beautydetermined

So, I lied a little bit on Sunday… I wasn’t an absolute complete bum! I cleaned out my craft closet, started to organized my craft room from when the holidays took over, and made TRUFFLES! Yum!

Remember that dark chocolate raspberry ganache that I made for the Valentine’s Day Cupcake samplers? Delicious… pure heaven, right? I had a ridiculous amount left and since ganache freezes beautifully or if tightly sealed, lasts a couple of weeks in the fridge… I saved it for a rainy day.  

WELL, you can also turn extra ganache into chocolate TRUFFLES! I didn’t realize that it was the same basic recipe until I read someone’s baking blog this weekend. After a little research, I found tons of versions online and since mine was pretty simple (bittersweet chocolate, raspberry jam, heavy cream, pinch of salt) I rolled mine into little balls and dipped them into whatever I found in my kitchen.

Then I thought it would be fun to toast unsalted pistachios and melt a little white chocolate to try that combination together…

Ta-da! Truffles dipped in white chocolate, covered in pistachios and dried cranberries. The texture was addictive. Crunchy, salty bite on the outside… creamy chocolate in the middle. I ate 3 of those too.

And to cap it off… I made a few more dark cocoa truffles, which were so simple, but ridiculously good… and of course, why not dunk a few in crushed oreos?

I ate 2 of those… and made sure to leave Tyler 1.  

I’m not sure if he got any others.  Oops.

This is why I run.

Love you all… sleep night. 

Yes, I have to do this too.  Sometimes when my back has had enough and I’m all out of energy… I take an evening off, which leads to another day of laziness, then day of depression until I snap myself out of it.  

I think this is one of the many reasons I enjoy a busy day, week, month… year and a jam-packed schedule. I AM SERIOUSLY DEPRESSED when I don’t do anything for even a few hours. Why can’t I just be?   

I managed to run errands this weekend, feed the furbabies, eat a lot, and submit blog posts. I barely did the dishes or even changed clothing. UGH. I don’t like couch weekends in PJs, but once in a blue moon I slip into this mode. I told Tyler that I was “off” this weekend and proceeded to (some what) disconnect cell phone wise, didn’t really want to do more than one thing at a time, and actually took several NAPS!

What’s a NAP?!

This past week was especially busy for me… a HUGE busy baking the weekend before… two 3 am mornings (Tuesday and Thursday) and a super busy week at Wisdom training a new manager, while trying to keep up with my daily responsibilities.  I was able to get in about a 6.5 mile speed/hill run where my Boston Marathon friend, Tracie cheered meon. Without her… I would have walked around mile 4. Thank you TTR for being there for me!  <3

Here here to a productive week! I’m looking forward to a good cup of coffee tomorrow morning with some protein and vitamins. SUN and 95 degree days… where are you??? 

xoxo

Cupcakes awaiting their AMAZING Bubble Guppies toppers!  Funny story first… this is how I took on this project…  I would like to think I said “Yes, I’ll figure it out” like a true entrepreneur… or crazy person…

One of my bosses, Charlie Suiter asked last week: “So would you make cupcakes for my daughter’s 2nd birthday?”

Me: “YES!  When do you need them?”

Charlie: “February 23rd.”

Me: “Sure!”

Charlie: “But it’s a Thursday and you have to work.”

Me: “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll get up at 3 or 4 am and rock it out all day. I promise.”

Charlie: “You’re crazy.”

Me: “I know… Sooo what do you want as toppers? Does Lila have a favorite show she watches? Cartoon characters?”

Charlie: “Bubber Guppies! Oh my God… could you make those? It’s actually Bubble Guppies on Nickelodeon, but that’s how she says it”

Me: “YES! What’s a Bubber Guppy??”

Of course I had NO clue what I was getting myself into until I went home that evening and started googling Bubber Guppies… Bubble Guppies…

and there they were…

I almost cried… 

but then, you KNOW I love a good challenge.

