how to frost a cupcake (for colleen)

okay, so about the frosting.  i made my own buttercream icing using this recipe.

buttercream dream icing

ingredients:
1 stick salted butter - room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter - room temperature
1 cup shortening
1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
4-6 tablespoons very cold milk

directions:
cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. after all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk... one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.

this recipe is from the repressed pastry chef.  visit the site here.

once i had the icing made, i filled a disposable pastry bag with the icing, squished it down to get out most of the air, and then clipped off the end of the bag.  i found that it works just fine without using a tip since what i wanted was a big swirl of icing. 

then, using cooled cupcakes, i made a swirl of icing on top starting on the outside edge and working my way in.  i found that you need to keep the pastry bag totally upright to get the best results.  it's okay if it's not perfect since you will be adding the colored sugar on top.

next, using some pink colored sugar i found in the dollar bin at target, i turned the frosted cupcake upside down and dipped it down into the sugar until it was evenly covered.  the sugar from target is awesome because it's cheap and it comes in a little container that is the perfect size for dipping the cupcakes.

and there you have it.  cupcakes 101.

next up, fondant.  i really want to learn fondant.  i'll post some pics once i have it figured out.

another obsession

sissy.



oh, how we love all her squishy goodness.

olivia is almost 9 months old now and still the happiest baby around. she's generally just "happy to be here" and goes where ever lukey and i must go. the only time you will hear her fuss is if big brother snatches a toy from her sticky kung-fu grip. and by fuss, i do mean total hysterics. luke is learning, slowly.

some of her favorite things are cheerios, pizza crust, and empty ice cream cones. and she is still obsessed with her paci and the boob, sometimes both...at the same time. another post for another day.

she is not a fan of the swing, jumperoo, or excersaucer. oh, or crawling. the girl just likes to be where ever we are, doing what ever we are doing. which, generally means that she spends about 8 hours a day on my hip. and i was wondering why my right oblique is so much weaker during pilates class tonight.

so that's sissy. will do a proper 9 month update after we see the doctor.

lookie what i did

add 'makes cupcakes' to the mommy resume.

this illustrates my new found obsession, well obsessions.

the pioneer woman, cupcakes, and pictures of food.

a few more from the arboretum

first a couple of jody's adorable little girls.





and one of luke. i call this one. heeeeeere goatie, goatie, goatie.

the boy's got it bad

well, it's official. lukey has his first crush, the sweet little sophia that lives down the street. the first time they played together her mom and i caught them playing "wedding". sophia had a blanket draped around her head and was hand in hand with lukey. they would walk a little bit and then turn and kiss each other. on the lips!!! and, well, the rest is history.

so today we took the kids to the arboretum and lukey had a little bit of competition. His name is logan. he's charming and sweet and smart and for those reasons he is quite a threat. haha. the boys were literally fighting over who was going to sit next to sophia, who was going to hold sophia's hand, and who got to talk to sophia. there may or may not have been a couple warning swings in either direction. and there may or may not have been a couple of screaming temper tantrums (luke not logan). oh, and there also may or may not have been an attempt of going straight to the top (logan's mama) and asking that she not allow logan to talk to sophia anymore (again, luke). boys! i learned so much about men in general by watching these two little 3 year olds nearly duke it out today.

so without further adieu. here she is. the one, the only...the beautiful miss sophia.



and i love this picture. it so clearly shows how smitten he is. poor little fella.



so other than the fact that sophia is an absolute doll, i believe the reason she stole my son's heart has to do with the fact that she will gladly play swords and pirates anytime. oh, and she likes to ride shot gun in the monster truck. we all love sophia!