Buttercream Frosted

I have been really inspired after my trip to the newly opened Bethesda location of Georgetown Cupcake. Although I make cupcakes often, I rarely make my own frosting from scratch. So this morning, I was feeling motivated and made a cream cheese buttercream frosting to go with my spice cake cupcakes. I still have to practice more to get them looking as professional as the GT Cupcakes, but it is a delicious project to work on.

Cream Cheese Buttercream Recipe

1 package Cream Cheese, softened
1 stick of Unsalted Sweet Cream Butter, softened
1 lb of Confectioner’s Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Mix cream cheese and butter in mixer using the paddle attachment. Mix in sugar scraping the sides occasionally. Add in vanilla and mix some more!

Pumpkin Roll

A couple years ago, while living in Arkansas, I hosted an October Bunco party. I planned my menu for weeks. I chose foods that would fit with a Halloween theme, witches fingers (vienna sausages wrapped in puff pastry), coffin dip (pumpernickel bread cut like coffins with dill dip) and a blood ball (shrimp ball drizzled in cocktail sauce). I made sugar cookies in the shape of pumpkins and witches hat cookies. Everything fit my theme and my only stress was the “day of” execution. I always get stressed on the “day of” and once in a while, Evan and I will get in a tiff because of it. Evan had made a Pumpkin Roll and wanted me to serve it at my party. I was irritated because it didn’t go with my theme and I wanted the menu to be things that I had prepared. I had worked so hard to plan it out and prepare everything. And to be perfectly honest, I wanted the credit when the guests oohed and aahed. By the time the first car pulled in the driveway, I had kicked Evan out and let the Pumpkin Roll stay. Big mistake.

Guests arrived and grazed through the spread of food with the regular, “how cute” type of polite comments. That is, until they came to the Pumpkin Roll. These ladies went crazy over this Pumpkin Roll! There were extraordinarily loud “MMmmmms” and they were all dieing over the filling. Three people asked for the recipe and one woman suggested that I email it out to the whole Bunco listserv. Then the conversation went on and on about how difficult it is to make “rolls”. It was everything I could do not to lose it when I had to announce that I didn’t make it. I think some of the crowd was genuinely disappointed or worried that I didn’t have the recipe to give. So the party went on and I didn’t mention much about it. The week following the party, I received two phone calls asking for the recipe since I did not send it out.

Fast forward a couple weeks to Thanksgiving and I was planning a potluck with two couples in Arkansas. Both women were in the Bunco group and asked me to ask Evan to make the Pumpkin Roll. That stupid Pumpkin Roll would haunt me forever. I swallowed my pride and told him to prepare it, but I could no longer keep my feelings to myself. I had a couple glasses of wine and spilled my guts about my Pumpkin Roll animosity. That only set the stage for everyone to moan loudly and go way over the top when he served it as the finale of our Thanksgiving feast. And now looking back, I can’t even remember what I brought to that potluck.

The teasing is ongoing, but these days I have come to terms with the Pumpkin Roll. I know I can’t compete with it and have just accepted the fact that it is the best dessert at every party we take it to. This year was no exception. One of the guests at our Thanksgiving dinner had, not one, but two pieces of Pumpkin Roll, leaving no room for a piece of apple pie that his wife made special for him. Another women defeated by the Pumpkin Roll. I know her pain so well.

Siriano Head to Toe

Every year the owner of the company I work for throws a huge holiday party the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Every salon employee, from stylist to shampoo assistant, is invited from every Bubbles, Salon Cielo and Colorworks salon. People come from Florida, Philadelphia, Virginia, Maryland and DC to celebrate and it is always an event. This year’s theme was Brazilian Carnivale, so the dress code was “flashy.” I thought about going in full body paint, but then decided that this was the perfect opportunity for me to wear the dress that didn’t make it to the engagement party. Everyone’s outfits are always over the top, so I knew that it would be perfect. I wore head to toe, Chrisitan Siriano. I had the VS make-up, the Payless runway shoes and the dress from his most recent line. It was pretty show stopping. I even got a mention in the CIBU “Holi-do of the Day” video from the famous Jenn Mapp-Bressan.

Martin + Osa

This may not be a new brand, but it is new to me. I am a fan of this store. I bought this dress a couple months ago and thought it was the perfect summer to fall transition dress. I wore it with sandals when the weather was warm and dressed it up with cowboy boots and a cardigan when it started to get chilly. I planned to wear this into winter with tights and a sweater, but to my dismay, I got in a little accident. I tripped (over my cat) and split the dress right up the back. I was embarrassed and obviously bummed since I love this dress. My cat was ok, don’t worry. I put the dress back in the closet because I couldn’t bare to throw it away. Weeks later, I needed a dress for my engagement party and I immediately remembered that my favorite dress also came in a print. I bought the print dress and while I was in the store, I asked if there was any chance I could exchange my torn dress. I explained how it got torn, that I tripped over my cat, and they said, “No problem!” I was so happy that I asked. Last week, I took my dress in and they didn’t have my size. I was worried, but for no reason. They called another store and sent it to me at no charge. Isn’t it nice when a store goes out of there way to make you happy?

Flash Mob Part 2

I am participating in another flash mob project with Dragonfly Dance. This one is recreating a Flash Mob from Oprah’s 24th Anniversay Concert. We will be teaching the dance to 200 non-dancers at a corporate event in downtown DC. I had rehearsal with 15 other dancers on Tuesday night to learn the choreography to the Black Eyed Peas song. Wednesday and Thursdayare the performances that will be taped. I don’t know if I will be able to get a recording of our actual performance, but here is the Oprah/Black Eyed Peas performance. Pretty stunning.

If you want to learn the dance yourself, there is a video on Oprah’s website that shows you how to do it!