A bee-bop, a boo-bop, a rhubarb pie!

A couple of weeks ago I was discussing pie with a co-worker.  Why?  I can't really remember what sparked the conversation, but I did glean a lot of really useful information!

I mentioned that I wasn't happy with the way my pies came out over the holidays.  He asked why and I said that, though the fillings were delicious, the crusts left much to be desired.  He said that, during his college years, he worked at a coffee shop called Polly's Pies, and he remembered baking an absolute TON of pies.  He said that for each pie crust, they would pre-bake the bottom crust by pricking the bottom of the crust with a fork, and then placing another pie pan over the crust instead of pie weights.  He said not only did this keep the pie crust from puffing on the bottom (as the any pie weight would do), the heat of the second pan helped bake the top of the bottom crust.  Huh.  I'd never even thought of that!  For that matter, I'd never used pie weights to pre-bake a pie crust (I know - shame on me!).

After that conversation I felt I had much to learn about pie baking, so I did a little investigation.  Each holiday season I use a variety of pie pans to bake my pies.  I did an internet search to see if there were recommendations on the best pie pans, and yep, indeed there were!  Not only that, I discovered that different types of vessels require more or less baking time depending on whether it's glass, ceramic or tin.  You would have thought that I would have known that after all of these years, but nope, in fact I'd never even given it a second thought.  No wonder I have iffy luck with my pies!

So.  With all of my new found knowledge, I baked a pie yesterday.  I knew what kind I was in the mood for ... what I couldn't stop thinking about, but I wasn't sure that Kevin would agree.  When I mentioned it to him, he got a huge smile and said "YES!".  YAHOO!  Rhubarb it is!  All I could think of were those delicious sweet/tart pies that grandma Maxwell used to bake.  They had the most delicious, flakey crust, and the filling was soo delicious, it would be both sweet and make your mouth pucker with it's tart flavor all at the same time.  Mmmm.  Pure deliciousness!

I used the clear glass pie plate that received the best reviews.  I couldn't find a pan that fit inside the pie plate, so I did end up using dried beans as pie weights - and they worked out just fine.  I used tapioca instead of cornstarch in the filling because that's what grandma always used.  I set the timer shy of the time indicated just to make sure it wouldn't burn.  I added time when it was clear that the pie wasn't quite baked to perfection yet.  And waited.  Patiently.  Sort of.

About 55 minutes later, I was rewarded with a golden brown pie whose crust appeared to be quite flakey and oozed just the right amount of pink sticky liquid over the side of the glass pan.  About an hour after dinner, we cut into the pie.  I was a bit nervous, but lo and behold, it was probably THE best pie I've ever made! The crust was perfectly done on the bottom - not doughy.  The sweet/tart filling was just as I remembered.  Warm pie served with a little side of vanilla ice cream that was just beginning to melt.  Oh man.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

It's funny how conversations evolve.  How just taking a few minutes to engage in a light-hearted discussion with a friend made me a better baker.  It allowed me learn something new from my friend and prompted me to get seek out some insight into a topic on which I thought I was pretty well versed.  It's true: you (CAN) learn something new every day!

It's the Cookie Bake, Jake!

It's that time again - time to get down and dirty and bake those cookies!

...which is exactly what we did on Saturday.  Bake.  Cookies.  Lots.  Allllll day.  Well okay, I confess -  we did take a break to go to a Christmas crafts boutique.  And get a bite of lunch, but that's it - I swear!  Other than that we baked cookies all day.

Twenty-nine dozen.  No, there's no significance to the number, that's just what we ended up with.  Now we have a few less than that (hey, who doesn't need cookies and milk before bedtime?!), but still a goodly amount.

Oatmeal macaroons.  Chocolate chip.  Molasses crinkles.  Cranberry biscotti.  Caribbean lime coolers.  Mmmmm.  YUMMY!  I still want to make a few sugar cookies, and maybe some maple pecan icebox cookies ... but we'll see how ambitious I am this weekend ;o)

Kitchen Partners

Kevin and I have been remarking lately about what a good team we make in the kitchen.

