Don't Forget to Eat Your Vegetables

This year was Alex and I's first Thanksgiving in our new home and our first Thanksgiving as newlyweds. I really wanted to have Thanksgiving at our house, mostly because I LOVE having people over and having a good time. On Thursday morning, the family arrived with tons of food and two turkeys! We deep fried one of them and baked the other. Since I am new to the realm of cooking a turkey, Alex's Mom Lori gave me some "turkey lessons." I learned a lot!

Me being the baking fool of the family, I wanted to make at least one dessert. Of course, it had to be cupcakes. I found the inspiration from this fabulous book called "Hello Cupcake".

Here are the "Corn on the Cob" cupcakes:


And here are the "Peas and Carrots" cupcakes:




This year's Thanksgiving was fabulous...the only thing missing was Jeff, Shannon, and Ryan! Everyone at our house ate a cupcake in their honor. :)

Looking Forward to Thanksgiving

I've been thinking a lot lately about Thanksgiving. It is coming up in two weeks, and Alex and I are hosting it at our house this year. I have been mentally planning a menu, and, being the avid baker I am, I am thinking about the dessert first. I am planning on making a pumpkin chocolate cheesecake. And, I have this one cookbook that shows you how to make cupcakes that look like little bowls of mashed potatoes. I can't wait to make them! Pictures to follow....

Dad's 60th Birthday Cake

So I've been wanting to do this post for some time now, but I tend to have problems uploading pictures with Blogger.

Anywho, back in May, my Dad celebrated his 60th birthday. Mom arranged a surprise party for him at our favorite restaurant, Giuseppe's. We had quite a crowd! Dad's coworkers, Lori and Randy, me and Alex, Stan and Carol, and Jeff, Ryan, and Shannon! The extra special treat was having The Abbott family in town from Virginia.

I tried to make Dad a Splenda Cake (see my previous post!), but that didn't turn out so well. So I decided to make a giant cupcake cake. After quite a bit of laboring, here it is:



Here is Dad with his birthday cupcake!



Everyone had a great time celebrating Dad's birthday. There is nowhere that I would rather be than spending an evening with my family! Here is a parting picture of me and Alex....