BAM!

After 2 evenings and 1 early wee-morning of working on these characters, I was pretty stinking proud of myself.

And, please don’t excuse this for cockiness!  I really was very amazed with myself that I still have this creativity in me.  I don’t create art pieces and custom work like I used to before a full-time job, bills, mortgage, awesome husband, working out (because I have to now), college, dogs, life… AND was so excited to be able to make these with my own huge little hands out of marshmallow fondant. Who said it was hard to work with?

Get out of town! 

Tyler’s text message that morning at 7:45am:  ”Babe! how did your cupcakes turn out?”

Me: “F*ing amazing!  I’ll email you.”

(and I even used a * in my text, so I didn’t break my New Year’s resolution)

How cute is that purple hair and pink star?  I love this show already!  I was like a kid on Christmas Day when I showed Charlie.  I was so excited to show him Lila’s cupcakes!

Charlie: “Damn Emily! I knew you would come through with them, but I wasn’t expecting THIS! Lila’s going to flip! You’re like a professional.”

:)

Happy Birthday Lila!  Hope she had a wonderful day… thank you Suiter Family for asking me to be part of her special celebration! I loved every minute!

xoxo

Now, you can’t host a Baby Shower at Patsy Aiken Designs for their fabulous moms-to-be without including hues of green and pink buttons, colorful flowers, single monograms, and awesome ric-rac!  

Only the Patsy Aiken Designs’ staff would understand.  :)  

Score! I was able to make cupcakes for Michelle Baldwin AGAIN.

Surprise Michelle (and Baby Girl Baldwin)! Wendy (PAD’s Senior Designer) and Patsy (owner) are awesome for thinking about me on their special day for Michelle. I was so excited to bake these for the PAD crew ANNND to work with a green and pink color combo.  MY FAVORITE!

Some of you may not know, but I had the pleasure of working for PAD from 2006 - 2008… and met some of the most incredible people of my life. Be sure to check out their Spring 2012 Children’s Apparel Collection available now! Amazing clothing, unique designs, and great customer service.

Ok, so back to cupcake toppers!  Some of you may be thinking…. well, how in the world did she get put those on cupcakes???

Shut up! Look at those BUTTONS! Doesn’t it look like someone was working on a project and just perfectly dropped their supplies on amazing vanilla buttercream frosted cupcakes? 

Yes it does.  Don’t lie.

So cute!  Cupcakes ready to go!

… and we can’t forget the chocolate ones with the flowers!  So excited for Spring!

Phewww… so as I type… I’m thinking…

I made it through this week somehow.  I was up at 4am on Tuesday (and Thursday for another order) baking these cupcakes before a full-day’s work and after a long weekend…

And it was worth every minute of tiredness. I had a great day at work on Tuesday; opened several Red Bull accounts and was able to deliver cupcakes to Patsy Aiken Designs before the crack of dawn.  

Yay, Happy Baby Shower Michelle!  And, PAD… you know I love you all.  XOXO

This past Saturday was another baking morning!  My family-in-law was here to witness the first few early hours. I could hear Bryson, our 9 month old nephew at an early hour… maybe around 6 am. He was actually my alarm clock! Mom Dean was trying to settle him down while Penny, my sister-in-law slept a little longer. Poor Bryson had kept poor Mama Penny up ALL night.  

My Dad Dean… who is recovering well, had major back surgery at Rex Hospital Thursday night for two herniated disks.  Tyler’s family spent a few nights with us, so that they were nearby and could easily spend time at the hospital. I enjoyed the quality time with my family even though it was under rough circumstances with Tyler’s dad in a lot of pain. Rex took good care of Dad Dean and he’s on the road to recovery!

