Good stuff!

It’s been a busy baking weekend. I know lots of my friends were busy baking holiday cookies, but my baking was for other purposes.

This afternoon we threw my daughter-in-law a virtual baby shower. She’s out in Michigan, and the rest of us, well, aren’t. So a few family and friends had gifts shipped to my son’s office so he could sneak them into the house, and we all gathered via Skype and surprised her. Gotta love modern technology! The bulk of us were at my sister’s apartment, so of course there had to be food involved! And of course I had to bake something…

You may know that my son is married to a fabulously talented (and sweet and lovely) children’s book illustrator who goes by the nickname “Chicken Girl.” They’ve been referring to the baby (due anytime in the next few weeks) as Chicken Nugget. Hence:Can you think of a more fitting goodie for this particular baby shower?

And more baking. Tomorrow is my friend/co-worker’s birthday. Something yummy is in order:
Chocolate cupcakes with a mini Reese’s cup baked into the center. Topped with the most incredible vanilla buttercream, which I swirled with some peanut butter. And in order to NOT eat the rest of the candies, I cut them in half and topped the cupcakes with them.

Now I have to mention this buttercream again. I thought I had tasted great buttercream before. Then, a week ago or so, my daughter’s sister-in-law, Morgan, posted a recipe on her blog for what she calls Fantabulous Vanilla Frosting. The blog entry is linked here, and you MUST check it out, as well as the rest of her blog. First of all, she’s insanely talented. But really, you just have to make this frosting. To. Die. For.

OK, gotta go clean up the mess. And mentally prepare myself for Monday. Ugh.