Make way for cupcakes

Sookie and Milo!

2012-01-31T20:23:00.001-08:00

Sookie and Milo! a video by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Earlier today, Sookie was very interested in the squirt bottle. She was jumping at it and trying to catch the water. I tried it again this afternoon and this is what happened!

Sookie and her Corgi and Cupcake print

2012-01-26T11:19:00.001-08:00

Sookie and her Corgi and Cupcake print, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

We got this in the mail today from my friend, Stephanie! I love it SO much!!

The print is from http://www.etsy.com/shop/AfricanGrey?ref=ss_profile - please check them out, they do some absolutely beautiful work!

Sookie butt!

2012-01-20T08:24:00.001-08:00

Sookie butt!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

She never quite makes it all the way under the bed, so I'm not entirely sure she knows just how long she is!

Sookie

2012-01-11T19:48:00.001-08:00

Peeking at the neighbors, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Peeking at the neighbors!

Happy New Year, from Sookie!

2011-12-31T17:40:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year, from Sookie!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Sookie and her Christmas cards

2011-12-19T13:14:00.001-08:00

Sookie and her Christmas cards, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Please note how unimpressed Milo is!

Reindog!

2011-12-10T21:14:00.001-08:00

Sookie, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Sookie tells me how she really feels about being a reindog!

Christmas picture!

2011-12-01T19:17:00.001-08:00

Christmas picture!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Her ginormous tongue is kind of a scene stealer!

Caramel "apple" grapes!

2011-10-30T17:44:00.001-07:00

Caramel "apple" grapes!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

I made these as a snack for a meeting - they were pretty awesome!

Sookie and Maya (and Milo sneaking in)

2011-10-23T20:23:00.001-07:00

Sookie and Maya (and Milo sneaking in), a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Sookie

2011-10-18T11:57:00.001-07:00

Sookie, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

....dressed for Halloween as her namesake!

Emily

2011-10-16T15:10:00.001-07:00

Emily, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

My sister unexpectedly dressed to match the room!

Matthew

2011-10-09T19:25:00.001-07:00

Matthew, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

My friend Galiena's grandson - he's so stinkin' cute!

Emily and Raider

2011-09-21T16:54:00.001-07:00

Emily and Raider, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

My sister and her dog!

Smiley Milo!

2011-09-09T16:51:00.001-07:00

Smiley Milo!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Calendar girl!

2011-09-01T07:05:00.001-07:00

Really, mom?, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Our Sookie is going to be in the Corgis (with blogs) calendar again this year! Thank you to everyone who voted for her - we're so excited!!

http://corgibutts.blogspot.com/2011/09/corgis-with-blogs-2012-calendar-winners.html

Fluffy love patties

2011-08-26T14:45:00.001-07:00

Fluffy love patties, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Her favorite snack!

2011-08-22T20:34:00.001-07:00

Her favorite snack!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

She hardly gets any "people food" but will come out of nowhere for a pretzel!

Celebrate Erie chalk art

2011-08-20T19:19:00.001-07:00

Celebrate Erie chalk art, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

This one was my favorite!

Love!

2011-08-11T08:10:00.001-07:00

Love!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

I did some family pictures for my cousin, Chris (who is in the Air Force), and his adorable family while they were up visiting from Delaware. This was my absolute favorite shot of the night!

Butterbeer cupcakes!

2011-08-03T17:36:00.001-07:00

Butterbeer cupcakes, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Kristin and Kevin, married!!

2011-08-02T17:58:00.001-07:00

Kristin and Kevin, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Thank you, both, for allowing me to be a part of your wonderful day!

Best. Turkey. Sandwich. EVER!

2011-07-27T16:34:00.001-07:00

Best. Turkey. Sandwich. EVER!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

@ the White Turkey Drive-In!

Erie Zoo trip, 2011

2011-07-26T16:52:00.001-07:00

Erie Zoo trip, 2011, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

I could have spent all day taking pictures of these birds!

Sookie's new friend

2011-07-15T16:50:00.001-07:00

Sookie's new friend, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Milo and Sookie

2011-07-14T12:51:00.001-07:00

Milo and Sookie, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Couch Patrol!

2011-06-15T09:01:00.001-07:00

Couch Patrol!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Thank you...

2011-05-30T16:58:00.001-07:00

Sookie, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

...to all who have served and are serving and protecting our country!

...and she doesn't live in New Jersey!

2011-05-18T10:55:00.001-07:00

...and she doesn't live in New Jersey!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

Erie County 4-H Auction!!

2011-05-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for something to do this Saturday, May 7th, (and something that benefits a fantastic organization for youth in Erie County), please consider stopping out to our 4-H Auction! This is our largest fundraiser all year. I will have certain items in the bake sale that you'll want to get there early to check out. ;)

It's the Easter Corgi, Charlie Brown!

2011-04-25T09:28:00.001-07:00

It's the Easter Corgi, Charlie Brown!, a photo by Make Way For Cupcakes on Flickr.

I hope that you and your families had a blessed and very happy Easter!

Update

2011-03-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

To anyone who has asked about getting cupcakes from me lately, I apologize, but I am not baking for anyone right now, until I get my own space to bake in.

I am enjoying the time off from baking, except for fun here and there, and I am enjoying spending time with my kids, my family, my pups, and my friends. My kids' schooling takes up a lot of my time now, and I love every minute of it!

Sookie turns 1!

2011-02-18T17:42:00.001-08:00

Sookie turns 1!
Originally uploaded by Make Way For Cupcakes

Just a quick post to celebrate our little girl's first birthday, yesterday! (February 17th)

Changes!

2011-01-29T11:18:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed, that my blog header has changed!

I have decided to take the blog in a slightly different direction, since I'm not baking all the time anymore. I do still get the urge to bake cupcakes sometimes (for parties/gatherings/family events), but since I also write about my pups, I am now "Make Way for Pupcakes!"

I will still keep the url the same, because that is the blog name that goes along with Sookie's Corgi Butts calendar picture - I'll change that next year, since she is Miss December!

a few random photos to catch things up!

2011-01-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

My camera has also been a little neglected lately too. I did take some pictures over the holiday, but I don't have them up on Flickr yet.

This was a cake that I made for a friend of mine - they are cookie "zombies" that are attacking and coming out of the cake.

Here is the first family picture we've ever had with all four of us! It only took us 12 years to get it done, LOL! We took this on Thanksgiving at my parents' house (my dad used my camera to take it). We decided to use this on our Christmas cards this year! The only thing I don't like about this photo, is how gray my hair has gotten, lol.

Back in October, I took some engagement photos for a friend of a friend. This was the first time I've really done anything like these, so please be gentle!

I know there's more to share, but since I'm going to try to blog more, I'll save them for another time!

Puppy update!

2011-01-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

So, I've been slacking with this blog again, it's becoming a habit that's not so good. I promise to try and blog more this year!

Sookie is 10 months old now and has really assimilated herself into this household well. The only thing I wish she didn't do, is eat shoes. We can't seem to break her of this habit no matter what we try (I even tried putting the shoes up off the floor where she can't get them, but I found her yesterday with one of my dress shoes). We love our little troublemaker though!

She has had a lot of firsts these past few months. Her first real experience with snow (which was short-lived as we had some decent weather here that melted the snow we did get). Her first experience with Christmas - she completely left the tree alone, but did chew up a couple other decorations. Her first time jumping up onto our bed, which we totally didn't expect as our bed is pretty high off the ground. No one is safe now!

