I'm Back!

OK, so I know it's been a while. Where to start? Hmmm. . . OK, let's start with the cupcake workshop I had to give this summer. Did I tell you about that? This summer two of my co-workers and myself gave a workshop on how to have the perfect cupcake fundraiser. And who would know better to do that than me! So we all went to Charlotte's house to decorate cupcakes! Boy did we have fun.

So here they are in their natural state - undecorated. AFTER I must say Charlotte and Karen had a ball decorating these delish cuppies! They were like kids in a candy store. Here is a closer look of what I call the Party Girl! Just a plane cuppie - all dressed up with goodies! Sprinkles, a lolly pop, some smarties (because girls are smarter ;) and a now or later). Too cute if I say so myself! But we did not stop there. I showed them how to make chocolate covered pretzels. Can you believe they didn't know???? Imagine that! But never fear the Cupcake Chic is here!!! Now where did I put my cape? This is the Shopping Queen - Charlotte, who graciously let us use her kitchen for this project. She is so sweet and her house is amazing! She was the first to make her own pretzels. I now call her Sprinkles because she got sprinkle happy when we were decorating them. This is Karen! She is AWESOME! She was a natural in the kitchen!She whipped out those pretzels in no time flat! You can see she was having a BLAST! They were kids in the Wonder Emporium! I could not pull them away from them. They wanted to do more and more and more and more! See what I mean! Aren't they beautiful? Did I ever tell you I was allergic to chocolate? It's true! If I eat it, I feel like I'm having a heart attack. So I love to play with chocolate but I do not dare eat it! So we get to the conference and we have to set up, right? Well here is the end result! Ta-Da! Aren't they pretty! Who doesn't love a cupcake? And you don't have to feel guilty about eating it! Wanna closer look? Come closer my pretty. . . Wow! What big sprinkles you have! The bigger the better! Mmm. . . With M&M's? Are you serious! Why yes, yes, I am! We also had to show how we packaged them! Yes, there is a cupcake t-shirt, cupcake toys and a cupcake apron! It's official! I am cupcake crazy!

Yummy Yummy to Someone's Tummy

So I bought my self a cookbook! Imagine that! Well after pouring over it for hours and hours I found a recipe to make for my left-brain husband to take to work as parting gifts. He was transferring to a different department to obtain more knowledge as he peruses he Professional Engineering license. OK! It was really an excuse to make something!

Anyone who likes sweet, oh so good treats needs to get this book! So I decided to make Heaven on a Stick. Ingredients . . .

One bag of large marshmallows Sucker sticks One can of sweetened condensed milk Butter Salt Vanilla One bag of Caramels Chocolate coating (Bark Chocolate) EXTRAS: M&M's, Chopped nuts, Sprinkles, Cookie crumbs, etc.

I had Shalom to unwrap these! She had a blast.

Then I had her to put three marshmallows on 12-15 sucker sticks. We used three marshmallows but you can use four. After this we melted the caramels with the butter, milk, salt and vanilla. Then we dipped the marshmallows in the caramels and put them in the freezer to set. We got so excited about the next step we forgot to take a picture! But this is the end result . . . Are you drooling yet? Can you stand it? Wait for it . . .

Don't they look YUMMY!!!!!!! Too bad I'm allergic to chocolate! Then we had to package them for Left-brain to take to his co-workers! Do you want to see more? Ohhhhhhhhhhh! Yummy to somebody's tummy! I'm ready for my close up!

Left-brain said they were so good his co-workers were fighting for the extras!

Ooh La La

OK, so most people know I have been on the hunt to find really great cupcakes. Well . . . I have traveled to the far parts of the Houston area to find some REALLY GREAT cupcakes!

Well look no further! Ooh La La - The Dessert Boutique in Katy, Texas just MIGHT be the place! They have some awesome cupcakes. Shalom even liked them and you know she does not eat cupcakes. Her favorite one is Bunny Boo! She was rewarded with one for jumping off the diving board on the last day of swim class. OK, she would have got one anyway since this place was on my summer to do list! But, I let her think it was her reward! The Bunny Boo (isn't that a cute name? She picked that one because of Bratz) is a Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese frosting. Very yummy! Next there was the Velvet Elvis This cuppie was VERY GOOD - better than the last one I had. The cake had just the right flavor to compliment the yummy cream cheese frosting. I'm beginning to think I like cream cheese frosting! This is soooo cute! Look at the little umbrella! This is a pineapple upside down cake with - Yes yummy Cream Cheese pineapple frosting! Who can resist anything with a cherry on top! This is the MargaritaVille with infused Tequila with a lime green frosting! This one was for Ann! She drove and this was the one she had been salivating for since the Hurricane in September! That's when we had our first encounter with Ooh La La! We needed rations because we had to "Hunker Down"! But look they had these too! These little ditties are yumm-o! The first one is a chocolate chip cookie cup with chocolate ganache, marshmallows, chocolate chunks and almonds. Is your mouth watering yet? The other little morsel is a cake ball! Its leftover cake formed into a ball and then dipped in white chocolate ganache and rolled into colored sprinkles! That is just stinkin' cute! And oh so yummy!

