Three Favorite Cupcakes

You know me and food! Here are a few things I'm nibbling on lately:

1. My newest nephew, Colin Joseph F.
This sweet little cupcake was born early in the AM of June 16th. He is just perfect and beautiful and tiny and so fresh from heaven.Don't you just want to eat him up? His mom, dad, and big brother are so happy to have him here and his aunt is also quite pleased. The only thing that matches the birth of your own babies is the birth of your SISTER'S babies. My only regret is that I can't be there at the house with them 24/7, but both grandmas are staying there and my kids and I would probably not be the best addition to that tiny house. Sigh.

2. Icing on the Cupcake
This little cupcake bakery nearby-ish is irresistible. I'm just grateful that they aren't around the corner or the temptation would be greater. Here's their menu--each day they have some featured flavors as well as their daily goodness. I've already fallen head over heels for their Chocolate Peanut Butter and Chocolate Macaroon. I think when I head back in this week, I'll ask them if they will offer a discount, promotion, or giveaway for my local readers. Anyone interested? Yummy yum yummy!

3. Conversations with a Cupcake
I discovered this blog via Nienie's. She created a special chocolate cake in honor of Nienie (which will be my birthday cake next week, I promise you.) Her blog is both beautiful and choc full of delicious-looking recipes. I'll admit that I haven't made any of them yet, but just reading this blog makes me happy. So go check it out!

What makes you happy today?

A Marketing Campaign Begins

Recently, my dearest sister, Alli, and her darling husband, Flint, moved to the area from LA. Flint asked me how it is that I have successfully recruited them (and our mom, who plans to retire here in 2008.) I gave him all my tips of luring them up for a visit and making everything perfect, then casually showing them a neighborhood they'd love and pointing out how inexpensive the homes are (it helps if they are currently living in a market like Los Angeles.)
Yesterday, he took this photo and emailed it to his entire family with this caption:

Come to Sacramento, it's different out here!He's got them all coming for the "perfect visit" next week, where they will be wowed by Allison's amazing cooking, charmed by a visit to Apple Hill and to Cornish Christmas, and impressed with home prices (it's a good thing they aren't coming from Kentucky instead.) And we have the most cheerful graffiti around!

Party Wrap-Up

So last night's party was a success. We figure that we had about 90 people come, a few less than RSVP'd, but not too shabby! We had plenty of food, although we did have Jared's parents run to the store for ketchup, then 1/2 an hour later for mustard (what can I say--I don't think straight under pressure--can you imagine how scary it would be if I actually had alcohol at my parties?)
I really realized how many people help make our annual event a success. As already mentioned, Jared's mom and dad are the ones who run to the store for everything we forgot, plus I think Dad made three trips earlier in the day between his house and ours with tables, chairs, a crockpot . . . you get the picture. Then, there was Christine, who offered to have the boys come over and play after naptime. I was sure that I'd be fine without her generous offer, but by 3:00 it sounded pretty darn good. Nancy showed up at 4:00 and said, "I've got an hour. Put me to work!" and proceeded to vacuum most of the house (I had only gotten to the family room so far) and to clean up Ian's room, which he had torn apart during his naptime. My wonderful sister, Alli, showed up about 4:30 with her arms full of decorations (which I hadn't asked her to bring but which made such a great addition to my two little decorations!) She is so good to think of the things that I don't.
We are so blessed to be surrounded by family and friends, and this annual tradition always helps us remember how wonderful that is.
Anyway, here are some pictures for you to enjoy. As you can see, Colonel Sanders attended to festivities (complete with his accent). So did my newest adorable nephew, Isaac, who came as himself.
Here are a few other party goers, enjoying their food, conversation, and other delights (like the train table, which was a hot spot!)
James was so in love, he wanted to share his Skittles with Bronwen. Thankfully, his mother intervened!
Henry felt so let down when the party was over. Here's where I found him when everyone had gone.Dad and Kimball were crashed in the living room at about the same time.
Hope you can make it out next year, dear readers!

