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Showing posts with label celebrations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebrations. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Cake Pops

Let's talk about those cake pops I made for Annie's birthday party! Yes, they took a while to make, but it was totally worth the effort because they were SO cute!! I received many compliments on the cake pops; the flavor and the aesthetics.

I didn't actually take pictures of the process of making them because it was so messy, but I can tell you how I did it. I got the recipe from a blog called Bakerella (what a great name for a blog, I might add). If you look around her site, you'll see that she's a baking genius and does wildly creative things with cake pops. I, however, just rolled my cake into balls and put them on lollipop sticks that I purchased from Michael's Craft store.

1. bake cake as directed. I bought a strawberry cake mix and followed the mixing and baking directions for a 13 x 9 pan.
2. after the cake cools, crumble in a large bowl. I used my trusty large spatula (from Pampered Chef) - it does every job in my kitchen.
3. mix in a can of frosting. I used pink vanilla frosting - the kind that comes with the sprinkles. In hind sight, I probably shouldn't have used the whole can as the cake pops were really sweet tasting. Next time I'll use a bit less and see how that turns out.
4. roll into balls and place on a baking sheet covered with wax paper.
5. freeze. I froze my cake balls for a couple of hours (RE: did steps 1-4 during nap time and finished my job after the kids went to bed that evening).
6. melt the candy melts (or you can use chocolate chips or almond bark).
7. put the lollipop stick in the cold cake ball and dip in the melted candy.
8. stick the cake pop into a styrofoam block and sprinkle.
9. refridgerate until ready to serve!

This is what the centerpiece looked like:


Let's ask Annie what she thought of the cake pops:




Good to the last lick:
What did Annie's favorite Auntie think to the cake pops?


General Consensus: Cake Pops Rock!!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Mother's Day 2011

My husband and children spoiled me this Mother's Day!! How lucky am I to have such an amazing and loving family? Blessed indeed.
The day began by being served breakfast in bed! (actually I got up to get Annie when she awoke, but then I nursed her in our bed and then got to stay there... for a little while) My husband made me a pot of decaf coffee (yum!) complete with milk, sugar and cinnamon and then he served me warm bagels with peanut butter and the best part was the chocolate-covered strawberries!! On the tray with my breakfast was a little jewelry box. Inside the box was a beautiful pair of emerald earrings with three little diamonds on the top! Emeralds are Annie's and my birthstone and since I have a necklace with Chloe's birthstone (sapphire), Will decided to get me earrings with Annie's. Such a thoughtful and lovely surprise!



After Annie's morning nap, we headed out to Minnehaha Falls and park area. The weather was starting to look cloudy, but we braved it! We had a picnic (in the wind) and then walked over to the falls with a little hike to see the falls close up. Our camera battery died, so we don't have any of us near the falls, but here's a few pictures that we did get!


Annie and me enjoying our picnic



The girls, including Cinderella, having our sandwiches, salad and fruit!


Happy Mother's Day!!!!