Now that we've moved, it takes us a bit longer to get home, which means it's a bit later when we have dinner. We're kinda the 'early bird special' folks - we prefer to eat dinner on the early-ish side so that it doesn't just sit in our tummies. Not that we go work out after dinner or anything (Heaven forbid!), it's just that eating earlier in the evening means we can go to bed and not feel completely stuffed.

That said, we've been getting home right about the same time, catching up on our day a bit and then heading to the kitchen to make dinner together. Tonight it's maple chicken with sweet potatoes, carrots and red onions. YUM!!

On Sunday while I was busy making the lasagna, Kevin tried on a new hat: that of pastry chef. He made a sour cream apple pie for our dessert. MAN, is it ever delish!! I found the recipe at Posie Gets Cozy, and while it took a bit more than the 15 minutes she notes (after all, we'd never made it before!), it didn't take much more than that and the results were fabulous. Kevin was pretty proud of himself, and I'm very proud of him, too!!

We've been enjoying a small slice of pie each evening. Ho-hum...it's nearly gone. Guess we'll need to come up with something else to make this weekend!

Apple Time!

Yesterday we went up to mom and dad's for dinner and to help with a few chores. One of the things on the list was picking all of the apples from the tree. This isn't exactly a 'chore', it's really more like FUN!

Mom and dad have only one apple tree in the yard, and in past years, it really hasn't produced a whole lot of fruit. And what fruit it did produce was generally eaten either by the squirrels, the birds, or both. Last year, however, dad discovered these little bags filled with dander that the squirrels don't like at all. You hang them in the spring and the squirrels pretty much leave the apples alone. Which is a good thing for us! Last year the tree yielded quite a bit of fruit, and this year, even more!

After we picked the apples, all I could think about was a warm, fresh apple crisp. Mmmmm. I couldn't resist - I just had to make one! Does anything say "Fall" more than fresh apples cooking in warm, spicy cinnamon? I think not! After dinner, we dished up bowls of apple crisp and topped them with a scoop of rich, decadent vanilla ice cream. Mercy. It was delicious!

Thanks mom and dad for all of the wonderful apples! We've shared some with our neighbor, Ted, will enjoy eating some out of hand, and freezing the rest for holiday pies. YUM!

First Day of Fall

Tomorrow we're celebrating a birthday in our office at work. Usually it's just the 10 of us that work in the office that celebrate, but since it's the first day of fall, I thought I'd make a treat for the whole staff.

Pumpkin muffins with a dollop of cream cheese icing. YUM! I found what looked like a great recipe - the only problem was that as it was printed, the recipe only made 12 muffins, so I had to quadruple it! I'm always a bit leery about doing that because sometimes it just doesn't turn out well. Luckily this one did. It made a HUGE amount of batter, but in the end, it made exactly 48 muffins. Perfecto! And did they ever make the house smell good! Warm and spicy ... absolutely delish.

I hope the staff enjoys them.

Happy fall, y'all!

Cookie Trays

So yesterday, using our share of Saturday's results, I put together several cookie trays as gifts. One for our next-door neighbors who hosted an Open House last night, one for our fabulous landlords (Hi Don & Janis!), and one for each of us to take to work as a gift to our staff. I was so pleased with how cute the trays came out, I just had to share!

When we give a gift of homemade goodies, I hate putting it on a paper plate. To me, it doesn't look very thoughtful or well planned. I'd much rather give a goodie gift on a pretty plate or tray. Certainly if you did this too often, you'd go broke giving away plates and trays, right? Well, not if you investigate your nearby Dollar Tree store! Yesterday morning I went to our local Dollar Tree looking for a cute Christmas-y plate, but all I could find were *silly*, cartoonish plates. I'm not really a huge fan of 'goofy' Christmas stuff --- I'm more of a 'pretty' Christmas stuff kind of girl. I was about ready to give up, but just as I turned from the last aisle to leave the store, I found these:Aren't they nice?! They're even prettier in person! They are nice, sturdy, nickel-plated trays. And yep, they were only a buck. But the don't look like they were only a buck. I also bought some pretty white and silver tissue paper, blue, white and silver wired ribbon, and clear cellophane to wrap the trays.

