The Legacy of a Grandma

This past Friday, my sweet, sweet Grandma passed away. 

So many of you were so gracious to us. You brought us food, prayed for us, and even came to the viewing and funeral. My family and I are SO thankful for everything y'all did. She was the BEST Grandma I could have asked for, and she will be so missed here. However, I'm absolutely positive she's with the Lord right now...and loving every minute of it!

One of Grandma's staple desserts was dirt cake. She made it every Easter, always being sure to top it off with some gummy worms and plastic eggs (filled with money, of course). So, what would have been more appropriate than making dirt cake for my family and I to eat at the funeral home?! Unfortunately, I couldn't find the exact recipe she used. I had to turn to the internet. But, according to my cousins, it was just as good. Phew! 

We have an old, old picture where all of the grandchildren have gummy worms sticking out of their mouths, so we decided to reenact it. I wish I had that picture, but it's scrapbooked away somewhere in someone's house. The odds of me finding it, scanning it in, and posting it before Christmas (let's be real, probably more like next summer) were slim to none, so I decided to go ahead and do without. 

The best part of the story is the fact that we still have the bowl she used to put it in. It's a pretty crystal bowl with a handle that makes it look like an Easter basket. So, into Grandma's bowl the dirt cake went!

Also, since I love my readers, y'all get the recipe! Enjoy...it's a Smith family favorite :) 

Dirt Cake

Dirt Cake

Ingredients:

2-3.4 oz packages vanilla instant pudding

3 1/2 cups milk

12 oz cool whip

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1-15.5 oz package Oreos

Gummy worms (if desired)

Directions:

1. Combine instant pudding and milk in a large bowl. Whisk for 5 minutes, or until pudding is soft set. Fold in cool whip then set aside. 

2. In a separate bowl, stir together cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar until smooth. Add to pudding mixture and stir to combine.

3. Crush Oreos to fine crumbs.

4. Spoon 1 1/2 cups cookie crumbs into the bottom of a large bowl. Top with 1/2 the pudding mixture, then 1 1/2 cups cookie crumbs, the remaining pudding mixture, then the remaining cookie crumbs. Chill for at least 1 hour, then top with gummy worms before serving :) 

Old McDonald Had a Farm

Ee-I-ee-I-oh! (Get it? Check the post title.)

This is a farm animal cake I completed today for a little girl's birthday party. The cake is covered in regular frosting, and the animals, barn, tree, and fence are all made out of fondant. It took for. ever. BUT, it's what I love, so I really don't mind spending the time on it.

I also made some Kennesaw State cupcakes for my cousin who just started school here.

Check back next weekend for another animal cake. It may be a liiiiiittle bit different than this one, though :)

Slow and Steady

My focus this past week or so has basically been on one thing and one thing only- moving. 

I'm in the process of moving into a town home with some awesome girls, and boy is it exhausting. Who knew furnishing a house could be so thought provoking and time consuming? Pictures will be coming very, very soon...I hope! It's a slow process (hence the slow and steady blog title), but we're getting there. 

On top of moving, I'm working 30 hours per week (with work days beginning at 5:00 am, might I add). I can literally hardly keep my eyes open when the clock strikes 8:00. I know, I know. I'm a party animal.

However, amongst the busyness that is my life, I've managed to squeeze in a little baking.

These first cupcakes are Coca-Cola cupcakes with Salted Peanut Butter frosting. 

These next cupcakes are Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Minnie Mouse decorations (obviously). I told y'all in my last post about the trip I took to Disney World. So, to thank the sweet family that took us, I made some well-suited desserts!

I know it's been quite a while since I've posted a good recipe for y'all to try, so I'll be sure to get one up soon! Hope everyone has a blessed rest of the week!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

This past week, I went to the wonderful land of Disney World! I hadn't been since I was about 6, so everything was pretty new to me. It was so, so exhausting (no idea how I did that when I was so little), but so, so fun. Some of my friends are just plain experts on Disney, so we definitely did it the right way- fast passed the most popular rides, packed our own lunches, used park hoppers to hit all the parks, and developed some serious strategy to fit ALL of the rides in during the two days we were there :) I even rode some roller coasters AND Tower of Terror. It was a successful trip for me. 

Early tomorrow morning, I'm off to my second vacation of the summer- Gulf Shores! I'm so excited about this. If you know me at all, you know that the beach is one of my absolute favorite places in the whole world. Plus, I'm going with my very best friends. What could be better?

Before I leave, I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the cupcakes I made during my vacay break. 

First, we have some Reeses Cupcakes. These are available for order anytime! $18 per dozen! This cupcake is a homemade chocolate cake with a Reeses PB Cup baked inside. The cupcake is frosted with peanut butter frosting and decorated with chopped Reeses (or a decoration of your choice). Visit my website, www.kristens-cupcakery.com, for more details on this and many, many other cupcakes. 

Second are Cookies and Cream Cupcakes. These are also available for order at $18 per dozen. They have a cookies and cream cake (so delicious) with an Oreo on bottom. They're then frosted with cream cheese frosting and decorated with chopped Oreos (or a decoration of your choice). 

Lastly are some Luau cupcakes very similar to ones I made a couple of weeks ago. These are just vanilla with vanilla frosting and some beachy fondant decorations. 

And on that note...Gulf Shores, here I come!

Friends Helping Friends

I have the best friends EVER! They're all great, but the one I'm talking about now is miss Stephanie Godfrey.

She's an INCREDIBLE photographer who agreed to take pictures of my creations. I'm so excited about these pictures. She just gave me the disc tonight, and I'm already here posting them! Make sure you check out her website and facebook page. She can take your senior pictures, photograph your wedding, take some "just because" model shots, and so much more! Really. She's so talented. Don't keep reading until you click on those links :)

Now for the pictures. First up are some generic cupcakes. These were made for teachers who helped with the Creative Arts Camp at church last week. Speaking of which, I'd like to give a shout out to the lovely Joy and Ashley Poole who made it all happen! It was wonderful! 

Next up are some Independence Day cookies. And what's the Fourth of July without some Atlanta Braves?! 

Steph also took some pictures of me actually decorating the cupcakes. It had been a very long day, and baking is always quite messy, so excuse my lack of beauty :)