Sam's CARS Birthday Cake....Starring Lightning McQueen!!!

Our little Sam turned 3 years old yesterday, so we celebrated with his favorite things....CARS!

He requested a "Sketti" Dinner (Spaghetti)....

And a CARS Cake!

This was a Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake, topped with a creamy homemade butter cream frosting.  The black and white checkers were totally edible and made using Wilton Sugar Sheets.  The Grandstand was constructed out of Rice Crispy Treats, which was then frosted and topped with M&M's.  This cake was definitely the hit of the party!

Here's the Birthday Boy!!!

His Brother was a little excited too!

And, his sister played the Happy Birthday song on her Violin.

Happy Birthday Little Buddy!  I hope all of your wishes come true.

Peach Streusel Cupcakes

PEACH STREUSEL CUPCAKES

The other night, the Young Women of our Ward put on a fundraiser dinner and dessert auction.  I have a daughter who is in Young Women's, so we had the privilege of making some desserts to be auctioned off.  We decided to make some sort of Peach cupcakes, and this is what we came up with.  It was scary just making something up and expecting it to work, but not only did these work.... they were AMAZING!  Upon requests from many people, here is our recipe:

Peach Streusel Cupcakes

1 Box Betty Crocker White Cake Mix

1 Large Can of Sliced Peaches(Chopped), with the syrup

2 Large Eggs

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Chop up your peaches until they are as fine as you would like them (I used my Pampered Chef food chopper).  Combine the peaches, along with their juices and syrup, with the dry cake mix, eggs, and cinnamon.  Mix well, and put in muffin tins (about 2/3 full).  

Before you bake them, make a streusel topping and spoon it over the cupcake batter.

Streusel Topping

1/2 cup Flour

1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/2 stick butter

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a bowl using a pastry blender or a fork.  When it is mixed well and crumbly, spoon it over the cupcakes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Glaze

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

4 teaspoons milk

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Peach Flavoring (Optional)

Stir all ingredients together until mixed well and smooth.  Drizzle over the cupcakes when they are still warm.

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My daughter also wanted to make a Strawberry Rhubarb Pastry to auction off the other night.  We made a couple pans, which we auctioned off with a quart of vanilla ice cream.  You can find the recipe to the Strawberry Rhubarb Pastry Here.

Everything that we took to the auction was a hit, and we had many requests for the recipes.  I hope you all enjoy them!

We Love To See The Temple

Every once in a while we like to take the kids down to Salt Lake City to visit temple square.  It is always fun to see the temple.  Our kids get excited to see it and can't wait for the day that they can go inside.  We took this beautiful picture on one of our visits a couple of years ago.  I wanted to share it with you.  

“I think there is no place in the world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of His holy temples.”

—President Thomas S. Monson

Skylanders Portal Of Power Cake

We Made A Skylanders Portal Of Power Cake!  Isn't It Cool?

My son, Ryan, turned 11 years old today.  One of his favorite things to do lately is play Skylanders on the Wii.  The real genius of the Skylanders games is how it blends the fun of toys and video games into one experience.  Ryan can collect the Skylander figures, put them on his portal of power, and then that character is introduced into the game on the TV.  This provides hours of entertainment for my boys.  The biggest bonus for me is that I can get my boys to do anything (Hey Ryan, if you do 10 loads of laundry I will buy you a Skylander)!  If you are interested in Skylanders for your kids, you can purchase the game Here...

We decided to surprise Ryan with a portal of power cake.  He was super excited, and couldn't believe how closely the cake resembled the REAL portal of power.  Below is a picture of the REAL portal.
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Ryan loved his cake, and couldn't be happier.  

He got his slice, and now he is off playing "Crusher" on the Wii.

Happy Birthday Buddy!