I piled everything on the kitchen tableand then got busy putting the trays together. The centerpiece of each of the trays is a bag of homemade peanut brittle, then some of each cookie variety that we baked. Once the tray was loaded, it was wrapped in cellophane and tied with a bow. I think they came out pretty cute, what do you think?

Cookie Bake, Take ... 22?

Saturday was our annual Cookie Bake. Deb and I were trying to remember just how many years we've been doing this, but neither of us could recall for sure. A long time, at any rate! Some years we've made more cookies, and some years less, but if you average it out, if it is indeed 22 years that we've been having our cookie bake, just for this one particular event, we've baked nearly 7,000 cookies!! WHEW, I'm worn out just thinking about it!

We laugh now because the year of the very first cookie bake, we had no idea what we were doing. Oh sure, we knew how to bake cookies - that wasn't a problem. What was a problem was baking so *many* cookies ... but first, going shopping, and then ... to lunch, and then ... finally home to actually bake cookies! That first year we didn't finish until 9:00 P.M.!

But, as with most things, the more you practice, the better you get. We've gotten much smarter over the years; we make cookie dough in advance (well, at least some of it) and freeze it; we come prepared with everything we need to just bake the cookies; we don't shop; we don't go to lunch (which is not say that we don't have lunch). In other words, we've learned our lesson!

Anyway, the bottom line is, we came, we baked, we were tired, we each got lots of yummy cookies =) This year's lineup included a few new recipes; on the menu: oatmeal/almond macaroons, the classic sugar cookie cut-outs, mini-cupcakes, molasses crinkles, Reese's peanut butter cup drops, caribbean lime coolers, and cranberry pistachio biscotti. Delicious! Here are a few pictures from the event:Just getting started.The bakers.Well underway. Yummy cupcakes!The happy decorators =)

It was a wonderful day. As exhausting as it is, we both look forward to this fun event every year. Thanks for hosting this year, Deb. Just remember ... next year it's at Casa de Weir!

Happy Thanksgiving

An apple and a pecan pie in the oven, the pumpkin yet to make, and a sweet potato casserole coming up. It's definitely beginning to smell like Thanksgiving here.

Tomorrow, it's up to mom and dad's for a feast! Mom, Dad, Deb, Bill, Pat, Drew, Vicky, Kevin and myself. It sounds like just the perfect sized gathering to me. We're bringing 'fixin's' to make an apple/cranberry spiced cider, and apples, caramel and sprinkles so the boys can make caramel apples. It sounds like a wonderful day!

I'm sure I won't have time to check in tomorrow, so I thought I'd stop in this evening and wish you all a wonderful holiday. I hope you enjoy a cozy, festive Thanksgiving with your family.

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. ~Ray Stannard Baker

Count your blessings - I know I'll be counting mine. Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Pumpkin Time!!

Okay, so technically it's not quite fall yet - not until later this week - but I'm definitely in a fall frame of mind. With that in mind, I just had to try this pumpkin scone mix: Last fall, I tried to buy this scone mix for weeks, and Cost Plus was always out. A couple of weeks ago, Kevin and I stopped in for something and they had it (!), so Kevin put two in our basket =)

It's a super easy mix that takes no more than three minutes to mix and 12-15 minutes to bake. The only ingredient required, besides the mix of course, is 3/4 cup water. I wanted to bump up the flavor a bit, so I used apple cider instead of water and sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top of the scones. MAN! Does our kitchen smell delicious! They've just come out of the oven.

I'm finding it difficult to wait to sink my teeth into one of these treasures! ... but I suppose I really should let it cool first!