Here are a few updated pictures to share, too!

...and don't forget Milo, too!

I've been a bad blogger...

2010-10-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

I apologize, but I simply haven't had the time to blog lately between the kids, the pups, the husband and lots of other things that keep me from this!

We did start out dessert tour but it kind of stalled after two weeks from lack of funds (we'll start it back up soon, I hope!).

Sookie is doing well. She's really learned how to manipulate my husband, that's for sure! Here she is in her Halloween costume!

I'll have other pictures to share (from several events) as soon as I find more time to sit down and post them! Thanks for sticking around, if you have!

Erie dessert tour suggestions wanted!!

2010-09-27T18:56:00.001-07:00

If there is anyone local that still reads this, I'm calling out to you!

We want to try to do a dessert tour of Erie county. Originally my husband wanted to try to get this done in one day, but I think I've convinced him that if we were to do this, he'd end up going into diabetic shock. It has been discussed further, and we would like to do this over the next few Saturdays (starting October 9th).

Sooooo, here is where you come in, dear readers! I am looking for restaurants, bakeries, ice cream/gelato places (I realize we are starting this towards the end of "ice cream season") and local hidden gems (like Frank's Farm Market that was suggested by a friend on Facebook). We're trying to keep this local, not choosing national chains.

If you have a suggestion - please let us know what to try there! Between the four of us, there is bound to be something everywhere that at least one of us will try! Our goal is to try to divide county up (north, south, east, west) over four weeks.

I plan on bringing my camera and blogging one or two places a week, to make this more of a series, since I've been a blog slacker lately!

Thank you, in advance, for your help and suggestions!

Paws at the Park

2010-09-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Miss Sookie is currently zonked out on the living room couch right now. Before that, she was sacked out under our bed upstairs. I wore her out today!

Today was Paws at the Park here in Erie. It is put on every year by our local Therapy Dog group. There are vendors and demonstrations and lots and lots of dogs! My sister and I went together and let the "cousins" hang out (her dog and Sookie - Milo stayed home because he doesn't always play nice with other dogs). We had a really good time! I took lots of pictures - here are some of them! You can follow any of them to Flickr to see the rest (I have to get around to renewing my Flickr membership - I don't like the rest of my 1000's of photos floating out there and I can't get to them)!

Sookie!

We saw more Corgis than I expected to see here! The little red and white fella here only made it to Erie yesterday all the way from Missouri! He was SO stinkin' cute!

We got to watch an Agility demonstration - I've done agility before and love it, but not so sure I'm coordinated enough to do it now!

Blog readers, meet my sister and her pup, Raider! We took a time-out to get a new picture of them (because the last time I tried to take one, Raider wouldn't cooperate!)!

I think that about wraps up today! Thanks for stopping by!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

Calendar Girl!

2010-09-07T07:25:00.001-07:00

If you follow the link to the fantastic Corgi Butts blog, you will find our sweet little Sookie is Miss December on the Corgis (with blogs) 2011 calendar!! I would love to thank everyone that voted for her!

She has taken to chewing two very specific things lately around the house - sandals and the button eyes off of Mason's stuffed animals. I think she's trying to send us a message. "If you try and leave the house, I'll chew your eyeballs out!"

We love our little girl more every day. She loves having the boys and I home all the time since we started cyber school with PA Cyber this school year. This means more walks and pets (and treats) and lots and lots of loving! You can usually find her crashed out either on our bed (if we pick her up - we need to invest in some doggy steps, I think) or in my office, guarding our vast dvd collection.

I am SO excited that she made the calendar that I just had to share it! Any money from calendar sales will go directly to Lakeshore Corgi Rescue in Iowa, so I totally encourage you to pick up a calendar when they go on sale, or even just the digital version, if that's all you can afford.

Again, Sookie and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts!! Happy Tuesday, everybody!

Worn out pup!

2010-09-01T05:47:00.001-07:00

IMG_9465
Originally uploaded by Make Way For Cupcakes

Sookie has been enjoying playing with the neighbor pup (a shepherd mix) and comes home completely zonked - we love it!!

I'm sorry for the lack of posts again but with school starting, things have been a little hectic!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

2010-08-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

This year, my husband Dave, took two weeks off work for his vacation back in July.

I was ready for him to go back after the first weekend. I love him dearly, but his vacation weeks really throw off my groove!

We mostly stayed right around Erie, with an exception for a day trip to Cleveland to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

We visited the TREC down on Presque Isle and went to Sara's.

Connor turned 11!

We did a movie day and saw Despicable Me (LOVED IT!) and went to Steak and Shake. This next picture is the last one of Mason's long hair - he got a haircut over vacation too, finally!

We went to Family First Sports Park and did mini golf with the in-laws another day. There are no pictures from our Cleveland trip because they don't allow pictures to be taken inside the R&R Hall, so I just left the camera at home.

We visited the Erie Zoo, after not going last year (we just couldn't fit it into our schedule last year).

There was also a bowling day in there somewhere (for the kids).

This wasn't on vacation, but I just had to share it!

There will be more cupcake pictures here again later in the week as I am making wedding cupcakes this week! Here is just a teaser ;)

Vince and Linda's Civil War wedding

2010-08-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked by a good friend if I would come take pictures at his wedding. I jumped at the chance because I had so much fun with the last pictures I took for him! Why, you ask? They're Civil War re-enactors! Their wedding was held out at the Yellow House in Girard, PA during Dan Rice Days, immediately followed by a battle re-enactment. (I didn't not stay for the battle. I don't do well with loud noises!). Here are a few of my favorites that I took.

I am ordering a print of this for myself!

As you can see, I love the little details!

Thanks for reading and I'll post again soon!

Is this thing still on?

2010-08-11T05:53:00.001-07:00

Hi! I'm still here, I promise! I've just been super busy (which is a really good thing)!

School is starting just around the corner, and this year the boys are going to be going to cyberschool instead of an actual, physical school building. We are all really excited about this!

Sookie is doing wonderful. She really is too cute for her own good, which makes it hard to scold her for being bad sometimes. She is just about six months old now and really keeps us, and Milo (our JRT) on our toes. Milo tolerates her most of the time, but lately, she always seems to have one part or another of him in her mouth - she particularly likes his ears or his tail. The one really good thing as of late is that she FINALLY figured out how to get down all of the stairs in the house. Before yesterday, she could get up the stairs, but not go down them - we would have to carry her down the stairs, earning her the nickname "The Queen". "Would The Queen like to go downstairs now?" We definitely love her more each day!

I'll use that last photo to transition into the other big part of my life right now - CUPCAKES! I finally found something that I love to do and am happy to get out of bed every day to bake! I didn't feel that way about my old job at all. I have a few weddings coming up, and I will be very happy to share those with you as I complete those jobs. I don't even really look at it as a job because I have so much fun doing it! The backdrops you'll see in the following photos are simply scrapbook papers (that I got on sale at Michaels - LOVE that store!!).

