It's been awhile...

Hello again!

It's been awhile...

I haven't done much writing, in the blog or my novels, throughout this last pregnancy and recovery. Funny how "recovery" takes longer with each one. (Other mom's out there know there's nothing "funny" about that!)

Sixteen months later and I'm finally beginning to feel like myself again!

I'll kick start this post with some sugary goodness! I had the wonderful opportunity to get back into baking with a 100 cupcake order for the Freedom House fundraiser. If you don't know what Freedom House is, check it out here: http://www.freedomhouse907.com/.

The entire event was amazingly successful with God bringing in the victory! The cupcakes were half gone before dinner even started and disappeared soon after. I think next year, we'll need to make double! I say "we" because I couldn't have done it without the jolly Julia babysitting my three musketeers on baking day and magnificent Mary helping with filling, frosting, decorating and selling. (Photo credits also go to Mary! Thanks so much!)


Without further ado, I present to you...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake

Chocolate Crème & Reese’s

These cupcakes were the first to go! Apparently the Chocolate/Peanut Butter combination is a weakness for many, my husband especially. I started out with my basic chocolate cupcake recipe, also found on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa, and filled it with a gooey glob of peanut butter. What set it over the top was the perfectly complimenting chocolate creme frosting: 1 qt heavy whipping cream and 1 box Hershey's chocolate pudding mix. The last glorious touch was half a Reese's. So many compliments on this one, with several people saying this was the BEST cupcake they have ever had!

Lemon Cupcake

Raspberry Crème + Fresh Raspberry

The lemon cupcake with the raspberry frosting and fresh raspberry was divine! I'm still working out the kinks on the lemon cupcake; I want a little more tang and a fluffier texture. The frosting, however, made me want to get a spoon and just eat it right out of the bowl! (For sanitary reasons, I didn't of course, but I did taste test a couple cupcakes just to be sure the flavors went well together). The frosting involved a little prep ahead of time with the raspberries. I used frozen raspberries, warmed over the stove top with a splash of lemon and mashed to the consistency of a thin jam. It needs to be completely cool/refrigerated before adding 1 qt heavy Whipping Cream and 1 box Hershey's White Chocolate Pudding.

Chocolate Nutella Cupcake

Cream Cheese Frosting & Mini Chocolate Chips

The Chocolate Nutella Cupcake with Cream Cheese has been a favorite for many for awhile now so I had to include it. Once again, it did not disappoint! You can always find the recipe here but it's up to you to enjoy eating! (Excuse me while I stuff my face with one of these yummies I stashed in the fridge for later ;)

White Chocolate Cupcake

White Chocolate Crème & Blue Drizzle

These cupcakes are my FAVORITE! Although I usually lean toward chocolate everything, these give the hint of chocolate but without the overpowering sweetness. You can find the recipe for these White Chocolate Cupcakes here.

Moosen’ Around Cupcakes

Things have been getting exciting around here! Cupcakes have become a common centerpiece on my table and countertops. I’m fired up to make new cupcakes and try different recipes and combinations. So, the newest Moosen’ Around announcement is our new menu!

Moosen’ Around: Build-your-own-Cupcake!

Cupcake:

Chocolate

White Chocolate

Lemon

Lemon Blueberry

GF Chocolate

GF Lemon

Filling:

Nutella

White Chocolate Pudding

Peanut Butter

Oreo Filling

Raspberry Creme

Blackberry Creme

Your pick jelly

Frosting:

Buttercream Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

Creme Frosting 

Frosting Flavors:

Plain

Nutella

Peanut Butter

Oreo

White Chocolate

Raspberry

Topping:

Chocolate drizzle 

Chocolate chips (mini)

Fresh fruit

Chopped nuts

*Check out our menu frequently as new flavors will be added frequently. 

Order details: 

Visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/moosenaroundak/ and message your orders and requests! 

Standard cost: $2.50/cupcake with a minimum order of a dozen. 

*Extra $0.50/dozen for fresh fruit toppings.

Ask about our Friends & Family discount. 

And to leave you drooling, check out Moosen’ Around on Facebook for photos of our favorite and most recent cupcakes...

