Fairy Land

I'm seriously starting to believe that everyone should believe or at least have a fairy or two rooting for them. As of late i have discovered that i am surrounded by them :-). This morning the kicthcenaid Fairy, made an appearance very quietly at my front door.

My brother tells me theres a box on the front porch quickly followed by a " what have i ordered again" ( i also have baking gadget addiction :-p). since i wasn't expecting anything, i said it wasn't me. Then comes the well there's a kitchenaid box sitting here. Cue me getting up and all the while saying oh it's probably for next door or something.

So there we are both staring at the box of a kitchenaid mixer lol. No name or address on it. All that was attached on the top was a unaddressed envelope. cue some you open it..no you open it.no YOU open it (i think stubbornness runs in the family) i lost that one and opened said envelope, and literally got the shock of my life.


Someone (who i am determined to discover their true identity :p i have a few leads lol--am even considering putting up a reward for the safe & friendly capture of said fairy) has made me speechless & done something remarkable (but so not needed!!! i don't feel worthy). I seriously can't thank you enough, you have to turn yourself in!. I promise that for once i will keep my stubborn streak at bay, and all i want to do is thank you in person, and tell you how blessed i know i am to have fairies like you in my life. I haven't done anything out of the ordinary, but i WILL follow my dreams/passions and wherever they might lead me.

It's taken me until this evening to unpack said mixer, i have passed the box so many times, each time just gawking at it ( i know i know i shouldn't stare). It's almost too pretty to even turn on (i know my addiction will remedy that fact pretty sharpish) and i am determined to "earn" my mixer.

Since i cannot just accept such a huge gift, am thinking out a plan to "pay it forward", i have a few ideas up my sleeves already :-)).

In the mean time, i would like to introduce the newest member of my family (kitchen aid fairy, picked THE stand mixer i had my eyes on <3). Please take a moment to note the clear counter space. This couter space is NEVER clear, i lovingly refer to it as the Bermuda triangle in my kitchen. All that is missing is a dedication plaque to the KA Fairy, who i am seriously forever indebted to. Whomever you are, you are a complete loon (but in a good way lol) and i seriously cannot thank you enough

and the deed is done...

3 boxes left on three unsuspecting doorsteps in the wee hours of this morning :-). THIS is definitely a great way to start off a Saturday morning. unfortunately in the rush to just "get out" i never took a picture of a "finished" box :(.
saying that who am I kidding there's always going to be another opportunity.I really hope the intended enjoy them even though 2 of the 3 cupcakes are definitely sub-par :s.

Mood= awesome! This is a GREAT start to a great weekend.

martha you owe me a hand mixer!!

so i realised i hadn't baked baked in a wee bit, which for me is just plain odd. Especially since my ban was lifted a while ago. For whatever reason the blahs had taken over, so big where these blahs that even mustering the strenght to whip up some butter was just not there. I have officially entered sleep deprivation meltdown, i never thought i would say it, but 4 hours on uninterrupted sleep right about now would be awesome, it would even be better then a glitch free baking session (there i have said it! lol).

to make up for lost time tonight i have maybe gone a bit overboard??? i made 3 batches of cupcakes last night, and tackled the icing and filling tonight...i am pooped but the deed is done. The cupcake fairy is firmly back in the saddle again...she's hoping to strike early tomorrow morning (you can't beat cupcakes for breakie right). As long as 3 pint size munchkins cooperate in her scheme, as they are joining the clandestine operation, pj's still on :-p.

out of the 3 cupcakes attempted, only one meets my strict criteria (meaning they look as they should) the other were slight buggers (excuse my french). unfortunately the XW#$@#$$%% 7 minute icing, wins again, as it flopped,but i "tried" to salvage it??? bah who am i kidding. Supposedly they all taste lovely warts and all. Hopefully my victims think the same too :-)

and because it couldn't have happened at a better moment, my still barely standing hand mixer, bit the dust mid way through my dark chocolate frosting...may it rest in peace :-((. I would out of principle refuse to buy yet another one, but May is going to be a very cake-y month for me. Grow fund grow!!!! hopefully this will be the last hand mixer to cross my palm

meet my archnemisis

my daughter's 4th birthday is fast approaching (i seriously have no idea where the time has gone). Up to now i have kept her birthday's to immediate family only, because i am the lover of low key.

