Frosted Flakes
O, last night I got wicked crafty and made three dozen of these adorable snowman cupcakes (pictured above with a little added atmosphere courtesy of Photoshop) out of Martha Stewart's Kids magazine for my 3rd Annual Dog Walkers Cookie Exchange.
I'll admit, there was some cursing involved when I couldn't find the right tool to cut their little gummy noses and preventing accidental decapitations and various gory misshaps whilst transporting the merry little dudes proved a nightmare...and cleaning the kitchen up afterwards took me over an hour (aside: thought about photographing the unreal mess I made, but then thought better of it. I really don't want to shatter that illusion you're carrying around in your head that I'm all sunny and perfect and tasteful and, you know � reasonably hygenic)...but they turned out pretty cute, no? And tasty too. The ladies seemed delighted.
The ladies of the cookie exchange are a group of women who are almost as frothing in the their devotion to their canine companions as I am. Almost. I met them when we first moved here two and a half years ago and walked daily in a neighbourhood park. That was before the infamous Canine Crackdown of 2001, when no less than three city vans unloaded and a veritable SWAT team of dog catchers descended on us one balmy fall afternoon and threatened us with all manner of fines and such. For weeks afterward, they trailed all the dog walkers in that particular park, being thoroughly Fascist about the whole thing. For the record, i'm not so big on the fascists. Particularly the dog-hating, ticket issuing kind.
In exasperation, I had to seek out an alternative venue to walk the beast as on leash walks just don't provide the wolf with enough romp to give me peace throughout the day. She's got a lot of energy packed into that wriggly black bod, my Finnegan. It must be allowed to gallop freely. We discovered the provincial park where I walk her now, and we both love it there and I wouldn't go back to the other park if you paid me. So it was a blessing in disguise, but I do sometimes miss the company of these lovely ladies.
Anyway, every December, we have a brunch and a cookie exchange and catch up. Ironically, the Dog Walkers' Brunch caused Finny to miss her morning walk for the first time in many, many months. But I think she'll survive. I suppose if I was a really good mommy, I'd take her now. But it's tremendously frosty out there and I look all polished and pretty in my festively red brunching blouse and I really don't want to change. Plus, i have all sorts of stuff to do this afternoon and could use the time.
Time...! Where does it all go? I haven't even scratched the surface of my Christmas shopping yet, I've so many projects to do (personal and otherwise) and I just got the 800 plus page Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix book this week (an early birthday gift from my in-laws). And yesterday, I actually turned down a design job. I do that so rarely and I always feel guilty about it, but the timeline was just too short and I really don't want to stress myself out anymore than I have to this month, you know? Sometimes you just have practise a little self preservation and say no.
And now I'm off to pursue the life I promised myself I'd have this month. Have a delightful weekend all.
Marshmallow Men Instructions
To make the little snowmen, pierce two little eye holes in a marshmallow with a wet toothpick and slide in a single chocolate sprinkle. Make another (larger) hole for the nose. I found that a damp wooden skewer with the pointed tip cut off works best for the nose hole. Insert a sliver of orange colored jelly candy for mock carrot... after some experimentation, I found gummy dinosaurs worked best and that a clean utility knife (carpet knife, box cutter, Xacto knife...whatever you want to call it) worked best to cut the jelly candy into appropriate shapes. Cement marshmallow head onto body with frosting, add a Junior Mint beret and stick into frosted top of a delicious cupcake and there you have it! I dusted the muffin tins I used with icing sugar and white sugar crystals to create the illusion of a field of snow. If I ever do it again, I think I'll add some gummy pinetrees too. Unfortunately, I was fresh outta gummy pinetrees when I finished these at 10:30 last night. Red licorish scarves would be cute too. The snowflake back drop is actually the top of a gift box that i propped behind the tin when I took the photo.
Am I hella crafty or what?!!
last | next