Chocolate Nutella with Nutella Buttercream Frosting
&
White Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Creme and a fresh Raspberry

Purchase links:

Caleb's Airplane Birthday Party

What can be better than a moist cupcake, sweet but not overpowering frosting, or a crunch of chocolate? Putting all three together for a tasty mouthful, of course!

 This cupcake cake was for Caleb's 2nd birthday party at the pool! I opted for making cupcakes versus a sheet cake for the ease of just passing them out the kids instead of cutting a cake, providing plates, forks, etc. It made everything so much easier! After singing "Happy Birthday", the kids grabbed a cupcake, devoured it and jumped in the pool. 

Each child also enjoyed some of the chocolate decorations. I do not like fondant, ugh the taste and working with it...so I choose to work with the colored melting chocolates! I traced an airplane cookie cutter onto wax paper and outlined it with melted red chocolate. When it was cooled, I placed them on the cupcakes. I also made several small "clouds" with white chocolate. They were a delicious tidbit of sweetness and crunch to add, not to mention adorably cute! :P

I also made a small cake that the family could take home and enjoy together after the event, with a layer of strawberry filling!  (I will share how to make your own jelly filling in a future post!) ENJOY!

 

Now for the recipes! I've shared them on different blog posts before, but I will share them again on this page because I like them so much and it will be simpler to just come to one place for my favorite recipes! (I cannot claim credit for this recipe since I found it on Pinterest.)

 WHITE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

1 Box Betty Crocker White Cake Mix

1 - 3.4oz. package White Chocolate Instant Pudding

4 Egg Whites

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

 Preheat oven to 375' F. 

Beat all ingredients together until smooth. 

Line cupcake pan with liners and place a medium scoop in each cup, about 2/3 full of batter. 

After placing them in the oven, turn down to 325' F. (This helps them rise fluffy!)

Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes and test with a toothpick when done. 

DELICIOUS FROSTING

1 Qt Heavy Whipping Cream

1 - 3.4 oz. package of White Chocolate Instant Pudding 

Whisk ingredients together until smooth.

Chill in the refrigerator for several hours.   

**This is important! The frosting will not keep its shape if it is not cold. FYI: This is a creamy frosting and not the easiest to decorate with. 

Top cupcakes and cake with and design/shapes made with melted chocolate! 

Valentine's Day Dinner

I'm going to kick off my blog with the most exciting party I've planned so far: Valentines Day Dinner at CBC! 

It was so much fun to plan! I made these special invitations out of scrapbook paper and vellum. Since this was an open event to everyone in church, we just announced it in the bulletin and guests RSVPed with me. Then, I have the invites to those people. That way I only had to make 20-25 instead of 80! 

  

I wanted the dining experience to be romantic, like at a fancy restaurant, so the youth group boys hung Christmas lights and tulle while the youth group girls set the tables. We also had votive candles on the tables (which I forgot to light til after the appetizer, oops!)

 

The tables were set with grey chevron tablecloths (made by my friend Sharon) and with black cloth runners going down the width of the table (instead of length). We used white and silver plastic plates, silver plastic utensils, and clear plastic wine glasses (all from WalMart, except cups). Everything worked out nicely except some of the cups had leaks and needed to be replaced. 

Each place setting had a menu and schedule of events under the pink napkin. 

The appetizers were crescent rolls with butter and salad topped with a heart tomato. (I cut 2 tomatoes and placed a toothpick to hold them in the shape of a heart.) Each guest had their choice of salad dressing: Olive Garden Italian, creamy ranch, or sweet onion vinaigrette.

 The entree portion was chicken Parmesan on garden pasta and topped with two sprigs of asparagus. We also placed two heart shaped pepperoni pieces on each chicken breast (thanks Jessie for cutting those out)...but the ovens were acting up and it took longer to bake the chicken. We served the entree portion about 20-30 min late but no one complained because, when we finally served it, it was perfectly tender and juicy! Thanks to my husband Jon for checking the meat or I might have served everyone raw chicken! Ew! 

Now we get to my favorite part: DESSERT!!

We had so many desserts (although they all weren't set up when we took this picture). 

