New Affiliate & A Guest Post

So excited about some news I want to share with you!

I've been doing a lot of networking on Linkedin lately - joining different groups, and get this - actively participating! One of the groups I joined was a Guest Blogging group. From that group, there was a request for a guest blogger for a baking related site. We chatted back and forth and not only did I do a guest post for them, I decided to become one of their affiliates!

I was very impressed with the site. It's called HomeBasedBaking.com and it's for the baker wanting to start a baking business out of their home. There's lots of information about the laws in each state, as well as locating an incubator kitchen in your area. They also have posts, podcasts and webinars on baking topics as well as business topics. So, I decided to become an afiliate of theirs. I put the link on the right sidebar of this blog - it looks like this:

Besides being an affiliate now, I also did a guest post for them. For my first post I decided to combine 2 of my passions - cake decorating and photography - giving tips on how to photograph your baked works of art.

You can see the full post here.

Now I have to think about what to do for my next post.

But not today, I'm off to the Bronx Zoo with my girls. Day 3 of Camp Mommy!

Teacher Appreciation Cupcakes

Did you know this week is Teacher Appreciation Week? Well, it is. You still have one day left so if you're looking for a way to show a teacher how much they are loved, why not try these cupcakes?

My daughter's first grade teacher is the best! She absolutely LOVES her! She's constantly making cards for her and even writing little notes in her homework saying that she loves her. It's not just my daughter either - the whole class loves her. As a mom I couldn't be happier to see my daughter so eager to go to school just so she can see her teacher!

We decided to surprise her today with some Teacher Appreciation cupcakes. Here's what I did...

First, baked up a batch of cupcakes. Logical start.

I decided I wanted them to be decorated with chalkboards and apples - made of fondant of course. To make the chalkboards, I started out using a square cutter with black fondant. I made it super easy for myself this time and bought the Wilton fondant multi packs at Michael's so the colors were already mixed for me. Love that!!

Then I used the light brown fondant and cut out strips to use for the border of the chalkboard.

I trimmed the edges and put them on a cooling rack to dry out and harden up a bit.

Next up were the apples. The red fondant was really red so I wanted to mix a bit of green fondant in there to tone it down a bit. The stems were made from dark brown fondant.

Once the chalkboards were dry enough, I drew on the ABC's and made some yellow buttercream icing. I was trying to stick with the primary color palette.

Here they are...

My daughter loved them! She asked if she could have the purple one. She's in denial that these are actually blue.

the teacher liked them,

and so did the whole class.

The only one that wasn't too happy was my little one.

No fair! Where's mine Mama??

Ooops!

Do you know a great Teacher? Did you do anything special for Teacher Appreciation Week?

9 Years Ago Today...

I got married! I can't believe today is my 9 year anniversary. How did that happen?!?

We got married at a place down in the Village - it was a converted carriage house. I didn't want it to be very formal and I was on a budget. I opted for cocktail style seating because I didn't want everyone to be stuck at their table the whole time. Forget it! That went over real well. All the older folks were trying to find their little card with a table number and name on it. Was none. So, all the parents and the elders made a bee line straight to a table. They practically held them hostage for their friends. My mom even danced with my friend Billy as a way to get him out of his seat so one of her friends could snag it. Very tricky mom. Like your way of thinking!

Our friend Woody drew this caricature of us.

I thought it was hysterical and had it hanging on our fridge for years until we moved.

I think we both look pretty funny. The hubs has a striking resemblance to Bert....of Bert and Ernie. Don't ya think??

This is how we really looked...I think a bit better than his drawing.

The highlight for me was the dessert. As I mentioned I was on a budget so I opted to do a cupcake cake rather than a traditional wedding cake. That went over reeeeal well with Gloria my mother-in-law. I think in the end she liked it though. We had a small 6 in cake on top just so we'd have something to cut. The cupcakes came from The Cupcake Cafe in Manhattan.

Years before I had seen Ann Warren, the owner, on a segment of the Martha Stewart Show and thought if I ever got married, I would love for her to do my cake. And, she did! I made the cake stand with the help of my friend Karen. She was my right hand person throughout my wedding -really helping me with every detail. I got the stuff from NY Cake & Bake and the night before we stayed up late, making this cake stand and doing all the flower arrangements.

I think it came out great though, and back then, it was a real novelty.

Not sure what we'll be doing today to celebrate but I'm sure a cupcake will make an appearance!

At least I hope so.