Lil' Green Graduation Princesses

Our Goddaughter is graduating from Eighth Grade! Their uniform is a cute little green plaid that I was always jealous of when I was in grammar school. I bet they'll never wear green again after nine years in it, though! Save it for Saint Patrick's Days of the Future! This recipe was the most challenging so far. We have about three hundred leftover spice drops if anyone needs any for any art projects...

Mr. Film School created the gowns, watch out, Seth Aaron! I made the graduation hats out of green Tootsie Rolls and yellow Starbursts, and the diplomas are white taffy and Starbursts. Rolling out those spice drops was a big job, thank goodness Mr. Filmschool loves a challenge! He said he needed at least TWO bottles of sugar, I told him he'd need lots of sugar for something that sticky! It was also about as hot and humid as it ever gets in our neck of the woods; the science of sugar and candy stickiness is definitely impacted by the weather. I didn't forget the disco dust, I put it on after the photos were taken. We got a re-usable, recyclable lasagna pan from Safeway to put them in, and we hammered out the indentations in the bottom to make them fit exactly with the hats. Transporting the cupcakes can present its own set of challenges, especially when there's no-one to help carry stuff but dogs!

Don't try to ride them on your bicycle!

Gingerbread Girls in Tankinis- Louie Hits the Terrible Twos

Working those Christmas recipes! Mr. Filmschool's co-worker had a big birthday so got some special cupcakes- just in time for bikini season! What's more fun than dressing up in your tankini and hanging with your black lab! And Louie turned two- so he got some turkey and daddy got to eat his big birthday cake of cupcakes. Completed recipes number 21 and 22, 28 to go!

The Boxer cookies arrived in Belize- pulverized. My sugar cookies made it to Boston recognizably- so maybe just US shipping of sugar cookies. And maybe modifying the recipe a bit- more butter is always good.

And we had a paid order- yes we can do 24 Opera Singers: 14 girls and 10 boys! Break a leg, room seven kindergarten class-and keep singing!

"Lights!" and "Play Ball!"

It was the last night of a sort of a show where my job was to turn the twinkle lights on and off- so I made the Christmas lights for the gang.
I also made the Billiard Balls because we're all a little behind the eight ball now and then. I was hoping to add "International Pet Portraits in Cookies" to my long list of offerings- but I tried to mail the Boxer cookies to Belize Express Mail on May 12th and they still haven't got there yet- Express Mail was supposed to be 3 to 5 days. Oh those poor little Boxers looked a little forlorn in the photos- the cookies must be really forlorn in whatever customs pile-up they're in now.... I think we could safely mail some in the U.S.- we'll have to try that out. I could mix the chocolate and the regular rollout recipes to make some more dog-like coloring- and use peanut butter for shading- stay tuned!

That's 20 down, 30 to go! Mr. Filmschool is just happy that I found a hobby that keeps me from investing in any independent film projects... I told him he could call me "Chef". We're having fun practicing our penmanship, er, frosting-man-ship.... er, frosting-woman-ship.... edible text messaging.....

Disco Dancin' Appletinis plus Corn and Petit Fours-

It was a busy week with lots of fun and cupcakes! I made the agave sweetened gluten free cookies to get rid of some of the piles of dry goods in the cabinet and for fun, anyone need any corn starch? But I put m&m's on them and frosted them with Betty Crocker frosting so Mr. Film School said they were good. He's very excited to have art you can eat in the house, he says, "I can't eat your script!" We were invited to a party in the park, which Buster thought was the best party ever- on a lawn with people and dogs and food! Mr. Filmschool and I won the corn hole game! So I had to make the corn cupcakes. Luckily we discovered that Shaw's on West Portal does have bins of Jelly Bellies and white taffy so I could make a cupcake of Cupcake the white bulldog. I brought some new dog attempts to the party for the last day of tap class. I didn't really name them all and give them all little personality traits- just one "Bits" the mutt made from all the leftover candy. Twisting the tootsie rolls and the carmels together gives the carmels some more oomph and they hold up better. For some reason they melt in the fridge. It was a special birthday for a special friend so I made her a custom design cupcake- disco mirror balls and martini cookies which sparkled up the dance floor.

When I Grow Up- I want to be in the Circus!

I couldn't decide if I should make Ray Ray the clowns or the "When I Grow Up" cupcakes for her graduation from her Master's in Education, so I made both. It's especially fitting since we used to say a lot of our friends from high school would grow up to join the circus, and in fact a few did. AND since Ray Ray is a comic in her other life, the clowns were also particularly apt. We were thinking about taking the cupcakes down to Bay to Breakers, but it was COLD at six am so we just went back to bed. We made our own Bay to Breakers out of cupcakes! At least we added some more pets to our repertoire- if anyone has a lion or a pink elephant or a monkey- or even a pet clown- we're ready. I really like the lumberjack- I gave him green eyes in honor of Elvis. I tried making greyhouds using the Bugles from the clown hats, but they turned out to look exactly like my costume for Templeton the Rat when I was in "Charlotte's Web" in junior high. More ideas brewing though! Someone may have a rat out there they'd want memorialized in cupcakes! Sixteen down, 34 to go!

Bears and Bugs- Don't Touch Those Scorpions!

I thought someone out there might have a bug or bear as a pet some day. Mr. Filmschool reminded me that Pandas are very rare. The bugs were super fun to make! The modeling chocolate is very delicate so those tiny little bug legs are pretty breakable. I think I didn't massage the chocolate sufficiently as well, there seemed to be a little clog in the tip that made things difficult. The bug templates were a little big for the cupcakes, too.

Cupcake Jungle for Mother's Day...

Launching our "Personal Pet Portraits in Cupcakes" side-project soon... stay tuned for launch party details!!!

Fat Cats- Louie Cupcake!

I think we might have to start another blog completely for Louie Cupcakes. I find the candy covered sunflower seeds from Pier One to be very expressive for making eyes and mouths, it's the non-uniform organic shapes. I made the cupcakes from the "Hello, Cupcake" chocolate cake recipe, which turned out very good even though I used half-and-half instead of Buttermilk and added some chocolate chips just to gain some space in my cupboard and because that's fun. I was going to make German Chocolate Cake because that's my friend's favorite and it was her birthday- but I thought it might clash with the marshmallows, mint, licorice, and chocolate covered pomegranate seeds.

The cats were easy and fun to personalize- the other two are Tilly and Gus.

Louie loves photo shoots, too, especially Roast Beef!