Happy New Year & May the Force Be With You!

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since December 15. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. We had a great Christmas and a happy New Year with lots of gatherings of family and friends.

My son's 8th birthday was on the 23rd, so I thought I'd show you some of the Star Wars cupcakes I made for him. The Vadar and lightsaber cupcakes were inspired by flickr user Kati Peck , the R2D2 cupcakes were my own idea/design.



I can't wait to see what this year has in store for Sugar and Meringue. Maybe this will be the year I really get things off the ground. I've had some very encouraging things happen lately. I don't feel like I can talk about them 'til they're official but I will say that I might be getting some exciting recognition. I hope I can build on this recognition. We'll see what happens.

So now what?…

I see oppurtunities. I have a chance to get some great recognition. But… I don't have a liscensed kitchen. I can't persue most of these oppurtunities without a liscensed kitchen.
If I manage to find a kitchen space… I will need to figure out how to pay for it. All of the recognition and opportunities I've been talking about are "maybes" and they won't generate any income for a while.
I have a good job. But it's full-time, leaving me with little time to work on building a business and not nearly enough time to produce (let alone market) enough cookies and cupcakes to pay for a kitchen space. In this economy, can I risk giving up a good job to start a business?

I guess, I just need to take things one step at a time and see what happens. I'll go to work, take care of my family and then devote what time I have left to business planning. I think, as long as I'm working hard towards my goals, whatever is meant to happen will happen.

If only I were a Jedi…

May the force be with you in 2009!

Pie for the Pary

I know… this is twisted and disturbing… but sooo much fun!

Mrs. Chism's "Indestructable" Pumpkin Cake

When I was born my parents rented an apartment in the basement of Mrs. Chism's house. Mrs. Chism didn't have any grandchildren so she sort of adopted me and I called her Grandma Mary. This is her Pumpkin Cake recipe.

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. soda
2 cups unseasoned canned pumpkin

Beat eggs, add sugar and salad oil. Sift dry ingredients and add to egg mixture. Add pumpkin. Blend well. Pour into greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 350º F for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Let stand 10 min., then remove from pan to cool. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Note: I made these into cupcakes because I couldn't find my bundt pan. It's buried somewhere in my messy storeroom. Sorry! I didn't keep track of how long they took to bake, but I would guess about 15 min. They were done pretty fast.

My mom makes this cake just about every year for fall family get-togethers. She makes it in a bundt pan and prefers to leave it unfrosted. It's a very sturdy cake and has earned the title "indestructable" due to the many mishaps it has survived. Apart from many acts of clumsiness resulting in the cake being dropped (while contained in its carrier) this cake has even survived a couple minor car wrecks.

Coffee

What does coffee mean to you?

A delectable flavor and a welcome aroma that helps you "get going" on even the darkest morning?…a leisurely after-dinner cup that is the perfect accompanimment to good conversation?…the bracing beverage that gives real meaning to your mid-morning coffee break? –from Fun with Coffee, copyright 1956 by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau

ahhhhh…coffee…my drug of choice. My parents didn't drink a lot of coffee, but every time my grandparents came to visit they'd brew up a pot. I remember loving the smell and wishing I was old enough to drink it. I remember the first time I tried coffee. I was probably about 10 and I was at a friends house. Her parents were gone and she decided to make a pot of coffee. I was totally amazed that she knew how to make coffee and I was a little afraid that we'd get in trouble! She dumped a ton of cream and sugar in each of our cups and it was sooooo good. I became a full blown addict when my daughters were babies and I relied on it to stay awake after nights of no sleep. My son and I still have "milk and coffee snuggle-ups". When he was two, we were visiting some friends and he got tired so he came to me and said "I need milk and coffee and rock-a-bye" . My friend was apalled until I explained the coffee was for me.