This year, as it's been a year with alot of changes for her i thought she well and truly deserved her "1st" birthday party with her friends/family. Since when asked what she would like for her birthday, Madame only request was that there was cake & that her birthday meal consist of honey garlic chicken wings (or sweet wings as she calls them), fries, peas & spinach oh and pizza (i <3 that child lol) i have "chosen" for her and i hope hope hope that she likes, as all the preparations for the shindig are hush hush.

Well apart from my archnemisis...how i dislike thee let me count the ways!!!Madame is having a circus themed birthday party. Thanks to a fab & creative friend, her invites are all ready to be sent out, but NO hold on wait a sec...I HAD to put on my "i think i can hat" lol. To finish off her circus themed invites, i thought why not do something slightly different and attempt to make a themed cookie to go with said invite, and pop her friends name on them.

Maybe this should have been my first warning that this would end badly, with cookie slivers slamming the patio window and floor below it (i have NO idea how they got there- blaming lack of sleep on that one--instead of the fairy throwing a fit lol).

i cannot for the life of me do sugar cookie run outs...they are the bane of my existence! This is my 2nd attempt at the cookie favor fiasco...and i think i am just going to have to take off my " i think i can" hat on this one. It is not my friend. I definitely did not inherit the creative genes in our family. This big tent cookies, where iced free hand using the template i cut out the cookies with. I was going to go all anal retentive, and trace them with the royal icing meticulously on wax paper , then meticulously transfer and "glue" them on to said cookies afterward, but sanity curbed that idea off the bat.

I of course used Martha's sugar cookie recipe, and after finding this blog entry on making your own cookie cutters, using a clip art file, i took the lazy lady way (and i knew i wouldn't need that many" and laminated (yes you can't take the anal out of the queen :-p) the big tent clip art i liked, and with a very sharp knife just traced around it directly onto the prepared flatten cookie dough.They worked out great, no spreading (i popped them back in the fridge to harden up a bit after being rolled/cut).The cookies are supposedly awesome (i never eat my own baking, and i am suppose to avoid dairy)

So i think it's safe to say the invites will be going out solo this week. I am actually admitting "defeat" but only for now. I am way too anal to give up without one last ditch effort.......eventually......third times the charm right?


now say it with me...." YOU WILL NOT GO OVERBOARD WITH THIS PARTY" "YOU WILL NOT GO OVERBOARD WITH THIS PARTY"....and the sad thing is i have 1001 food ideas whirling through my head for said party, but i WILL NOT GO OVERBOARD..scouts honor :-p

the longest week ever

following from my jersey cake and my cupcake fairy drop offs...and because i can never turn down a dare/challenge..i have spent almost a WHOLE week without baking...and i haven't developed the sakes either!!!!!! no one here thought i would last this long, or crack under the pressure of my hand mixer, my favorite baking blogs and the blocks and blocks of unsalted butter that have been whispering my name inticing me over the cake side...i haven't caved ONCE...




ok that's a slight lie, my eldest daughter, has been obsessed with bunny cake since we attended an Easter cake decorating afternoon at the local grocery store over the weekend...so who am i to get in the way of her creative juices. unfortunately being not quite 4 she required adult supervision, and i would be a very bad mama if i didn't "help". bah it's not exactly cheating...thanks to gold old Duncan hynes & some shredded coconut :-p

all this hiatus had done is given me some time to plot my next cupcake fairy drop off(s), and discover a few new baking blogs (will have to remember to add them to my list). I have also found THE cake for a dear dear friend who also happens to be obsessed with coffee/Starbucks (i still don't get it lol). It's kinda handy that her birthday is coming up in a few weeks...as per usual couldn't choose something "easy" but i hope she like it :-p.now to practice once this week is up :-)