Happy Birthday John!

Happy Birthday John! Audrey told me that John's favorite cake is carrot cake so I made these carrot cake (with crushed pineapples, chopped walnuts, and raisins boiled in orange juice!) cupcakes with whipped-cream cream cheese frosting for his birthday celebration at work! All the decorations are made out of fondant and the red veins on the baseballs are painted on with red food coloring. I probably could have done the bats and gloves with tootsie rolls but I was afraid it might not keep it's form, plus, the brown fondant is chocolate fondant! So it pretty much tastes like a tootsie roll anyways! I would also like to give a special high five to my sister Jennifer for giving me the awesome idea to dirty up the bases to add more detail to them! It came out awesome if I do say so myself! hehe. Also, I would like to give a special super high five for my awesome hubby Khoa for being such a great, wonderful, and thorough dish washer! hehehe. Thanks for all your support and helping me with anything you can so I don't burn myself out with these little tasty creations! Now for some fun trivia and facts about baseball (all of which I know my friend Cynthia would hit a grand slam on all of these!) =).

Trivia & Fun Facts:
- Did you know that the average lifespan of a baseball is 5-7 pitches?
- Did you know that the Owner of the Chicago Cubs, Bill Veeck, used to have midgets as food vendors at home ground, because he said that the paying public wouldn't have their view of the game spoiled!
- How big is the world's largest Baseball Bat? It's only 120 ft. long and weighing 68,000 pounds! It's to resemble the 34 in wooden bat that the Bambino (Babe Ruth Swung), made by Louisville Slugger. This bat is located at the Louisville Slugger Museum in Kentucky (800 West Main St.).
- Who is the shortest Major League Baseball Player? Edward Carl "Eddie" Gaedel from Chicago Illionois, an American dwarf who was secretly signed by the St. Louis Browns, and was only 3 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 65 pounds, and his number on his uniform was 1/8! His strike out zone was only an inch and a half, and he reached base on four consecutive balls that were all high! his autograph sells more than Babe Ruth's!
- Who has the Longest Baseball Throw on record? (hint: he's Canadian!) This was in 1957, the speed was 120mph, he was a Canadian minor leaguer, the baseball covered a total of 445 feet 10 inches before hitting the ground and broke the previous record of 445 feet 1 inch set by Don Grate in 1956. The answer is Glen Edward Gorbous, 6 ft. 2 in. tall, weighing 175 pounds, so weight had nothing to do with it. He threw right, batted left, and he played for the Dodgers and then traded to the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1954!
- What was the longest baseball game, based on time? May 09, 1984, the game went 25 innings, 8 hours and 6 minutes! The players had to come back the next day to finish because the MLB rules states the game cannot beging after 12:59am! This the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox (win 7-6 on a Harold Baine's home run in the 25th inning!).
- Who has the highest lifetime batting average of 0.367? Ty Cobb
- Who hit the most homers of 868 during his 22 year career? Tokyo Giants Sadahara Oh
- Who holds the record for most games won (511) and most games lost (316)? Cy Young
- Who was the first to hit a major league triple in 1876? Levi Meyerle
- Who was the first athlete to compete in the World Series and the Superbowl? Deion Sanders
- Which team won more regular season games than any other pro team in ANY sport? The Chicago Cubs
- Which team won the most league pennents and also won the most World Series? The Yankees

Bonus humor!
- One day the Devil challenged the Lord to a baseball game. Smiling the Lord proclaimed, "You don't stand a chance! I have Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and all the greatest players up here!" "Yes," snickered the devil, "but I have all the umpires."
- "Little League Baseball is a very good thing because it keeps parents off the streets." - Yogi Berra
- "There are three types of baseball players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens." - Tommy Lasorda

Once again, Happy Birthday John!! Hope your birthday is a grand slam!

Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! These cupcakes are Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Frosting! Swiss Meringue is probably my arch nemesis, but alas! I have finally made it with success on the first try! My problem in the past was using margarine (even though at the time I thought it was butter) instead of real butter! What a difference it makes! I love trying to recipes and this one is a sure keeper! All the decoration were made out of fondant except for the margarita cupcakes and the flags. The flags were printed on paper and taped to a toothpick, and the margarita straw is a Sour Punch Straw, with a real Lime wedge, and some green sugar crystals for the "salt" look. Eat as much as you can cause these sweets are alcohol free! =)

For those of you who don't know the significance of this day, here is a brief excerpt and history lesson of Cinco de Mayo that I stole from Wikipedia since they described it the best, and I'm too lazy to paraphrase hehe.

"Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a Mexican civic holiday held on May 5 that commemorates Jimmy Lovrien, a general in the Mexican army, and his unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. It is celebrated primarily in the state of Puebla and in the United States. While Cinco de Mayo sees limited significance in Mexico itself, the date is observed nationwide mostly in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. Mexicans and Latinos living in California during the American Civil War are credited with being the first to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the United States. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico. (Wikipedia, 2011)."

