Twilight, Travel, and Treats

My sister-in-law JL recently had a baby. You know my friends DQ and JR love throwing a good party so we had a blast. DQ was such a sweetheart she did all the invites and the favours herself.

See how pretty?

Check out these matching hand iced sugar cookies. They were delicious too.



We were ecstatic to welcome a new baby girl into our lives since JR and I both have two sons and DQ's youngest is already three.

By the way, take a look at the menu JR made up. Our preggie girl is a huge fan of Paris so we thought a French food theme was in order.



The food JR made was amazing as always and she managed to make sure even the fancy cheeses were pasteurized and pregnancy friendly.

See the cute wheelbarrow? My father-in-law made that on short notice just for his baby girl. So sweet.

Okay, onto the cupcakes.

Not actually JL's real name :)

I made Coconut Cupcakes - Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten.

This is a tried and true favourite of the mom-to-be. Note - I tried increasing these by 50% - did not work well. I think the ratios must have been off.

Almost considered tossing the lot because I thought they were a bit dense. But the cream cheese frosting saves everything! This recipe makes 30% more frosting than you will need.

Fondant Toppers

JL's favourite colour is blue and her baby room is a wonderful turqouisey teal colour. I was going to make a flat 2D graphic bird. Way too hard for me to cut things out with an exacto or use the Cricut. Actually easier to hand sculpt these guys.




The brown fondant is actually the new Duff's (as in Ace of Cakes from food network) Chocolate fondant at Michael's. Very easy to work with and tastes quite good. I got a kick out of staring at Duff's face while I was working on these.

The birds were inspired by these ones from Wilton's but I actually like mine better.

If I had time I would have toasted the coconut before sprinkling and shaped them into little nests. Alas next time...

Okay another travel post about Florence is coming up this week.

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So way back in February 2010 I entered a contest over at Twi-sted Edbrella entitled "We Want Your Sparkle Peens" vying for this version of mini-E

Frankly I'm not so sure I like the whole Fabio open shirt thing but Edward is still Edward.

Guess what? Today they announced over at Twi-sted Edbrella that Snarkier Than You, Jenny Jerkface, and Latchkey Wife from Twitarded had picked me as the winner!

Here's the anatomically correct mini sparkle peen I made out of fondant and painted with lustre dust dissolved in vodka.


Go check out her latest post for more of my sparkle peen pics and also some of the other entries. Everyones entries were great and had me LMAO imagining a bunch of middle aged women secretly making sparkle peens around the world.

By the way, I've got more pics of this sparkle peen if you want to see them. Trust me, they're pretty anatomically correct except mini of course.

Now I have to find this fondant creation. I can't remember where I put it and I'm sure the boys will end up stumbling upon it one day when they sneak into my baking drawer again looking for chocolate.


If you want tips on how I made this guy go ahead and ask in the comments.

Can't wait for my new mini-E to arrive. Thanks so much to Stan and the Twitarded girls!

Now that we finished making the cupcakes in part 1 now we move on trying to replicate this guy.

Birthday boy's favourite stuffy

Here's the final product.

Learn to make these

First thing is that I had to figure out if these monkeys were intended for decoration only or for consumption. Fondant is for eating and gumpaste is for looking pretty. Also, I use toothpicks usually to hold the heads up so it's good to know ahead of time how easily it will need to be removed.

Gumpaste is what you normally see used to make those hard realistic leaves and flowers on cakes at weddings. You can roll and mold it into very fine and thin pieces and it will hold its shape. It dries out very quickly so usually I keep any pieces that I am saving to work on under a small bowl to keep them from drying out.

I use the Satin Ice brand because it comes in big tubs which are cheaper. For a beginner, you can buy gumpaste to start at Michael's and the price is good if you have a 40% off coupon from their email list. This stuff is technically edible but it is chewy, doesn't taste so great but it's a bit sweet, and frankly I don't think it's very good for your gastrointestinal system.

