Brownie Pops

Recently a family member asked me for a Dr. Seuss inspired favor for a babyshower, this is what I came up with:

(I've posted before about these)
I made these a little bit bigger than I have before because I've recently discovered that if you dip the stick in the chocolate then insert into the brownie, I can cover the entire thing in chocolate. The biggest challenge with these was to make them NOT look like they were for a 4th of July party but rather a baby shower for a boy. Needless to say the Hostesses were delighted with them!

I had some extra supplies left over so I decided to finish off what I had left and came up with these:

(Cookies n Cream, Rainbow Sprinkles and Baby Blue Disco dust)
I did these for our Super Bowl party last year....TOUCH DOWN!

Gourmet Strawberries

With tomorrow being Mother's Day I wanted to have a brunch for a few special women, my Mom, Mother in law, my Hubby's Grandmother and my Sister in law....well, do to circumstances beyond my control, things changed.

Hubby and I surprised our 4 year old Thursday with a trip to Legoland and as we drove to our destination I saw a strawberry stand and told Hubby that if they were still open when we left we would HAVE to get strawberries there....and we did. I scored big time! Three baskets for $9.50 and they are big and dark red and juicy!

Last night I went for it turned out these!!! I think they turned out great and only hope they taste as good as they look...

On the left is chocolate covered in mini chocolate chips, to the right of that is chocolate sprinkled in coconut, to the right of that is chocolate drizzled with white chocolate, next to that is white chocolate coconut and then last is white chocolate drizzled with milk chocolate.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

When hubby and I finally decided to host a super bowl party, I went on the prowl for an awesome cupcake to serve! I wanted something that was "manly" and GOOD! I found a few recipes online and settled on this one from Annie's Eats. I love the cake and the ganache but the frosting is VERY sweet and I just do not like the grainy texture. I did NOT use as much Bailey's as it called for in the frosting. I did add a bit more powdered sugar and about 4 more tablespoons of butter. I also added a few tablespoons of milk and just a splash of vanilla. I'm "happy" with the frosting but next time will use my Grandmother's recipe and substitute the almond for the Bailey's.

The cupcakes out of the oven

Ganache filling

Cupcakes filled w/the ganache

Final product!

Halloween Oreos

I used these for a project at work and decided to make a small arrangement for my Halloween party that is this Friday night. I think they turned out cute!

Halloween Oreos

I used these for a project at work and decided to make a small arrangement for my Halloween party that is this Friday night. I think they turned out cute!

Halloween Oreo's

Another team challenge at work that I get roped into putting together.... I was given one of those cheap plastic cauldrons and told to "fill it." I decided to spray paint it with the same spray paint I used for my candle sticks before my Twilight party. It made the cauldron look more "metal" and gave it a "sparkle" too! The team donated about $45 so I decided to go to Bath & Body Works and "have at it!" I put in some of the Twilight Woods scent in the body lotion, body spray and bath gel then I added the Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin hand soap and portable scent dispenser. The two smaller bottles in the front are hand sanitizer in a fun Halloween theme. I needed filler so I opted for chocolate covered Oreo's. I found the pumpkin candies at Michael's for $1.99 and went to town. Most popular cauldron wins their choice of a pizza party or ice cream party.

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows

My niece Lilly just turned three last week and we headed out to Arizona to help her celebrate. I have done chocolate covered marshmallows before but wanted to try something cute and girlie for her birthday. Her party was "Princess and the Frog" themed so I decided I would theme the marshmallow bouquet the same. I collected my supplies; marshmallows, chocolate, sprinkles, sticks, bags, ribbons, pictures, cup and "frog." The marshmallows were a bit tricky but I figured them out and this is the end result. They made it to Arizona and did NOT melt in the heat and everyone loved them!

***Side note, these pictures were taken with my phone so they are not the best. For some reason I failed to take pictures with my actual camera

Chocolate Covered Oreos

I have seen these online and I have been wanting to try them. I first tried round sucker sticks but those were too "fat" and the cookie would not sandwich together properly so I toyed with the idea of double stuffed Ore's. I decided I would not buy anything else and work with what I had so I set my sights on popsicle sticks that I found at Joann's.

Step 1: I stuck the sticks in the cookies.
Step 2: I spooned the chocolate over the cookies and gently tapped the stick on the side of my bowl to knock off any excess chocolate. I had to perfect this because the very first one I did fell apart and ended up a casualty!

Step 3: I sprinkled with sprinkles and once the chocolate set up I bagged and tied the cookies.

Here is my end result. I think I did a great job for my first attempt at chocolate covered Ore's! I am sure my niece will love them no matter what they look like!

More things I want to try....

I was searching for candy buffets for ideas for my son's Star Wars party and found these adorable gum ball flowers. They look super easy and super cute! They would be great for any candy buffet. Maybe if my brother and sister in law are doing a candy buffet for my nieces birthday party, I could give these a try.