My teenage daughters both celebrated their birthdays last week. For the big family get-together, I made German Chocolate cupcakes and frosted half with German Chocolate Buttercream and the other half with Mocha Buttercream. Here's the recipe (from The Cake Doctor):

(Note: for the German Chocolate Buttercream) just omit the coffee granules from the following recipe)

1/4 cup milk
1 heaping tsp. instant coffee
8 T. (1 stick) butter
2 oz. (1/2 bar) German's sweet chocolate, grated
3 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
1 T. water, if needed

1. Place the milk and instant coffee in a small glass measuring cup. Place in the microwave oven on high power until the milk is ot enough to dissolve the instant coffee, 30-40 seconds. Remove and stir until the coffee is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

2. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and add the coffee and grated chocolate. Blend on low until the mixture has softened, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioner's sugar. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed ot medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1 T. water is the frosting seems too stiff.

You Can't Always Get What You Want (but sometimes you do!)

If time, money, and my husband's sense of style were no object, this is what I would do with my kitchen:

• I would paint my honey oak 1990s cupboards a nice creamy white. This would appall most of my family. They all still believe oak is the be all and end all of woods and painting it is a terrible sin. But someday, I may just whip out the paint brush anyway.

• I would install a dark stained hard-wood floor

•get new counter tops (not sure what kind) with a (what's it called?) "rimless"/sunk-in sink

• I would buy these appliances and such…

I did get something I've been wanting for a while the other day. Heather (from Merry Moon) & I traded cupcakes! Here's is the one she designed for me. It looks very sweet in my kitchen.

Janice, from Pug Yoga has tagged me to tell you about some of my (many) quirks. Here's the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged you
2) Mention the rules
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself
4) Tag six other bloggers by linking to them
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged

So…my quirks…

1. I am ALWAYS cold! I cannot drink anything with ice in it or I'll start shivering. I earned the nickname "Super Emily" at my last job because I would walk around with a blanket tied around my neck (over my three layers of clothing).

2. I love learning about plagues and epidemics. I research these things for fun. My favorite books are the Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer. So scary, but so fun to read. I dream about writing a book set in a tuberculosis hospital in the early 1900s or about the 1918 influenza epidemic. (I'm not a novelist. It's never gonna happen, but its fun to think about). I used to think maybe I wanted to be an epidemiologist or virologist, but I don't really want to get my hands dirty I just want to learn about these things from afar. Maybe the CDC needs a graphic designer?

3. I DESPISE matching up socks. Matched pairs never seem to get put in the same load of laundry. So when I'm folding clothes I throw the unmatched pairs in "the sock basket". We have a huge laundry basket of unmatched socks. When someone needs a pair, they have to go dig for two that are at least the same color.

4. I hate green vegetables

5. Every night, before I get into bed, I have to lift up the sheets and check for spiders.

5. The smell of cantaloupe makes me want to puke! I think it smells like a garbage dump. GROSS!

Okay, I'm passing this on to…

She's Sew Slye
Lulu Carter
Violaceous
Elfie and Me
Potty Mouth Mama
Practically Neccessary

Baking with My Boy – Bakerella's Cupcake Bites

I've been meaning to try Bakerella's recipe for Cupcake Bites for a long time and this weekend my son and I finally got some made. I had some plain leftover red velvet cupcakes and some cream cheese frosting and this was the perfect way to use them up. My son had fun helping. This is a really "kid friendly recipe." He crumbled the cupcakes, mixed in the frosting, made the balls, squirted the melted chocolate in the candy molds and placed the cake/frosting balls on top of the chocolate. He could have done the spinkles too but he had all ready gone off to do something else by the time we got to that step.

They are delicious!

Things Are Piling Up Around Here!

bowls & cupcakes, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I have some bowls. I like them. I piled them up and took a picture. I made some cupcakes. They turned out ok.

–Nuff said?

Well, it's summer and it's hot, and I just can't seem to think right now (let alone write) but for the sake of all my adoring fans I'll try. : ) ( yes, I'm being sarcastic)

Business Planning…

As far as the business planning goes, I'm in "wait and see what happens" mode for right now. The kitchen space I was interested in is not yet available and as discussed in my last post the response to my things at Art in the Park was mixed. I think everyone liked both the taste and appearance of my cookies and cupcakes, but I'm not sure they're willing to pay what I have to charge. On top of that, our Starbucks is closing (yes, we only have one, unless you count the one in Target). I've always said that people would pay more for my cookies and cupcakes (verses the Walmart bakery) for the same reason they would buy coffee at Starbucks instead of McDonalds. –They're just fancier/better. And I've reasoned that if my town could support a Starbucks then it could probably support a business like mine. Well, now I'm not sure what to think! I know budgets are pretty tight these days. Anyway, I'm not giving up, just cooling my jets a bit. I'm still trying to make some connections in the community and get the word out about what I do.