There were chocolate Nutella cupcakes with a pink heart chocolate decoration, red velvet cake pops, mini chocolate cakes dipped in pink chocolate and drizzled with white, chocolate French macarons, fresh strawberries and raspberries, and (everyone's favorite) strawberry shortcake cupcakes (made with angel food cake, cool whip and fresh strawberries). We also had gluten-free chocolate cupcakes (thanks to Sarah & her family for making those!). 

We had some dapper boys from the youth group help with serving! 

After all the food and desserts, everyone enjoyed each other's company while listening to a Frank Sinatra station on Pandora. We also had a table to write Love Notes to your darling, a Photo Booth with fun props (thanks to my friend Angela for providing the camera and taking pictures!), a display of a wedding photo from each guest, and everyone's favorite: a Kissing  Room for the couples!

Then we played several games! 

Heart-A-Stack: Guests had to stack 10 conversation heart candies using chopsticks. Challenge Round: Couples had to work together to stack 5 candies, using only one chopstick each. 

Kisses: The correct way to eat a Hershey Kiss is sharing half with your love, not using your hands! 

Mix N Match: We tested the husbands power of observation by placing our rings on the table and having them guess which belonged to their wife. (You could also play this with shoes or other jewelry.) 

Tied the Knot: A couple who volunteers is handcuffed together and must tie a ribbon to make a bow only using their handcuffed hands. 

We also offered free babysitting in the nursery. The kids ate Mac n cheese and chocolate chip cookies, made valentines gifts (per packaged craft from WalMart), and watched Homeward Bound. They loved it!

And that was our Valentines Day Dinner party! Thank you to everyone who helped serve, cook, babysit and clean up! A BIG shout out to our awesome youth group who helped me throughout the week and on V Day! 

Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes & Mini Cakes

Nutella is the most delicious food ever created! I love this stuff! It pairs well with everything: dipping strawberries, apples or bananas, on pancakes or crepes (especially good with raspberry jam!), mixing in with chocolate cake, cupcakes and cake pops, etc. 

For the Super Bowl, I made mini cakes in the shape of footballs. If they were on a stick, they'd be cake pops. (Long story short, I didn't have styrofoam to place the cake pops and I didn't want to put them on sticks, therefore "mini cakes!")

I began by baking Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake; you can find the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box. 

I've included a copy here for you too! 

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

2 c Sugar

1 3/4 c all-purpose Flour

3/4 c Hershey's Cocoa

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

2 Eggs

1 c Milk

1/2 c Vegetable Oil

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 c Boiling Water

1. Heat oven to 350'F. Grease and flour two 9-in round baking pans. 

2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into pans. 

3. Bake 30-35 min or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 min. 

To make mini cakes: 

1. Remove cake from pans into a large mixing bowl and mix until it's all crumbles. 

2. Add 3/4-1 c of Nutella and blend thoroughly. 

3. Using your hands or a cookie cutter, create your desired shape and freeze for 1/2-1 hr. Must be firm enough so the it doesn't crumble in your hand. (Since I live in Alaska, during the winter I can just set it outside!)

4. Dip in your choice of melting chocolate. I hold the mini cake on a fork and dump (not drizzle!) chocolate over it. Touch up the sides gently and let cool/harden. 

To make cupcakes: 

1. Preheat oven to 350'. Bake at 325' for 25-30 min in muffin pans with liners. 

2. Cool completely, then scoop out center with cupcake corer and fill with Nutella. 

3. Frost with your favorite frosting! (Hint: mix some Nutella into your frosting for extra yumminess!)

What are some foods & desserts you pair with Nutella? 

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day America!!

If you know me, you'd know my favorite recipe is chocolate Nutella cupcakes an they're perfect to celebrate anything! Here they are with a patriotic twist...which is super delicious! I dare you try them! Warning: These are very addictive! 

For the cupcakes, follow the chocolate cake recipe on the back of Hershey's cocoa. Or you can find it here: 

Chocolate Cupcakes

Scoop out some of the center and fill with Nutella! Yum!!

Make a rosette or spread this delicious Cream Cheese Frosting on the top of each cupcake. (My new favorite frosting! It's not too sweet and has great cream cheesy flavor!) 
(Thank you to Heather at http://www.wheretheyounglearntofly.com/2012/06/aqua-ombre-rose-cake.html for sharing this recipe on Pinterest!)

