Hello, Cupcake!

Luckily, Garrett's birthday gave me the excuse I've been looking for to bake a batch of cupcakes! I made mini and standard to try out the boxes that Rachel, mom, and I have been collecting to try out. Here are the ones I like.

This is a mini cupcake in a 2 inch cube. It fits perfectly, and seems to be snug enough in there that it would be just fine! I rattled it around a little bit in there with no catastrophies. The stickers that I want to order are also 2 inches, so it would cover an entire side. Mini cupcakes would definitely be easier to make 130 of!

This is a standard cupcake in a 3 inch cube. There would be enough space left for more frosting or a little flag. A sticker on this box would leave a 1/2 inch on each side.

Any votes? Oh, I also found a 2 1/2 inch box online that might hold the standard cupcake a little more snugly.

Busy weekend!

We had a busy weekend! Birthdays, baby showers, mother's day, and more! Rachel, Christina, and I teamed up to make frog prince cupcakes to welcome Baby Connelly. Apparently Rike and Duncan first bonded over frogs, and now they are expecting their own little "frog prince!"

After the baby shower, we convinced the boys to help us set up Peanut's crib...check out Rachel's blog to see Peanut's pad!

We had a low key night at one of our favorite dive bars on Saturday night...thanks to everyone who came! Peanut really started dancing when Michael blared Christina Aguilera!

Today we celebrated Rachel's first (soon-to-be) Mother's Day! I was excited to use a bunch of Jason and my wedding gifts for the first time. Unfortunately Nan was sick so she and Ron had to stay home!

I did discover a pretty delicious and easy egg recipe thanks to Mom's brainstorming...yum! But I forgot to take a picture! Here ya go...

Herbed Egg Strudel
Cut each strudel into 3 portions to make 6 servings.

These few ingredients are designed to make a spectacular presentation-a scrambled egg-filled puff pastry. And it's so easy to assemble-five minutes from start to oven.
· 4 tablespoons butter
· 10 large eggs
· 1/4 cup half-and-half
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
· 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
· 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
· 1 package (17.3 ounces) frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
Egg Wash
· 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon half-and-half
· 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Heat the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Beat the eggs, half-and-half, salt, and pepper until frothy, about 1 minute. Whisk the chives and parsley into the eggs. Add the eggs to the heated skillet; cook on medium-low heat for 1 minute. With a spatula, stir the eggs until softly scrambled. Do not overcook. Eggs should be a little wet.
Place the two sheets of puff pastry on 2 separate baking sheets lined with parchment paper. With a sharp knife, cut slits on both sides of pastry, 3 inches deep and 1-1/2 inches wide on a diagonal (45-degree angle facing up), making about 6 strips. Leave about 3 inches of the pastry in center, uncut. Place half the egg mixture down the center of each pastry sheet, and then alternate the cut strips of pastry over the eggs, enfolding the eggs in the pastry, keeping the pastry slightly loose on top so that the eggs have room to expand as they bake. Brush top with egg wash, sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese, and bake in a preheated 425° F oven for 20 minutes.

This was also delicious as a side!

Chicken Apple Sausage Sauté
Serves 6

What is a breakfast without a side of sausages? Here is a simple sauté of flavorful sausages with apples and shallots.
· 2 tablespoons butter
· 2 large shallots, chopped
· 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
· 1 pound (about 4 links) chicken-apple sausage, cut in 1-inch pieces
· Juice of 1 large orange
· 2 tablespoons chopped chives
Heat the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and sliced apples; cook for 1 minute. Add the sausage slices and orange juice. Cover; simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, until sausages are cooked through. Serve with chopped chives sprinkled on top.

Happy Housewarming!!

We are so happy that Kristin and Justin finally got to move into a house! The whole family seems happy and relaxed, and they are so much closer to us now!

I was looking for an excuse to try a fondant covered cake anyway, so....Housewarming Cupcakes!! I knew Kristin was obsessed with these little clay houses...

So Jason and I attempted to replicate them with fondant....LOTS of them.

Then I tried covering a little cake with fondant. The fondant kinda outsmarted me this time. How is it possible to cover a 3d shape with a 2D shape with no folds? I guess I need to watch more utube videos and keep studying (or just watch more Ace of Cakes!). I DID learn to dry my fondant things on a curve before trying to attach them to the cake...

Here are the finished products!!

Still gotta work on the writing part....hey, housewarming is a long word!

They were a hit!

Justin and Jason broke in the new grill...

And I bought myself a cute pair of Kristin's new earrings! Check out all the new stuff in her shop!

Project Updates...

The National Board confirmed they recieved my box! Whoo hoo! One more day until Spring Break! It has really been a long haul with no mid-winter break and all this NB stuff. Now on to wedding planning and baking! Oh yeah, and studying for the test...

Elissa came over last night and helped make flowers! We finally finished a bouquet I started forever ago. Check this out! Mom sent this cool flower arranger.

I know the fake stems are kind weird, but once I wrapped it you can hardly see them, and they give the stems something to hold on to (just the wires were a little weird).

The little wires stuff right in to the foam! I think it looks pretty cute! I might still play around with the colors/types of flowers.

We are also going to meet Jennifer tomorrow after work and pick up our invitations! I can't wait to see them! And it's perfect timing because I can address them over break and we can try to get them out before the postage rate change in May.

Meo has been working on our stickers. Check our her idea! Rachel has the people at Packaging Specialties ordering one of every mini-cupcake box from their distributor and sending them to the store so we can play with them.

In other news, we are thinking about getting our cake at Central Market! We met the cake designer last week, and tried out some different ones. We can either order a sample box or go for a tasting, and then design our cake!

Our engagement session has been rescheduled AGAIN (Kate is the best!!). The good news is the UW cherry blossoms are finally making an appearance! We are scheduled for either Mon or Tues evening...whichever day has better weather!

Yum!

Cupcake Factory

OK, I think I found the perfect thing on Etsy today! Check out these circular stickers in PromosInASnap's shop!That would make it so easy to wrap my cupcakes in something like this:

I'm going to see if she can customize them for us! I think I'm going to start ordering the cupcake gear. I'm calling this project a GO!

It's Game Day!!

Happy Superbowl Day everyone! I'm excited...we get a break from football until summer! We even cancelled the NFL network! We are going to watch the big game with Dawn and Derek and Derek's new knee at their new house. I re-created football cupcakes from our flag football season party last year, and we're making my favorite football snack...Taco Ring!

Last night we went to Sara's birthday party. She and Rachel have a class together now! It was great to see her and hear about her Internship in Ireland!

Mini Cupcakes as Favors?

What do you guys think about mini cupcakes as wedding favors? I found these mini cupcakes boxes and holders online (they have so many kinds of cool boxes!).

On this site, they come in packs of 100, and are $32.68 for the boxes and $16.48 for the holders.

Jason and I were thinking we could make little flags with our initials, "thank you," a monogram, etc. I even found this shop on etsy that makes custom flags. Apparently we aren't the only people with this idea. :)

I could wrap them up with a bow, and maybe a sticker or tag.

Here are some other photos for inspiration:

This style we could do in advance (above)!

A bunch of these things are at http://www.beau-coup.com/, which also has personalized ribbons, boxes, organza ribbons, and lots of cheap favor ideas!

Baking Up A Storm

Mmm delicious baked goods for our weekend at Shaina's beach house and our picnic!

Dad's No-Knead Bread

Oatmeal-Raisin

Mmmm cupcakes

Look at this cute cupcake box!!

I'm hoping to get one batch of scones in before we leave tomorrow!