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Sweet Temptations Surprise

Posted on August 20, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

Sometimes surprises are the best thing. Wednesday, we went and picked up Daddy for lunch to celebrate NHL’s birthday together. After lunch, we were going to go shopping for a few things, but then I had an idea. I thought we would head over to one of your favorite ice cream spots. Both of you love Scoops because they have amazing ice cream and you can watch the cows while you eat. When we pulled up, they were closed. I guess I did not realize that they are not open during the day mid-week.

Not to worry. I quickly recalled that a cake shop was right down the road. We had seen their truck over the weekend at a Farmers Market. We did not buy anything from their colorful truck because cousin SG would not be able to eat anything. Your disappointment over the ice cream quickly went away when we pulled up to Sweet Temptations and went inside.

Since it was a special occasion, I told the two of you to pick whatever you wanted from the case. Dangerous thing to do, but I had an idea what you may select. Here is a look at the items that we brought home.

NHL, you immediately homed in on a dragon creation. It was two chocolate chip cookies combined with a large amount of icing inside it’s mouth and on top. When I picked it up out of the box, I was floored with how heavy it was. There was no doubt that you loved it since you kept “mmmmmm-ing” as you ate it.

JSL, you had one item in mind. You wanted something chocolate. It was the chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing, of course. One minute I saw the cupcake in your hands, the next it vanished. Since you were the only one that tried it, you must have really liked it since I have never seen you gobble up a cupcake like that.

Since Daddy was not with us, I did not have any idea what kind of cupcake to get him. After making cupcakes all weekend, I was in the mood to try something different. I opted to get the cookie sandwich to share with him. YUM! The chocolate chip cookies were gooey, fresh, and amazing. The frosting inside was the perfect amount and not too sweet. Half was the perfect amount for me to splurge on.

Little surprises like this during the summer have been so much fun. I hope that we get back to Sweet Temptations again soon to show Daddy all of the fancy cupcake creations that they have.

Love,

Mommy

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Lion Cupcake Construction

Posted on August 18, 2011 12:13 am by TheAngelForever

When NHL asked me to make his birthday party an animal, specifically lion, theme I did not cringe – well not right away. First, we went to the craft store, party supply place, and I went to Google to see what was out there. Thanks to a quick search on YouTube, I found a fun video and was all ready.

Let me take you on an adventure as I got ready for my practice run of the lion cupcakes. First, I had some of my items set to start. No comments about mixing Pillsbury and Betty Crocker items please.

Cake mix – Or, if you want, use a from scratch recipe
Frosting – I had two cans so I could have plenty of the two colors I needed to make
Black icing – Note: This did not work well. Thanks to this, I bought Wilton black sparkle
Food coloring – To make 2 shades of orange for the lion face
Popcorn – We now wonder if popcorn from our Whirly Pop with some salt may have been better to add a salty/sweet contrast

Not seen in the photo:

Pretzel sticks – lion whiskers
Mini chocolate chips – lion eyes
Cheerios – lion ears
Eggs – We did not use eggs because my niece is very allergic to them. I used the item below.

When making the practice batch of cupcakes, JSL wanted to help me out. He had a lot of fun making the “eggs” and mixing everything else together.

Then, the cupcakes were ready to head into the oven.

Thanks to the egg replacer, they bake faster and are still a bit “squishy” when they come out of the oven. While I was waiting for the cupcakes to cool, I set up an assembly line of sorts. For some reason, I took the photo before the cheerios were here. Then, my hands were full of icing and I never went back. You get the idea.

First, you use the darker orange to cover the entire cupcake and then put a smaller light orange circle within that.

Then, JSL helped me to put the popcorn mane around the entire cupcake.

Up next were the Cheerio ears and pretzel whiskers.

Then, we gently placed the mini-chips for the eyes and drew on the nose and smile.

Here are my practice lions. You can see the blobs that happened with the original black icing that I bought.

The boys were not upset with the blob faces on the lions. They thought they were quite fun and delicious.

When I made them on Sunday, I tried a few different things to make them a little easier. Although I liked the ease of the Wilton gel, it was runny and the faces did not stay the way I made them. Perhaps if there was room in the refrigerator that would have helped. Still, they came out cute. Here’s a view from the party:

If you are curious about the video I used, or the other animals here it is. The Howdini video: Jungle Animal Cupcakes: Monkey, Lion, Tiger, and Zebra Cupcakes.

So there you have it. Have you ever made cupcakes that were a little different? I would love to hear about it since I am on a cupcake kick!

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The Yankees Stink Shirt

Posted on August 13, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear JSL,

Yesterday morning, I had to bribe you a little bit. It was Papa’s birthday and I wanted you to try to make him smile. As you know, he’s not really into the smiling thing. Case in point:

Anyway, there is a shirt that Uncle I bought NHL when he was little. The shirt is not exactly loved by Daddy. He does allow one of you to wear it on special occasions for Papa. This morning, I pulled it out, but you were not really into wearing it. So I bribed you. Lucky for me, you asked for some lemonade with breakfast. DONE! Here you are wearing the shirt at Hoffman’s.