The Connor's birthday cupcakes (he's 11 now!) - Turtle mini cupcakes

"Wedding Cake" and Red Velvet minis

Fluffernutter, Chocolate/Chocolate, Snickerdoodle, Orange Dreamsicle, Cookies 'n Cream, and Wedding Cake w/ Raspberry filling minis

White Chocolate Raspberry, S'mores (with toasted marshmallow buttercream), Red Velvet, Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Peanut Butter minis

There are lots more, but you can follow any of those pictures to my Flickr to check them out!

I'll do another post soon (I promise) of Dave's vacation - he took two weeks this year) and the Civil War wedding I took pictures at as a favor to the groom!

Well, I'm off to start baking for the day - thank you for those who still peek in and I'll try to do better about blogging when I have the time!

Our little Sookie...

2010-06-23T08:26:00.001-07:00

... isn't quite so little any more!

Sookie is 5 months old now and we love her more every day (even if she has a bit of a shoe fetish, LOL!)!

Here she is the day after we brought her home with us:

and here she is just the other day!

We are doing weekly training classes along with my 4-H club and she's getting the hang of things very quickly! She just doesn't like to stand for anything, but we're working on that.

She and Milo still like to get in each others' faces, but they're getting better. He's much more tolerant of her now and they actually play together some. I've even caught them sleeping next to each other but as soon as I go to get the camera they're both up and wanting attention!

I think that's the update for now! Off to walk the pups!

Cupcake assortment.....

2010-05-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

....and only one puppy picture this time, LOL.

This is a box of 7 dozen mini cupcakes. From bottom to top - Orange Dreamsicle, Malted Milk Ball, Pink Lemonade, Cookies and Cream, French Toast and Bacon (yes, bacon!), Ho-Ho, and Grasshopper mini cupcakes.

Funny story that goes with the Malted cupcakes - I took a box of cupcakes to my mom at work last week for her birthday, and she announced that the milk ball ones "taste just like a Whopper" (meaning the candy ball) and someone else asked "like from Burger King?!" LOVE IT!!

Just so I don't leave my other dog out of my blog again, here are both pups, eyeballing me for a treat!

Sookie (in pictures)

2010-04-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

She's been here with us almost two weeks and has completely stolen our hearts.

New update

2010-04-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Cupcakes are going very well! I've been really busy and I love it.

In the box above, from left to right, are Cookies 'n Cream, Faux-Ho, Cinnamon Toast, Snickerdoodle, White Chocolate Raspberry, Pink Lemonade, Boston Cream Pie, and Shamrock Shake mini cupcakes.

We finally got our puppy! The trip to pick her up went very well (better than expected, actually!) and she slept most of the way home either on my lap or between my feet. Milo has been doing ok with her (he is our almost 10-year old Jack Russell Terrier), with only a growl when we brought her in, to which she growled right back. They've been getting along fine since then - which pretty much means that Milo has been ignoring her, LOL!

I think that's about it for now!

A few little updates (and a lot of exclamation points!)

2010-04-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

First - HAH! I was typing out the title of this post and accidentally put "upcakes" instead of "updates". I am so used to typing cupcakes I guess!

About a month ago, I was at work and a teacher told me I was awesome. Instead of graciously saying thank you like I should have, I blurted out, "I know, right?" That totally ranks up there now with the day I told a really cute gym teacher (at another school when I was still subbing) that "I had never touched this much meat before" when he commented on the amount of sandwiches I was making!

Now, on to the updates, LOL!

Welcome Spring!

Cupcakes! (Grasshopper, Boston Cream Pie, Banana Split, Triple Chocolate, Red Velvet and Dreamsicle)

Squatter Kitty! (This furry squatter has been hanging around our front porch. It seems friendly enough, but if you know me at all, you know that I am absolutely terrified of cats. These pictures were not easy for me to take at all, but I did it!)

...and the last bit of updates - our puppy comes home with us this Saturday!!! I am beyond excited for this!! Here is the latest picture of my Sookie that I have from the breeder! I totally want to nom her ears!! I won't though, I promise (well, maybe just a little bit!).

Cupcakes and some news!

2010-03-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

So, I've been a really crappy blogger lately, but I will try my hardest to do better. Seriously, when you've been blogging for close to 10 years, you tend to get a bit burned out after a while.

I've been baking A LOT lately - which I completely love. My cupcakes were recently featured in another fantastic local blog, which you can find here (the link is directly to the post about my cupcakes but I urge you to check out the rest of her blog too!). Thank you again, Kara, you made my day then!

Along the cupcake line, you can now get to my Facebook fan page by using http://facebook.com/makewayforcupcakes!

On another note, we are expecting a new addition to our family! No, I'm not pregnant (my two boys are more than enough, tyvm, LOL!), but we are getting a baby. A puppy - a Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy, to be exact! We will be traveling halfway across the state to get our furry little bundle of joy mid-April. Her name will be Sookie. Yes, she will be named after a character from the True Blood series, but more from the books than from the show, LOL. Here are a few pictures from the breeder to tide you over, but I know there will be TONS of pictures from me once she's here!

We're very excited to get her!

Other than that, I don't have anything much to report!

January update (oops, photos, cupcakes and dog!)

2010-01-20T07:31:00.000-08:00

You can call me Grace!

I'm on crutches for the next 5 days thanks to my fantastic walking-down-the-stairs abilities! I have a sprained ankle but they also found a bone spur on my heel when they did the x-ray. I never even know I had it, and honestly, I've never really noticed anything hurting there. The urgent care doc said it didn't look bad, so they didn't suggest doing anything about it, so I'll just let it go, I guess!

I dropped the boys off at school this morning and now I'm resting, which is nice! I went to my usual sites I visit this morning only to find that I have a photo featured on The Pioneer Woman's photography site this morning!!

This only had minimal tweaking, slight contrast, some sharpening after it's resized, but it's pretty much straight out of the camera. I remember the date it was taken without having to check the photo stats because that date means a lot to me. I remember standing down at Liberty Park looking over the Lake and enjoying the beautiful view. That is one of my favorite places to shoot and I haven't been down there in so long.

Seeing that up on her site absolutely made my day!

Not too much else going on here lately. Cupcakes I've made lately include Cookie Dough, Orange Dreamsicle, Peanut Butter Cup, and Banana Split. The last three are featured in this photo here:

I'll leave you with the latest photo of my puppy (who isn't really much of a puppy - he'll be 9 soon), Milo! He never holds still so I don't get to take his picture much.

This is me, slacking again

2009-12-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

Hello? Do I still have any readers left out there?

I suppose this is starting to be a theme here, but when you've been blogging for close to 10 years, you tend to get a little burned out by it every now and then.

Nothing much new to report. I'm still baking, still working, still stressed out (but not by baking - I love that!). I'm more or less in one piece (which, with my clumsiness, that's an impressive feat!).

Kiddos had fun on Halloween, we made it through Thanksgiving and enjoyed Christmas with our families.

I had an order for cupcakes for a baby shower and was asked if I could put a monogram of the baby's future initials on the cupcakes. I wracked my brain to figure out how I was going to do this, as I'm not real fond of fondant (i.e. - the Connor's wrestling ring birthday cake), so I decided to work with chocolate! I think they came out pretty fantastic. *pats her own back*

We drove down to Kraynak's and Daffin's mid-November. I've been to both several times but Dave had never been to either one. I think we'll be going back there again, as he enjoyed both very much. I picked up a couple Christmas ornaments at Kraynak's - both ornaments are very fitting for me!

