mama's hands auction 2012

last weekend was the annual mama's hands auction. craig and i werent going to be able to attend (he had to work that evening) so i offered to make a cake for the dessert dash. and even though i am not crazy about over-the-top chocolate desserts, megan and i have discovered that those are what gets the most hype (and the two of us are always competing over who has the most popular cakes) at dessert dashes/bake sales/contests. so i found this recipe for a truly decadent cake and decided to go for it!

the finished toasted marshmallow chocolate malt cake. my favorite part about this recipe was that it called for actually toasting jumbo marshmallows and mixing them INTO the frosting itself. so as you tasted the frosting you would get actual chewy bits of toasted marshmallow. YUM. thats what went in between the layers of chocolate cake. for the outside of the cake, i made a chocolate malt buttercream that tasted just like a whopper.

the problem is that you cant just cut into a cake to taste the final product. so i made a few cupcakes with the extra ingredients just so i could have a bite.

my mom made one of her infamous circle quilts (a huge king size one!) and had it auctioned off for the cause. it was a total hit.

and surprise! in the end, i really cant ever pass up a party! (but really, at the last second, a friend couldnt go and asked me to take her ticket. i called my handy-dandy babysitter up and voila! i got to join in on the fun)

homemade funfetti cupcakes

when i was a little girl, the biggest treat was when my mom would bring home funfetti frosting. i would eat it by the spoonful. those little waxy balls are the best. so i decided to try and make my own funfetti frosting and cake.

i just mixed sprinkles into the cake batter and the frosting. it turned out pretty cool. and now i can make whatever color combination my little waxy-ball-loving-heart desires.

oh yeah, and here is a legitimate picture of our easter eggs. i love the little bunny holder my grandma-in-law gave me.

happy super tuesday.

heres hoping the yummiest candidate wins.

stasia's bridal shower

last nite, my mom and i threw a little bridal shower for a great family friend, stasia. stasia is the little sister of my best friend from high school, marissa. we were so excited to celebrate stasia's upcoming wedding to mike.

i decided to go with dark gray, silver and hot pink for the colors of the invitations (they werent quite that bare but i erased some info for privacy) and party. homemade confetti was also sprinkled through out.

we served our favorite appetizers and mini treats for the ladies to snack on.

megan and i are on a chocolate dipping binge so we made strawberries for the shower. i might have snuck waaaay more than my fair share.

janice (mother of the bride), stasia (bride-to-be!) and my mom enjoying the spread.

i requested janice's infamous mushroom caps. (she catered them at my wedding seven years ago!) they are so good.

during the evening, we also put the ladies to work. :) they helped tie up the gorgeous fabric ropes that will decorate the reception venue.

then we played "he says, she says". i found this great idea on.... wait for it.... pinterest and knew it would be perfect for the shower. i asked mike and stasia questions about their relationship and then quizzed the ladies at the shower as to who said what. it was all fun and games until megan ripped her quiz into shreds. now i know where i get my sore-loser-ness.

megan, me, janice, my mom and stasia.

the ladies took home diamond ring sugar cookies.

it was a great night (wish marissa could have been there!) and i am happy we could help honor stasia and let her know how incredibly happy we are for her.

happy super bowl.

i wanted to make football cupcakes for our little super bowl party today. i couldnt find any good inspiration on the internet (read: pinterest!) for cute football cupcakes so i just went with the look i had in mind. at the last second i decided to press my chocolate sequins on the footballs. it looks just like the bumpy leather! (or as craig corrected me: pig skin. duh) hope everyone enjoys the game!

let in snow.... but not really.

its finally supposed to snow here next week. its weird that a couple years ago we had a total white christmas and this year it has barely even rained. its been so nice. don't get me wrong, i enjoy snow... but only the kind thats pretty to look at from the comfort of my home and then mysteriously disappears so that the roads are clear and life can go on as normal. so let it snow!.... but only a little bit.

homemade hostess cupcakes.

my grandpa used to be a hostess delivery man. so their little treats (especially the chocolate cupcakes and cherry pies) have always had a special place in our hearts/stomaches. they are our go-to treats for road trips, hospital stays, and quick pick-me-ups. i have been trying to perfect the homemade hostess cupcake for several years now. here is what i have come up with:

homemade hostess cupcakes

cake

i either use my favorite chocolate cake recipe found here or a chocolate cake mix. but only the cake mix that calls for butter, NOT OIL (it makes all the difference in the world). craig actually prefers the chocolate butter mix to a cake made from scratch.

filling

5 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

in a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk (making sure to get all of the lumps out) and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. you want it to be quite thick. kind of like brownie batter. remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

once the flour/milk mixture is completely cooled, stir in vanilla.

