Monday, May 16, 2011

{My Life, Scrumptious, and Soirees} A Little Bit Of Everything

Hey everybody!  I had a great weekend, and I hope you all did too.  Jason has been gone, so it was great to be busy and distracted.  It started with me finishing up this semester in school.  Yay!  Then on Saturday I had a great night with a couple of friends (Amber and Alli) getting ready for our friend Michelle's long awaited baby shower.  We went and got pedicures, grabbed dinner, and then came back to my house to get everything ready for the shower.  

As I had mentioned before, we had been planning on having the shower in April, but postponed it when Michelle had Baby Ethan early.  It turned out to be the perfect day.  Here are some of the details.     

We started the shower by having a sit down lunch.  We kept it very simple and just went with mini sandwiches, salads, and fruit.  We served various kinds of tea, and the teacups were part of the take home favors.  


In the kitchen we had a beverage bar and dessert table set up.  On the beverage bar we had sparkling water, french sparkling lemonade, and a raspberry sorbet punch.  We served the lemonade and punch in mason jars with paper straws.  The dessert buffet had jelly beans, reese cups, suckers, mini cupcakes (more on those to follow), and the adorable diaper cake Amber made.  


Instead of doing a traditional guest book, we opted to get a story book instead, and had everyone sign various pages throughout the book.  


We played several games, where the girls could win fabulous prizes, most of which were Aveda products provided by Alli.  My favorite game was the "Dirty Diaper Game."  One of my co-hosts melted various candy bars into diapers, and everyone had to guess which candy bar they were.  It made for some pretty funny pictures.  


Ethan is such a good baby!  He stayed up for most of the shower, and didn't really cry at all.  He just grunted, made cute noises, and looked around.  Such a cutie!  


After all the games, I snapped some pictures of Michelle with all of the guests, and then one with her and the hosts (us).  By the time the shower was coming to an end, Ethan was pretty tuckered out.  It was such a fun day.  Thank you to everyone who came!  


Okay, now back to the cupcakes.  I made Key Lime Mini Cupcakes, and they were a huge hit.  The best part was the frosting.  I used my usual Cream Cheese Frosting recipe and added graham cracker crumbs to resemble a crust, and it turned out amazing.  I will definitely be using this again and again.  Since everyone liked them so much I'm including the recipe.  I hope you all have a great week, and enjoy the recipe!    


Key Lime Pie Cupcakes with Graham Cracker Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcake Ingredients:
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- 1 small box lime jello
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup key lime juice
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total).  In a stand mixer on low combine cake mix with jello.  Add all other cupcake ingredients, and mix on medium speed until the batter is smooth.  Divide batter evenly between cupcake liners.  Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

Glaze Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons key lime juice

While cupcakes are baking whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth.  When the cupcakes are done, pierce the tops with a fork, and then brush the glaze over the tops.  Let cool completely and frost with Graham Cracker Cream Cheese Frosting.  

Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened  
- 1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers 
(I used my food processor to crush)

Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Slowly add the powdered sugar and blend until light and fluffy.  Then add crushed graham crackers, mixing only until combined.    

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