I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Cupcakes

Found this recipe on the side of a box of ice cream cones.  The more I read the side of food boxes, the more fun recipes I find! 

These yummy little things are actually cupcake filled ice cream cones with icing! 

* Mix up your favorite cake mix following the cake recipe. 
* Take your ice cream cones and wrap them in aluminum foil so that only the opening is exposed (this prevents the cone from burning just like when you bake a pie and cover the crust). 
* The recipe says to put your cones carefully in a cupcake pan, but I put my cones in a meatloaf pan (you can fit about 7 in each pan) so that they couldn't fall over. 
* Pour your cake mix in the cones.  I filled each cone to about 1 inch below the top.
* Bake at the temperature and time called for in your cake recipe.

If you fill 1 inch below the top of the cone, this is the size cupcake you end up with.

We decorated with icing and sprinkles, but I think it would look cute if you used whip cream from a can!  See the great help I had decorating.

My Baby turned 3

So, I didn't get to post last week because I was working on stuff for my son's birthday party.  My baby boy turned 3 this weekend.  He's not a baby anymore.... and he reminds me every day. 

I didn't want to have his party at our house since our family is huge and my house isn't.  I wanted to try something different this year, something that would be super fun for Russ and all his little friends.  So, I picked up the phone and started calling all the fire departments in the area, and I found one that you could rent for parties.  The party was actually in the bay with the fire trucks.  There was plenty of room to set up tables and chairs, let the kids play with their toy trucks in the floor, and still have all the fire trucks in there with them.  The fire fighters were awesome!  They gave the kids a tour and told them all about the different parts of the truck.  Then, they pulled a truck outside, hooked it up to a hydrant, and shot water across the sky.  I think this was the highlight of the day. 


Instead of gift bags, we got plastic fireman hats, and I assembled foam fireman badges and wrote each kids name on one.

We kept decorations to a minimum (one of the advantages of a fire department party).  My friend and I did make a super-cute banner out of scrapbooking paper and simple shapes. 

As far as "entertainment", besides the fire engines, we filled the floor with toy trucks, had fire engine tattoos, and made a coloring sheet with a fire truck with the birthday boy's name on it.

If you have a little boy, I highly recommend a fire department party.