Hello Cupcake!!

In preparation for the Super Bowl Party tonight (am I allowed to say that?), I have been doing a little baking. I must admit, baking is one of my most favorite-ist things to do. But I must confess, as a "baker", I am a firm believer in the techniques of my good friend Sandra Lee from

'Semi-Homemade' on the Food Network.

Really, when you think about it, if Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines spent all of this time perfecting the recipes in their cake mixes and cookie mixes, who am I to try to "one-up" them??

So, I decided to bake the (in my opinion) best cookie in the whole wide world. Chocolate with Peanut Butter Chips. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups doesn't have anything on these cookies! They are hands down the best cookie ever.

In college, I first started to get to know my friend Amy as we bonded over our love for this delectable goodness. We decided to get together on a random Saturday and stir up a batch (not out of a bag) of these wonderful cookies. Amy & I had such a great time baking and chatting together that afternoon. We even, or I should say I even admitted that I had taken a liking to a certain Jesse on campus. She admitted she had an interest, but never gave up the goods ;)

5 1/2 years later, we are both married to the boys that we "secretly" admired. Amy and I still share a mutual enjoyment for baking, even if my definition of baking is more mixing than the art that I've made it out to be. Almost every year when we get together for a weekend, Amy and I have a "project" that we are so excited to show off to our husbands. Sadly, our skill level does not match our enthusiasm level and we have yet to truly wow them. We've done a layer cake with a basket weave frosting (the homemade frosting really was the problem--I'm telling you--semi homemade is the way to go!). A cheesecake, and I don't remember what kind of cheesecake it was.....something with way too much sugar. No major catastrophes with the cheesecake, but it had a pretty big crack in it :) And I think we made a checkerboard cake one time, too, and I am here to tell you that those are NOT as easy as they look.

Our project this year is undecided, but I must say....I am soooo pumped! I got a book for Christmas, that I am convinced should be in the repertoire of every self respecting mother. It's called "Hello Cupcake", and it is a hundred and something pages of cupcake genius! Anything you could make a cupcake look like is in this book. From penguins to snowmen to bowling pins to an April Fools "TV Dinner"...the list is expansive and wonderful. I am psyched!

Check out our project options and send any suggestions you have---we want to wow them this year!