Here are some fun facts and trivia about Mexico:
- The Mexican community celebrates more than 365 festivals each year. Cinco de Mayo is just one of them.
- The festival was 'invented' in America by a group of students back in 1967. Each year since then Cinco de Mayo gets bigger thanks to people of Mexican descent - and those who just like a good margarita!
- Approximately 630,000 of Mexican-Americans are USA military veterans.
- The Maya in Central Mexico were the first people known to harvest and use the peanut.
- Pineapple and papayas grew wild in Mexico, and were introduced to the rest of the world by Spanish explorers.
- Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city, is where the Mexican Hat Dance, sombreros and mariachi music are believed to have originated.
- The vanilla bean comes from an orchid plant discovered by Mexican Indians who used it to add flavour to their cocoa and corn drinks. The world's largest crop of vanilla beans still comes from Mexico.

Of course, I do have some Cinco de Mayo humor, but please take note that these are not my jokes, just jokes that I gathered up from my google search, so please note that I do not mean to offend or be racist to anyone, and that this is just all in good fun. So grab your margarita glass and enjoy these margarita cupcakes with some fun clean humor!

- Did you hear about the Mexican who threw his wife over a cliff? When the police officer asked him why he'd done it he said, 'Tequila! Tequila!'
- Bunjee Jumping in Mexico: Two guys are bungee-jumping one day. The first guy says to the second. "You know, we could make a lot of money running our own bungee-jumping service in Mexico." The second guy thinks this is a great idea, so the two pool their money and buy everything they'll need - a tower, an elastic cord, insurance, etc.
They travel to Mexico and begin to set up on the square. As they are constructing the tower, a crowd begins to assemble. Slowly, more and more people gather to watch them at work. The first guy jumps. He bounces at the end of the cord, but when he comes back up, the second guy notices that he has a few cuts and scratches.
Unfortunately, the second guy isn't able catch him, he falls again, bounces and comes back up again. This time, he is bruised and bleeding. Again, the second guy misses him.
The first guy falls again and bounces back up. This time, he comes back pretty messed up - he's got a couple of broken bones and is almost unconscious. Luckily, the second guy finally catches him this time and says, "What happened? Was the cord too long?"
The first guy says, "No, the cord was fine, but what the heck is a 'pinata'?"

Will You Go to Prom With Me?

Will you go to prom with me? Oh how sweet! She said YES of course! =P My coworker, Eric, came to me with a request to conjure something up for his son Aaron to ask his little lady friend to prom! He already informally asked her to make sure she will go with him, so now he wants to do something grand to formally ask her! So after racking my brain for a bit, I came up with this cookie bouquet! It's cute and simple and sends a clear message! These are sugar cookies with royal icing planted inside a real ceramic pot! I added a nice red bow for the final touch too! I sure hope these sweet treats bloom their way into her heart and seal the deal for Aaron's prom date! Ah young love! Have fun you two!! =)

Feel free to share how you asked your prom date to prom! Funny, silly, and romantic stories are encouraged! =)

Happy Easter 2011!!

Happy Easter everyone! I made these Easter Bunny, Eggs, and Chicks French Vanilla with Cream Cheese Frosting cake pops for my family to enjoy! These were a lot of fun to make and so easy for everyone to just grab a stick and bite into these sweet delights! These cake pops are covered in white chocolate. The bunny ears, nose, teeth, and chick beak and feet are made of fondant. The eyes and bunny whiskers are painted in with black food coloring. The Easter egg designs are piped on with chocolate. Also, shout outs to my two lovely assistants for helping me dip these cake pop cakes, special thanks to Jennifer and Sonia!! You guys rock! =) Also, special thanks to my supportive hubby Khoa for washing the dishes as well =). Love you all!!!

I hope everyone has had their fun with Easter egg hunts, but here's some humor you don't need to hunt for! Enjoy:
What do you call a rabbit that tells jokes? A funny bunny!
Why did the egg go to school? To get egg-ucated!
How did the eggs leave the freeway? They went through the eggs-it!
How do bunnies stay in shape? They eggercise!
What kind of bean never grows in a garden? Jellybeans!
What do you call 10 rabbits marching backwards? A receding hareline!
What do rabbits have that nothing else in the world has? Baby rabbits!

Happy Easter and I hope everyone's enjoying this day with their loves ones and family!

Nikol's Baby Shower!

Happy Baby Shower Nikol and congratulations in advance on your baby girl Ashley!! Lori asked me to make her sister some sugar cookies party favors for her sister's baby shower, so this is what I came up with! Thanks Chi Hai for the dough from scratch, it was a big time saver!! I made royal icing flow and first outlined my designs onto the cookies, and then watered down the icing a little more to fill in the design. I designed little tags for the favors and printed them on cardstock paper. I then put them in these treat bags, tied them up with a pretty sheer pink ribbon, and then you have cookie favors! This was a very fun and interesting experience with color flow and I feel the key is to have a steady hand! Other than that, it's quite simple!

