Party Rascal!

I don't know what ya'll think, but I think that my little nephew Kaleb is gonna be a baseball player someday! This boy had such an awesome birthday last May! He was totally into running around, playing baseball, and just hanging out with the boys! He is soooo full of energy that all the aunts and uncles can spend the day playing with him! He is a handful! When all his energy is all draw out from running and swiming he will just plop down for a few minutes to recope, maybe steal a sip of Aunties water and just chill.

I do know one thing this boy does love more than playing, and that is cake! Of course it's Aunties cake! Well he asked his mommy for a Diego cake, so mommy requested it from me, and I was more then glad to make it for him! So I put the good ol' thinking cap on and figured out how to make his cake without an airbrush gun!

 

Happy 3rd Birthday to a hyper little firecracker!

First Birthday Celebrations for Joshua & Christian

I am an Aunt of 10 beautiful and amazing children! I have nine nephews and one niece! My 9 and 10 are angels. Joshua and Christian. Back in January my big sister Jodi was here from out of town and I decided to surprise my other sister Jessica, the mommy of my twin nephews with a surprise little family birthday party! Joshua and Christian already had a party, but I was unable to attend it due to work. I was determined that I was going to make them there first birthday cakes! No one was going to hold me back from being able to celebrate with them! Well their party was a blast! We had a food fight! Which was super funny! The boys were a little out of it becuase they had tubes put in their ears so they can hear us! My sister Jessica had no clue that I had cakes in my car when I arrived the night before the party! I was excited and couldn't wait for my sister and the twins to get back from the hospital!  

When the boys saw their cakes their eyes lite up!

Joshua was like oh man! This looks so yummy, and Christian was like hey bro, what do I do with this thing!

 

Above is Joshua devouring his cake! He looked so cute!

Above is Christian trying to figure out what to do!

Mommy and her boys before the food fight!!!

Christian always wanted to share! He was such an amazing boy! Joshua wanted to eat the whole cake all by himself!!! He literally did too!

All Gone!

That was after the food fight! It was sooo fun! We all had an amazing time! We are all so thankful to of had our angels here with us to celebrate their first birthday's! We love you both so much. We miss you lots. You will always be in our hearts, and in our minds. You will never be forgotten! Hugs and kisses forever and ever! Till we get to all be together again you will be greatly missed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=zdYVSDrPWTs

Make sure you click on the link above to see the video of Joshua and Christian enjoying every bit of their cakes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=AyTUJBaeHjM

Make sure you click on the link above to see the silly food fight!

Who loves Sesame Street More then a Big 1 Year Old!!!

When ever there is a special occasion for my nephews who live close to me, I always make their birthday cakes! It is something I have done for many years now! Well back in November it was my nephews first birthday! I got an extreme request from my sister! She wanted a sesame street themed cake for him! Alright, I thought! That's easy! Well, I was thinking it was going to be one of Wiltons Sesame Street Toy kits! Then the pictures started to come in! Oh boy! I was getting antsy! She emailed me a picture of this huge three tier cake! I was like, wow! Is this for a wedding! Lol! Well all jokes aside, I had to think out how I was going to do this. I had to travel from my house with this cake on a 2 1/2 hour drive. First thing I thought was, I will just do the whole thing at my parents house where the party was going to be. Then I thought, no I will ice the tiers and only have to put the cake together. That though surpassed. So, now my thought was to just crumb coat it and freeze it over night then travel with them frozen. Plan worked! Got to my parents house safely with the crumb coated cakes!

       So now I was on a time schedule the next morning! I thought, this is going to be a breeze! Well, not when your tired from traveling! And all stressed out over when the party starts and not having any problems! Yikes! What a nightmare! Well I pressed through with the help of my little nephew! He was a big help too! I think as he gets bigger he can help me make his cakes! He seemed very interesting in what Auntie was doing! After, I'd say about 3 hours of work. Extreme frustration, patience, and concentration paid off! I managed to master this beast! Even though there was a slight problem with the cake being tilted, and having to remove it to fix it. That was scary! Well, this is my master piece! And it was a good piece at that! Just ask the birthday boy and his momma!

Awwww. Pumpkin!

