Happy St. Patty's Day 2011!

These are the same cupcakes as the Mardi Gras, I decided to make the same flavor for both since they are both fitting! Therefore, these are Bailey Irish Cream Cupcakes with Bailey Chocolate Ganache Filling and with Irish Cream buttercream. The buttercream came out a little too soft because the butter I was using was super soft. Note to self, only use sticks of butter rather than country crock's...Lesson learned!! Anyways, I hope everyone had a nice lucky day today and wore lots of green!!

What's your good luck charm? Mine would definitely have to be my wedding ring. My husband, Khoa, is the best thing that's ever happened to me and is it by luck or fate? I do not know, but either way, I am lucky to have in at my partner in crime, and he makes me feel like the luckiest gal ever! I want to give him a special shout out for always making last minute grocery store runs to get me eggs, or whatever else I was missing to complete my projects! Thanks Jennifer also for getting more sugar =P. You guys are always a great big help to me!! Thanks! Now, enjoy these fun facts and some cheeky humor below!

Fun Lucky Facts:
Ever heard of a Blarney? Well, the Blarney is a block of blue stone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney, about five miles from Cork, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab (since the word blarney means clever or flattering talk). The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. Today, the castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the stone and tour the castle and its gardens. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14! A fun estimate suggests that for every one lucky four-leaf clover, there are about 10,000 regular three-leaf clovers! There are 19 US Presidents who proudly claim Irish heritage, one being our first President, George Washington.

Lucky Jokes:
What do you call a fake stone in Ireland? A sham rock! When is an Irish Potato not an Irish Potato? A French Fry! What does it mean when you find a horseshoe? Some poor horse is going barefoot! Have you ever heard of the 6-leaf clover? Me neither! Why can't you borrow money from a leprechaun? Because they're always a little short.

Have a sweet lucky day today everyone and I hope you all find your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Mardi Gras Cupcakes

Mardi Gras! These are Bailey Irish Cream Cupcakes with Baily Chocolate Ganache filling and Bailey buttercream! All the decorations are made of fondant, the balls on the jester's hat are metallic pearls, and the designs on the masks are painted with black food coloring. Also, I normally don't like to use non edible things for my decorations, but I couldn't resist using the feather for the first mask! I also gave the cake itself a Mardi Gras marbled look as well by coloring the batter purple and green and leaving some of the original batter color to make the 3 traditional Mardi Gras colors! Thanks Chi Hai for the suggestion! Anyways, these were definitely a challenge to make only because I had issues with the frosting, but alas, it's done! Enjoy these fun facts below about Mardi Gras!

Fun Facts:
Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" and alludes to the over-indulgence of this day. The word "fat" may also be referred to the fattened ox that was paraded through town before being sacrificed at a mid-winter, pagan fertility celebration. Purple, green and gold are the traditional colors of Mardi Gras. Purple represents justice, green is faith, and gold symbolizes power! One of the most popular traditions of Mardi Gras is the King Cake, which is a coffee cake pastry with a plastic baby inside. Traditionally, whoever finds the baby in his or her piece of cake is said to have good fortune throughout the year and must provide the King Cake for next year's party.

Also, apparently the tradition of bead throwing didn't come about until the 1880s. One of the Krewes (an organization that puts on a parade or ball for the carnival season), originally dressed up as Santa Claus, and tossed out glass beads! It was a great hit and by the 1900s, beaded necklaces became the throw of Mardi Gras. Then around the 1970s, the glass beads got replaced with cheap plastic and aluminum beads, and earned the thrower a flash of flesh. The obsession with the flesh links back to the original celebration by the Romans. The Romans celebrated the Lupercalia festival in honor of the fertility and agriculture gods, and had Mardi-Gras like qualities that include drinking, feasting, and "pleasures of the flesh". Eventually, this holiday because adopted as a "last fling" of indulgence before the 40-day Lenten period of Penitence.

So next time you celebrate some with traditions, be curious and ask questions as to how they come about. It'll give you another perspective to the festivities and you'll be able to enjoy it like it's the first time! Learn something new everyday don't we? Happy Mardi Gras!