Birthday Cakes and a Recipe for Leigh Ann

When I was a little girl, my mom could do everything....(well, she still can actually), but I didn't even realize how much she did nor appreciate it then. She was a stay at home mom who spent most of her days sewing, cooking lunch for my dad, and cleaning the house. I can remember running up our long driveway as we got off the school bus, only to spot my busy mom in the upstairs window of our house, sewing the day away. Most of our after school conversations were held over the buzz of the machines, and the sound of the steam from her trusty iron.

One thing that seems to stand out in my mind is the time in my life my mom lead my "Brownie" troop. Several of my friends and I met in a little classroom in our old elementary building for our weekly meeting. Mother had an entire set of Wilton Cake decorating tips and an assortment of cute little Disney cake pans, so one day our troop came to my house for "cake decorating lessons". We have pictures and I wish I could've shared them, but they are at my mother's house tucked away in the "sticky" kind of album.

I attempted a cake or two as I got older, but never really got into it, until I had kids. When Big Dan turned 1, I got out the hippo pan and tried to show everybody what a good mother I was. Why look at me!! I made my baby's 1st birthday cake, but despite all compliments, I quickly decided ordering was much easier and faster.

It wasn't until I was grocery shopping one night just before Big Dan turned 5 that I decided to give it another try. I ran across a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pan on the cake decorating aisle and knew I had to have it. Big Dan was a turtle fan and had already expressed interest in a Turtle party. It must've been fate. I bought the pan, got out the old faithful star tip and...here ya go...

I was so proud of myself, but.......not enough to tackle it again for quite a while.

The next years would be spent ordering Walmart cakes that included figures on top such as "Power Rangers", "Space Jam" and "Pokemon whatever they are". For the last several years, Big Dan has requested the easy route..his favorite...Oreos Ice Cream Cake, which, I'm sure will be his request in a couple of weeks as well.

Mr. star tip and I became friends again when I drug out the Winnie the Pooh pan for Little Ann's 1st birthday. But as the years quickly passed, I continued to take the easy way out and it wasn't until Little Ann's 9th birthday that I mustered up enough courage to try my hand at cake decorating again. My brother and sister-in-law had just opened up a party store and she was carrying the entire Wilton line. She volunteered to gather everything up for me and allowed me to come to her house and use her supplies. Little Ann was having a puppy party and I just had to make it up as I went along. This is what we came up with....

It was just the cutest thing ever. The cake was strawberry flavored so it was pink inside. I found some "Littlest Pet Shop" toys in her room for toppers and walla..it all came together. Haven't done it since, but I'm getting braver with each birthday!!

Leigh Ann is having a puppy party for her little Ella Grace and has requested this recipe for homemade puppy chow. We put this in little doggie bowls for the kids and they had to race on their hands and knees to their bowls and gobble the chow down (no hands). It was such a hoot!!

So.....this is for you Leigh Ann. Hope your party is great!!

Homemade Puppy Chow
2 cups chocolate chips
15 ounces of Rice Chex
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter together in the microwave or stove top. Toss in the cereal. Place the powdered sugar in a large bowl or a baggie. Add the cereal mixture and toss. Spread out on a large pan to dry.

Looks gross....but taste great!!