while the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (you dont want any graininess left). add the cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat on high for several minutes. beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.

once the cupcakes have cooled, inject the frosting into the center of each cupcake. use a piping bag with a #230 tip. shove the tip down pretty far down into the cupcake and fill until the frosting starts to come back up the top. (put a lot more in than you would think)

ganache topping

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

over a double boiler, heat the cream and chocolate together. stir constantly, until the chocolate is completely melted and combined with the cream. remove from heat.

dip each filled cupcake into the ganache so that the top is fully covered. let stand for a few minutes and then dip again.

hostess swirl

1/4 cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

dash salt

dash vanilla

milk

mix ingredients together in a bowl until combined. add milk or more powdered sugar to get desired consistency.

pipe a line of loops (using a #2 tip)on top of the frosted cupcakes. hostess cupcakes have 7-8 loops on each cupcake!

holly's wedding

last nite, holly (my mom's best friend) got married. we are so happy for her and her new future! and what better way to show our support than to help plan her wedding?

we decided to do a little dessert table filled with all of our favorite sweets. lemon bars, fruit tarts, a chocolate cake, a passion fruit cake, macaroons and more!

i feel so incredibly lucky to have my mom and aunt live so close to me. it makes every day a party.

more of the treats.

the picture table. holly and john are perfect for each other. they make such a cute couple.

and holly makes one gorgeous bride. her dress was perfection.

they were so giddy walking down to the dock to get married.

holly's friend owns this property on lake sammamish. it was the perfect backdrop for the wedding.

everything was so romantic and special.

after the ceremony it was sparkler time. so pretty.

when holly asked me to recreate the lace theme from her bridal shower i instantly thought of this tree and how i wanted to make it glimmer with little lacy votives.

and the darker it got, the more my little lace votives glowed. those little suckers were a lot of work but so worth it.

i dont know what i would do without craig. he helps out with each event i do. and despite some minor grumbling, he is the best assistant around. he is the jenni to my jeff.

it was a gorgeous nite (minus the couple minutes of misty rain) and i am so happy for holly and john.

happy birthday to craig

last friday, craig celebrated his 31st birthday. wow. i am married to an OLD man. it was also his last day at his residency. after 25+ years of school craig is officially done!

as one of his presents, i told craig he HAD to go and get a new phone. no one would want their dentist using that piece of crap.

friday was also the opening day of CARS 2. my mom watched sully so we could take tagg to the movies! happy birthday craig, we love you.

salted caramel cupcakes

i contributed these to a dessert dash at an auction last weekend. they were A LOT of work. but pretty dang yummy. there really isnt anything better than salt and sweet together.

mothers day 2011

these mini ruffle cakes were for my 5 little sunbeam girls to give to their moms for mothers day.

my mothers day gift! i found this treasure at value village and for mothers day, craig refinished it for me. i have been wanting a hutch for so long and this one (with the scalloped edges!) is the prettiest one i have ever seen.

this picture doesnt really show the noodle necklace tagg made me for mothers day. i am seriously thinking about framing it. my first official mothers day gift. i love my boys.

hanna's twins

this past saturday, emily, kaitlin and i threw a baby shower for hanna. she is 31 weeks along with twin boys! we are so happy for her and matt.

as guests arrived, we had them sign a baseball with best wishes for hanna and her twins.

everyone munched on homemade cracker jacks (my salted peanuts and baked caramel corn)

and water. kaitlin was our designated "tech-y girl" and did a fabulous job.

then, lunch was served. notice the garland made of vintage baseball cards? yeah, those were craig's when he was a little boy. he almost had a heart attack when he saw that i had hole-punched them! :)

emily did a fantastic job with the food. we served steak sliders, homemade mini corn dogs and garlic fries (a nod to the famous SAFECO garlic fries).

after lunch we played baseball. ok, not really baseball. just a fake version with trivia questions about twins.

the girls trying to answer the question correctly for a "home-run". (too bad. so sad. because my team ended up winning. ha!)

my party planners. emily and kaitlin were so much fun to work with. although, i doubt they would say the same about working with me.....i scheduled more than two planning meetings and even emailed out a drawn diagram of how i wanted the tablescape to look. i wanted to punch MYSELF in the face.

after the game, we all snacked on mini baseball cupcakes.

and in case our stomachs werent filled to the brim yet.... cotton candy for favors.

emily, me, hanna, kaitlin and megan. and even though hanna makes one adorable pregnant lady, we cant wait to see asher and rylan make their grand appearance in a couple of weeks!