I think the problem with wearing this shirt is that you get a lot of attention. Seeing that we live in NY, a Yankees Stink shirt either gets a lot of glares, or laughter from Red Sox fans in the area. Of course, this didn’t phase you too much. You liked people looking, smiling, and giving you attention. Plus, you were busy being a big helper on the rides with cousin BA.

Then, you were thrilled to go again, leading the way with BA in the back driving solo.

Of course, during this time NHL was on the roller coaster with Uncle I. You did not quite get what a big deal it was that they were in the front row.

What impressed me even more was you also went on a ride you were not too sure about. Rides up high seem to get you scared. Cousin SG wanted to go on one with you. After chatting a bit, you agreed to try it. You can tell you were not thrilled here.

Then, while you were whirling around above, I heard giggles. Yes, you were laughing and smiling while flying with cousin SG for your last ride of the day.

Of course, you probably thought the ice cream that came right after this – rainbow sprinkles and all was another part of the bribe.

Thank you for being such a big boy. You helped Papa smile and you made me so very proud by being such a big helper.

Love,

Mommy

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Smurf Filled Memories – Then and Now

Posted on August 6, 2011 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JHL,

A few weeks ago, we went to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie. While waiting to get into the theater, I went over to take this photo.

The two of you sat puzzled and curious. Finally, one of you asked what they were and why I was taking the picture. Daddy tried to explain about The Smurfs that we grew up with, but it was kind of hard to explain. Later, as we walked around the mall, we arrived at Build-A-Bear where they were handing out hats for everyone.

You were officially intrigued with Smurfs and seeing what they were about. When we got home, Daddy found the old episodes that we grew up with via Cartoon Network on Demand. Since that time, I have heard a lot of Smurf jokes coming from both of you. You both want to be a certain Smurf and battle Gargamel. Luckily, you have not been singing their song.

Nana had the day off of work on Friday and wanted to take us to see the new Smurf Movie. We arrived at the theaters and who should we see while getting our tickets?

Yes, it was Smurfette and Gutsy Smurf. They must have known we were coming. The two of you were so excited. When we got upstairs by the theater, we saw the birthday room all decked out in Winnie the Pooh and Smurf clings. Since we had time, the two of you had fun standing with them for some pictures (tough since the lighting was odd).

NHL, you were blown away with seeing Clumsy’s feet at the bottom of the Smurf area. He was definitely the Smurf that you were interested in seeing.

JSL, you wanted to see Smurfette and Papa Smurf. Of course, you were very excited to have your photo with Tigger and Eeyore.

When the movie was over, the two of you immediately wanted to see my old Smurf toys. I have to see where they are, but I am sure I kept them. It certainly looks like we will be having some Smurfy days ahead.

Love,

Mommy

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Sushi Style Birthday Dinner

Posted on August 4, 2011 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

For our birthday celebrations, we try to go to a restaurant that the person likes for lunch or dinner on their special day. For the boys, this usually happens on their day since the weather is typically nice in May and August. I am the lone winter birthday in our immediate family and often get snowed out.

Yesterday, was TechyDad’s birthday. The boys were not really interested in going out, so they went to have pizza with Nana and Papa. This meant that the birthday boy could really pick the location he liked. He decided to go back to Mr. Fuji’s. We went there on our 10th anniversary the night of our plumbing fiasco. The meal was delicious, so I was all for it.

We ordered our meals. I went vegetarian so I could share with TechyDad since I was not too hungry. First, our Miso Soup and salad arrived. It was quite good.

We decided to have one of our favorite sushi rolls from our previous trip there. Here is our avocado and peanut roll. This was just as delicious as the first time we had it. I could have stopped right here.

As I mentioned, we ordered vegetarian so we could try two items and share. TechyDad has the vegetable sushi meal. It was really a beautiful presentation.

I opted to have the Teriyaki Tofu. It was served with some white rice and under the lightly fried tofu were amazing onions in the tangy sauce.

We normally would not have ordered anything after our meal, but TechyDad had received a really amazing birthday coupon via e-mail from Mr. Fuji. It included a discount and free Tempura Ice Cream.

There are no words to describe the ice cream properly. It seriously should be illegal and makes me really curious about their tempura cheesecake (imagine me drooling).

Then, it was time to head back to the boys who wanted to use TechyDad as a boat. Apparently, the little guy is talking about cruises lately. Hmmm…. maybe he dreams of a trip on the Disney Dream as well.

I tried to get a good photo of the kids with the birthday boy, but they were acting too silly. This was the best of the batch.

And then it was time for birthday cake. TechyDad had requested a cookie cake, so the boys and I went to purchase one earlier in the day. It was quite colorful.

Here is the birthday boy making a wish – possibly for some quiet time.

I do hope that TechyDad enjoyed his birthday meal out in quiet, and had fun with the colorful birthday cake in the end. More about that coming on his blog.