The kids and I are currently enjoying Christmas break (and not really looking forward to returning to school/work on the 4th). We spent Christmas Eve with my side of the family, and that included a surprise baby shower (including games and baby gifts) for my cousin and his fiance. They were very surprised!

That is just some of my side of the family - there are lots missing from the picture!

We spent Christmas morning here at the house and later on at Dave's parents' house for lunch/dinner.

That last picture is my niece with her "If You Give A Cat A Cupcake" cat (and book in Dave's mom's lap) that we got for her!

I think that's just about everything. I'll try to be a better blogger next year, but I make no promises!

slacking

2009-10-06T05:04:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, I'm really overdue for a post. My bad!

I've been really busy with work, school (kids, not me), PTA, and 4-H. Oh, and cupcakes, of course!

I haven't even uploaded many photos to Flickr since my last post and that's pretty rare!

I have added a few new flavors to my cupcake menu including:

Apple Pie - an applesauce spice cake filled with apple pie filling topped with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar

and Chai Latte - chai tea cake with honey-cinnamon swiss meringue buttercream

...and these ones aren't new, but who can resist these itty bitty cupcakes?

I'll try to update more often, I promise!

a Rock Band night

2009-09-09T20:11:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's a non-cupcake post!

I'm not sure who enjoys this game more, my kids or my husband (who really had an idiot moment the other night, but more on that in a minute). None of us can sing all that great, but darn it, we have fun!

Dave decided (without my ok - I was completely against this from the moment he brought it up) to get the Stage Kit that goes with Rock Band - the light show and fog machine. Well, the dork managed to fog up the whole downstairs AND set the smoke alarm off the other night. I laugh now, but at the time I wasn't too happy to not be able to see through my living room at all.

Here are a few pictures from last night when the kids were really getting into the game.

I'm pretty sure this was during "Don't Stop Believing".

Cupcakes and catch-up

2009-09-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back to school and work now. So far so good on both fronts.

We really didn't do much this summer that wasn't around town, other than drive to the White Turkey (which was delicious, as always!).

We went downtown and watched the Frisbee dogs during Celebrate Erie and watched Abbey Road (which I think I enjoyed more than the kids did).

We caught the last buck night Seawolves game of the summer (well, a few innings anyway). The kids got free tickets we turned in earlier in the summer and I'm glad they were free because we ended up sitting next to a real jerk - who yelled at me for sitting in the seats that were on our tickets and then practically sat in my lap the whole time we were there. If he stayed there any longer I would have had to start fishing dollar bills out of my pockets, LOL!

Here are the PB&J cupcakes that I blogged about in my last post. These have quickly become a favorite to order!

...and here are the latest cupcakes I've done, for a picnic at my sister-in-law's house. Pink lemonade, s'mores and cinnamon toast mini's.

A non-update post

2009-08-24T11:20:00.001-07:00

I don't really have much to blog about lately. I went a couple weeks without cupcakes to make but then got slammed with orders this past weekend (believe me, I am NOT complaining about that in the least!!). I was so busy Saturday (when they were all getting picked up - I saw 7 people leave my house with cupcakes then!) that I didn't even really have time to take pictures of the cupcakes, including a new one - Peanut Butter & Jelly cupcakes. I have another order for those this week, so I will be sure to get a picture of them then!

We found the puppy we want but just can't swing the money for her right now. I'm sure another one will come along when we can afford it. We'll just have to wait a bit, that's all.

School starts back up next Monday and I know the kids are excited because they're starting to get a little bored with being home.

I have passed out so many business cards in the past month that I've had them that I am going to have to order more already!

Other than that, there really hasn't been much going on here. Hopefully this week I'll have pictures to share!

Benefit

2009-08-14T09:44:00.001-07:00

I haven't been posting much, but honestly, I haven't had much to post about lately, not even so many cupcakes to post.

I do want to take a minute to post this.

If anyone is interested, there is a benefit for one of Connor's school friends who was diagnosed with leukemia. I've attached the flier with the location/price details.

We will be going for sure!!

Please pass this on to anyone who you think might be interested!

This past weekend...

2009-07-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

I just realized within the last 10 days I have had about 400 cupcakes in my house.

400.

That just blows my mind.

I'm not complaining, I promise!!

I already showed you the 300 I did the weekend before last. I didn't take pictures of the ones I made for my parents this past weekend (they were the to-die-for peanut butter mini's with chocolate frosting) but I do have other ones to share, including a little cupcake experiment with turned out to be a love it or hate it recipe that I'll tweak the next time I make it.

First I will share with you the experimental cupcakes I did. French Toast and Bacon. Yes, bacon. They are paired with a Peaches and Cream cupcake for an unintentional breakfast - they kids told me the peach ones look like a "dippy egg".

Those were for Friday. Saturday morning I cranked out the ones for my parents and then started on my order for Sunday.

Sunday's order was for Malted Milk, Triple Chocolate and Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes. These are full size cupcakes which was a change for me since 9 times out of 10 I'm making mini ones.

Malted Milk cupcakes:

Triple Chocolate cupcakes:

Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes (these have a peanut butter surprise inside - I forgot to get a picture of that this time):

This morning, my new business cards arrived! This time I ordered them with all pictures of cupcakes I've done. Not that I don't love the last ones I ordered, I'll keep those around. I just forgot to put my email address on the last ones (I had been writing it on there when I handed them out). I was really excited about these!

I think that just about wraps everything up here that's happened lately!

This past week...

2009-07-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

So, I've been busy, busy, busy!

I never finished the blog entry about the blackberry upside down cake. Here is the finished product (with homemade sweetened whipped cream - not that icky cool whip stuff!).

In the meantime, Dave had a week off of work (I love him dearly but I'm always glad to get back to my own routine!). We spent the week doing things around town. Movies, mini-golf, watching the horse races at the Downs.

This past weekend was a packed one for me. I spent it making 300 cupcakes for a friend's family reunion. I made Margarita, Red Velvet, Chocolate/Vanilla, Vanilla/Chocolate, Grasshopper, and Creamsicle mini cupcakes. I also hung around with them and took pictures while I was there so they wouldn't have to worry about who had a camera.

Until today, it had been 3 days since I last baked a cupcake. I think I was going through withdrawl, LOL!. I baked today for Dave's work birthday food day tomorrow. I had a couple new recipes to try out and got to test them out when the boys and I got our haircuts this afternoon. Both cupcakes were a bit hit!

The cupcake on the left is a Peaches and Cream cupcake - but both kids told me it looked like a "dippy egg". It's a vanilla peach cake with a vanilla cream cheese frosting and peach puree on top. The cupcake on the left is French Toast and Bacon. LOVE it. That whipped maple buttercream frosting is to die for. Seriously. I made an untentional breakfast, I guess, LOL!

I have new business cards on order from Moo.com again. I just love that site and the half sized cards are just too cute. This time, I got them all with cupcake photos that I have done.

I think that about wraps up this week! I'll post again sometime this weekend, I hope, because I have more cupcakes to make this weekend!

a hint of things to come

2009-07-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

So, my husband says I'm about due for another post. Well, here it is! LOL

I'm working on a surprise for him this morning. As I type this, he's still asleep upstairs. There is a blackberry upside-down cake baking in the oven (see? more proof for those who follow me on Twitter that I don't just bake cupcakes). I have my fingers crossed that it comes out as planned!