Interviews…

Ages ago I asked some very nice bakers if they would be willing to let me interview them. That was so long ago that I'm sure by now they've given up on me. In an earlier post, I said that I would try to get those interviews done this month. YIKES! This month is almost over. Here's my dilema… If I just e-mail some questions to these ladies and they e-mail me back with their answers… well…there's no back and forth…it might seem kinda cheesy and boring. I want this to be more conversational. So…I've drug my feet, trying to come up with the best format for this (it's harder than I thought!). Maybe, I should try calling them on Skype, record the call, turn it into a podcast and post it somewhere. Huh…I'm not a journalist, I don't really know how to conduct an interview and I know even less about podcasting, plus I really don't have the time or money required. But… it might be fun! Having a podcast that gives me an excuse to call up bakery owners and cupcake bloggers and just chat sounds great. Plus, I haven't been able to find any podcasts like this on iTunes or anywhere so I might be able to fill my own little niche. Hmmmm… me and my big ideas. Anybody know anything about podcasting? What do you think?

Etsy…

I haven't promoted my etsy shop for a while, so I thought I would show you some of the "cool" things I have listed now. I keep adding new things and I'm working on some new cupcake toppers so stop by from time to time to see what I've got.

Structure…

I function best when things are structured and organized. (Although, I am getting better at flying by the seat of my pants!) Anyway, I think I can improve the content of this blog by adding a bit of structure and planning. By September, this is the structure I hope to follow each month (altough I may change the order):

Week 1 – I'll share a cookie or cupcake recipe, probably from one of my vintage cookbooks, along with ideas about decorating and presentation.

Week 2 – the interviews or podcasts or whatever I decide to do

Week 3 – I'd like to start a feature called "Baking with My Boy" . I'll drag my son into the kitchen and we'll bake/make something together and share it with you. You know… fun, simple stuff.

Week 4 – Kinda random. I might talk about my business planning or my etsy shop or some fun products I've found. Whatever…

I didn't think I had much to say and look how much I've rambled on! I have to say, it feels good to get all those things that have been piling up in my brain all typed out. I just hope it doesn't sound completely senseless!

bye!

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries!

You gotta love a three day weekend and this has been a great one! Friday, the UPS man brought me my new cupcake and cookie boxes (see the picture below). I love packaging things up all pretty so I couldn't wait to get them. Here's where I found them.

Friday night was also kinda stormy so it was a great night for baking. (I LOVE cozy, stormy, baking evenings at home!!!!!) I tried a new recipe for Italian Cream Cupcakes from the Cupcake Doctor. I topped them with cream cheese frosting and decorated most of them for a wedding with gumpaste flowers and royal icing accents (not a real wedding, just building my portfolio and trying new things). The rest are decorated with some candy raspberries I found at the candy shop and gumpaste flowers.


Saturday was the annual Memorial Day Flee Market in a nearby town so my mom and I went to that. I found a bunch of cute things for myself and for my etsy store. I even managed to get all the vintage stuff shown in the picture listed! (I'm better at buying the stuff than getting it sold!)

Unfortunately, after all that fun, I'll have to devote the rest of today to getting organized, laundry and putting my house put back together!

May Basket Cupcakes

I had some gumpaste flowers left over from the anniversary cookies I made a while back so I used them on these May Basket cupcakes. I wasn't sure about using pipe cleaners for the basket handles but I think they worked okay. I just loosened the paper cup a little where the pipe cleaner needed to go in and tucked the pipe cleaner in so that it's kind of "next to" the cupcake and not actually "in" the cupcake. The pink crepe paper that I wrapped around kind of holds everything together.

I just wrote a post at Flying Time about how I'm trying to keep this whole Sugar and Meringue Etsy business organized . It's probably something I should have posted here instead but the pictures looked better over there. :)