A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Brittany's Punkin' Pie Cupcakes with Spiced Frosting

 

Thank you to Brittany for making this WUN-DER-FUL spiced cupcakes for our November Nightshift Birthday Party.  Holy cow, believe me, you can't eat just one.

Home-Made "Hostess" Cupcakes--Worth Every Minute!

 

Being in charge of our monthly work (night shift) birthday parties, I have way too much fun making up the food themes and cooking. This month was no exception.  The theme I foisted upon my fellow coworkers for February was "White Trash/Trailer Park" where we feasted on Pigs-in-a-Blanket, Sloppy Joes, Cheese-in-a-Can, and junk food like these mock-Hostess-cupcakes. Okay, junk food that's good for you.  Okay, junk food that's not chemical-laden and bad for you.  Yeah, I can live with that definition for these.

Well worth every minute it takes to make them from scratch, they're also simple to decorate even for a novice decorator armed with a pastry bag and two basic tips.  They're even more fun to eat. Of course!

There are three parts:  The Cupcake, The Filling, and The Chocolate Frosting

Ashley's Baby Shower: Brittany's Jungle Cake

How dang cute is that cake? Brittany did a wonderful job on it and the cupcakes!

Brittany, A Ray, and Amanda hosted Ashley's baby shower last night and did a wonderful job.  Great food, great company, wonderful gifts, embarrassing games...it was everything a baby shower should hope to be. Thanks ladies!

And by the way...I have one photo of our nightshift fearless leader that I was threatened with my job (kidding) not to blog...but it's still on my camera so if anyone wants to see Carrianne in a hilariously embarrassing playing one of the games...come see me at work. hehehehe
 

Night Shift Birthday Party: Jessica's Cucumber Sandwiches

 

One of the great side effects of work birthday parties is getting to taste new recipes like these pretty open-faced cucumber sandwiches our friend Jessica brought in.  Easy to make, they were delicious, so good Carrianne and I ate almost a container of them by ourselves (luckily, there were three containers so others could indulge too).

By the way, I'm going to start adding Cook's notes to recipes with "use this...or that..." and I've set up a new category to reflect recipes that take substitutions well.   So many times recipes can be equally good using several different ingredients and it can all depend on what you have in the pantry or what you need to use up from the garden.  Not all cooks are adept at making those substitutions the way I was taught growing up in my mother's kitchen.  Quite frankly, we were very poor and running to the grocery store for a $5.00 ingredient was rarely an option so my mother became extremely proficient at still trying new recipes while also still using her pantry items on hand.  For example, most recipes that call for asparagus taste just as great substituting broccoli when asparagus is out of season, zucchini for eggplant, or in this recipe Cavender's Greek Seasoning is a great substitute for fresh dill when you don't happen to have fresh from the garden on hand.

Night Shift Birthday Bash June '10

Brownie Bites to complement Build-Your-Own- Ice Cream Sundaes. 

The maraschino cherries were just for Sam! It was a joke. I ranted on here one time that maraschino cherries are disgusting because they're bleached and dyed and fake.  So then later at work I said something about them, don't remember what, and Sam nailed me with it. "I thought you said you didn't eat those things!?"  Aha! Someone who actually reads me! Thanks Sam and Happy Birthday.

NightShift March Birthday Party: Happy Birthday to Jessica and Ashley and Happy You, Charlton

Princess cake of raspberry filled vanilla cake with buttercream from Price Cutter Bakery (yum!)

Thanks to everyone for all the great food and fun!!!