Who says it's a due date?

You see that tiny little plus symbol and realize your pregnant, how exciting. The anticipation already building to the day your new baby is born. Immediately you're calculating a 'due date' for your babe. A date to focus on through the first three months of all day sickness, heart burn so strong you could start a fire, back ache, belly ache, swollen feet and emotional highs and lows. That one date is always looming there. Strangers will ask 'when is your due date'? Family asks 'how many weeks left to go?'. You calculate it yourself, you google 'find your due date', then you wait.....and wait..... and wait. If your more than half the population of expecting moms you wait some more. Your 'due date' comes and then goes again. It happened just this way for me with my third. My due date was coming, I was anxious and so very excited, then it came and went without so much as a braxton hicks. The only thing due on the due date is more anxiety of wondering when the big moment will hit ya. So not unlike so many others I did whatever I could to bring on labour. Yup, spicy food and the whole works. I even started to eat pineapple like it was the last food I would eat. I read somewhere that it may soften your cervix. The most I got out of that deal, was a canker. Four days over 'due', I finally gave birth to my third baby girl. Of course I (and probably everyone else) can completely forget those last four days being the longest most drawn out days. So instead of a due date maybe it could be an 'approximate' date. Next time you ask someone you can say, 'what is your approximate date?'. I am sure they will love it!

May '24' past and present

I was driving my 3yr old to preschool this morning and the song 'ghetto super star' came on the radio. I might have been listening to light eighties rock, or hits from the 80's and 90's. I don't need to put a date on my age, but let's just say that 'ghetto super star' was uber popular in my late teens/early twenties. The drive to her school is about 10min there and 10min back, giving me ample time to reflect upon the upcoming long weekend, past and present.
When I was in my late teens I had a good friend convince me that I should work at Cleveland's House one summer instead of summer camp. Growing up at summer camp was hard to let go of, and I didn't really know what to expect for my new summer job at 'Cleve's'. Cleveland's House, as a staff member, was like a summer dream come true, a place of your own, working with 200+ staff who partied pretty much daily, and beautiful scenery.  I took advantage of all aspects. Many years followed working as Cleve's staff, always looking forward to May 24 weekend to start an amazing summer of work.
May 24 has evolved for me over the years. During my childhood I was just glad I didn't have to go to school on the Monday, relishing in the extra time at home with Mom and Dad. I spent my teen years avoiding my parents every long weekend and planning camping trips to any campground you could sneak enough booze into.  Once I experienced Cleveland's House, it changed my life.  Now the tables have turned, and we are that family that dreams of spending the weekend at Cleve's. Three fabulous days welcoming in summer with multiple things for Mom, Dad and the kids to keep busy. If I even mention Cleves to my husband (also the place we met) he is in instant dream world, thinking of beers on the sundeck, live music at night (hopefully Kenny Munshaw), kids in the Play World, lying down at the beach etc. etc. "Soon",  I keep telling him, we'll get up there soon.
I know my daughter had no idea that the song 'ghetto super star' could bring back so many memories, but I know she could see my smile as I was driving. I'll be spending this May 24 at home welcoming our 3rd baby, but dreaming of next May 24 when we may be back in Muskoka.
Enjoy the long weekend everyone and may your 'May 24' bring you as many special memories at it has brought me! (Also, feel free to laugh that I was thoroughly enjoying ghetto super star this morning in my Dodge Caravan:)

www.clevelandshouse.com -so worth checking out this summers deals

The end is here, but it's really not over!

Easter 2012 arrives, I am to make cupcakes for our family gathering. I picture this as my grand finale, a time to make a cupcake so good and so cute I will want to challenge another 52 weeks. Ok, so maybe I won't make another 52 week cupcake challenge, but I am motivated to make super cute cupcakes. I google Easter cupcake images, and find an adorable bunny picture. No directions on how to make it, but I figure I am now a seasoned cupcake maker and can wing it.
I have left over fondant that I prepare the night before, cutting out the little ears.
The morning of (because I insist they taste far better fresh) I whip up my devils food chocolate recipe I have come to love. I whip up a butter cream icing that I also have come to love. Load my 'easy accent decorator', and get to it. It turns out to be quite easy. Fluffy cheeks, licorice whiskers, jellybean eyes and teeth. (you'll notice some of the bunny's have quite yellow discoloured teeth, but my 3yr old jelly bean sorter ate a few teeth:)
Voila, I love them. The grass cupcakes with eggs, was a take off of what I made last year. I thought they looked cute with the bunny's.
A tear forms and trickles down my cheek, nah just kidding. I celebrate, I am happy to be lifted from this challenge. I am also impressed I am able to complete 52 weeks, 1 or more batches of cupcakes every week, NEVER a miss.
Conclusion: I am not ready for my own cupcake business, would need more spare time. I found that many weeks I was squeezing in a batch anywhere I could. Usually with my baking assistants (kid 1 and kid 2). This makes for messy and often rushed cupcakes.
I have used so many pounds of butter I can not even comprehend. It's actually kinda sick. I will be glad not to bulk buy butter and flour anymore. Mom, thanks for always finding the butter sales for me!
I do enjoy making and decorating cupcakes. I still want to do a baking course. Learn more about cakes...hmmmmmmm.
I did find a few key recipes that I feel are taste test approved.
1-chocolate
2-devils food chocolate
3-no sugar carrot
4-vanilla
5-butter cream icing
6-cream cheese icing
 Also have realized I love the blog, and have quite a few other blogging ideas. Stay tuned.

