The. Best. Frosting. Ever.

Seriously though. I LOVE this frosting, so I'm using my blog as a recipe book.

This comes from The Wilton Method of Cake Decorating Course 1 book, provided by Karly. :)

1 cup solid white vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon Wilton flavor (Vanilla, Almond or Butter)
2 tablespoons milk or water
1 lb. pure cane confectioners' sugar (approximately 4 cups)
1 tablespoon Wilton Meringue Powder
A pinch of salt (optional)

Cream shortening, flavoring and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend an additional minute or so, until creamy.

For chocolate buttercream: Add 3/4 cup cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted, and an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons water to recipe. Mix until well blended.

Makes 3 cups of Stiff Consistency icing (used for flowers with upright petals, etc). Add one teaspoon water to each cup of stiff consistency icing for medium consistency (used for stars, flowers with petals that lie flat, etc). Add two teaspoons of water to each cup of stiff consistency icing for thin consistency (writing words or icing a cake).

Corn-on-the-Cob Cupcakes

Seriously, I'm going to get addicted to blog posting if I don't stop looking at all of these treats. I saw these cupcakes on Jenifer's blog awhile back but haven't thought to post them on mine until now. The recipe is here on the Martha Stewart Web site.

First, you can use the recipe for vanilla cupcakes on Martha's Web site. This recipe also comes from the Hello, Cupcake! book.

Vanilla Cupcakes (Makes 2 dozen)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, & salt in a medium bowl. Combine the milk, oil, & vanilla extract in a 2-cup measuring cup or a small bowl.
3. In another medium bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light & fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating just until blended.
5. Spoon half of the batter into a ziplock bag. Snip a 1/4-inch corner from the bag & fill the liners two-thirds full. Repeat with the remaining batter. Bake until golden & a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the baking pan, place on a wire rack, & allow to cool completely.

Here's the recipe for these corn-on-the-cob cupcakes:

You'll need:

Vanilla Frosting

Yellow liquid food coloring
24 Vanilla Cupcakes, baked in white paper liners
3 1/2 cups small yellow, cream, or white jelly beans, such as Jelly Belly
4 pieces yellow fruit chews, such as Laffy Taffys or Starbursts
1 tablespoon black decorating sugar
1 tablespoon white decorating sugar
8 sets of corn holders (optional)

Directions

1. Color the frosting pale yellow with food coloring.
2. Working with 3 cupcakes at a time, frost cupcakes with yellow frosting. Arrange 5 rows of jelly beans, close together, on each cupcake. Place the 3 cupcakes side by side on a corn dish or serving platter to resemble an ear of corn. Repeat process with remaining cupcakes, frosting, and jelly beans.
3. Cut the fruit chews into eight 1-inch squares. Soften the edges slightly by hand so that they look like melted butter. Place 1 square on top of each ear of corn. Sprinkle with sugars. Insert a corn holder in the end of each ear of corn, if using. Serve.

Flower Pot Treats

Jenifer put a link on her blog to this Web site that shows you how to make flower pot desserts. I've always wanted to be the type of Mom that makes cute little desserts for her children, (and NO, I'm not pregnant - I'm just sayin'). I may as well start practicing now so that by the time I do have kids they (& all of their friends) will think my treats are awesome! The ingredients for these cute desserts are as follows:

1. Ice cream (any flavor) softened
   
2. Pound cake (the recipe says that frozen works best)
3. Oreos
4. Gummy worms

You'll also need:

1. Small clay flowerpots
2. Straws
3. Fresh cut flowers

Using a serrated knife, cut the frozen pound cake into 1 to 1 1/2 inch slices. Find a biscuit or cookie cutter that fits in the bottom of the flower pot & begin cutting the slices into rounds. Drop one round of cake into each pot, lightly pressing to make sure it's all the way down.

Hold a straw up to the side of the pot & snip it so that it's about 1/2 to 1 inch shorter than the top of the pot. Use that straw as a guide to cut the rest of the straws. Stick a straw into the center of each pot, anchoring it into the cake. Spoon the ice cream into the pot, working around the straw, until it almost reaches the very top of the straw.

If you are making the ice cream pot for a boy, you might want to throw in some gummy worms about halfway through. Use a damp paper towel & run it along the inside of the top of the pot when you're done spooning in the ice cream to clean up the edges a little. After the pots are filled with ice cream, return them to the freezer & let the ice cream get very firm.

Put the Oreos in a food processor & crush them until they look like topsoil. You can put them into a Ziploc bag & crush them with a rolling pin if you don't have a food processor.