This is as far as I got with pictures right now:

I'll get more pictures when it's out of the oven and flipped out of the pan!

Recipe can be found HERE.

A (mostly) non-cupcake post!

2009-06-26T11:18:00.001-07:00

I've been enjoying my summer vacation very much (aside from our tub being clogged- yuck!).

I had some very dear friends in town for a visit. We hit the TREC, Sara's and drove around the Peninsula and took their little one to the beach for her very first time!

We've started our 4-H dog training classes for the summer and I caught a beautiful sunset the other night.

This past Sunday a close friend of my family got married! Congrats again Megan and Aaron. Thank you for letting me share in your special day. The week before the wedding, Megan contacted me about making some special gluten-free cupcakes for her 3-year old niece so that she could have cake at the reception. I was more than happy do that for them!

I think that about sums up my last few weeks! If you happen to be reading this today (Friday), please don't forget to check out my previous post and vote for Milo if you want to!

Milo

2009-06-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

He's up for Bob FM's favorite pet!

IF you think he's the best in his bracket, please vote for him. Winner gets a year's supply of pet food from Dad's and $100 Giant Eagle gift card. He made it through the first round of voting and is up for the top 3 vote today - I believe the final vote is tomorrow, you can vote both days. He's in the second bracket at the following link.

http://www.947bobfm.com/jocks

Thank you - and feel free to pass this on if you think others may vote for him. I don't send out posts or blogs like this ever, but that gift card sure would come in handy if he wins!

cupcake overload!

2009-06-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realize I haven't been posting that much lately. Even with it being my summer vacation, I've been keeping very busy lately!

Two weeks into vacation and I've had three mid-sized cupcake orders to fill! I'm very grateful for these orders!

First I had the order which I started to blog last week. Here is the rest of that order - mini s'mores and white chocolate raspberry cupcakes:

Then I got a call on a Thursday asking for an order for the next day. I got to work right away with that one, starting with my now "famous" peanut butter cup mini's. According to a friend of mine "...They taste like a Reese's cup and cake batter had sex and birthed a litter of mini Reese's cupcakes." Yes, that is an itty bitty Reese's cup on top!

For that order I also did red velvet with a vanilla cream cheese frosting, snickerdoodle (cinnamon sugar cake with a cinnamon buttercream frosting) and double butterscotch (butterscotch cake with maple butterscotch cream cheese frosting).

This coming week I have another order for the white chocolate raspberry ones (those are one of my most popular ones), so I'll keep busy with those!

more cupcakes

2009-06-12T18:32:00.001-07:00

Working on an order for a friend of mine. This is just half the order. Mini cookies 'n cream cupcakes and banana split cupcakes.

peanut butter cupcakes

2009-06-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

Recently, on my Facebook fan page for Make Way For Cupcakes, I ran a contest where the prize was, of course, cupcakes!

The winner picked up his cupcakes tonight and had this to say about them:

"...They taste like a Reese's cup and cake batter had sex and birthed a litter of mini Reese's cupcakes. Good God..."

That may seriously be the best description of anything I've ever made. EVER.

Here are the pictures to go with the cupcakes!

Yes, that was a little itty bitty Reese's cup on top of it!

Here are my winners (well, two of them - Julie was hiding behind them)! It was great to meet another blog reader - I'm still shocked every time I meet someone who reads what I write/post.

First official day of vacation!

2009-06-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

Bring it on, summer!

blog neglect

2009-06-06T16:11:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't blogged much lately and I apologize. That should change now that I'm off work for the summer!!! YAY!

I've kept busy lately with cupcakes and photos, I'll share those with you now.

Ok, lets see. We went to Ribfest last weekend. The only word to describe what we ate there was delicious. I had a pulled pork sandwich from Sgt. Oink's. Dave had a sandwich from another stand, which I don't remember the name. Connor had a few ribs from the same place Dave went to and Mason (who just likes to be different), had a corndog.

We sat in the shade on the west side of the park right by the Hot Waffle and Ice Cream Sandwich stand. My gosh this was genius!! Again, delicious works here!

I'll save you from the photos of me v. the bouncy castle at my nephews' birthday party. Let's just say that the bouncy castle won. I really didn't mean to go down the slide head first, I promise!!

I made ice cream cone cupcakes (vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting colored blue to look like the Connor's favorite ice cream - Blue Moon) for the Connor to take to school since he has a summer birthday. They came out perfect and were a big hit with his class. I also made the cookie dough cupcakes to take to work with me for my boss's summer birthday, but I don't have any pictures of those this time.

This past Wednesday, I took pictures for a friend whose son was graduating high school. We headed up to the Wintergreen Gorge cemetery and across the street from it because that was where she chose. I love the small waterfall out in front of the cemetery. These photos were a bit of a challenge for me since I'm barely 5'1" and he towered over me. I had to make sure to be on higher ground from him, or at least farther away. The majority of these were taken with my 50mm lense which I looooove!!

This past Friday was the last day of work for me for the summer. Now, to just stay out of trouble!

I'll leave you with these flowers. I really have no idea what they are but to me they look like fireworks. I took these the same night as the graduation photos and was playing around a little with DOF.

Margarita cupcakes

2009-05-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Cake recipe here. Frosting recipe here. I didn't use the alcohol in them though, simply because I didn't have any at the house (I don't drink much anymore).

Lime buttercream frosting before I added the food coloring ... I love that you can see the little flecks of zest!

I used a coarse sugar to simulate the look of salt.

I also made the s'mores ones. I couldn't think of two cupcakes more suitable for a picnic than s'mores and margaritas!

The chocolate pieces on top of the s'mores cupcakes are little bitty baking pieces I found recently! I had been chopping up the fun size bars of Hershey's, but these are SO much easier! I also found them in Peppermint Patty and Reese's kinds too! They are the perfect size for the top of a mini cupcake.

I got a little bit of video too, lol.

Three ingredient peanut butter cookies

2009-05-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read it correctly - only three ingredients (and they're not cupcakes, LOL)!

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg

Mix, scoop, flatten, bake at 350F for 8 minutes (until the bottoms are just barely brown).

a walk in the park

2009-05-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

These are just a few shots from my walk in Frontier Park the other night. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

I couldn't stray from cupcakes for long!

2009-05-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

That is my latest creation - a devil's food cupcake filled with Dulce de Leche and topped with a Dulce de Leche swiss meringue buttercream.

Dave's comment on the buttercream was "I could brush my teeth with that." I'm guessing that's a compliment (but I really wouldn't recommend brushing your teeth with frosting!).

I got the cake recipe from Chockylit's now defunct blog (but she still has her recipes posted there) and it will now be my go-to recipe for chocolate cake. The only thing I did differently was I used a dark cocoa powder rather than a regular one because that's what I had on hand.

For the frosting recipe I used the same base I use when I make the salted caramel cupcakes, just substituting Dulce de Leche for the salted caramel.

The filling is homemade, recipe to follow - it's SUPER easy!

Preheat the oven to 425° F.

Pour one can (14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish. Stir in a few flecks of sea or kosher salt.

Set the pie plate within a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and add hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of the pie plate.

Cover the pie plate snugly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours. (Check a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as necessary).

Once the Dulce de Leche is nicely browned and caramelized, remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool, whisk until smooth.

Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Warm gently in a warm water bath or microwave oven before using.

cookie dough pops

2009-05-02T17:13:00.000-07:00

What?