I saw these "bacon and eggs" on a blog when I was searching ideas for a candy buffet. I think these are sooo cute but not sure what occasion I would use them for! Maybe Easter when we do breakfast?

S'mores! (on a stick)

I saw this idea on Christy's blog that I follow and decided at the total last minute to try it. I found myself at Michael's at 9pm getting chocolate, ribbon and the paper cups. I was not sure exactly how I was going to present them but I wanted to cover all my bases. I then ran to the grocery store for the graham crackers, marshmallows and a few other items that we needed like MILK!
Here goes!
This is what I started with...

I ran a whole sleeve of graham crackers through the food processor

I then melted my chocolate

While the chocolate was melting, I put the marshmallows on the sticks

I dipped the marshmallows in the chocolate using the spatula to coat them completely

I tapped them lightly on the edge of the bowl to knock off any excess chocolate to prevent dripping

I then sprinkled the graham cracker crumbs all over the melted chocolate covering them pretty good

I knew I did not want them to have flat "bottoms" so I figured out a way to "hang" dry them. I was just going to put the through the cooling racks but the sticks were a bit longer than I thought so I solved this problem by stacking the cooling racks

When they were dry I placed them each in a paper cup and placed them on the tray. These were such a big hit at work. Everyone loved them and a few people even suggested roasting the marshmallow before covering it in chocolate (which I really considered) another said that her son was having a beach party for some kids and this would be perfect because then the kids would not have to get near fire! I will definitely do these again!

Brownie bites/balls

Okay, so yesterday I blogged about making churros for work....well, I decided due to time and money, I would just bake brownies. Needless to say, they did not turn out the way I expected! I baked according to package directions and let them cool then cut them up. As I was taking them out of the pan, they fell apart! I cannot take a pile of brownie chunks to work, not when I have been dubbed "Martha Stewart!" (This is what was left when I was finished rolling, just the "crust.")
Luckily I had some white chocolate left over from my Twilight party so I started rolling the pieces into balls. These turned out perfect! I was going to fork them but did not have enough forks left so luckily I had enough sucker sticks (I always have plenty of those on hand!) I put the balls in the freezer just long enough for me to melt my chocolate
and while I was doing that I fished through my pantry for something fun to "decorate" them with and found fun little sprinkles! Who doesn't love sprinkles....of course my 3 year old son saw the sprinkles and he wanted to dive right in helping Mama.
Once my chocolate was melted, I took the balls from the freezer and inserted a stick and dipped them in the chocolate. I immediately sprinkled with the sprinkles and placed them on wax paper. I repeated this process until all 20 were finished!
I let the chocolate harden on the wax paper on the counter and once they were set, moved them to the tray I will take them to work on. Wha La! Brownie balls! This is my third attempt at making these, each time I get better. My secret is the cheapest brownie mix I can find (.99 cents) and then just roll the brownies bite size. The bigger they are, the more difficult they are to work with. They are more heavy and fall off the stick. I made these small and they stayed on the sticks perfectly!

Greetings from Isle Esme

Well, here it is, all finished! This is my favor for this weekends Twilight party! I am bringing sea shells from Isle Esme to the girls! Hope they like them....

Yum, chocolate.

Here are just a few of the suckers that I have done over the years as favors. I learned how to do this from my Grandmother. She taught me the basics when I was younger and I have since learned a few more tricks. Enjoy!
These were for Hayden's first birthday...

These were sabers done for my Nephew's fourth birthday, Star Wars theme

These were for my Niece's first birthday...

These were for the Iavarone's wedding reception...

Christmas...

Valentine's Day...

First birthday...

Andrade Wedding (Victor/Delores)

I was asked to do some last minute wedding invitations for a family member. This is how they turned out. I had some trouble with our printer so they are not perfectly centered but they worked and the bride and groom loved them! I also wanted to try making these brownie balls. I had some trouble covering them with the white chocolate because the brownie kept wanting to fall off the stick. There were some last minute issues so I never made it to the wedding/reception so I took the brownies to work and tested them. Everyone said they were great. I may try them again at a later date.

Wedding Favors

After the theme was decided, I knew exactly what I wanted for my favors. I was set on edible and chocolate. I have a cake and candy supply store that I frequent and they did not have the mold I wanted. I had no choice but to search the Internet in hopes of finding and Eiffel Tower sucker mold. I was in luck and I did find one. Here is the finished product. Everyone loved them and I still have two in my fridge! If you ever need a great online supply store, here you go www.sugarcraft.com

Wedding Favors

After the theme was decided, I knew exactly what I wanted for my favors. I was set on edible and chocolate. I have a cake and candy supply store that I frequent and they did not have the mold I wanted. I had no choice but to scower the internet in hopes of finding and Eiffle Tower sucker mold. I was in luck and I did find one. Here is the finished product;