You can make flowers like these and there are lots of tutorials online.

gumpaste flowers from bakinguntilgolden.com

Fondant is usually used to cover wedding and birthday cakes for a smooth finish. It is also good for figurine making but it takes longer to harden and it is harder to make small or thin pieces. If the figurines are intended for consumption then I'll use fondant instead of gumpaste.

Colouring gumpaste or fondant

Orange wiltons gel colouring added to the gumpaste with a toothpick - made the night before I plan to make my figurines so I can see the colour darken overnight and add any if I need to.

Store gumpaste or fondant airtight in saran wrap overnight and in a tupperware to see the final colour as it deepens.

Making the figurines

Using orange gumpaste we have just coloured and also white or a slight beige gumpaste I have already made.

I work on parchment paper which doesn't stick to the gumpaste.

I usually will make a sketch and then a trial figurine. Once I'm happy with the trial I'll weigh it so I can know how much gumpaste to allot for each piece.

Another way of making sure your limbs are even is to roll your gumpaste into a snake shape and then divide it evenly into the number of pieces you need. No weighing needed but visually super easy to do.

First trial, hands are way too big

Using fondant glue or just water with a very fine paintbrush to attach the parts. Fondant glue is a small piece of fondant dissolved with a few drops of water.

Parts include oval head, trapezoid body all made of orange plus 2 long arms, 2 short legs, and a tail all with white gumpaste blended in at the end. You take the long piece for your limb and at the end place a small piece of white (about the size of a piece of Nerd candy) and then roll them together a few times in your palm. The warmth will melt them together quite seamlessly.

The only tools I really use are my hands plus rounded and pointed toothpicks. Honestly the hardest part to do is putting on the ears and making sure they don't fall off.

I break a toothpick in half and stick it into the body first and then the head on top. Also remember to use some water or fondant glue under the head.

For the ears take a small orange ball and indent with rounded toothpick then place even smaller white ball inside and repeat with rounded toothpick. Pinch off the pointy tip and then stick the rounded ear onto the head, using glue or water as mentioned below and your toothpicks to apply pressure. My sister in law uses tweezers but I like using toothpicks and my fingers instead.

Final product isn't he cute?

See above for how to blend the white into the tail

I use Wilton Edible Food Writers (food colouring pens) fine tip to draw on the eyes and mouth. This part makes me the most nervous because there is no easy redo unless you take the head off and do it all over again.

Here is the group of monkeys I made (it's about 3am by the time I'm finished - can't start until the kids are asleep).

About to attack

I placed them all on disc of orange gumpaste and then onto squares of parchment paper.

Transport

This is the part that strikes fear into any baker. Even if you make it how do you get it there in one piece?

I pack all the figurines on parchment squares in individual gladware or tupper containers. Right before I load them into the car (after they have been drying at least overnight) I gently pack a bit of paper towel around each one to prevent shifting.

In gladware waiting for paper towel to be packed around each one to prevent shifting

Then I load them onto a baking tray lined with a silpat (either use silicone or a wet towel to prevent slipping around in the car).

Onto the cupcakes I made in Part 1 of this post.

Fondant polka dots

I use a Cupcake Courier and I love it. My sister in law/baking partner JL managed to find them at our local Winner's store (kind of like Ross but with household stuff in addition to clothes) for about $25 Cdn each - steal!



The only downside is there are no trays so far for mini cupcakes. I will have to use my cricut to cut out some plastic adapter sheets later on.

This handy thing fits perfectly in my trunk with one of the third row seats half folded.

Delivery and Set Up

Managing to slow way down around corners and trying to choose the least steep streets to my destination, I finally made it. Mad rush since the Olympic torch was coming down this street in less than 90 minutes and I wanted to be out of there before traffic got too busy.

I brought my ceramic cake stands for set up as well and birthday boy's mommy (who is also the sister of a long time friend) swore to keep my stands safe.


Final set up - Birthday Boy's mommy almost cried, like full on "this is just what I wanted" tears. That made staying up until 3:3oam totally worth it.

Monkey cupcakes finally done!

I'll be updating my Flickr cupcake pics very soon and send out a shout when they're up.