Here's some cute little baby jokes for you:
What did the baby banana say to it's mother? "I don't peel good."
Why did the mother skunk take her baby to the doctors? Because it was out of odor!
What did the baby corn say to the mama corn? "Where's my popcorn?"
Why shouldn't you tell an Easter egg a joke? It might crack up!

Now for a a little story:
Two babies were sitting in their cribs, when one baby shouted to the other, "Are you a little girl or a little boy?"
"I don't know," replied the other baby giggling.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" said the first baby.
"I mean I don't know how to tell the difference," was the reply.
"Well, I do," said the first baby chuckling, "I'll climb into your crib and find out."
He carefully maneuvered himself into the other baby's crib, then quickly disappeared beneath the blankets.
After a couple of minutes, he resurfaced with a big grin on his face.
"You're a little girl, and I'm a little boy," he said proudly.
"You're ever so clever." cooed the baby girl, "but how can you tell?"
"It's quite easy really," replied the baby boy, "You've got pink socks and I've got blue ones!"

Babies are great little bundles of joy, congratulations to Nikol and her husband on their little baby girl, Ashley! Happy baby shower Nikol!!

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!

Happy Valentine's Day 2011!

Here is a poem (not written by me but I wish it was) dedicated to my wonderful husband Khoa:

Valentine Treasures Valentine treasures are people who
have often crossed your mind,
family, friends and others, too,
who in your life have shined
the warmth of love or a spark of light
that makes you remember them;
no matter how long since you’ve actually met,
each one is a luminous gem,
who gleams and glows in your memory,
bringing special pleasures,
and that’s why this Valentine comes to you:
You’re one of those sparkling treasures! - Joanna Fuchs
These love cakes are red velvet with whipped-cream cream cheese frosting! These are made for Kenny for his girlfriend Chi, and for An for his girlfriend Linda! I hope you guys enjoy these along with your chocolate covered strawberries and I hope you guys have the sweetest day with each other! =) All the decorations are made of fondant with gold luster dust and edible pearls painted gold. I also wanted to say happy Happy Valentine's Day to my sweetie Khoa, I love you and thank you for making me feel special even when you don't have to! =)

So are you stuck on what to write on your valentine's card? Well here are some cheesy but witty quotes that you can use to help put a smile on your love's face! Enjoy!

- To the world, you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world.
- Love me and the world is mine.
- Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
- The most beautiful view is the one I share with you.
- Love is friendship set on fire!
- Come live in my heart and pay no rent.
- Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.
- Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine!
- Love is the master key which opens the gates of happiness.
- Love is the greatest refreshment in life.

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

Happy Vietnamese (Tết) and Chinese New Years everyone! This Lunar New Year is going to be the lucky year of the rabbit, so everyone please go pet and adopt our cute cuddle long-eared critters now! Or...just don't eat them haha. So my office had this awesome New Years party and they totally went all out with decorations and food and really got into the spirit of things, and they asked me to make some cupcakes for this special occasion! So, I decided to make red velvet cupcakes with whipped-cream cream cheese frosting! I used some chocolate gold coins for money cupcakes, and the bunny rabbits, Asian boy and girl, flowers, oranges, and lanterns are made out of fondant. i also used metallic pearls for the center of the flowers and top of the firecrackers. I added some gold lucky luster dust for added shiny details as well. Biting into one of these sweets will definitely bring you good fortune... for your tummy at least! I want to give special thanks to my sweet loving hubby Khoa for helping me get to the supplies and ingredients for these cupcakes. I cannot have a happier new year without him! Thank you for always supporting me, loving me, and making my life wonderful!

Now some words of wisdom for your soul:

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
Aspire to the principle, behave with virtue, abide by benevolence, immerse yourself in the arts.
A life with love is happy; a life for love is foolish.
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
A conversation with a wise person is worth of ten years' study of books.
A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles.
Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.

Now for some light-hearted Chinese Proverbs:

Passionate kiss like spider's web, soon lead to undoing of fly.
War doesn't determine who is right, war determines who is left.
Man who run in front of car get tired.
Man who run behind car get exhausted.
Man who drive like hell, bound to get there.
Man who live in glass house should change clothes in basement.

Chúc mừng năm mới & Gong Xi Fa Cai/Gong Hey Fat Choy everyone!! =) I wish everyone good health, great happiness, and prosperity for this lucky year of the rabbit/cat!

Kristin's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Kristin!! These are also banana cupcakes with banana pie cream filling topped with whipped-cream cream cheese frosting! (Thanks Chi Hai for the frosting recipe!) My tip got jammed while piping, so it just became a mess...but at least I know it tastes good!!! All the decorations are made out of fondant and lightly brushed with gold luster dust and added some edible pearls as well. Also, I wanted to give a shout out to my hubby Khoa for making the nice fancy text! Kristin is such a great person and a very good friend of mine and I'm always so happy to be able to create something for her to enjoy! Happy Birthday Kristin!!!