Did ya'll here that the Pumpkin was going to have a shortage from the field freezing, during the fall? Well I did, and I sure made a big deal about stocking up on my Libbys! I think I went pumpkin crazy during the fall season! About every other week I was messing around in the kitchen creating something to do with Pumpkin! I took a few snap shots of my creations! This first phot is of my Pumpkin Whoopie Pies! They have a smooth and cream cream cheese icing for the filling, and a fluffy and moist cake for the cookie part. I sprinkled some yummy cinnamon on top of them to enhance the spices some more! Perfect ending to a long day!

What about these yummy pumpkin mini mufins and this super moist pumpkin bread!Pumpkin just fills your house with such warmth and comfort! I like to save the best for last, so here it is! It was asked for since as long as I can remember. Well request granted! Someone very dear to me asked me to make this Pumpkin Roll multiple times! I was always hesitant, but I got over that real qick and just did it!I think all of these were fun and yummy! I can't wait till this season to get more creative with Pumpkin! I was thinking Pumpkin cheesecake, or Pumpkin Spice home made ice cream! You will just have to wait and see! Until then continue to droll over my creations! Until next time! I am sure you will be dreaming of these yummy Pumpkin Creations!

Picture Perfect!

When I think of a fella who enjoys fishing I think of a kind man. A respectful man. A man who is pround of his name, and very proud of his family! That would be Poppa! Mimmi and Poppa were down here for a few days back when Poppa had a birthday. I was super excited that I said I want to make him a cake! Home made! Well, I stuck the cake in the fridge and I ment to take it out so it was at room temperature. I forgot too. It was a bit dense! Hey, we win some, and we loose some! I lost the cake part, but I sure did win the design part! I came up with this clever idea to make Poppa's cake! I wanted it to resemble something he loved to do! I said hun, I'm gonna make Poppa a cake with a man fishing and I am going to call it Picture Perfect! I named it that cause it looks like a picture and it fits perfect with Poppa's hobby to fish! I am sure he thought it was very appreciative! I know I was very happy to make him a cake!

The funny thing is, I never cut out a stencil and then make an image from it with icing onto the cake. It was tricky! All my hard work pulled off!

Easter is Right around the corner!

One of my favorite times of the year is almost here! Easter! I love this wonderful day! Not because you get an excuse to buy candy, or eat some sweets, but because you get to be with family and create wonderful memories. I love family gatherings!

This is another wonderful strawberry short cake I made for an Easter dinner. There was only four of us at the dinner table, but it was an amazing time! I cooked the complete meal, and I said grace, and We all sat to enjoy a nice Easter dinner. Then came dessert! The best part! This was Easter 2007, so it was 3 years ago.

Cake walk.

I never in my life heard of a cake walk. Have you? Well here is the scoop about a cake walk! It is sort of like musical chairs! Except when you are the winner you get a cake for free! That's right! FREE! Well someone very special and dear to my heart has an annual Cake Walk for fun at work! He asked me to make a cake to donate it to his work as part of the fun! Of course I couldn't turn down a good deed! I said no problem! As long as I was able to particiapate, or witness the fun! I will do it! I asked, what would you like me to make? He said, would you make the chocolate cake with the coffee and the chocolate mousse and the fudge icing? Sure! Ummm, I did it backwards! I filled it with fudge icing and iced it with chocolate mousse! I was still good! Just very difficult to ice! Well, then I got a bit creative with chocolate chips and decided to decorate it in a creative fashion!

He loved it! Well the function went on the next day and I brought it to his work. Everyone was oohing and ahhing at my creation! They said where did you get that. I said well, I imagined it and created it at home! They were pretty impressed! Well, there was lots of cakes! Lots got donated, but they saved mine for last as the big hit! Who ever got this one was going to have the best cake of all! I don't remember who won, but I know it was a fun time! I might have to throw a cake walk with the ladies some time!

Spring is here, the sky is blue.....

Well it is spring time! I think that Spring should be named Weddings! I have a friend who is getting married in a month and she asked me back a few months ago to make her a birthday cake with daisies! Real ones of course! So, I said ok.