I loved having little interested viewers that morning! Penny and Bryson watched as I mixed colorful icing and Mom Dean was very curious of the marshmallow fondant toppers I was making. I think I need to make her a few colorful batches for her birthday.  :)  My Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer broke the night before… and my hand mixer broke that week.  Not sure why these things happen on an evening or morning when I’m short of time and have a full kitchen of warm-bodies, but I managed to get everything baked, iced, and decorated on time.

Tyler’s family left around 10 am, I packaged up cupcakes for Jaime and my friend, Megan for her husband, Griffin’s birthday. Some how I managed to get everything done! I dropped the cupcakes off at the host house for the Baby Shower then met Megan in Durham to help her prospect businesses for sponsorships with Girls on the Run.

Jaime and her friends LOVED the cupcakes! They were definitely a hit at the Baby Shower. She just wanted a mix of chocolate and vanilla with a girly theme that matched the shower.  

And, I can’t really figure out what Megan thought of her cupcakes… maybe you could decipher her text?  

“What the eff is in that icing? That ish is amazing”  

;)… this is one of many reasons why she’s one of my best friends.  

Here are Griffin’s Birthday cupcakes!  No toppers needed…  Happy Birthday G-Money!

Sweet dreams everyone!  More to come this weekend!

xoxo

Benjamin Franklin… one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, who also formed the first public lending library in America (which I am very thankful for since I probably couldn’t afford to be in two book clubs this year otherwise)… discussed in his autobiography 13 virtues to practice for the rest of his life. He admits that he didn’t always follow those life lessons that he preached himself, but ultimately they would attempt to make him a better man contributing to his happiness and success.  

Two of the 13 virtues stick in my head every morning when I fight to wake up at 3 or 4am to bake before a full-day’s work or weekend activities.  Frugality and Industry…

WASTE NOTHING

LOSE NO TIME

Plus, a good cup of coffee or a sugar free Red Bull gets me going with a few hard-boiled eggs and B-Complex gummy vitamins.  I’m really trying to use as many hours of the day that my body can handle right now.  We were given daylight AND light-bulbs for a reason, right?

Last Tuesday was another early baking morning!  I received more orders for Valentine’s Day from the sampler success.  I was SO excited to bake more cupcakes topped with little hearts.  I charged a little less than the Valentine’s Day Samplers, since I only used 3 recipes versus 6 - Dark Chocolate Raspberry with Raspberry Ganache filling, Cookies and Cream with Marshmallow filling, and Dark Chocolate with Peanut Butter frosting.   I also had less time to bake, so I wanted to use “no-fail” “already tested” recipes.  I had to meet a co-worker earlier than usual that morning to call on UNC-Greensboro and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, so I didn’t have time to dilly-dally.  Monday night prep and a perfect assembly line was key!

Excuse the fuzzy pictures… I just had my blackberry that morning:

… Guess what?  I sold them ALL!  I was only left with a few cupcakes perfect for Tyler’s and my dessert that night.

SCORE!  Pretty awesome stuff.  My co-workers bought most of the half dozen orders, since I offered to drop them off on my way to Greensboro first thing that morning.  I also had a few friends stop by when Tyler got off work to pick up their orders.  I love my family, friends, and co-workers!  I’m so grateful for such incredible people in my life.

Tyler and I made it to Valentine’s Day dinner around 7pm when I got back from Winston-Salem and then sold the last half dozen to a friend around 9pm… and goodness… did I sleep well that night.

Hugs and kisses to you all… I’m already looking forward to February 14, 2013.

xoxo

These are some of my favorite cupcake toppers EVER!  Carmen, one of my dental hygienist from Stansell Dentistry ordered strawberry and vanilla cupcakes for a baby shower the same weekend as the Valentine’s Day Samplers.  She needed 3 dozen and wanted animal toppers.