First Picnic of the Season

I love summer. For many, many reasons, not the least of which is Hollywood Bowl and picnic season. It's such a true joy to see somethings wonderful at the Hollywood Bowl. We've seen everything from John Fogerty to John Williams; from Brian Wilson to Eric Idle. Each show has been more fun than the last - never a dull moment in the bunch! This past Friday night, we went to our first show of the season at the Hollywood Bowl. Billed for the evening was this ...Sing along? Boy, did we ever ... and so did everyone else there. We had a blast!!

Naturally, the first HB show of the season also equals the first picnic of the season! Kevin and I took the responsibility to bring the provisions this time around. I love creating picnic menus. There are so many wonderful choices that sometimes I'm overwhelmed by the possibilities. Sometimes. But not this time!

Friday Night's Menu
Grilled Corn Salad - with cucumbers, red onions, Roma tomatoes, fresh basil and cider vinaigrette
Avocado & Endive Salad - with green onions, fresh parsley, and lemon juice
Bowtie Pasta with Sundried Tomato Pesto
Ginger Sesame Marinated Grilled Flank Steak
Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies with Vanilla Ice Cream

YUM!

Making everything took longer than I thought it would -- of course, when doesn't it, right? But it was fun. And everything was absolutely delicious! Here's a little peak at the Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies in process: Great fun, great company and great food - what more could one ask for??

(Next week: an Old Fashioned 4th of July picnic! Fried chicken, potato salad, grilled corn on the cob, fresh watermelon ... MMMM!)

New (to me) Recipes

Life's gotten crazy again and I've had a hard time finding a moment to post. Well, that and the fact that our internet has been down ... then up ... then down (again!) ... But hey, that's life, right?

Anyway, last weekend I had the opportunity to try out several new recipes. All of them were delicious!!

If you've grown up in the San Gabriel Valley, you're no stranger to the Northwoods Inn restaurants. If you haven't had the great fortune of dining at a Northwoods Inn, let me just say three words: Red Cabbage Salad. YUM!! I tried out a 'copy cat' recipe for their red cabbage salad, and let me just say, it tasted exactly like the real thing! This is definitely a keeper - I plan on making this often. While the restaurant is a bit pricey, the red cabbage salad is inexpensive to make (there's that "beer budget" thing again!), so I think we'll stick with having this at home. A steak on the grill and a little Clearman's spread on some sourdough bread. Mmmmmm...now that's a winner! If you'd like to try it at home, here's the recipe:

Northwoods Inn Red Cabbage Salad
Ingredients:
• 1/2 head red cabbage
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I thought this was too much; I'd use 1/3 cup the next time I make it)
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar (see above comment on oil)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 tsp onion powder

Preparation:
Shred half of the cabbage finely and the other half coarsely. Place in a large bowl.

Whisk together vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, seasoned salt, black pepper, and onion powder.

Toss the dressing with the cabbage. Scrape the salad with the dressing into a zip-top bag or covered container and refrigerate at least 48 hours (I only marinated it for 6 hours and it was fine) or until cabbage turns deep red, softens a bit, and flavors meld.

One of the other recipes I tried was a Barefoot Contessa recipe for Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits. Oh MAN! Served warm, these biscuits are like Heaven on a plate. They're pretty darn good at room temperature, too! Here's a peak: We served them with homemade beef stew. DELISH!! Here's the recipe:

Barefoot Contessa Buttermilk Cheddar Cheese Biscuits
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
1 cold extra-large egg
1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk
Maldon sea salt, optional

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.

Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened. In a small bowl, mix the Cheddar with small handful of flour and, with the mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.

Dump out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly about 6 times. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. With a sharp, floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with salt, if using, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

Spring Desserts

For Easter, I volunteered to make the dessert. Or rather, desserts.

Initially I was just going to make my Orange Chiffon Cake, but on the very same page, right next to that recipe, was a recipe for a Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble that looked sooo good, I decided to make that, too! I'm so glad I did - it was absolutely delicious!

(Side note: when I went to the grocery store to buy the rhubarb, the courtesy clerk bagging my groceries looked at me and said "What IS this?" The checker and I both told her it was rhubarb. She said she'd never seen nor heard of it. She was at least 30, so I was pretty surprised by this! She asked if you put it in soups or what? I explained that it was more of a dessert element. "Is it sweet?", she asked? No, I said, you have to add sugar to make it sweet. She looked at me like I was nuts, shrugged her shoulders and put it in the bag.)

