Cupcake Wars

Over fall break, when we were in Park City, the resort where we were staying offered various activities during each day.  One day when we were there, they were having cupcake wars.  You could pick up a muffin tin and ingredients, then make cupcakes and bring them back to a central location for judging.  The kids, Blythe in particular, wanted to participate.  However, it was the one full day we were there, not a Sunday, when we could get out and do things, and the rest of us didn't want to be tied to the hotel making cupcakes which we could do anytime. 

Blythe was disappointed.  In an effort to curb some of that sadness, I suggested we host our own cupcake wars with other kids in the neighborhood.  They could make cupcakes at their own homes, then bring them to ours for judging and consumption.  Blythe agreed this would be a stellar activity, and we planned to do it over the Thanksgiving weekend, as many of us are home wondering what to do with ourselves. 

Today was that day.  Earlier in the week, I sent an email to lots of families, inviting them to join us.  I offered very little instruction or help, telling the kids they needed to make and decorate the cupcakes as they thought best.  I did enlist Kelson Jensen, our ministering brother, to come act as a judge, and I took cupcakes out of the oven when they were finished.  The kids frosted themselves and decorated a bit, and were super excited to have lots of other families join us.

We didn't have many participants, but a few families did show up with cupcakes.  Abbie Drake came with very fancy sugar decorations, the Bushmans came with snowman, and the Baraketses came with frosted delights.  In addition, the Prados came without cupcakes, but a willingness to help eat the offerings. 

Kelson judged, awarding "Best Tasting," (the Barri) "Most Fancy," (Abbie) "Most Festive," (Bushmans) and "Best Texture" (Baraketses).  Everyone got to eat four cupcakes and went home with a happy sugar high.  It was a wonderful way to spend time on a chilly Saturday afternoon.  We'll likely do it again, and Blythe hopes we'll have twice as many participants.

Eloha and Amani Baraketse, Greyson, Hadley, and Ada Bushman, Abbie Drake,

Blythe and Brandt

Bakers extraordinaire!

Cupcakes and Knives

This week, Blythe returned home from school on her library day with a book about cupcakes.  It was full of all sorts of cutely decorated cupcakes--some with animals, some with fancy toppers, all with complicated frosting.  She was desperate to make some and demanded that we do it right then, immediately, we cannot wait even one day.  We didn't, however, have everything she needed, so I promised that we would do cupcakes on Saturday.

Guess what today is?  Ellen came over to play with Blythe, and after she had been here a short time, the girls appeared in the kitchen and Blythe said, "Mom, you promised that we could decorate cupcakes, and Ellen and I want to do it right now."  Although I still hadn't gotten the specific items she needed for cupcakes decorated with butterflies, I do have decorating tips and a whole bunch of sprinkles, so I agreed to do cupcakes.  The girls helped me mix them up, and they impatiently waited while they baked and cooled.  They got out all the sprinkles and were delighted when I told them they could use as many different types of sprinkles as they wanted; there was no limit to the sprinkle madness.  I also let them choose what color of frosting they wanted, and we ended up with super vibrant blue and a somewhat more subdued purple.

The best part of the decorating was the piping bags.  I gave them each a star-tipped bag, demonstrated how to dispense the frosting over the cupcake, and then let them practice on the wax-paper covered counter.  Then they were off, frosting and sprinkling like crazy.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the house and yard, Brandt was playing with Jarom and Sam.  Kent had taken them up to the gun range to go shooting, but they arrived about five minutes after the range closed, and had to come away without firing a single shot.  Terribly disappointing.  But to counteract that sadness, Kent bought some throwing knives and set them up in the backyard to fling the knives at a board.  He watched a "how to throw a knife" YouTube video, and then allowed the boys go at it, supervising from a safe distance away to insure that no actual person was harmed in the play.  They had a great time.

 

 

A powerful thirst comes over a boy when he's been throwing knives, and they all traipsed into the house for a drink and saw the girls decorating.  Who can pass up a cupcake?  Who can pass up the chance to overdecorate a cupcake with 27 different types of sprinkles?  Not those boys.  Brandt, Jarom, and Sam all wanted to do some cupcakes, so I reserved three cupcakes each for them to decorate which still gave the girls 7 cupcakes each.  When the girls finished, the boys came in to frost.  Oddly, the girls didn't go outside to throw knives.

It was a fun Saturday afternoon with activity and friends, but when, only 47 seconds after I had gotten the enormous sprinkle/frosting/baking mess cleaned up, Blythe came to me and said, "Mom, Ellen and I would like to do something," I stopped her and asked, "Does this thing you want to do involve me in any way?"  When she said yes, I begged off, encouraging her and Ellen to make their own fun so I could get back to the long list of things I needed to work on that had been interrupted by cupcakes.  With frosting covered faces, they dashed off to do their thing.