Week 52, but not the finale! = chocolate marsh mellow MARCH 30th

Chocolate marsh mellow muffins. I found the recipe and wanted to try it. Two reasons, I had marsh mellows, I needed to bake, and I don't like marsh mellows so I knew I wouldn't eat them. Ok so that was three reasons.
Unfortunately they turned out dry and quite bland. hmmmm real bummer seeing we are at the end of the challenge. I think I was purposely trying to dodge the fact that technically I am done. I have started to enjoy the cupcake making and it has become a part of my routine. I find it so easy to bake a batch of cupcakes with a 3 and 1 yr old helping and mess everywhere.
I will however take this next week to make a grand finale cupcake batch and post pics.
I am also committed to making cupcakes for Easter weekend this week!
Stay tuned

Week 51 I finally approach FONDANT

If you want to learn to bake/decorate with fondant icing please first consult someone that has experience with it. I did! Hooray for me. My dear baking friend Wendy has done some amazing things with fondant. beautiful cakes and cupcakes. She was the perfect consult before approaching fondant. She was able to give me rolling, and shaping tips.
Tip one, use any roller you want for fondant. wood, plastic are fine
Tip two, re-ball and re-roll fondant as much as you want
Tip three, work with it quickly as it drys out quite fast (this tip, i didn't follow so well and lost a bit of fondant in the process, it became to dry to re-ball)
Tip four, buy it in bulk, already made, saving yourself loads of hassle (this i followed)
Tip five, colouring your own fondant is easily achieved (i cheated my first attempt and bought pre-coloured fondant)
I have had this vision from week one that I would somehow create beautiful flowers, or at least one beautiful flower that I would delicately place on top of my perfect cupcakes. I always dreamt it would be made from fondant. I don't know why it took my until week 51 to experiment with fondant.
Although, now maybe my subconscious baking mind knew, that I would be a fondant disaster!
I first attempted making my own flowers, like I had visioned. Attempt one disaster with a tad of poopy floppy flower petals. Attempt two, make them look more full with more layers. Again disaster. They looked like my 3yr olds craft project gone haywire.
So I found all of my 3 year old's play doh cutting tools. ha who would of thought, they were the perfect petite size to make some awesome cutouts. Petite teddy bears, ducks, butterflies. Perfect for topping the cupcakes. Fondant looks so much nicer when you use cut outs.
Is this what the big wigs do when decorating? Are those petals and perfectly placed leafs all cutouts??
I need to know this and will find out.
I did completely cover one cupcake with a perfectly rolled and placed yellow fondant layer. Wanted to try my hand at a mini wedding cake look. (Except the only colours I had of pre-coloured fondant icing were pastels) So if a pastel yellow wedding cake with a cute little green ducky is your thing, give me a call:)
I will try fondant again, I think it is a craft that needs to be practised. I do have some more flower ideas too!
Picture on my phone, will post.

Week 50 Chocolate banana, ye ol faithful

Couldn't pass it up, the bananas on our counter were just the perfect shade of brown, they were asking for it. I was going away for a girls weekend and wanted to bring muffins, I just had to.
Sorry Chocolate banana muffins won a stunning week 50!!!

Week 49 LEMON hills very pretty....

March 14th Lemon cupcakes with homemade vanilla frosting infused with real lemon zest.
Anything that is infused with something sounds so lovely doesn't it?
I thought I would try something completely different before the challenge is up. I don't personally like lemon baking, but I know many other's do.
So a simple white based cake with lemon 'infused' in it. Fresh lemon though, real zest and juice.
Which i love doing because I use all my pampered chef products for juicing and zesting and they work so well.
The icing I went a little more heavy on the butter end of the butter cream, to make them richer. I think it was a good choice. I didn't try this cupcake, Tyson liked it, and so did my neighbours.
Again, picture was taken and will be posted beside the blog. (it's on my phone and i can't get it off)