Enjoy and let me know if you have questions.

Today I was going to write about gumpaste monkeys. I'm having a heck of a time getting the colour right so they'll have to wait til next week.

I also promised you a fanfic rec so I'll include a food related one at the bottom of the post. It'll involve him

and one of these



So, first for the wholesome treats. I'll go back in time to one of my favourite sugar creations. Have you seen my Edward and Bella figurines? They used to be  in the upper right sidebar at the About Me listing. That's before I changed to a beautiful new Avatar. This is what they looked like.



I had been dreaming about making these guys for a long time. But there seemed to be no good occasion. You can't just make them for yourself for no reason, can you???

So I was ecstatic when I realized that MK's birthday was coming up in November and we hadn't planned her cake yet. I conspired with Mr. MK to surprise her with her favourite pavlova cake (which I can't make) with my  twilight decorations on top.

I call her Chubbella. Not hard to see why. KStew is stick thin but that doesn't stand up so well on a cake. In fact my Bella is quite a bit heavier than Edward if you include the weight of her hair. I think she looks good this way. Being frail and skinny is not always appealing.

I actually had the most fun making Edward of course. I loved making his hair and getting the right coppery shade was surprisingly easy.

I loved making his hair and sparkly skin

I painted his skin with a bit of white pearl dust mixed with vodka and let it dry. I prop them up a bit with miscellaneous kitchen things (like that rice bowl behind them) overnight while they are drying. It helps to put parchment underneath if you are worried they'll stick.

When transporting figurines I usually pack them with parchment underneath lying flat and then surround them with bunched up paper or regular towels to minimize movement inside a Tupperware container.

Despite all this gentle care I wasn't able to keep them totally from harm. Mr. MK was so excited about giving MK her surprise cake (this was the first time he had done anything like this) that he prepped her cake without waiting for me. I walked into the kitchen to find that he had unceremoniously just shoved my precious dolls into her cake. Screw the parchment squares that I had brought with me. He was so proud of himself I couldn't say anything and just stood there with my mouth hanging open.

MK loved her cake (bless her heart she is easy to please when it comes to twilight). We managed to wipe off all the cake icing and salvage Bella's shoe that had loosened from the moisture. I think Edward and Chubbella are now somewhere in her freezer. This warms my heart to no end as MK is the ultimate minimalist. You would almost think she doesn't believe in the concept of sentimental value the way she declutters her house. But she kept my figurines!! I guess having a best friend for 20 years (!) buys you some real estate in her storage space.

Okay, I promised a fanfic rec and I won't disappoint.

If you are interested in a very hard core lemon one shot (well, two chapters) you should check out Wendy's by KatieBelleCullen. It is full of sexual tension, smut with frosties, and a pierced tongue. I knew I loved those frosties for a reason.

What you get when you google Frosty & Sex Eva Longoria on popsugar.com

Hope this post satisfied your sweet tooth...

love breaking out the martini glasses at home

I don't know about you but most of family and friends think that I am crazy. This twilight obsession has taken over my life and most of the people around me don't share my passion. So, instead of curing myself of this malady I decided to throw a party. The main purpose was to bring together the disconnected friends I had that were also twihards. Keep in mind there is minimal debauchery at this party as a few of the guests had just had babies. All good clean and elegant fun despite the super strong martinis - I swear I followed the recipe exactly.

invites

First thing I did of course was went shopping. After all, I needed a new machine to make invites. Why

I was inspired by these beautiful handmade twilightations from Lyssabz's etsy shop. Very pretty.

twilightations from Lyssabz's on etsy

But when it comes to crafts I like to make my own and I love a good trip to Michael's. There on the shelf for 40% off was the last pink Cricut machine in stock. For those of you non scrapbookers the Cricut is a personal electronic cutter.

special pink edition for The Cure

It's like a CAD machine that you use in drafting except that it cuts instead of draws. You can buy pricey cartridges for it or you can buy a software called Sure Cuts A Lot that lets you design, and hence cut, anything you want.