Carmen asked for monkeys and giraffes, but wanted something a little different than the monkeys my sister and I made for the Wyatt’s Baby Shower last year:

And, Carmen wanted a little pink bow for the top!  So, as always I was excited for a challenge and spend several evenings making the cutest monkeys and giraffes possible.  Check out the final product…

LOVE LOVE LOVE those bows!  And don’t be afraid of the “mouthless” monkeys… EEK, look at them on the vanilla cupcakes…

They had hands!  I wanted them to look like they were eating the cupcake.  So much fun!

Ahh, and I can’t forget about the giraffes!?

Just missing their little pink bows!

And, have I mentioned that I can’t wait for strawberry season?  I love my strawberry cupcake recipe the best during the Spring and Summer months… nothing beats fresh, ripe strawberries from Raleigh’s Farmers market during May!  What a blast of flavor when baked and pureed!

As I finished baking hundreds of other cupcakes for my Valentine’s Day Samplers… Carmen picked her cupcake order up with her fiance from my house and headed to Greensboro for the Baby Shower she was co-hosting!

Cupcakes ready to go!

Thanks again Carmen for inviting me to apart of your friend’s special day!  I hope everyone enjoyed the cupcakes.

Yay for babies!

xoxo

Some of you have asked how my free bakery assistant has been holding up with these busy weekends…

That’s a nice wifey, right?  Tyler slept in the last few baking mornings!

XOXO

What a hit!  I’m doing this again FOR SURE!  I loved trying out some new recipes: Cookies and Cream with a marshmallow filling, Dark Chocolate Raspberry with ganache filling, and a classic Lemon cupcake… as well as sharing some of my classics; dark chocolate with peanut butter icing, fresh strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting, and vanilla with pink tinted buttercream!

I didn’t get much sleep last weekend because of two back-to-back 3am mornings on Saturday and Sunday, but the rave reviews have been amazing, so every grumpy moment was worth it!  I was able to get 8 more orders out on VALENTINE’S DAY because of the feedback I received on Sunday, Feb 12th for my sampler day.

Check out my assembly line this past Sunday for the Valentine’s Day Samplers:

This was just a start!  I also had 2 dozen more cupcakes for a baby shower baking that morning as well.  More details coming soon!  Wait until you see those toppers!

Quite the hit!  Dark Chocolate Raspberry cupcakes with a raspberry ganache filling!  So popular that I made more on actual Valentine’s Day for additional orders.  Lucky for me, I used my classic dark chocolate cupcake recipe, added raspberry puree to my “go-to” dark chocolate buttercream icing as well as the ganache.  YUM!

Cookies and Cream with a marshmallow filling!  What can I say?  

Amazing.  

I used my basic vanilla cake recipe, added about a 1.5 cups of cookies and cream (for 2.5 dozen), then filled with a marshmallow filling after the cakes cooled.  For the frosting, I made my “go-to” vanilla buttercream recipe and added a TON of crushed cookies.  Be sure to crush your cookies to fine powder if you’re planning to pipe the frosting.  Trust me.  

Make these!  They’ll become a family regular!  I had several more folks order this recipe for Valentine’s Day.

The first Valentine’s Day Sampler ready to go!  So sweet!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!  Get your cupcakes on!

XOXO

Wow!  What a fantastic last week of baking!  I’m SO thankful for all of the cupcake orders and support from family, friends, and NEW friends.

Last week started off with cupcakes for Mr. Jake Denton!  This adorable little man just turned 1 and he celebrated it by eating LOTS of cake.  His mom, Mary (also one of my first managers in retail) and dad, Jeff (one of our best friend’s best friend) had Jake dive into a Carvel cake on his real birthday and then my Mickey Mouse theme cupcakes on his birthday party day!  This kiddo is a professional folks - watch out.  

Mary trusted my creativity and simply wanted vanilla and chocolate cupcakes that matched her party theme:  

I am a huge Mickey fan, so I was thrilled!  M.I.C… K.E.Y… MOUSEEEEE!  Mickey Mouse!