I took a break from cupcakes for one day?

Yes, I'm feeling just fine, thank you!

I found a recipe HERE and just had to try making them!

I picked up the chocolate coating at Romolo's, so they're extra good.

Pre-chocolate balls - with sticks!

The one that got away - it fell off the stick as I was dipping it.

These will definitely be made here again, most likely for a picnic or birthday!

cupcake menu

2009-04-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Please note that there are price changes and a few different cupcakes added/removed. I also have a few flavors that still need a new name, so if you see one that has a "traditional name" please feel free to let me know if you want it named after you!!

All orders are PRE-PAID.

The cupcakes in this section are priced as follows:

Full size: $8 per dozen (minimum order 1 dozen of one flavor)
Mini size: $4 per dozen (minimum order 2 dozen of one flavor)

The Mason - peanut butter cupcake with a chocolate buttercream frosting

Pink ELmonade - light pink lemonade flavored cupcake with a pink lemonade buttercream frosting

The Nate - rich chocolate cupcake with a green mint buttercream frosting

The Nick - maple cupcake with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting

The Megan - a light chocolate cupcake with malted milk buttercream frosting

The Emily - cinnamon sugar cupcake with a cinnamon buttercream frosting

The Randy - a spice cake cupcake with a maple buttercream frosting

The Megatron - a rich chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting and chocolate sprinkles

The Trish - yellow cupcake filled with vanilla pudding and topped with chocolate ganache

The Mary Beth - vanilla cupcake with a vanilla or chocolate buttercream frosting

The Alethea - rich chocolate cupcake with a vanilla or chocolate buttercream frosting

the ron - a cinnamon sugar cupcake with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with more cinnamon sugar

The Jeremy - orange cupcake with a vanilla marshmallow frosting

The Mark - rich chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter buttercream frosting

Red Velvet - a deep red, light cocoa cake with a vanilla cream cheese frosting

Double Butterscotch - butterscotch cake with a butterscotch cream cheese frosting

The cupcakes in this section are priced as follows:

Full size: $10 per dozen (minimum order 1 dozen of one flavor)
Mini size: $5 per dozen (minimum order 2 dozen of one flavor)

The Kathy - a white cupcake with crushed Oreos with an Oreo buttercream frosting

The Connor - rich chocolate cupcake with a marshmallow buttercream frosting, sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs

The Stephanie - white chocolate raspberry cupcake with a raspberry cream cheese frosting, topped with a fresh raspberry (SEASONAL)

The David - yellow cupcake with a cookie surprise inside with a chocolate buttercream frosting ***cannot be made in the mini size***

The Missy - pumpkin cupcake with your choiced of spiced cream cheese frosting or a spiced Swiss meringue buttercream frosting

The Michael - a dark chocolate cupcake filled with vanilla cream topped with dark chocolate buttercream frosting

The Tucker - a brown sugar cupcake topped with salted caramel buttercream frosting and drizzled with more caramel

Banana Split - banana cake with a vanilla buttercream, chocolate drizzle and sprinkles

a little bit of this, a little bit of that

2009-04-26T06:24:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I've been slacking, but really there hasn't been too much going on here. On top of the nothing, I've been sick twice within a month with two different colds. I think I finally kicked the second one. *crosses fingers*

I've still been doing cupcakes. I even taught someone how to make one of mine for our 4-H cookoff. She did all the work and my cinnamon toast cupcakes are now award winning cupcakes as she won her category AND the junior division popular vote this year!! I am SO very proud of her!

I'm proud of all the kids from our club that competed this year. We had at least 10 I think and that's fantastic!!

Let's see, what else? My father retired from GE after 33 years there. We had his surprise retirement party at Nunzi's (mmm great food and no one left hungry, that's for sure!).

I've only done a few cupcakes lately. Orders have slowed down, but I'm hoping they'll pick up for the summer picnic/graduation party season!

Mini s'mores cupcakes:

and cherry Coke float cupcakes (which I will not be making again).

Next up on my list of ones to try are lemon meringue cupcakes!

I think that's about it. If you're on Facebook and love my cupcakes, please feel free to find my Make Way For Cupcakes page and fan me!

cupcake give-a-way! - gone!

2009-04-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

I have one dozen devil's food cupcakes with peanut butter frosting with your name on it!

All you have to do is snag them first and be able to pick them up!

Leave me a comment with a way to get ahold of you (email address, blog link, etc) or send me a message on Facebook if you have my info. Whoever gets to me first - can have the cupcakes!

Cupcakes have been claimed! I'll do another give-a-way soon!

more crosswalk things

2009-04-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so mostly, the things in my last post are still irritating me daily, but this morning, I was laughing my butt off driving through the park this morning.

We were stopped at the corner of State and N. Park Row headed towards E.I. when this older gentleman started to cross the road. He wasn't just walking though. It looked like he was doing the cabbage patch as he crossed. I can't say I've ever seen that one before!

never. again.

2009-03-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

I have decided that no matter how tempting the "Kids Eat Free" deal is at Perkins, I'm never going out to dinner with my family again.

Between the kids belching so loudly that we the got uncontrollable giggles and my husband meaning to order the "shrimp trio" and instead ordering the "shrimp three-way" (hmm, where was his mind??), I was totally embarrassed tonight.

If I do change my mind and decide to go out to eat with them again, I'm asking for a separate table!

You would think, that by living in a house full of guys, I'd be used to this by now, but I'm not!!

How to irritate me

2009-03-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

I really wouldn't recommend it, really.

Every day, about 7:45am and 4:25pm, I drive over 6th Street by the court house and Gannon, and then around the park to get to Erie Insurance. Every day, I see people darting in and out between cars there, with no regard for traffic. I'm all about "right of way" but geesh, people, the crosswalks aren't that far away. Will those 12 or so extra steps really kill you? They won't, I promise, but the cars driving down the street might.

Also, if you are going to use the crosswalk, wait until you have the right of way, don't just step out into traffic (even if that traffic is just me at the moment) without looking the only way traffic can travel go on North Park Row, while talking on your cellphone. I'm sure where you're going is very important, but I promise you, it's not as important as your life.

Another good way to irritate me is to assume the cupcakes I baked for your family, when I haven't seen you or your family in almost 12 years, are free. Reimbursing me for the cost of my ingredients at least would have been nice. I appreciate the thank you, but when I don't get a very large paycheck, and had to pay for those ingredients out of my pocket, it's just not enough.

There's more but really, that's enough negativity in here today. I try to be a pretty calm person, but when I bottle stuff up, it's got to spill out somewhere - and it's my blog and I'll bitch if I want to!

Tonight I'm off to help with cupcakes with one of my 4-H'ers. If you're looking for something to do tomorrow morning around 11am-ish and are hungry, stop by the Erie County Vo-Tech school for our 4-H Cook off. You can taste everything the kids made for only $1 and all the money goes to the 4-H scholarship fund and get to vote for the most popular dish. If not, I'll have lots of photos to share, I'm sure, between tonight and tomorrow!

Movie quote meme

2009-03-22T20:05:00.001-07:00

I posted this in a note on Facebook, but I thought I'd toss is up on here too.

This was fun to do (and it's been fun to try to guess other peoples' choices too):

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Post your guesses as a comment at the bottom.
5. No Googling/using IMDb search or other search functions.