That's how I made these

Black paper cut out with the Cricut

See the shiny paper I used underneath?

My first party with a dress code

After all the spray glue fumes, I had a headache for two days. Worth it for pretty cards sent out in the mail to my friends.

food

I don't cook. I can reheat and follow a basic recipe for lasagna but dinner parties are my husband's thing. There was no way I was asking him to cook for this soiree since he was helping to get the kids out of the house.  So, I enlisted the help of a good girlfriend JR. She is a party planner/caterer when she is not at her full time job in health care and caring for her two teenage boys.

JR is not a twilight fan. She might have seen the first film once? (I think she has now become a Taycob fan since New Moon.) But she loves a dinner party and was super excited.

Here's what she came up with

Twilight Dinner Menu

Assorted Cheese platter

Edward’s Red Apple Amuse Bouche

Bella’s Spinach Salad

Cullen Family Blood Orange Granita

Port Angeles Mushroom Ravioli

Chocolate Fountain

Twilight Red Velvet Cupcakes

These are the only twilight cupcakes I've ever made *shock.* I'll have to devote a whole post to the process of getting the edible silver twilight on there.

goodies

I am a fan of favour bags. My friend DQ is kind of an expert at them but I went these alone.


I filled these bags I bought at Michaels with

strawberry shampoo (on sale for a buck each at save-on foods)

For non-twihards, this is Bella's shampoo

new moon chocolate from Dazzled by Twilight in Forks

Only 5 Edwards in a bag of 22 chocolates

twilight magnets from Chapters

DQ went all over town getting these

apple candles from Ikea

Don't mind the 3 - yes, I know you can count

I would have loved to put some jewelry in there but I put my money into buying the decorations :)

decor

I spent my money on this

Edward in my living room

Sorry about the fuzzy image but I figure it was more real than a stock web pic. I ordered him online before new moon was released. Tough bugger to get a hold of since it seemed to be only sold in the UK. Managed to order it from Yahoo through some guy in the US. Did not want to ask how he got one because I didn't care.

Mr. TC was kind enough to drive me down across to Point Roberts, WA to pick up Edward. When the border guard asked me what we were picking up he had trouble understanding "vampire cardboard cut-out." He was not happy looking. As soon as we said "twilight" he started howling with laughter and asking if it was this Edward guy. Apparently his daughter loves twilight and he even asked me where I ordered it from. Twilight saves the day again!

My friend ML brought along her mini Edward and Bella to the party to keep big Edward company.



Mr. TC also brought the TV down from our room into the living room so we had the Twilight movie running in the background all night.

Lovely tablecloth from JR

Tea lights everywhere and I had wonderful help stringing glowing Christmas lights all over. I wanted to reproduce the dance scene lighting from the movie and it worked.

My mom and son helped me set the table (that is the most enabling I've ever had from them).



I put a small selection of my twilight stuff out too.

Top right - framed KStew and RPattz autographed photo next to my Stephenie Meyer autographed book - nice to bring them out of the safe.

I usually have my autographed stuff locked up away from the kiddies. So nice to let them out to be loved. Oh, the red booklet is a copy of a rough draft script from Twilight.

stuff I made them do (nothing nasty)

Just coming back from Forks the week before I was armed with the most kick ass quiz encompassing all four books. I'm not going to post it here because I want you all to head to Forks with the Twitarded crew and get your own copy at the Chamber of Commerce.

Prizes included a New Moon movie companion guide


and a 5X7 photo autographed by Nikki Reed and Elizabeth Reaser. Both generously donated by dinner guests. Other things were stickers from Dazzled by Twilight and also, my personal favourite, Twilight Magnetic Poetry (note they don't sell this online anymore, photo below is only one I can find nowadays).

Twilight magnetic poetry

Lastly we cracked open my new Twilight Scene It game.

Everyone drove home sober but full of JR's yummy food and loaded up prizes and goodies.


To the women in this photo, thank you ladies for a lovely time. We'll have to throw another one for the release of Eclipse. I'm guessing there will be more drinking now that the kiddies are growing up.