Cream Cheese Frosting
-2 sticks unsalted butter (room temp)
-2 blocks cream cheese (room temp)
-pinch of salt
-1 TB vanilla extract
-1 large bag of powdered sugar 

Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy and then add salt and vanilla. Lastly add the powdered sugar very SLOWLY or it will explode in your face and leave you powdery and sweet (like I accidentally did!) and a HUGE mess to clean up!

Top with blueberries and strawberries for the red, white and blue! And then DEVOUR!!! It might also be a good idea to share since the recipe makes about 36 cupcakes! 

Happy baking! 

Jeremiah's Frog Baby Shower

With so many baby boys being born at church, we celebrated with another baby shower! Jeremiah was born March 23. His baby shower theme was frogs!

I decorated in green, with some blue. I found some awesome chevron fabric for cheap at Walmart for the backdrop and plan on using them again as curtains for Ben's room when we get a house. 

The reeds were dry decorating flowers and grass. 

I used scrapbook paper to make Jeremiah's name and taped it to a frame with ribbons. 

The decor hanging off the table was the clear plastic toys kids can paint. Those were also a gift for Jeremiah's older brother and sister. 

It's kinda hard to see the ceiling but I hubg two stuffed animal frogs upside down and looped green crepe paper behind them to look like they were hopping. The table decor was a big hit with the kids and men! Some even had frog races. I bought green kool aid mix to look like pond water but the taste was awful! It tasted like liquid jolly ranchers...way too sweet! 

I love having potlucks because there are so many different types of food and I can focus on dessert. (I don't like cooking...but I love baking sweets!) 

Since Jeremiah is the fourth child, his mom said all she needed were diapers. We had a diaper raffle and prizes! 

For the kids, I bought bubbles and set up a game where they threw "flies" at the frogs. If a raisin landed on a frog, they got to eat it! Both activities kept the kids entertained, but there were raisins and bubble juice 😋 everywhere! 

Lastly are the desserts! The cupcakes are chocolate with mint buttercream frosting and chocolate flies. I don't like mint but these cupcakes turned out delicious! Sadly the Swedish fish in the green jello list all it's color but the kids still ate them! My favorite part was the cake!!

I knew I wanted to make a small cake baby Jeremiah's family could take home but I didn't have the right cake pan. But guess what works? A glass Pyrex dish! 

The cake is chocolate with lemonade buttercream tinted with blue food coloring. The grass, flowers, and lily pad are chocolate. The hardest part was making the baby frog. I used Wilton's 3D Edible Modeling Clay. It starts off really really hard but I had to knead it for half an hour to get it to mold right. After added green food coloring, I molded the body, arms, legs and head separately and then stuck them on by moistening the ends with little bit of water. 

🎂 I would like to end this post with a delicious cake announcement! Since I love baking...and decorating...I am considering starting a hobby business making baked goods. I don't know if this is just a phase that will fade out or if it is something I would enjoy doing as a real business. So, for friends on the Kenai Peninsula, just let me know if you would like me to make a cake or cupcakes for any event you have! Please let me know at least a week before you need it and what flavor & filling you would like. The only cost will be for the supplies. (We'll see who actually reads my blog, lol!) 🍰

Aniyah's Ballerina Baby Shower

Girls mean pink, tutus, sparkles and ballerinas!

Aniyah J'Lyn Kartchner was born December 17, 2014 at 11:17 p.m. She was 7lbs 9oz and 20 inches long. We had so much fun decorating for the little ballerina! Special thanks to Annie, Molly and Jessie Mese, three real-life ballerinas that provided all the ballet decorations and art!

The dresses and slippers we used to decorate were worn by Molly in many of her performances!

The party meal was a potluck style, but we made special themed desserts: Chocolate dipped marshmallow ballerinas and pink cupcakes.

These simple but adorable goodies were made by dipping a marshmallow in pink chocolate and sprinkles. The "tutu" is a cupcake liner. In retrospect, I would have added a mini cupcake liner to add fullness.