**********************

1. "What's the point they're all the same, some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door, it's insulting."

2. "I want you to think of what you ate today. Got it? Now cut that in half, this is called a diet, people, everyone start one today! Darcy, you should stop eating. You see, when you skip a meal, your body feeds off its fat stores. And if you skip enough, maybe your body will eat your ass! "

3. "What's in the box?"

4. "Well, yes, ma'am, I do... I mean, I got everything I need right here with me. I got air in my lungs, a few blank sheets of paper. I mean, I love waking up in the morning not knowing what's gonna happen or, who I'm gonna meet, where I'm gonna wind up. Just the other night I was sleeping under a bridge and now here I am on the grandest ship in the world having champagne with you fine people. I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count. "

5. "December 24th, 1989, 9 PM, Eastern Standard Time. From here on in, I shoot without a script. See if anything comes of it, instead of my old shit."

6. "All I want to do is graduate from high school, go to Europe, marry Christian Slater, and die. Now it may not sound too great to a sconehead like you, but I think it's swell. And you come along and tell me I'm a member of the hairy mole club so you can *throw* things at me?"

7. "It's a well-known principle that if you keep the flint in one drawer and the steel in the other, you'll never strike much of a fire."

8. "Ma'am, I'm never gonna be an English teacher. But I know why I'm here: to be a pilot. And you don't dogfight with manuals. You don't fly with gauges. I mean, it's all about feeling and speed, and lettin' that plane become like a part of your body. And that manual says that a guy who's a slow reader can't be a good pilot. That file says I'm the best pilot in this room. Ma'am, please, don't take my wings."

9. "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

10. "Leslie and I have an amazing relationship and it's very physical, he still pushes all my buttons. People say 'oh but he's so much older than you' and you know what, I'm the one having to push him away. We have so much in common, we both love soup and snow peas, we love the outdoors, and talking and not talking. We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about."

Cupcakes. You're surprised, right?

2009-03-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

This afternoon was spent with friends at a bridal shower (which I'll have lots more pictures of, I'm sure, posted on Flickr later).

I was getting my camera and things out of my bag when I looked up and saw cupcakes being delivered. I was then helping with flowers for the tables when I wanted to know where the woman delivering them got her boxes. My mother asked for me, and instead of answering my mom, she looked right at me and answered and proceeded to tell me (something to the effect of) "I saw you when I walked in and I read your blog! I want to know where you got the giant sturdy box you had!" I was absolutely floored and completely flattered that there is someone out there that reads my blog!!

Here she is setting up the cupcakes (I can be sneaky with a camera when I want to be, lol):

and here are a few more cupcake shots!

I am sorry to say that I did not taste them. Not because of any other reason than I don't like cake or other sweets, I very rarely even eat my own cupcakes. I did sneak a taste of the chocolate frosting though off my mom's cupcake when she wasn't looking and it was fantastic! *shh don't tell!*

I'll leave you with one more photo, but it's not of cupcakes. This was the theme to Megan's shower ... "Celebrating Women".

just sharing some photos

2009-03-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

I finally got my hands on a copy of Photoshop the other day. Then I downloaded the Photoshop Actions from the Pioneer Woman. I love them.

Here are a few of my favorite photos that I've taken in the last year (some from the wedding I shot in September, some from the Strong Vincent re-enactment I shot in June, I think you'll be able to tell which are which, lol, and one of me, 'cause I'm feeling vain!). Feedback is always welcome!

cupcake video

2009-03-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

So, now that my Food Chain video is done and uploaded, I can share it with you! You'll have to excuse Dave's shaky camera work, this really wasn't filmed in an earthquake, LOL.

I left out the outtakes (thankfully, LOL), but still have one of them saved, just in case I decide to share it one day. You won't see me swearing because I screwed up or spilled milk all down the front of me. You won't hear the dog tap dancing through the kitchen because I forgot to put him in his kennel (he's not allowed in the kitchen while I'm baking). You won't hear the kids wrestling above me in their rooms.

Here it is, me, in all my dorky glory, baking in my teeny tiny kitchen!

Cupcake video from Kimberly Sprickman on Vimeo.

I got the camera!

2009-02-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

My Blake Makes Food Chain camera has arrived!

I needed something good after the week I've been having and when I called Dave as I was leaving work he let me know that I had a package arrive for me at the house. I knew exactly what it was, as I wasn't expecting anything else.

Here it is!

Here's me with the camera .... *ooooh ... ahhhh*

I just had to test it out, to get a feel for it, so I used the subject closest to me, which just happened to be my Milo! It was really easy to use and didn't take much figuring out how to get things working.

Now, if there's anyone local who happens to read this and wants to help out with my video, please let me know - I'd love to have you in it!

strawberry stuffed chocolate cupcakes

2009-02-22T11:40:00.000-08:00

From start to finish:

The un-stuffed and unfrosted cupcakes:

The ganache and diced strawberries:

Stuffed:

"Lidded" and glazed:

The final product:

fluffy love patties

2009-02-20T16:08:00.000-08:00

Hey, I didn't name them, but they certainly lived up to their name!

I got the recipe when I saw a video posted on the Blake Makes Food Chain blog and just had to try them, because I couldn't make a good chocolate chip cookie to save my life.

Well, thanks to these cookies, now I can! Even I ate them, and I'm not real big on chocolate, or sweets in general.

Here they are all mixed up and scooped out and ready to go in the oven. Please ignore the Spiderman table cloth. I promise we don't have that up all year long, it was just up there for Mason's party.

Here's a very sad Milo and his chewy stick. Milo was sad because I told him he couldn't have a fluffy love patty. He can have plenty of love, just not in chocolate chip cookie form.

Ok, so this was actually the first batch out of the oven and they came out a little crispier than I would have liked, but they were still the best chocolate chip cookie I've ever baked. The rest of them turned out perfectly soft and chewy - and are totally gone.

I will DEFINITELY be making these again!!

Birthday cupcakes

2009-02-15T10:36:00.001-08:00

As promised on Facebook, here are pictures of Mason's birthday cupcakes!

Awaiting frosting:

White chocolate raspberry, butterscotch, and cream-filled chocolate mini cupcakes!

a bit of an update

2009-02-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

As you may have noticed, my blog url has changed. It was time to move on from all things kittenish ... although, the nickname stays! You can still call me Kitten any time!

Last week I took my boys and Dave to see the Harlem Globetrotters for the first time. I won tickets through BobFM's website (thank you Bob!) and the seats were awesome! I do have pictures, but I haven't really had time to go through and resize them, but when I do, I'll be sure to post them to Flickr and some to here. I saw the Globetrotters many years ago and thanks to my mother (who won dinner and tickets then too - see a pattern? lol) I got to meet them as well. We were definitely not disappointed seeing them this time and I know the boys had a blast.

It's been a stressful couple of weeks at work. We're down one person because she's been out sick (and won't be back until after the 20th). I'm thankful that she's gotten a fixable diagnosis, because I've been quite worried about her. I've talked to her a few times over the last couple weeks, but I still miss her bunches! We finally got a decent sub to fill her job until she returns, so that should help with my stress level some.

