Hot Chocolate Cupcakes (Recipe)

Bunny and I came home early from school/work because she wasn't feeling too well. So between her visits to the restroom and 2 minute naps, I decided to bake cupcakes... hot chocolate cupcakes! Perfect for this cold and dreary day.

What you'll need:

1 box (4 oz.) milk chocolate baking bar, chopped (Bakers)
1/2 c water
1 c butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 medium/large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c cake flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c low fat buttermilk
1 can (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 package (11.5 oz) semisweet chocolate morsels
1 bag (12 oz) mini marshmallows
1 ice cream scoop
Preheated oven to 350˚

Boil water; add chopped chocolate and stir until consistent and smooth. Set aside and let cool.

Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar until fluffy. Add one yolk at a time, blending thoroughly.

Add melted chocolate to butter mixture and vanilla extract.

Slowly combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk to chocolate mixture.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form then fold into batter.

Use ice cream scoop to pour batter into cupcake liners for consistency.

Bake for 15-25 minutes. (Depending on your oven)

For the fudge frosting:
Combine morsels and condensed milk in a pan on low heat and stir until smooth.
Pour frosting while warm over heated cupcakes when they come out of the oven.
Frosting will keep cupcakes moist and dry smoothly over cupcakes.
Add marshmallows.
Sprinkle with confectioners sugar, cocoa powder or peppermint pieces and serve. You could also add Reddi-Wip® and shaved chocolate. The possibilities are immeasurable!

Enjoy!

*Makes 2 dz. cupcakes

You can also bake batter in a bakeable (is that a word?) mug for 20-30 minutes for a mug cupcake. 

**And of course, you could always poke holes in the cupcakes when out of the oven and lightly pour Kahlúa® over to soak in the spirit for a grown up cupcake ;)

Cindy Frost (pt 2) Don't hate on Elf on the Shelf

Lately, I've come across a lot of mean spirited bloggers, parents, and other internet peoples who have it out for the Elf on the Shelf. I've read a few mommy blogs detailing the absurdity of an elf that checks on you and then reports back to Santa. "How creepy is that? What a huge lie your children are being told!" That from the same mommy blogger who recounts past Christmases when Santa would visit and make a ruckus when delivering the presents. That's not a fabrication? I'm pretty sure she's heard and even sung along to He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake, He knows if you've been bad or good... I don't see how it's not creepy when an exuberant old fat man can take a peek at your children, during their slumber! but a small lanky elf is disturbing watching tv?
I do have to agree that these Elf on the Shelf's are sinister looking. But that's the point, right? They are full of mischief. It's like they don't even care if your kid is bad because the elves themselves are little flying rascals.
There are some mommy's in the blogosphere who "don't have the time to plan these elaborate schemes!" So then don't. Nobody is making you shrink wrap the toilet or TP the tree or make a mess in the kitchen. Put your damn elf on the bloody shelf! Hang it upside down by the window. It's not difficult. If you forget to move the little bugger, lie to your kids. Tell them their elf fell asleep and stayed there all night. You're already setting them up for failure with Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy. What's one more mystical being?
And don't give me this it's not part of why we celebrate Christmas rubbish. You were probably the first ninny camping out at Best Buy just save a few bucks. Calm your tits.
If you're satisfied with Jolly Old St. Nick visiting and don't want to participate in all of the elf shenanigans, then don't.  And for jeezus sake, don't go looking for EotS blogs to preach. Ignore your friends' EotS Facebook posts - especially if you don't have children then stop grousing about it, don't click on the Twitter photo linking to EotS, and scroll down your Pinterest page when you see a drunk elf scratching his nonexistent twigs and berries from a late night of boozing it up with Barbie.

Alright. Rant over. Pinky promise. 

____________________

Today marks the start of Cindy Frost's shenanigans. And what better way than to arrive with a much needed and cute little surprise for my Bunny's early morning car rides to school.

Day 1

Cindy Frost arrived this morning with a Seat Pet for Bunny. Our ride to school is long, early, and dark. Bunny always falls asleep and gets a small nap in before her day begins. This is perfect so her head isn't rolling around everywhere. 

Day 2

Bunny and I came home this evening to find Cindy Frost making snowflakes out of Q-tips® under the tree. (Please excuse the hanging wire of lights in the background. We let Bunny decorate her tree however she likes to every year.)

Day 3

We woke up to a swinging-from-the-ceiling elf!

Day 4

Relaxing with the girls in Barbie's® Dream House on her makeshift wheelchair (which only took about 5 minutes to create. Boom!) 

Day 5

*Hiding under the tree skirt.

Day 6

She showed up with a mini gumball machine filled with gumballs and mini M&M's®; Bunny's favorite sweets. 

Day 7 

Bunny woke up to find Cindy Frost under her mini tree with three tiny presents and lollipops.

Day 8 

Seems that Cindy Frost visited Aunt Krystal while she was napping. Nice mustache and monobrow! "Cindy Frost Rules" is so clearly scrawled on her cheek. Bunny couldn't stop LOLing at this one.

Day 9 

Cindy Frost left a note for Bunny: "Since it never ever at any time never snows, I thought I'd bring the snow to you!" Snowflakes of all sizes are hanging from the ceiling and placed throughout the tree. 

Day 10

Yesterday morning, Bunny was so sick during school I had to pick her up early. That same night, her pediatrician admitted her into the nearest hospital for appendicits. Turns out, she had a few internal infections which needed treatment, stat. Cindy Frost, of course, is all-knowing and surprised Bunny in her mini medical-suite the following morning. Bunny was elated!

Day 11

Cindy Frost and Rainbow Bear share a moment by the window looking at the beautiful view of medical offices.

