in Santa Ana is having an exhibit of his personal items and it's a wonderful trip for kids.

I made quite of few baskets of cookies for sponsored give-away tickets from Bowers. The cookie baskets accompanied the tickets. I think Ben would have enjoyed a cookie or two himself!

Wishing you a revolutionary week, my friends!

I Need Your Creativity!

Your wit and cleverness just might be, well, the key!

I'd like your help in suggesting a name for my new baking/cookie blog which is in the works.

Can you think of something memorable and fun?
I bet my cupcake cups you can!

It'll be fun. When I have enough of them I'll post a poll and we can choose together.

I just thought of one ~
"Baking My The Seat of My Pans"

But I'm just flying by the seat of my pants on that one.

See how much I need you, blog friends? :)

My Many Zoolander Moments

Besides being one of my favorite movies where I can laugh in the same places even if I've see it a hundred times it has become a standing joke with my boys that I have my Zoolander moments when it comes to buttons connected to anything digital and techie. You know the part in the movie where Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) are trying to get into the monitor to get files because they were told the files were 'in the computer'? They think this means the monitor, of course, and they bat it around and become ape-like. Yep. Me, Zoolander and Hansel (he's so hot right now).

I've spent hours trying to figure out how I have 3 FaceBook pages for our business and can only admin one of them. Did you know Facebook does not read requests for help or at least a real person doesn't and it may not get read at all even by the computer? I've sent 4 emails asking for help. Nada. My son suggested they offer a live-help line for those over 40. Brilliant idea! I bet the wait time would be over 30 minutes.

My experience tonight setting up a Twitter business page was hardly any better. The premier post I added I now cannot delete. Thank goodness I didn't write something snarky in my frustration to temporarily amuse myself.

Tomorrow, well, in a few hours from now I have to phone in to a webinar of how to manage our work's website. Lord have mercy.

As my upper lip broke out into a sweat at the thought, I started to Google social media consultants. I'm that desperate but I can't afford the social media 'thug', as she calls herself. I encourage anyone who knows how to do all or any of the above to quit your day job. I believe that's where the money is - bringing the baby boomers up to speed. You'll make a fortune sending emails back and forth to your clients from your sofa. Heck, you can even pop in Zoolander whilst you push your buttons and keys.

I believe I'm also the last holdout for the smart phone and texting. I will try to text my boys if I don't hear from them in over a week's time but there are no caps or punctuation and it doesn't take long for me to T-9, 'are you alive'?

I am trying though, I really am but it is so overwhelming. I feel all I'm doing is reading how to work things, constantly, from the new digital thermostat to my new oven, microwave and printer - all with that digital button technology.

Tonight I went to press the button to turn off the oven light and hit the self-cleaning mode. About 10 minutes later I thought I was having the ultimate hot flash.

I have made progress though. As of last week I'm off the auto setting on my DSLR camera but that happened to be a turn of a dial.

Stamping On A Wedding Cookie

I promise soon I'll have a post that isn't cookie related but it's been my world for the last few weeks.

A few weeks ago I was in Paper Source with a friend where I found this stamp and immediately fell in love with the saying and font. I had to have it!


I knew it would be perfect for wedding cookies!
Why couldn't I stamp a cookie?

I've never seen a stamped cookie before but it became my quest to figure out a way to do it and how to get the best impression.

I tried a paper towel to hold the ink but it didn't work very well.
Stamping down into the paper towel put too much ink all over the stamp. Yuk.
Luckily, AmeriColor gel rinses right off and doesn't stain the stamp.

I then remembered a technique that I used when I was into stamping.
The trick is to take the ink source to the stamp and dab it on, so I had to perfect my ink delivery.

I made my own ink pad by taking a flat, firm, unused sponge that I cut the same size as the stamp and applied the food gel to it.
I then took my new ink pad in one hand put it over the top of the stamp and dabbed it.
Sorry I couldn't get a picture. I don't know how to use the timer on my camera - yet!
Anyway, it worked great!!

The dried icing on the cookie is pretty sturdy so I applied decent pressure rocking the stamp just a little to make sure it made contact with the cookie surface.


I realized it's best to stamp the cookie before doing any serious decorating in case I wasn't exactly pleased with the image. So do your base icing first, then stamp.

Here's the same cookie with a little more detail added.


Don't look too closely at the design.
Not my style and kind of *yawn* boring I think but I was zipping through it to see if I liked a pink border. I didn't. I tried to fix it with white pearl dragees. Nope. Not doing it for me.

Here's a cookie with pink pearl dragees ~

And of course, rainbow Disco Dust sprinkled on the heart.


I liked the elegant simplicity of this design especially for a bride who doesn't want to go all florally. (Is that a word?)

The bride, whose wedding is in May, is having a cake with black bands of icing around the base. She's having pale pink flowers with light green
accents so I tried to incorporate all the elements into this prototype cookie.

Cookie with rounded bottom ~


I think something is need on the 'tray' layer but I don't know what quite yet.
Perhaps a pink color?

Cookie with flat bottom ~


Which one(s) do you like?


I'm sending them to the bride so she can mix and match design elements.

Since I'm just beginning the thought and design processes, I'm open to suggestions and ideas! :)

Cookies For The Congressman

I'm happy to be of service to my country.

If just to contribute to a Congressional staff's retreat dinner's dessert.

I wonder if the differences in Congress could be discussed more pleasantly over a plate of cookies and milk. Just a thought. :)