She had some strange and unusual ideas as to what she wanted for the cake. She requested white cake, with almond flavoring, almond flavored buttercream, homemade raspberry jam {that her grandmother made} and coconut all around the outside. OH WOW! Originally she was getting ideas for wedding cakes. Luckily she fell in love with another design and she kept this as her birthday cake! Very interesting I thought. Well, she is a daisy lover. So she wanted me to decorate it with a spray of daisies! Request accomplished! Not my favorite combination of flavors, but she loved it! To each their own! But for me I will stick with strawberries and whip cream as my number one favorite!  I do like the coconut effect with the daisies on it! Very unique! Interesting at that!

Key. Lime. Time.

Guess what time it is again? That's right it's a few days away! Saint Patty's Day! Time to get your green on! In this case, time to get your lime on! Keylime that is! I have to say this is the first citrus cake I have made! It is amazing! Sweet, tangy, and hard to eat just one slice! Not to mention the white chocolate frosting! This cake was a hit last Saint Pat's Day at my house! Everyone enjoyed a slice! Some more then others! Not to mention any names! {Bill}

 Oh by the way! He was caught red handed! I have the evidence to prove it! Yeah, he just couldn't resist! He had to try and sneak have a bite! Well, watch out! Camera in hand! Thanks to one of my favorite chefs, Mrs. Paula Deen for her recipe! Another one from her Chocolate Celebration Magazine!

Another Short Story!

A few years ago when strawberries were at their peak, I got a bit creative!

1. I had a major sweet tooth!
2. I wanted some strawberries!
3. I was bored!
4. I couldn't sleep!
5. We had some company!
So this is my creation out of boredom! Gotta love my style of boredom!

Just Because....

We all love those words, just because.... How about, just because I love you or just because I missed you, or my favorite! Just because I wanted something sweet and yummy and delicious, and oh so good, but oh so bad for you at the same time!
Oh. What was that. I got out of hand. Oh. Sorry!
But seriously, I love those just because cakes and desserts! I am sure if you were able to enjoy them with me you would love those just because... too!

Girls love Chocolate!

Ever go into a bakery and go straight for the chocolate cake, or the chocolate pie. How about the chocolate brownies! I know I have! A matter of fact, I am a brownie lover! I know lots of girls who love brownies! The chewy texture, the smell, the sweetness! I know! Stop! I am getting hungry too! Have you ever ate my brownies?

Well, boy are you missing out! What we have here my friends is the only P.M.S. cure! We got gooey moist Ghiradelli Chocolate Brownies with fudge icing on the inside and an oh so reasonable layer of ganache! These are to die for! If you can eat a whole slice then your golden for the rest of the night! I am telling ya, they are soo good! You won't have a reason to argue! You will be so filled with glee and cheer and happiness from eating just one bite of these sinful little things! I know you will probably put up a fight if someone asked you for a bite! You would have to say, go get your own!

I LOVE Cupcakes!

I made these cupcakes a while back! Reason. Well, I was bored! Boredom gets the best of me in the kitchen! Cupcakes are a fun way to play with your food! I know I had fun! The picture doesn't do justice for "all" the cupcakes I actually made! I gave them away to everyone! They loved them! Some didn't want to eat them cause they were so pretty! I know I didn't hessitate! I ate more then a serving! None of them went to waste! If you were over you were surely eating some yummy cupcakes, and taking a few home!

Plant City Straws!

Living in florida during the Spring season is the best! I love when Plant City's strawberries are at their peak! That is when I take advantage of making cakes with strawberry filling! Thanks to my friend Rosie who brought me some the other day! This year I took advantage of a cake pan my mother bought me. It is the betty crocker one. It makes a half a ball! Well, it made for an interesting cake as well! I sure hope you like my picture! I had to do a close up of the top too! It was too pretty!

Chocolate Mousse Cake With Fudge Icing

This is a Mocha Chocolate Mousse Cake. I made it for our family dinner gathering. It is an amazing recipe! Paula Deens! It is in her chocolate Celebration Magazine! If you didn't pick it up for $8.99 last year, then boy did you miss out! This magazine has some of my favorite and well used recipes! 
~I would post the recipe, but I would rather you go and buy the magazine!