Day 12

Cindy Frost snuggled up with Bunny while she was sleeping this morning. Don't worry, she got clearance from Santa Claus so she wouldn't lose her Christmas Magic.

Day 13

As you can plainly see, Cindy Frost was much too tired from spending several days at the hospital to get into mischief last night. Instead, she's relaxing on the couch listening to the M&M's® caroling.

Day 14

Bunny caught Cindy Frost snacking on a bag of cookies.

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17 

Tangled up in lights.

Day 18

A little game of hide-n-seek with candy canes.

Day 19

I caught the flu and left Mr. Winey in charge of Cindy Frost's daily pranks. Sadly, he did not take photos and I have zero proof that she continued to visit. 

Fairies, Rainbows, Unicorns

If you follow me on Pinterest then you know that I have been planning Bunny's 6th birthday party (on a budget) since, uh, January-ish? Bunny decided SHE wanted a fairies, rainbows, and unicorns birthday party. Not ME! contrary to what Mr. Winey has been telling everyone. If I could have it my way, Bunny would've had a Rainbow Brite party complete with my favorite 1980's hits (think New Kids On The Block, Tiffany, Janet Jackson, Debbie Gibson... you get the idea.) *softly hums "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, hangin' tough"*

The party was three weeks ago today and I JUST looked through her birthday photos today. I gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed that I wasn't able to capture a lot of things. Especially the craft table which had a MAKE YOUR OWN FAIRY HOUSE station, DIY UNICON MASKS, jewelry, nail polish, fairy coloring pages, crayons, paint, and body glitter. *breathe in, breathe out* We had such a large turnout that I was busy hosting & Mr. Winey kept going to the grocery store to buy more food. I didn't get a lot of family/friends photos either. I'm so bummed. However, I was able to capture a few other photos to share with you.


I sent out a reminder to all of her classmates the day before her party with a baggie filled with Twizzlers that I cut and sorted. I added text to the card with the basic party information because I'm sure not all of the birthday cards made it home two weeks prior. ($.45/treat card)

Here are some favors I didn't get to capture at the party: Unicorn Horns, Party Hats ($.40/ea)  Fairy House ($.25), Terrarium ($1)    Fairy Play-Doh ($.35/ea)

Here are the kid tables covered with unicorn/rainbow table covers. The colorful balloon arc in the background (my mom offered to pay for) was a perfect backdrop for photos. You can find that awesome unicorn mylar balloon on-line (with free shipping.) 

At every party, I always make a sign in book made with a different 8x10 photo of Bunny and numbers/lines on it for guests to write in. I had a flower bouquet on the table and had it nicely set up, but, well, wind. Lots of wind. I found those adorable dancing unicorns with the same seller who offers free S&H.

I purchased the Fairy Whimsy collection of plates, napkins, cups, etc. at a local party supply store at a discounted price. But you can conveniently find the collection here. I think the design is being discontinued so you might not be able to purchase it for much longer. 

I fancied up these bubbles I bought from the Dollar Tree with some hot glue, iridescent star conffetti, ribbon, and a label. I present to you, Fairy Wishes. ($.35/bottle)

We conveniently had a large circular patch in the yard that I had Bunny turn into a Fairy Circle. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a photo of the before. But I did get the after...
I found the Fairy Circle poem online and just printed it on card stock with a free image of a dancing fairy.

I also used the same idea I found on Pinterest to create a fairy party with paper umbrellas and a string of night lights on the ground. Again, I captured this the next day. Looks like the fairies and kids partied hard.

I wish I had a better photo of Bunny's piñata but I don't. But you can still see how cute it is! ($18)

I found ONE photo with Bunny's friends making Fairy Play-Doh (Play-Doh, glitter, jewels, beads, confetti) at the craft table:

And now to the food. FYI, the kids attacked the trays that carried kid-friendly Jell-O shots and Rainbow Smiles - I wasn't able to get a nice shot of them. *Kanye shrug*

Unicorn Poop. The. Kids. Loved. It! Here is the unicorn poop recipe and some info on fairy bread.

The cake! Everyone wanted to know what the birthday cake looked like and whether or not we made cupcakes which is silly considering my sister and I bake cupcakes for ANY ocassion. We're not going to skimp on Bunny's birthday! (Please keep in mind that we live in S. TX. and the humid weather melted our rainbow cupcake toppers *sad face*)

Other food we served:

Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers

Hot dogs

Nacho cheese and chili (hot dogs and Frito Pies)

Veggies and Fruit served in the fairy glasses (We called them Fairy Berries, Chipmunk Chunks, Gnome Grub, Fairy Flakes...)

A variety of chips

Water

Rainbow Water for the kids (Kool-Aid in mini water bottles; no photo)

Sodas

Sweet-Tart Jelly Beans served in star-shaped dishes for all the tables

And we gave out "Fairy Berries" ($1/ball) for the boys and Fairy Purses ($3/12 organza bags found locally) for the girls filled with juice, chips, candy, crayons, stickers...

We attached a "Thank you fairy much" label to each party favor as well.

The present table was more a present shelf I wrapped with tulle. I thought it'd be enough to hold Bunny's presents, but again, we didn't count on so many people. Many of the gift were on the floor and we took a lot inside.

Activities:

Face painting

Tetherball 

Hula hoops

DIY crafts

Bouncy castle

Find the fairies

Pin the horn on the unicorn

I purchased these prizes here: 

The party ended four hours later! It was a success and all those months of planning was not enough time to prep. I had A LOT of ideas and other things I still wanted to do. Of course, nobody had a clue, Bunny had no idea and she and her friends had a great time. So if you were able to come out, we thank you :) We hope you and your little Fairies and Sprites left with happy hearts, full bellies, and handfuls of goodies!