Hawaiian Birthday Cupcakes

This post is way overdue, but luckily I still remember to post it before it's getting too late. Last month, my husband's family was throwing a surprise birthday party for his uncle's 50th birthday.  We all had a great time at the Hawaiian themed birthday party.  We even got a pig for his birthday!  My mother-in-law asked me if I mind making them some cupcakes for our uncle's birthday; especially she knew that I got caught up with other orders.  I said no, I don't mind.  So I made some pineapple cupcakes with creamy coconut frosting and decorate with yellow plumeria flowers (made of marshmallows). 

They came out really cute and they were so easy to make.  If you want to decorate your cupcakes in a easy way, marshmallows will be your new best friend.  You need a bag of the big size of marshmallows and cut them in lenthwise four times, so you will get five petals.  And then just spread a little food coloring in the middle and arrange them on top of your frosted cupcakes.  And I also used some melted candy wafers to make some "50" decorations for the cupcakes.  Everything was so tropical and matching the theme of the party=)

Food is fake, but art is real.

Peter Anton (born 1963 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American artist and sculptor. His primary subject matter is food with an emphasis on chocolates and other sweets. He creates giant realistic sculptures and is best known for his "bigger than life" boxed chocolates.

Anton treats his food artworks very seriously.  His beginning process of creating his artworks is to eat, smell, feel, study and dissect a new food over and over again in order to hyper-familiarize himself with the new subject. He then begins the long and tedious process of sculpting, carving, sanding, painting, and construction of his mixed media works.

I am sure his artworks could certainly fool you when you first look at it.  Even just looking at the pictures, I really want to lick the box of donuts or touch the giant ice cream.  However, his artworks has bigger meanings than just being looking real. Anton emphasizes:

In my sculptures I like to alter and overstate foods to give them new meanings. I have an innate reverence for the things we eat. Food brings people together and there is no better way to celebrate life. Through the use of humor, scale, irony, and intensity in my forms, the foods we take for granted become aesthetically pleasing and seductive in atypical ways. I like to create art that can lure, charm, tease, disarm and surprise. My sculptures put viewers in a vulnerable state so that I can communicate with their inner selves in a more honest and direct way. I activate the hunger people have for the things that give them pleasure and force them to surrender. The sensual nature of the works stimulates basic human needs and desires that generate cravings and passion. 

Getting Ready for Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner, are you ready to party?  I came across this very cute piñata cookies' recipe on a website called, She knows Food and Recipes.  The recipe is great with step by step pictures and clear instruction.  If you want something different for your kids on this Cinco de Mayo, this will definitely surprise them with a pinata cookies filled with mini M&M inside=)

The cookies just like a real pinata (filled with candies)!

Cinco de Mayo is not just for kids, how about some taquila shoot for the grown-ups?

Need party ideas?  Taquila shoot and mini taco for the adults.
(photo from Pinterest)

I want to hold you hand...

I still remember the first time I was holding hand with my husband.  It's been years ago, but the memory is still fresh like it just happened yesterday.  I always think that holding hand is more inmitate than kissing and perhaps other PDAs.  And I am not the only one said that, Dalton Conley, a professor and chairman of the department of sociology at New York University has agreed with me, “Hand-holding is the one aspect that’s not been affected by the sexual revolution,” said  “It’s less about sex than about a public demonstration about coupledom.”

Hand-holding is a very speical and innocent moment between couples -

To hold someone’s hand is to offer them affection, protection or comfort. It is a way to communicate that you are off the market. Practically speaking, it is an efficient way to squeeze through a crowd without losing your partner. People do it during vigils, marches, weddings and funerals.
(source from the New York Times, Oct 5, 2006 issue)

And different ways of holding your parterner has special meaning too, if you are interested to de-code the meaning, click here.

There are so many ways to show your partner your love and care, of course, holding hand is one of them.  Writing them a letter/card, flying her a paper airplane to tell that person you miss him/her, or stuffing a special note in a fortune cookie to suprise her/him...

Here is a little fun project inpsired by LOVE:

Signed, sealed, delivered, I am yours...

Trying to get as detail as possible, this is the back of the envelope.

Show her your love on a "sweet" candy way (these heart shaped candies are made with fondant)

Or surprise her when she crack the fortune cookie=)

 Or drop her a love note in the classroom

And for those, who could not be with your love this year -
Do you wish the paper airplane could go straight to the one you love and show her how much you miss her?!

A cupcake tower full of love and flavor -
Horchata cupcakes with horchata cinnamon frosting and topped with churro

"Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine,
love, thou art every day my Valentine!"
-Thomas Hood









The Bigger The Better!

In America, people has this theory "The Bigger The Better".  I found the largest gummy worm and gummy bear in the world on Vat 19 website.  Hey, Christmas is around the corner, these may make your kids the best Christmas gift they ever received!

The World's Largest Gummy Worm is 128 times more massive than a traditional gummy worm. Measuring twenty-six inches long and weighing in at approximately 3 pounds, the World's Largest Gummy Worm is the most delicious 4,000-calorie candy worm in existence.

The Giant Gummy Bear on a stick is 88 times larger than a standard gummy bear. Each Giant Gummy Bear weighs half a pound and comes on a stick for easy, mess-free snacking.

This five-pound beast is the equivalent of 1,400 regular sized gummy bears and

packs a whopping 6,120 calories.

Cupcake and More...Halloween Costume Ideas

September will be over very soon (about a week), and Fall is officially started.  Halloween will be here right around the corner.  Are you still thinking of what you should wear to the Halloween party this year?  I am for sure.  I was browsing around and see what I could be for Halloween this year.  I came across this awesome website called Coolest Homemade Costumes.  Readers submitted their handmade costumes with pictures and instructions.  How cool it is!

Here are the ones I like from the food category:

Cannoli

Cotton Candy

Baby cake (yup, Austrian and British call cupcake baby cake), but this one is a real "baby cake".

A cupcake

Looking for a couple costume?  How about a chocolate chips cookie and milk?! 

A big cupcake

A mini chocolate chips cookie with mama chocolate chips cookie

How could you make your PB&J sandwich without these?

A poptart

An Oreo cookie

A s'more family

A little muffin