These were delicious white chocolate cupcakes with a simple, yet delicious, frosting! I love to use this type of frosting because it is not as sweet as regular buttercream or cream cheese frosting, and it is so much easier to make! Are you ready for the recipe?

Delicious Frosting:
1 Qt Heavy Whipping Cream
1 box Pudding (any flavor!)

Whisk together and refridgerate.

 Yup! That is all! And I receive compliments on this frosting each time I make it! My wonderful, and very talented, cousin, Jessica Ghitea (an extremely awesome cake baker/decorator!) shared this recipe with me. It is usually used for fillings because it does not keep its shape as well as the sugary frosting, but I like to use it for everything. I just make sure it stays cool in the fridge, so it will not melt/lose shape, until it is time to devour!

Congratulations Ashlynn on the birth of Aniyah!
(Sorry this post is a year late! Hopefully I will be quicker with posting Calinia's Fairy Garden baby shower pictures in February!)

Ben's Birthday Bash!

My baby is turning 1!!!! It's hard, and crazy, to believe I've been a mom of the most adorable boy for a year!! 

To those who don't know the events surrounding Ben's early birth, this picture pretty much sums it up! 

Back at the end of 2012, when we found out I was expecting Ben, Jon started looking for a job so I could stay home with the baby. He found an associate pastor position in Kenai, Alaska. We went up to visit and candidate at the church during my spring break from school. We flew in Saturday, Jon preached Sunday, my water broke Monday, and Ben was born Tuesday, April 16! (One month before his due date!) Praise God, Ben was healthy and strong! He weighed 4 lbs 8 oz. 

We flew back to Colorado when Ben was 9 days old. 

Two months later, we moved to Alaska. The church we candidated at, Calvary Baptist Church, became family the week Ben was born. So many brothers and sisters in Christ came around us, supporting us. When Ben was born, I had Nothing for him! But everyone provided us with clothes, diapers, blankets, everything we needed for Ben! We were even blessed to have a couple from the church, Nathan & Monica, fly down to CO and drive our Uhaul up. (They are our now some of our best friends, our adopted family!) 

Being the first year of Ben's life, he's already had so many adventures! One month living in CO and meeting all my wonderful students, trips to California to see relatives, and living in Alaska! 

Since we are in California for two weeks, we decided to celebrate Ben's birthday early (cause he likes early!) and because we want to celebrate it with family. I got to throw a Mustache Bash for my Little Man! 

Thank you to Mark & Jera for preparing burgers for lunch! We also had chips & dip, baked beans, and a yummy shrimp/spaghetti salad. 

It was fun eating lunch with family and friends and hanging out. Then we sang Happy Birthday to Ben and gave him his birthday cake! 

He loved stuffing his face with his chocolate Nutella mustache cake! For the frosting, I wanted something that wasn't too sweet, since this would be Ben's first BIG sugar splurge. I mixed cool whip and Nutella and placed blue sprinkles along the side for some color. 

It was so funny when he tried to eat it because he just stuck his face in it and took bites! He got frosting ALL over his face! But he absolutely LOVED it! 

After Ben gobbled down his cake, my mom washed him clean and changed his outfit while I opened up the dessert table. 

I placed pictures of Ben from his first year, one for every month, along the picture frame. It was neat seeing how he's grown! 

For the dessert table, I bought blueberry chocolate covered pretzels and blueberry jelly beans, made sugar cookies with chocolate mustaches, and chocolate Nutella mini cakes. (There's no such thing as too much chocolate!)

And of course, we had chocolate Nutella cupcakes topped with chocolate mustaches. 

After dessert, the kids (and some adults) played Pin the Mustache on Ben! 

The kids loved it so much, they played several times! I think, for some of them, their favorite part was getting spin around! 

Ben had fun with his presents, especially the big yellow ball from the Shippy's that all the kids loved! Ben also received lots of new clothes, superhero plastic people, a rocking horse, toy cars, and lots of other toys! 

Before everyone left, we took some family pictures! I want to print out and frame these pictures as late birthday gifts for My mom, Jon's mom, and Jon's grandma (all March bdays!). 

And, finally, a few pictures from his birthday photo shoot! Happy Birthday Benny boy!!

...and a few cute pictures I just wanted to share, including a family photo!