Here's the 'before':

And here's the 'after': Oh man, was it ever DELISH!! Kevin said this was a great addition to our repertoire - he can hardly wait until we make it again! It was a big hit - we took home just a taste for each of us - the rest disappeared.

The cake was delicious, too. Something about citrus that just says "SPRING!". I've made the cake for several occasions and it always goes over well. Just the scent of it makes your mouth start watering!

Creme Brulee French Toast

Several years ago my friend, Diane, introduced me to this delicious breakfast/brunch treat. Kevin and I have made it several times since then, tweaking it here and there as we've gone along. We've come up with what we think is an outstanding recipe.

Kevin's office brought treats today for the staff and he signed up to bring our famous Creme Brulee French toast. He arrives at work every morning at about twenty minutes after 7:00. This morning, as soon as he arrived, he set the casseroles (we made 2) first thing with all of the other breakfast goodies. By 8:00 a.m., both casseroles were completely gone - not a crumb left in sight. Apparently we're not the only ones who love this treat! He brought the casserole in around the holidays, but at that time, it was just for the office staff - they loved it, too!

It's a super simple recipe - and when it's baking, it makes the whole house smell warm and delicious! We've made it over the holidays using panettone and it's wonderful, too. Here's the recipe:

Creme Brulee French Toast

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter/margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
5 large eggs
1 1/2 cups Creme Brulee flavored coffee creamer

2 tablespoons corn syrup (or maple syrup)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 loaf thick-sliced cinnamon bread
½ teaspoon cinnamon

In small pan melt butter, brown sugar & corn syrup over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Pour into a 13 X 9 inch baking dish. Trim the crusts from 6 or 7 slices of bread. Cut each slice into five strips and then slice strips into small cubes. Arrange bread cubes into baking dish, squeezing to fit. Whisk together eggs, half and half, coffee creamer, vanilla, cinnamon and salt until combined. Pour evenly over bread, pressing mixture into the bread to soak it in.

Chill bread mixture, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. Before baking, bring bread to room temperature. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and pale golden, about 35-40 minutes. Serve warm. Enjoy!!

Had Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly two weeks since Christmas. In some ways, it seems that it was just yesterday, yet in other ways, it feels like it's been months!

We had a wonderful Christmas. On Christmas eve, Kevin and I took dinner up to mom and dad's. Vicky was supposed to be there, too, but she wasn't feeling well and stayed home. Because we were on Winter Break and had the time to cook, Kevin and I made homemade stuffed shells and marinara. Mmmmm - it was delicious! (We even made extra stuffed shells and 'stuffed' them in the freezer for future dinners. Yay us!)
Christmas morning we headed back up to mom and dad's to open gifts. The Lala's arrived just ahead of us so it was time for Santa to distribute packages!Santa was indeed good to all of us this year; we must have all been on our best behavior.

Later, we all enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner with all of the trimmings. Kevin helped prepare the turkey for the oven......and after dinner, pumpkin and pecan pies. YUM! I almost didn't want to cut into the pecan pie - I think it's the most perfect pie I've ever made...All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. The only disappointing part of the day was that Vicky still wasn't feeling well enough to join us. We missed you, Vicky!! Mom, Dad, Deb, Bill, Pat and Drew: thanks for helping to make Christmas 2009 a very special and wonderful day!

Cookie Bake 2009

After a year off from our famous cookie bake, the Fabulous Bake-r Sisters were at it once again! Debbie and I had our girl's day cookie bake at our house on Saturday. It was the perfect day for baking cookies inside. It was cold and rainy outside and we were inside toasty and warm. Bonus: the house smelled warm and sweet - like cinnamon and vanilla!

