Hamburger Cupcakes

Tonight I am leaving Mia with her daddy & heading out with some of my mommy friends  for a cupcake exchange party.  I decided that I really wanted to make something super cute, creative & simple! I came across these adorable hamburger cupcakes - but decided that the already simple recipe could be even easier. 

My method: 

Ingredients for cake:
1 package of fudge marble cake (I used Duncan Hines)
Ingredients for icing:
1/4 cup butter softened (you can use unsalted - I like that slightly salty sweet taste that regular butter provides)
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup confectioners sugar 
1 tsp vanilla 

Food colouring:

Red
Yellow
Blue
Black
(you will need to make the white icing grey before adding the red - otherwise you   will have pink 'ketchup')
(Remember yellow & blue make green - I used more yellow than blue to give a vibrant lettuce green)

Directions:
Mix your cake according to the directions on the box - up until you divide the batter
I substituted cream for the water - makes a fluffier, slightly nicer cake

Set aside 2 cups of of the vanilla batter - then add the chocolate package that comes in the box & stir well
Pour vanilla batter into cupcake pan with liners - fill liners 3/4 full - this ensures the bun top is rounded instead of flat
Pour the chocolate batter into a cake pan - any small cake pan will do!

Bake until nearly brown & a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Let cool!

Once they're cool slice each cupcake in two horizontally - let cool again
Using a round cookie cutter cut out 12 circles from the chocolate cake
Now devour the left over scraps of the chocolate cake! 
Decorate your mini burgers as you desire.
You will want to put one 'topping' on the bottom (I used the lettuce) and one on the top - this holds the whole thing together. 

If you desire the sesame seeds & olive - brush lightly with water & sprinkle sesame seeds on - they will stick
To make the Olive - I used a green Smartie (these are chocolate in Canada) If you're in the USA - you could use a regular size M&M (or Peanut) & a mini red M&M.  Using some of the leftover icing - glue the two together - then place on the lid of the hamburger!

* Read the more complicated recipe here at Bakerella : Plus she gives you a great free printout to make them all fancy & a recipe for french fry cookies. 
* My fries were supplied by McCain's - frozen still - shhh ... it was just for the photo!

Another sweet treat - Mia looking just innocent enough to snag some of the chocolate cake left overs!

She won!

Don't Carpe Diem

I have this brilliant group of women I talk with/type with from a well known site The Bump.com.  We July 2010 mamas decided to branch off and make an exclusive Facebook club! It's about the only exclusive club a mom can get into with a baby on her hip - so we take what we can get! The ladies are wonderful - you can complain, compare (within reason), brag & post anything you feel fits with what moms deal with. 

One of the great moms posted this: Don't Carpe Diem - of course I jumped on the chance to read an article that goes against every grain of old wisdom! Glennen Melton writes, that although there are moments where we cherish the moments of being a parents, much of it is hard work!  You hear all the time as a mom that you should be so thankful, love every moment, as they're fleeting. 

Although I do agree that it's important to find joy in every situation, I think it's rather unrealistic.  It puts an incredible amount of pressure on a parent to be forever happy, successful and perfect.  Most of motherhood is confusing, frustrating and sticky.  Of course there are plenty of small moments where you realize yet again that the love you feel, you would never truly know without this little whirlwind in your life. 

It's funny that this was posted on a day like today where my sweet 18 month old Mia who refuses to even try saying a word other than cat, cried continuously for 3 hours in frustration of not getting what she wanted.  I cried.  I called my mom.  She just said - you're doing a good job! Which was exactly what I needed to hear.  Just because each day is not 'perfect' - doesn't mean I am a bad mom.  

So rather than Carpe Diem - I love what Melton suggested - simply be thankful for the moments where your mind steps away from the chaos of mamahood and appreciate those.  All of life does not need to be lived in ecstasy.

To-Do ...

I have struggled so much with coming up with ideas to blog about - I have thousands! All of which have no photos to accompany them.  They're simply empty shells of ideas, unfinished projects, long to-do lists etc.  So why not blog about the actual struggle of being a stay-at-home mum & Artist?

It is very tempting to write down my to-do list here; then having to keep up with it with people (possibly?) following along, making me more accountable to these daunting things.  

Although I am what some modernist like to call a 'WAHM' - work at home mum - I could really relate to the always classy, funny and fun Sarah Jessica Parker in I Don't Know How She Does It - especially where she lies awake at night making to-do lists. 

I have no more excuses - the first trimester is officially ended (yes we're expecting our second baby in May) I am not too tired, Mia is being a wonderful companion and slowly learning to leave her Mama alone while she 'works'.  It's hard to see what I do as true work - as it's mostly painting, drawing, doodling, and playing around on the computer.  Hey, someone has to do it right?  Okay without further ado ...

To-Do:

* Finish the letter T - FINISHED!!
* Open Etsy shop - I am sure this will be a terrifying task I will procrastinate on                              
- in order to open Etsy shop I need to connect an actual bank account to my PayPal account - which means going to the bank first ... sigh
* Continue working on 'Project Whiskers' - more about that later
* Re-arrange master bedroom                                                                                                      
- then re-paint it, move the curtains, buy a new rug, paint the whole floor (hopefully I'll have actual photos of this!)
* Set up play room & recreation room!                                                                                               
- paint new cute painting, finish letters for the wall (16 to go), make tent, buy Mia's little chair, find a comfy chair for me, re-paint room, cover new footstools
* Set up Mia's room and morph it into her & her new little brother or sister's room                        
- doing an Owl & Pussycat room - make 2 paintings (owl & pussycat) sew new owl & new pussycat (I should do a little DIY for these as they're super cute), paint little half boat (thanks sweetie)
* Paint (distress) toy chest - move to living room (another great DIY before & after I will try to post)
* Make canary painting for kitchen - need canvas!
* Highlight hair (hey every mum needs a little time to herself too)

That should be enough to keep me crazy until May!
Okay world - keep me motivated! 

xx!