Since I mentioned stress, my stress has decided to manifest itself as hives - mostly on my face - and quite frankly I'm getting sick of it! I went into work one day last week looking like someone slapped me across the face, but it was just lines of hives on my cheek. I can tell when they're there without looking in a mirror because my face will feel really warm there and if they're real bad I can feel a burn or a sting. I need to find an antihistamine that doesn't make me drowsy for when I'm at work. I take Benedryl at home if I don't have anywhere else to go, because when I take one I'm out like a light.

Let's see, what else is going on here? Cupcakes are good. I had a few orders from teachers at school a couple weeks ago. The salted caramel and the ho-ho cupcakes seem to be my biggest sellers right now. I'll be making a few different kinds this week - but those are for birthday reasons!

Mason turns 11 this week. I'm still trying to figure out where the last 11 years have gone. I'll try to get an updated picture of him (but really, he doesn't look all that much different than the last time he let me take his picture).

More cupcakes -- This week I'll be making ice cream cone cupcakes for Mason to take to school on Thursday. This weekend for his family/friends party he has requested the ho-ho cupcakes and the white chocolate raspberry ones (I did laugh when he said I didn't have to put the raspberry on them because - his words - "I know fresh raspberries are expensive this time of year, mom".). There will be lots of pictures to follow, I'm sure!

I'm also really excited about getting the Blake Makes Food Chain camera next!! I'm about 80% sure I know what I want to film, but am still open to suggestions!

I still have my hair cut short. It took a lot of getting used to, but I've decided to keep it like this for a while. Now, to just get rid of the gray hairs!

I think that's about it for now. Thanks for sticking with me through this post!

Need help!

2009-02-09T13:13:00.001-08:00

If anyone reading this happens to have a remnant of green indoor/outdoor carpeting that I could have, I would love you forever!

I can't post exactly what it's needed for as someone specific might read it.

If you have what I'm looking for, find me either on Facebook or just leave a comment here and I'll get ahold of you!

Thank you!!!

red hot cupcakes

2009-01-31T16:22:00.000-08:00

Red hot red velvet cupcakes - red velvet cake with a hint of a spicy kick. That kick is crushed Red Hots candies. These cupcakes have a vanilla cream cheese frosting. I got the idea from the Cupcakes Take the Cake blog.

Two thumbs up and a "gawesome" (he said that's good and awesome) from the Connor.

I'm still working on coming up with a story to tell when I get my Food Chain camera. I know I want to involve my kids somehow, because when I bake, they're always there to help, even if it's just putting the cupcake wrappers in the pans for me. I'm now leaning towards a taste test of sorts, maybe buying a fruit they've never eaten before and seeing their reactions. The Connor really liked that idea.

what big eyes you have!

2009-01-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

The first time I saw this video I laughed so hard I nearly fell out of my chair. I could seriously watch this on a loop!

Just when I thought that eyes couldn't get any bigger, I found this next little guy!

Thank you big-eyed little creatures for making me laugh and go "awwwww"!

Monday's Question

2009-01-26T12:04:00.001-08:00

Whose speaking voice is your favorite to listen to?

25 random things

2009-01-25T16:05:00.001-08:00

I had posted this in a note over on Facebook, but I think it would make a good entry here as well.

1. I have worn glasses since I was in 2nd grade. I wore contacts briefly for one summer, but didn't really like them and went back to glasses.

2. I have kept a blog at one site or another for the last 8 years.

3. I could watch the movie "Bring it On" over and over and never get tired of it. Yes, you may laugh now.

4. I have never seen any of the Godfather movies or any Bond movies. I've seen clips from both series, but never a whole movie.

5. When I got my Canon Rebel XT, for two years, I shot with only one lens. Now, I rarely use that lens because I have another one that I love so much more.

6. Camping and I do not get along. Well, I should say the outdoors and I don't get along. I once managed to get lost in the woods, get caught in a rainstorm, fall in the mud and end up with bloody hands and fall in a lake on the same day.

7. I play the piano. I haven't actually played in many years, but I can play and read music.

8. I don't have many photos of myself from high school and from what I remember, I'd probably rather not have them. I didn't exactly have the best high school experience.

9. I have had grey hairs since high school.

10. I lettered in Academics.

11. I collect black and white cows.

12. I have been involved with 4-H first as a member and now as a leader for 18 years.

13. My first job other than babysitting was at the short-lived restaurant M.C. Coop's in the Kmart plaza on Buffalo Road.

14. I once fell off of a horse in the middle of Hannon Road.

15. I would much rather be behind the camera than in front of it.

16. I don't think I look anything like the rest of my family. Have you seen my sister and I? You'd probably agree!

17. I have put an obedience title on a dog.

18. I own one dress and one skirt. I am much more comfortable in jeans.

19. Pants + lawnmower = disaster. That's all you get, but anyone driving past my house that day got an eyeful!

20. I rarely eat anything I bake because I don't care for sweets. I would much rather have something savory or salty.

21. I almost got kicked out of a seminar at the beginning of the school year because a friend of mine and I got the giggles when the speaker mis-spoke and said "manda-tooty duty" instead of "mandatory duty". Not one of my prouder moments!

22. As I type this I am sitting in a room with approximately 800 movies and 45 board games. Eight of those games are different versions of Scene It?

23. My children and my dog are named after television and movie characters. Mason is named after Mason Capwell from "Santa Barbara". Connor is named from the movie Highlander. Milo is named after the dog in "The Mask" with Jim Carrey. When we get our puppy he or she will also be named after a celebrity (Eddie Izzard if we get a male) or after a television character (Saffron from AbFab if we get a female).

24. I am scarily good with recognizing voices whether it be cartoons or actors in makeup/costume. Dave can never watch certain shows without picturing other characters thanks to me. Sorry Dave!

25. I go by the nickname "kitten" but am absolutely terrified of cats. I am also afraid of balloons, semi-trucks and refrigerator biscuits.

Sunday's Question

2009-01-25T05:43:00.001-08:00

Has anyone ever mistaken you for someone else?

Saturday Question - help!

2009-01-24T06:10:00.000-08:00

I have recently been chosen as one of 100 bloggers to take part in the first BlakeMakes.com Food Chain. What is this you ask?

You can find the details at Blake's blog, HERE.

Today's question is:

What do YOU think I should film when it comes time for my turn with the camera?

I'm completely stumped as to what I should do!

TGIF Question

2009-01-23T04:35:00.001-08:00

We're going on a field trip today! Where are we going?

Thursday's Question

2009-01-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

What movie can you watch and watch over and over again and still laugh out loud at?

Wednesday's Question

2009-01-21T04:33:00.001-08:00

Tell me, what are you good at?

*and don't forget, I still have one cupcake that needs to be named!

Tuesday's question

2009-01-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

What is your favorite kitchen gadget?

Monday Question

2009-01-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

I did a "question of the day" on another blog for several years. That has since been taken over by a friend of mine when I decided to stop. I still answer his question every day that I can, but am glad to not be writing them every day there.

I would like to start that in this blog now. Today's question has a few parts to it, just to kick things off!

You are having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch today. Crunchy or smooth peanut butter? What kind of jelly or jam do you use? Most importantly, will you cut your sandwich? How will you cut it - in triangles or in half up and down?

Here's how I make my sandwich:

Smooth peanut butter (always!), strawberry jam and I cut my sandwich in half up and down. My kids prefer grape jelly and the sandwiches cut in triangles. I cut their sandwiches my way one day and they had a fit, LOL!