The Tasty Kind of Thanks

Yes!  Finally!  I got to bake something!  It's been waaaay too long since my last baking adventure (27 days)!

And now,  in the same week I get to make cupcakes and a cake!  The cake is actually coming later.  I haven't baked it yet, although that's on my to-do list for today.  Bake a cake and finish my government project...

The cupcakes began where all cupcakes begin: the grocery store.  Dad and I went to Kroger (although I think you already knew that...) and shoped and shoped and shoped!  Finally, we had all the ingredients for a really, really big Thanksgiving meal (including ribs; yes, we had ribs on Thanksgiving).  Actually, no, we forgot the ReddiWhip, so Aunt B. had to buy some yesterday.  Anyway, I'm getting off track.  We had to buy all these ingredients...

 

  

OK, so the sprinkles weren't actually on the shopping list.  But I had a coupon and they just looked so cute!

After I baked the cupcakes, I obviously had the let them cool before I iced them.  That's just the way of the world, I suppose.  Anyway, I had to make some icing, but then I found some chocolate ganache in the freezer.  So I rewhipped the ganache and starting icing the chocolate cupcakes.

Then (and let me remind you that this is the day before thanksgiving) my parents drag us all out of the house to Frontera in order to finally (three weeks late) celebrate our good grade reports.  It was good food and I enjoyed it, but I'm still stratching my head a little bit at choosing "Thanksgiving Eve" to go out to celebrate.  Plus, I had to finish the cupcakes!

When we got home, I finished icing the 26 cupcakes... I just remember that I had 10 extra cupcakes because I ran out of icing.  I should do something with them...

Back to the task at hand:  I finished decorating the little turkeys with their icing heads and candy corn beaks and feathers...

 

And then I realized that they didn't have eyes...  By the way, I would just like to mention that talking on a cell phone while decorating cupcakes is not the smartest idea.  You're bound to drop something with that kind of multitasking.  I guess that's why they invented bluetooth, huh?

While all this turkeying around was going on, I was also baking Chex Mix.  Chex Mix which my uncle voted me to make from now on...  Anywho, I made 2 batches because I realized that when 13 of my closest relatives get together, 1 batch of Chex Mix just isn't going to cut it.  (Especially with my mom sneaking around eating it beforehand).  It's really an easy process.  I just followed the instructions and make my own substitutes:

• I used Cheez-its instead of bagel chips (couldn't find any and besides, I like Cheez-its better)
• A dash of white pepper with the other spices
• Actually, a dash extra of all the spices just to, ya know, "kick it up a notch"
• Use more corn and rice Chex than wheat.  No one eats the wheat?
• And finally, I used "party" peanuts instead of mixed nuts.

Speaking of Chex Mix, though, I would just like to add this, another reason why I don't like our oven...

See?  The butter all slides to the front of the oven: because it's not level!  Now I have photographic evidence of how lame our oven is.  At least it didn't conk out while the turkey was in it, right?

So I shall now leave you to feast upon some images from my Thanksgiving yesterday.  In the meantime, I'll get myself a slice of pecan pie and get ready to bake a cake...

(By the way: My little brother is crazy.  I don't know WHY he thought it was warm enough for shorts and flip-flops...  Also, the turkeys molted overnight.  They still tasted good, but they just weren't as feathery!)