Adam's Belated Surprise Bday Party!

I mentioned in an earlier post about a ginormous bday cupcake that I was going to prepare, and I haven't forgotten to post the results! But goodness, there was more to it than just a cake. My friend Jax let me host things at her place, since most of our friends are in the Chicago area anyways, and we prepared a feast!

Lovely ladies with their creations :D

You can't tell too well through the picture, but here's how the menu went down (hope I didn't forget anything!):

Dinner

   - Croissant Sandwiches either with:

 *Sweet Chicken Salad (recipe on the bottom!) 

*Peppercorn Turkey & Cheese

   - Green Bean Casserole (thanks Jax!)

   - Curly Fries

   - Lime Chips & Salsa

   - "Ramen" salad (thanks Jamie!) 

Dessert

   - Triple Chunk Brownies

   - Chocolate Mousse

   - Ginormous Cupcake Bday Cake

Drinks

    - Lemonade

   - Coke

Don't worry, even though I'm on the 4-hour body diet, once a week we get a "cheat" day, so I was sure to get my fill, lol! Everything was soo tasty, and to be in company of good friends was even better X3 BTW, aren't these little cups Jax had at her place just PERFECT for mousse? Sooo delish and RICH.

Oliver Winery = yes, but Rilakkuma = WIN!!!

 But on to the finishing touch, THE CUPCAKE!

Sooo....beautiful!

It may not look it, but this guy is pretty big. I was a bit intimidated with making it, as in " do I have enough ingredients", "will it look okay?", ect. But it all worked out fine! You only need one box of cake-mix, so via Jax's suggestions, I opted for Funfetti XP. And stupid me, I forgot to spray Pam on the inside of the silicone pans, but it came out not problem! *whew!* There is a little hollow divit on the inside too, so you can fill it up with some type of frosting/jam. I forgot all about this, but thank goodness Jax had some Apricot Jam, delish!

Just wanna throw my face in there, LOL

As for frosting, I went for the homemade Vanilla Bean, and it was great! I'll admitt, I was really worried it was "too-sweet", but everyone else said it was fine. I was very happy to see the little flecks of VB too! X3 The finishing touches were colorful sprinkles and one of Adam's favorite sweets, Dots. Yum!

Yes, I'm in the bathroom with the cake. Don't judge me! :P

 

I tried to use my hand as a reference, so you can see how big it is. Maybe not as big as I had imagined, but it still fed 8 people no probs! And to answer your question, I had to decorate the cake in the bathroom to keep it a secret from Adam, so yeah, don't think I usually cook/bake/decorate out of there, ha!

yay!

Even if the cupcake turned out to be a one-time-deal, I can't complain, I was able to get it at my local Menard's for only $5! I have a couple other ideas of when to use it again, so don't be surprised to see more pictures in the near future ^_^

Almost forgot my recipe! If you're looking for a chicken salad on the SWEETER side, this one is for you!:

Chicken & Fruit Salad
- 1 apple (quartered, cored, and diced)
- 1/3 C pecans, diced (* if you can get praline, then the sweeter the better :D )
- A handful of either raisins or dried cranberries
- 1 package of boneless, skinless, diced chicken (I use: Tyson's Grilled & Ready Refrigerated Fully Cooked Oven Roasted Diced Chicken Breast. You can find others in the grocery store too!)
- 1/2 C Vanilla yogurt
- 1/3 C mayonnaise
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- (optional) 1/2 C seedless red grapes, halved ( I'll use these if I don't have raisins/dried cranberries)

Just mix together, and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving. Use it as a sandwich or on top of some lettuce, and you're good to go! Hope you like it! Alright, this has become a long entry, I'm out! ε=ε=ε=ε┏(●´Д｀●)┛

29, lookin fine!

So today is Adam's 29th Birthday, hurray! Unfortunately for us, he is on a business trip overseas T-T Along with drawing a Vday pic, I've also been drawing Bday pics too!

Yes, you are looking at a mini-reindeer with a ginormous hat. If you don't know this little guy, his name is Tony Tony Chopper, and he's from the anime series One Piece. Adam and I have recently been watching it, and dear lord we are OBSESSED! Before Adam left on his trip, we just finished up Chopper's intro arc, and I think we both found our new favorite character. Well, Adam will still think Luffy is kick a$$ and I will love Sanji bc his mighty ki-kus will destroy anything, but oh well we all have our favs X3 Seriously though, One Piece is the only anime that I've ever cried/jumped up and down (LITERALLY)/yelled/ LMAO (LITERALLY) in the span of one episode. And this happens A LOT!!! Mind you I'm 25, haha! I don't think I will ever get over my love for cartoons and anime. Especially bc when I watch anime, I can get some listening practice too for Japanese!

Anyways, since Adam comes back after his birthday, me and some of our friends are going to throw him a little surprise party! Remember how I said I was getting "crafty" and I want to bake more? Well look at this picture of awesomeness:

Yeup. That DOES say Giant Cupcake on that box. Muhahaha!

So the plan is once Adam gets in, we'll pick him up at the airport and bring him to my friend's apartment and let him sleep (he'll be jet-lagged!). In the meantime, we will be whipping up an awesome menu, including Chocolate Mousse, Brownies, and the biggest Funfetti Birthday Cupcake we've ever eaten, decorated with delicious Dots and covered in home-made Vanilla Butter-cream frosting. I'm soo excited! And no worries, many pictures will be taken. Now I just have to decide on what I'll wear, hmm....