Cupcake Giveaway and Cake

So, my big announcement today is another Cupcake Giveaway for U.S. contestants!
You need to enter at the sponsor's site...NO ENTRIES on this blog, please. The giveaway is being sponsored by the PurplePinkAndOrange site and the prize is ANY pair of Cupcake Earrings that you can keep for yourself or give to a special someone as a gift.

You have 3 possible methods of entry and
Giveaway ends on Saturday, July 18th at midnight CST.
I hope you enter!

And now for some post 4th of July stories. I love this holiday because rather than fighting crowds and driving to a fireworks show, I simply step outside and watch the illegal fireworks all around my neighborhood. I warm at the muffled sound of a faraway launch, the pop, crackle & sizzle of the burst and then the misty cloud of sulphur smoke that floats swiftly past my home...from a good quarter mile away. I just love it!

We are located smack dab in the middle of what I call the "siren" corridor...the 2 fire stations are at either end of a very long road that passes by our home...at least we are set way back on a court and not on the main road. Usually I hear the sirens going to AND from their locations, but this time I counted SEVEN separate vehicles heading in ONE direction...about 30 seconds apart. As soon as one passed, here came another.

Sheesh! As my mother used to say "sounds like the whole TOWN is burning down". I can identify a firetruck from an ambulance...police sirens and ambulances sound almost the same, but ambulances have a sharper tone. Anyway, couldn't see flames or smoke in the sky, so who knows WHAT was going on!


Okay, second story is about my traditional 4th of July flag cake. I'm sure many of you make one as well, but for those of you who don't, it is soooo simple & yummy, I thought I'd share my "recipe". I buy any white cake mix that advertises it's moisture "value" whether it's pudding or whatever. I bake it in a 13 x 9 inch pan and let it cool until it is still warm on the bottom. Then I pierce the top with a fork and spread smashed fresh berries all over it. I prefer strawberries & blueberries...some people use raspberries as well but to me it then tastes like a wedding cake.


While the cake bakes, I select 50, yes 50 similarly sized blueberries to represent all 50 stars of our spectacular American flag and I slice strawberries by hand. I love my strawberry slicer but it produces a slightly thinner slice that is a little too floppy and I want a firm slice so I don't mess up the whipped cream "icing". I just slice until I think I have enough and then being my anal self, I organize them by size so I can make rows of similarly sized strawberries...looks a little "gollywumpus" to mix sizes....yeah, yeah, I know.

For some reason I just couldn't get good light for this final "ta-da" photo, but here she is... I always present the cake to my family so they can see it before we each dig into whenever we are ready to munch on it. I put the cake in the fridge so it's deliciously chilled which makes a big difference in texture and flavor. It helps to firm up the cake portion. I just love this cake.

Since there are only 3 of us in my household, I always hope my son will attend a party so he can take most of it with him...and sure enough he came through once again, saying "thanks Mom!!!" on his way out the door. Of course, this happiness followed a bbq here at home with the BEST ever tri-tip I've cooked so far!

I used to marinade the darned things for hours and still didn't get flavor running all the way through as I'd hoped. But I have now created a marinade so perfect that only ONE hour on each side is enough!

And here it is...no measurements, just dumped it in a pan as I saw fit:

Soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, worchestshire sauce, liquid smoke (mesquite flavor) and sesame seed oil

As Rachael Ray would say....Yum-OH!

Hope I entertained you today...now go enter my giveaway!!!!

White Wedding

Until Sunday, May 3rd, ALL orders in my RockerJewlz jewelry shop and MomsArt paper shop are 20% off and will ship next day at the very latest (except custom orders). Most will ship same day.

Remember this mystery bead from a few posts back? It's a wedding cake bead and I've turned it into the White Wedding Lampwork Pendant in my shop. I'm covering the shipping on this one so that even to you, the gift giver, it feels like a treat! It's a full, 3 dimensional sculpture of two tiers of perfectly white handcrafted glass covered in luscious swirls and scrolls of frosting. It's a little over 3/4 of an inch (22mm) and is simply spectacular. Above is one view and below is the other view to show you it's personality that changes slightly as you move the bead.
Sterling silver is the only other "ingredient" in this sweet piece with a subtle sparkle from the sterling stardust rondelle atop the cake and is suspended from an amazing Bali sterling bail in a heart pattern. The bail is small, but has a big opening. I left this as a pendant so that the gift giver can personalize the chain, cord or ribbon to fit the wedding theme and colors. Perfect for the "something new" gift for the bride. I just love it!

This leads me to my niece's wedding I attended on the 18th...below is her wedding cake that I photographed after the first slice was cut...and smeared all over the bride & groom's faces...hey, they are young. I didn't get a slice until the final bottom layer was cut and I was happily surprised by Red Velvet cake which I have NEVER had...I know, hard to believe, isn't it? It was chilled and had just a hint of raspberry & chocolate and the color was amazing. This topped off a fabulous meal of smoked tri-tip barbecie that fell apart beautifully. Never had tri-tip that good before. Thanks, Roddy and crew. The glass heart in front of the cake was the centerpiece for the dining tables. They had sand to hold a candle and 3 smooth black stones that each had white script words of love, hope & faith. I brought one home and am using the glass heart for special loose lampwork beads. It's fun to have it to remind me of this wonderful day.
It just cracked me up when the limo arrived at the church with the bridal party and about 20 cameras were pulled out of purses & pockets to snap pics! I laughed so hard that I had to take a shot of the "paparazzi" swarm of family & friends ALL taking the same darned photo...as if no one could take pictures and then email them to each other....funny.
Great limo...shiny & clean and a perfect match for the black & white wedding theme. Even the chauffeur had totally white hair...now they didn't plan that...did they???
Thanks for your patience in waiting for this wedding bead to be revealed (Sandy, you can stop tapping your toes in anticipation now..haha) and I'm plugging away at the polymer clay cupcake bracelet...yum!