I made the marshmallow fondant toppers on Friday night because I knew 3 am would come early on Saturday.  I usually like to have the fondant toppers made earlier in the week, but life’s been busy and I had a TON of prep-work every evening the week beforehand for the marathon baking weekend that was about to begin!

Finished #1 toppers and the first steps to the Mickey Mouse toppers are to the right.

And then… here they are the Mickey Mouse toppers on chocolate cupcakes!  LOVE THEM!

So cute!  I want Mickey Mouse cupcake toppers for my birthday!

And check out the #1 toppers on the vanilla cupcakes!

All together now!

Mickey Mouse chocolate cupcakes ready to go!

Look how cute together!

#1 vanilla cupcakes ready to go!

And, do you see that JUMBO cupcake?  That was a special surprise for Jake!  Mary wanted a special cupcake for Jake and I did too!

HE ATE THE WHOLE THING!  Granted there were crumbs behind his ears and in his hair, but I was extremely impressed.  I’ll have to ask Mary for a picture to share with you!

Yay!  Happy 1st Birthday Jake!  You’re adorable!

xoxo

Phew!  Well, I survived the weekend of baking 16 dozen cupcakes! I am SO appreciative of the support of everyone! Thank you so much for ordering cupcakes all weekend. Despite getting only a few hours of sleep, missing my runs, and destroying my kitchen… it was a wonderfully successful weekend with baby shower cupcakes, 1-year old birthday party cupcakes, and Valentine’s Day cupcakes. YAY! 

I used a few of my staple recipes like strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberry puree and vanilla with buttercream icing… and then took my classic chocolate recipe and tweaked it!  One chocolate cake had a YUMMY topping of peanut butter frosting with salted peanuts sprinkled on top.  Another chocolate cupcake was filled with a raspberry chocolate ganache and topped with a dark chocolate raspberry icing.  I tried two new recipes - Cookies and Cream Monster cupcakes filled with a marshmallow filling and Lemon!  One friend said this about the Cookies and Cream cupcakes and I quote “that sh*t was dank”.  Note to self - make those again!  We’re all kids at heart!  Gotta have Oreos!

I have lots of pictures and more details to post, but need to prep for more baking this week and weekend.  I have lots of fun marshmallow topper creations that I’ll post throughout the week!

Love to you all… share Valentine’s Day with someone special and be sure to snuggle your furbabies and give them treats!

Beans batted her little blue eyes tonight… and begged, “Please Mom!  I’m dying without a cupcake.  How come you get to eat them all?  That’s not fair and I’m starving. Do you see how skinny I am?”

xoxo

Yay, for 14 dozen cupcakes going out my front door this week!  Not only do I have a ton of Valentine’s Day sampler 1/2 dozens ordered, I also have 2 other cupcake orders I’m rocking out for a Baby Shower and a special 1-year old’s birthday!  I am very thankful for all of the support!  

I’m basically getting up at 3am both Saturday and Sunday, so if I’m MIA… this is why!

Want a sneak peek of the cupcakes for a Sunday Baby Shower?  I just started them, so there are a LOT more details to come, but I’m already in love.

My apologies for the poor quality pictures!  I just took a quick snap with my Blackberry and wanted to share before bed.  Can you tell what they are???  :)

Stay tuned for more!

Sweet dreams!

xoxo

Last call for Valentine’s Day cupcakes!  I’m wrapping up orders by this Thursday evening!

Just remember Sunday’s special: 1/2 dozen cupcake sampler boxes for only $12! I’ll have your order ready for you on Sunday, February 12th from 12 - 5pm at my house in Cary. Perfect timing for any Valentine’s dinner or party! 

Each box will contain one of the following:
~Fall in Love! Carrot Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing and a heart marshmallow fondant topper.
~Be Mine! Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting Sprinkled with Salted Peanuts.
~Sexy and I Know It! Double Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes with Ganache and Chocolate Raspberry Frosting topped with a fresh raspberry.
~Pucker Up! Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Icing and a valentine marshmallow fondant topper.
~Puppy Love! Cookies and Cream cupcakes with a cookie topper.
~Kiss Me! Good Old-Fashioned Vanilla cupcakes with a heart marshmallow fondant topper.