Once the ice cream is frozen, take the pots out of the freezer & begin spooning the crushed oreos over the top, trying to cover the ice cream completely. Then, if the pot is for a girl, stick a few flowers into the straw. After you stick in the flower, spoon more cookie crumbs up against the top of the straw. It the pot is for a boy, stick a couple more gummy worms on top of the cookie crumbs.

Mashed Potato Cupcakes

On the bake at 350 blog, I found this cute recipe for mashed potato cupcakes. I can't wait to make them! The author of the blog talks about following a recipe for doctoring cake mixes that comes from the book Hello, Cupcake!. I assume this recipe is awesome since Karly makes cupcakes from the same book & they are divine.

For these cupcakes, choose any cake mix you like. Substitute 1 cup of buttermilk for the liquid, add the amount of oil called for on the box and use 4 eggs. This makes 24 cupcakes. Once the cupcakes are cooled, frost each cupcake with 3 tablespoons vanilla frosting, mounding it in the middle. Use a teaspoon to make an indentation in the middle; put a yellow Starburst or any 1 inch yellow fruit chew, (taffy, etc.) in the middle of the cupcake. Drizzle with gravy (store-bought caramel sauce, heated).

Family Photos

My Dad loves to take photos more than anyone I know. It's actually a good thing because I always forget my camera despite good intentions & probably wouldn't get around to taking pictures as often as do. We took these pictures this last weekend so I thought I'd post a few, mostly for my own photo journaling. :)

My brother thought this would be a good one to send to our brother on a mission.
Just go with it.

And another he thought would be funny to send to the missionary.
Again, go with it.

San Francisco

After the Strongman competition, we drove to Sacramento to spend a few days with Paul's old friends. While we were there, we decided to take a day trip to San Francisco. Too bad we didn't plan this - seeing WICKED would have been fabulous! Here are a few pictures I took during our short trip to San Francisco. I had never been there before, so I was a bit picture happy, mostly because I love love love the ocean & boats. :O)

A semi-blurry picture of the famous bridge. I would have liked to explore the town a little more & to have examined the bridge up close, but it was neat to see it any way!

Alcatraz - which I thought was AWESOME. We were going to take a little boat trip around Alcatraz but the boys (Paul & James) protested because they thought it would be hot & that they would get sick. It was pretty hot outside.

I loved watching these guys. :O)

Beautiful.

Paul & James

My cute husband - we have not been on vacation at all since we've been married, so this trip was a lot of fun.

Golden State Strongman Competition

I haven't posted on this thing in forever, I know! But, I've been sick for the past few days & have had quite a lot of time to lie around & try to feel better, so I decided that, this time, I had no excuse. It's (finally!) time to post some pictures & info about Paul's first Strongman competition. For starters, I was REALLY nervous that he would get seriously injured, but all went well!

Some stats on the competition:
1. It was a Platinum level event - this meant that much of Paul's competition had competed in multiple events previous to this one. If you ask me, it was quite a steep level of competition to start at, but he did a great job, all things considered.
2. They CHANGED the weight from what was previously mentioned in the event information, and not by a little, by a lot. Like 30 pounds. What the heck?! That is a TON when you're lifting things! But oh well, right?
3. There were 15 competitors in Paul's weight class. P.S. Yay! for him losing 20 pounds to compete in the class he wanted. Yay also for the gorging that occurred after the competition - I must say, I did enjoy going to several places & eating whatever we wanted. :O)
4. Paul struggled with some events that he didn't have much experience with but ROCKED the truck pull (took 4th!) and the car deadlift (took 7th - best deadlift he's ever done!).
5. Again - NO INJURIES!!!! Yeah yeah yeah.

Paul's buddy Russ & his wife Abby (whom I adore) came to support Paul & that meant a lot to us. Russ was such a great coach/support to Paul, in a way that I couldn't be. You know...something about Strongman comradery & feeling each others' pain. Russ came prepared with Powerade, extra knee wraps, elbow supports, and plenty of protein - he is great! Yay for good friends.

Here's a picture I took before the competition. I am so proud of Paul for being able to accomplish something that he has wanted to do for so long & has worked so hard for. He goes after his dreams no matter what obstacles get in the way & I admire him so much for that! There will be plenty more Strongman competitions to come, I am sure.

** I'll post a few short videos later, if I can figure out how to mute myself! There is no reason why you should have to hear me saying "Come on Paul" over & over AND over again. A little plug for Strongman competitions though - SUPER fun to watch!