They had so many cupcakes and flavors of the day, I could have spent over $50 just to taste them! And did I mention they have an adorable setting section complete with a faux fireplace? So if you are ever in the Katy area and are in the mood for something sweet, swing by Ooh La La, you will not be disappointed!

Miss Me?

OK! I know I have not posted in a while, I have been preparing for a conference! I promise I will be back soon with loads of pictures and stuff, so please stay tuned!

Crave-ing Cupcakes!

Ok, I'll admit it, the Cupcake Chic did not have time to bake this week. Between painting the power room, the laundry room, recovering some 1959 Thomasville dining room chairs, and trying to find stuff to put in these newly painted rooms left her little time for anything else. But she thought her week would not be complete without having just one cupcake, or two, or three or four! So the Cupcake Chic, Ann, and Lomie went out on a mission. The mission was to get stuff to decorate with but somehow the Cupcake Chic and her partners in crime ended up here.

And do you know what is off of this street? Huh, Huh, do ya? Do ya?

And do you know what is in Uptown Park? Huh huh, do ya? Well do ya?

Is it this pretty sign? Nope!

Yes, Ladies and Gents! It's CRAVE CUPCAKES!!!! How LONG has it been there? Who knows and who cares! CUPCAKES for everyone!!!

Look at the cute signs for parking!

Look at the cute vintage Kitchen-aid mixers on the doors! And you know what that means? They are baked fresh daily! It even says so on the label. The Cupcake Chic does not have a picture because she could hardly contain herself when the box was on her lap!

They are from top to bottom - Red Velvet, Chocolate, Strawberry, and Dark Chocolate with fluffy stuff inside! The Red Velvet is their house fave! They were all yummy to our tummies but our absolute fave was . . .

RED VELVET! It was so moist and fresh! And the frosting was Scrumptiously Delish! And this is coming from Lomie-who by the was does NOT eat cupcakes! (Is she really my child? She must take after her Daddy - Finance Man!) So if you are ever in Uptown Park and you have a super sweet tooth and are craving cupcakes, stop by Crave and get one of their supper yummy cuppies! You won't be disapointed.

Stay tuned for our next visit to Ohh La La - Dessert Boutique in Katy! Ohh I can not wait!

Say Cupcake!

So I changed the name of my blog to The Cupcake Chic (thanks Beth Keen)! It just seems to fit. So anyone who knows me (the Cupcake Chic), knows I LOVE LOVE LOVE cupcakes. I love to bake them, decorate them, look at them, research them, and will travel to far corners of Texas to buy one and from time to time eat or two or three or four! I also like to plan parties - birthday parties! I also love to decorate! So hopefully from time to time I will post pictures of parties that I have planned as well as things that I have decorated.

But TODAY I wanted to share with you what The Cupcake Chic has found!

SAY CUPCAKES!!

This is the WHOLE SHABANG! I also found that cute little cupcake tin with recipe card inside at Sam's Club. Isn't the whole thing cute?

Have you had a cupcake lately? Well, you should!

Splish Splash - Lomie's 1st Swim Class

So today was Lomie's first (official) swim class! Yes, I have tried to teach her to swim but I guess I was not successful enough, so Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to swim class we go. First we had to go shopping for a swim suit. And if you know Lomie (AKA the Diva Dancer) one was not enough and we had to coordinate with matching shorts. So we went to Wally's World. I had a one track mind when we went in. No stopping by the baking asile, no going past the ribbons, no going by the bakery for a donut!

So this is the first swim suit. Yes we bought two!

Notice the shorts. She really did not want to take a picture, she was shy girl today! "Attention boys and girls! When you hear the whistle go stand by your assigned teacher".

While all the other little swimmers walked by themselves, she needed Mommy to walk her over to her sign. So it was my chance to snap another picture! She is in Ms. Michelle's class. Who is very sweet by the way and will be getting a goodie package at the end of the lessons. Guess what she is getting - I'm thining cupcake pops in blue.

We were very timid to get into the water. So we stuck our feet in first. Then she became a Rocket, then a chicken. Don't ask me! I was taught to swim by just jumping into the deep end of the pool and doggie paddle to the side! However, I can swim like a fish! No make that a Baywatch Babe!

Yeah, right! Last year at the twins Back Yard Beach Bash birthday party, I had to dive into the pool to get Lomie and I guess I made a big splash with my diving technique. I just wish I had taken out my new phone first. It has not worked right since. I can't hang up the darn phone, I have to take the battery out to end a call!

So Lomie did not like getting her face wet-at first. Talk about a fish out of water. Her stage is the stage! She is a dancer by nature. And I know many people think their kid can dance but mine REALLY can!

See I told you! As she tells me "Hip Hop" is her life. But she still wants to be a teacher, a doctor and financial planner. The girl has a plan!

So we progressed to the "deep end" of the pool to practice our "Rocket Ship".

And by the end of the session for the first day - she got used to getting her face wet!

She will survive!