Cupcakes, Baby!

To celebrate Karen's birthday, Shelly and I decided on cupcakes. We had 50 candles on the buffet table so we weren't tied to a cake with candles. With cupcakes no one has to cut the cake, they are easy to grab, less chance of fire damage. Cupcakes are cute and we could have three flavors. I'm not sure why I am rationalizing this to you but anyway there was a method to our madness. Speaking of rationalizing...I felt like a priest at the party with guests coming up to me all evening saying, "I had three, I had every size and flavor, I'm sorry I ate all your cupcakes", yadda, yadda. No one needed to confess to me! They. were. addicting.

My niece Hana makes frosting and has her own cake decorating tips. I asked her to help us out with the frosting. She came to my place Saturday armed with her Mom's Kitchen Aid mixer.
I am going to share her recipe with a little disclaimer. She made it, she eye-balled measurements and I was merely in the way.

Gram's Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 c. Crisco-scant
1/2 c. butter soft
1 tsp. vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar
2 T. milk
After Hana mixed the butter and Crisco she added the powdered sugar, about a cup at a time. It needs to be whipped a long time. It is almost like whipped cream in that toward the end Hana was really careful not to over whip but to whip enough. Occassionally she'd stop the mixer and drag a fork through the frosting and see how it hung on to the fork. It was science people and I am just sharing what I watched Hana do to make the frosting. We made three batches!
I had baked strawberry, dark chocolate and traditional white cupcakes in two different sizes. We used pink and white frosting. Some were swirled and some were pink frosting with white 'k's. Towers of cupcakes, cupcakes under domes, cupcakes, cupcakes everywhere!

Last pics were taken by the Snapsister, that is my sister, Jodi, in the Party Barn.
Oh and I want a Kitchen Aid mixer for my big birthday so I can make buckets of this frosting. I'll just roll through the next decade!

What Makes a Good Party?

In no particular order...
Good Food

A Pretty Drink

Cute Guys

Special Friends

The Setting

My New Favorite

Pesto & Sun-dried Tomato Torte

Pesto Layer:
1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. lemon juice
2 T. minced fresh garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
4 T. olive oil
Turn all ingredients into food processor & puree until almost smooth. Pour into a small bowl & set aside.


Sun-dried Tomato Filling:
1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in water until soft, then drained well.
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2T. olive oil
salt to taste
Turn all ingredients into food processor & process until almost smooth. Pour into small bowl and set aside.

Cheese Torte Filling:
1 1/2 lb. cream cheese, softened to room temp.
1 T. minced fresh garlic
1/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
4 oz. each Brie, Gorgonzola and Chevre (goat cheese) I let these come to room temp also.
4 eggs
1 1/4 c. whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp. salt
In mixing bowl cream together cream cheese, garlic, Parmesan, Brie, Gorgonzola and Chevre; add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Slowly add whipping cream to thin, then season with salt.

Crust:
1 c. dried bread crumbs
2 1/2 tsp. dried basil
2 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 c. finely chopped pine nuts
1/8 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c. butter, melted
In a mixing bowl, mix ingredients until they bind together.

Now that you have all the components ready, this is what you do:
Take the crust recipe and press mixture into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Pour 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the crust. Carefully cover with all of the pesto mixture, taking care not to mix into the cheese layer. Cover with another 1/3 of the cheese filling. Spread all of the tomato filling over the cheese layer, and top with remaining 1/3 of the cheese mixture.

*Wrap aluminum foil around the spring form pan, bringing it to the top edge of the pan. Place pan in larger pan and add enough water to cover the bottom 1/3 of the springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until torte jiggles like Jello, when shaken gently. Remove from oven, cool in the pan and then refridgerate.

Serve torte at room temp. with baguette or crackers. Can feed up to 100 guest at a buffet.

I got this recipe from Kris of Good Food. She is hubby's cousin and an excellent cook and caterer.
We served the torte at Karen's party. Kris told me it freezes well. I am going to try it with three small pans and freeze for holiday parties.
The torte is closest to the camera and garnished with fresh basil on the buffet table. We used 50 candles on the table. The barn is still standing-no fire.

*I wrapped my pan prior to filling, easier.
**Visit Shelly's Blog for more party photos.

Party Prep

My hubby and I helped give a 50th birthday bash for our friend, Karen on Saturday evening. We spent Friday and Saturday in the kitchen, raiding friends' dahlia gardens, arranging things at Vern and Shelly's Party Barn, and having frosting expert, Hana as a guest chef in our kitchen. Oh, the things we made, designed and cooked up...


This week I'll share more photos and a recipe or two.

Mrs. Clean

Brand spankin' new towels for the bathroom. Fresh, clean, white towels, ready to go. Everyone got new pillows too. I am going to do some heavy hittin' Fall cleaning next week. Organizing, cleaning, preparing our home for winter. It will feel good. Crazy, but I am giddy just thinking about how great it is going to be...when I'm finished.

In the meantime... do NoT stop by. It is a disaster area.

Literally and Figuratively

Remember those Grammar assignments where you had to determine if a sentence was literal or figurative? Thanks to Miss Adelene, my Grammar teacher, I do. I gave those assignments too, when I taught junior high Grammar. Yes, I taught Grammar and this is how I write... Whatever.

Last night I cut up what Safeway calls its "personal watermelon", they mean that figuratively, Max takes it as literally. Note the plastic lids next to the watermelon. We made loads of applesauce after work yesterday. Figuatively. Literally we made 13+ pints. The taste testers liked it so much I sent their Mom, Amie home with apples to make sauce.
Emilyn came over last night and we went hot tubbing with Caleb and Max. When Max and I are in the hot tub he talks to me nonstop. Anything making him nervous in life comes right out. Max had to share me with Emilyn who also talks to me nonstop, figuratively. Last night she is talking and suddenly says, "I would like to live here." I think she means that figuratively, hope so anyway. She would be a tad exhausting on a permanent basis. Literally, I think she meant, I love you, Tami.
Caleb is a good listener. I love that about him and I mean that literally.

And tonight...I would like to welcome home my hubby! He has worked 45 out of the last 48 days. Sometimes double shifts. He will be spending the next four days with his family. Figuratively. And figuratively, I have killed the fatted calf to welcome him home. Literally, I put a roast beef in the crock pot with Lipton onion soup mix this morning for our dinner tonight.

I called my boss, Troy, this morning and told him, "I don't want to work today." He knows I mean that figuratively. I literally love my job, I just don't have time to go to work today. Thanks Troy (I meant no disrespect in the previous post).
Today I am gearing up for the big party on Saturday evening. Where CUTE will reign and the food will be delicious.