It's all About the Food....

This post is dedicated to the special sweets in my life.  Not my family- the other kind.  I've been a busy girl doing what I love.  I heart making yummy things, esp pretty yummy things that I can eat and share with friends.

Here is a chocolate cupcake with the strawberry Meringue butter cream frosting, garnished with fresh mint and strawberry.

 ...and yes- super yummy.  I proudly grew that mint!

   Next up?  My version of a peanut butter cup!  The bowls are made out of chocolate and the center is a peanut butter mousse that melts in your mouth.

   I had fun making the little garnishes using melting chocolate and a piping bag.

 Meet the Snookie Pop.  A friend of mine loves Jersey Shore and had her bday party theme based off of that.  This was a crazy feat.  I learned that you CANNOT add food coloring to melted chocolate- the moisture makes the chocolate seize up and the color does not blend.  Blah. Boo.  I really wanted orange frosting!  Butterscotch chips worked out quite well though.

 This is the product of my failed attempt.  The red was supposed to be the mouth and the orange were to be boobs that matched the skin.  Fail.  Instead, I somehow created a snookie creature.  It's kinda cute in a fascinating and terrifying way.  Still tasted good though,,,

 For Thurston's birthday sleepover I made him red Castle Crashers cake pops.  This time I used red melting chocolate from the cake decorating aisle.  It worked out much better!!   See the pretty flowers?  Preston got them for me.  They were after a day Thurston went missing for a few hours... made me feel better- I will have to make an additional post about that one!!

   How cute with their little swords! 

 I tried another meringue butter cream frosting recipe.  It called for some butter.....

Ahhh- how cute are these little fellas?  I made the bees out of yellow jelly beans that I striped with black frosting and the wings are almond slices.  I added some butter rum candy flavoring to the frosting and it was absolutely DIVINE!!!  Possibly my most favorite cupcake to date.

 For a salty bit that is actually good for you- here is what I snacked on today:

   I LOVE the Tostitos multi grain dippers+ black beans+ a titch of salsa and a small cubed cheese.  If I had any sour cream I would have used it. Oooohhh...or a bit of avocado!  Mmmm... for the record, I ate like 20 of these little buggers (they're small...)