Chocolate chip - with and without walnuts, cranberry/white chocolate oatmeal, peanut butter, molasses crinkles, oatmeal raisin and classic sugar cookies were the stars of the show. By days end we'd made 29 dozen (29 DOZEN?!) cookies to share with family and friends. Take a look...
Before the cookie bake....

After the cookie bake...
...and look who is waiting for the cookie to crumble!
Here they are, live and in person, the Fabulous Bake-r Sisters!

Homemade Croissants!

...well, sort of. At least you bake them at home which gives your home the most delicious aroma.

If you're lucky enough to live by a Trader Joe's, I highly recommend that you get yourself to the frozen section of this amazing store. There, you will find an innocent looking box of frozen croissant. But not just any croissants, my friends. Noooo. These little gems are frozen blobs of dough that look, well, down right unappetizing when taken from the box. However, let them proof overnight on the counter in a pan lined with parchment paper and ... viola! ... in the morning you will have something that actually resembles croissant! Brush the tops of each croissant gently with an egg wash and pop them in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

The payoff: 8 soft, delicious, flaky croissants just waiting for you to dab them with apricot preserves. Or maybe blackberry preserves. Mmmmm. Either way, delicious 'homemade' croissant fresh from the oven on a Saturday morning. Life just doesn't get any better than this!

Bon appetit!

Dad's Day

To our Dad's and Grandpa: Happy Father's Day!! We wish we could be with each and everyone of you on your special day. We love you all very much.

Later this afternoon we are going over to mom and dad's to celebrate Father's Day. We're barbecuing a turkey breast (yum!) and we'll have baked beans, grilled corn on the cob and coleslaw. Kevin and I made dessert: homemade blackberry cobbler and homemade vanilla bean ice cream! YUM!!!

Having found the biggest, most beautiful berries I've seen in years, I couldn't resist offering to make a cobbler. It's something we all love and remember fondly when grandma used to make her delicious cobblers. I can only hope that the one we made turns out half as well. I can say, it sure looks yummy! What do you think?
To accompany the blackberry cobbler, nothing beats homemade vanilla bean ice cream!

If I'd a Known You Were Coming, I'd a Baked a Cake

Oh wait ... we did bake a cake! And cupcakes! (there were 18 to begin with, but now there are only 16 - shhhhh! Don't tell anyone!) My thinking with the cupcakes is that most kids don't like coconut, so they can have cupcakes. Well, that and Deb bought mom an adorable cupcake holder last year and it makes an awfully cute table centerpiece.

Every year at this time my mind wanders to a moist, light and delicious coconut cake. I've seen picture after gorgeous picture in magazines depicting the most perfect, most beautiful coconut cake I've ever seen. I can't tell you how many times I've thought to myself that I'd love to bake a cake like that. So this year, we decided to give it a try.

We will be celebrating Easter at mom and dad's house tomorrow. Easter Saturday? Well, sort of. This tradition started years ago when everyone got a bit older and had families of their own. Having the big gathering on Saturday is nice because then everyone can celebrate Easter Sunday with their own families. It's kind of the best of both worlds if you will.

The recipe we used indicated that it's good to make the cake a day ahead, so we baked and decorated it today. Let me just say this: having now made a coconut cake from scratch, I now know why baking one of these creations is not for the faint of heart. I'd say it's probably one of the most labor intensive cakes I've ever made. Plus. it was a bugger to get out of the pan! It tore in several places, but I was able to piece it back together without too much trouble (or as Kevin so gallantly pointed out "put enough frosting on it and no one will know!" Now that's a strategy I can live with!) I'm not so sure that it turned out to be the cake of my dreams, but I think it came out pretty well. Besides, Kevin and I had fun in the kitchen baking up a storm - especially since it's somewhat cool and drizzly outside.

Cupcake paraphernalia before:
And decorated cupcakes after (I asked the bakery department at our Pavilions if I could buy one of their boxes for easier cupcake transport; they gave it to me as a courtesy because I'm a good customer. How nice is that?!)
Coconut cake before (... before it ripped coming out of the pan ...)
And coconut cake after (I think Kevin is absolutely right ... with enough frosting, who could tell?!)