Looking for another flavor or need a custom order for Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday the 14th?  ASK AWAY!  I’m open to whatever orders you need. Thank you for thinking about me and supporting my sugar addiction!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sweet Dreams!

XOXO

“Doing just a little bit during the time we have available puts you that much further ahead than if you took no action at all.”  ~Byron Pulsifer (motivational speaker)

As most of you know, I jam pack as many hours of LABOR into my days as possible. Bethenny Frankel is my role model for insanity success and I have a new-found love for Oprah Winfrey. Judge all you want!

So, I’m either putting in extra hours at work, baking, socializing, reading (sometimes… book club members, I promise I’m getting better!), baking, spending time with family and friends, baking, running… BUT I feel like I should do more. Is that nuts? Baking has been my creative outlet for most of 2012 so far, but I really HAVE to put aside time for art and crafty projects. I need to re-decorate a few rooms in the house and would love to create some custom pieces… and I am completely capable of doing it! I just literally can’t seem to squeeze in the time for paints. Somehow, I need to re-arrange my schedule to fit in a few hours/week for art projects. Get up earlier during the week?

I really also want to volunteer for an organization and put some of my non-existent spare time back into the community. I’ve been thinking about the different visual art groups in Raleigh and Cary. They are always looking for volunteers to hang work, serve wine, market events, etc and that would be a nice combo of art and community. Oooo, would someone want to come with me! Any takers?

Procrastination really isn’t in my vocabulary right now, but somehow I have to find down moments in my week to fit in more meaningful activities for my artsy side. I used to really procrastinate when it came to my personal well-being and dreams, but last year I realized that my issue was a fear of PERSONAL success.  Every day I have promised myself to put in time for my creativity… researching projects, reading other artsy blogs, and baking count as outlets, but I really need to schedule in a little EJD Art Hour! 

I’m blabbing now… almost like a diary, but for all to see… gotta love the internet and lack of sleep. Thanks for listening folks! I always appreciate your support.  XOXO

Any ideas for community art projects?

You guys, I love my husband.  After the cupcake morning madness, Michelle’s Baby Shower, and dropping off an order of cupcakes for a bridal shower… I came home to a CLEAN kitchen.

I left it in shambles.  SHAMBLES.  Shambles of icing bowls, batter drops on the floor, ingredients every where, extra cupcake cakes, dirty pans and mixing bowls… and then, there was NONE.  Do you know what I did when I saw this nicely cleaned kitchen after I got home from my busy morning and afternoon?  

I SMOOCHED HIM…

and THEN…

I MADE MORE ICING!  

WHAT is WRONG with me?

I had lots of fun though.  I was pretty delirious, on my 3rd wind, and HOW could I just leave the extra un-iced cupcakes NAKED?

I decorated another 24 cupcakes with lots of designs and pretty patterns.  I never have a chance to use my crazy pastry tips and wanted to see the possibilities.  I staged them on Tyler’s awesome wooden cupcake stands and displayed them lots of different ways.

I had cupcakes to bring with us for dinner at Mom and Bruce’s last night… cupcakes for the Dellisanti’s when we met them for breakfast this morning… and lots of cupcakes for Julie and David Maye’s Superbowl get-together tonight.  YAY!  CUPCAKES FOR LIFE.

On a side-note, I’m very proud of Tyler!  He’s been rocking out cupcake tiers all week.  I needed 2 small ones for the parties and he had several orders going out this weekend.  He’s finishing up the final coats on a few this afternoon, but they look awesome!  And, I LOVE using them!  Let me know if you are interested in ordering a custom one for an upcoming event.  :)

Happy Superbowl Sunday!  Post your football cakes and cupcakes for me to seeeee!

XOXO