There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters

At 17 months old, I was blessed with a baby sister, a sidekick, a friend for life. Alli and I shared a bedroom until I went to college 17 years later, and when she 
came to BYU the next year,
my friends and I opted to spend another year in on-campus housing at Heritage Halls and she lived in the apartment downstairs. The next year we were back to sharing a room and then we traveled together for a study abroad one summer in Jerusalem (one of the highlights of my life so far.) I left on my mission to Russia in the fall of 1994 and by the time I got home, Alli had already left for her 18 month mission in Honduras. She arrived home shortly before my wedding. Since then, although we have not been roommates, we have remained close friends, talking nearly every day. She insists that she spent the first half of her mission praying that I wouldn't get married while she was gone and the second half praying that I'd find the love of my life and get married when she got home, so she is one of a few people who take the credit for Jared & me falling in love.
Alli has always valued, prized, and looked forward to the divinity of motherhood. I think that perhaps the hardest part for her of being single long past when she expected to be was that she couldn't be a mother. When Kimball was born she was living in Salt Lake City and I in Southern California, but within a year she had relocated, partly because she couldn't stand to be away from him for very long. She was invaluable to me when Henry, our colicky second, was born, especially when I struggled with post partum depression and really felt like I needed support on a daily basis.
When we moved north four and a half years ago, it was a blow to her to realize that she had little control over where our children lived, etc. She had always treated them as if they were her own and I think she really felt that way and was crushed when we felt inspired to move away. I missed her terribly, but you should have seen how my kids missed her--it was as if they had lost one of their two mommies! My heart has ached for her over the years since I became a mother, knowing how much she wanted the life I was living.
Then, a couple of years ago, along came Flint. He treats her with so much love and respect and is most definitely the man she had been waiting for all those years. They married and decided that they wouldn't wait too long to start a family. A miscarriage slowed them down and worried them that their plans might not come to fruition. But happy news! This morning at 3:15 am, their baby Isaac Flint was born!
Yesterday morning I got a call from Allison on her way to her last day of teaching, saying that she was pretty sure that she was in labor. Flint was working up here, so a few minutes later he called me for a ride to the airport. I fell to my knees and asked the Lord to please let him be there with her for the labor and birth of their first baby. Then throughout the day I frequently prayed for them. I know that I can be a worrywart, but when someone I love is in labor I always feel like I need to plead with Our Father for their life and the life of the baby. I guess it's because to deliver a baby we go into the valley of the shadow of death. And I can't imagine anything more awful at a time of joy and hope like the birth of a baby than the loss of the baby or the mother or both of them. I was so relieved and grateful when I got a text message at 3:30 am, telling me that all was well and that Isaac had come.
Allison will finally get to be the mother that she has prepared all her life to be. She has been so wonderful to my children and to her other nieces and nephews. I am so filled with joy and gratitude for this long awaited blessing in her life, and pray that she will find joy and fulfillment as she relishes motherhood.
P.S. (I hate using this blasted laptop. It regularly messes up the formatting and won't let me move pictures around or use multiple photos. Thank goodness our new PC is on its way.)

Twelve Cheesecakes and a Wedding

I mentioned last month that I was working on some cheesecakes for an upcoming wedding. Well, the blessed event was last weekend and the cheesecakes turned out wonderfully. The bride and her mother and I worked together one day to out twelve cheesecakes in four varieties: Lemon Raspberry, Peach Gingersnap, Chocolate Mint Truffle, and Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. We froze the cheesecakes that night and didn't defrost them until the evening of the wedding reception. In the couple of days before the wedding, I made Raspberry Sauce, Lemon Curd, Peach Glaze, and Dark Chocolate Ganache for garnishing our creations. I also discovered, while making a double batch of lemon curd at 11pm, that it is possible to scorch lemon curd. I've made it countless times before without a problem, but had to scrap the entire batch, get new ingredients, and start over in the morning.
Anyway, the garden reception was just lovely. The colors were black and white and they had even invited the guests to wear black and white, so it was gorgeous. They had a live jazz band performing twinkle lights everywhere, lots of yummy finger foods at the buffet and a "chick salad" (as they're called at my house) that was to die for, plus our cheesecakes. I got there before the reception started and managed to snap a couple of photos of the bride with her four sisters (aren't they gorgeous?)
When I checked in with the bride at one point and asked her how her day was going and she said, "I just can't stop smiling!" and I remembered feeling that exact same way on my wedding day. Her dress was lovely. She designed it herself and had it made. Living proof that you can have a gorgeous, stylish wedding gown that is still modest.
My sister came with me to help me plate the cheesecakes (why didn't I get a picture of any of them plated??) and it was so nice to have her there with me--I think working together with my sister and Mom in those situations helps me not to stress out, something that I can do when working alone or even with other people who don't know how to read my mind. Aren't sisters wonderful?
I am going to start posting recipes in separate posts so that they are easier to find later, so I'll post those truffle cheesecake recipes soon. Right now I need to go pick up kids at school.