Ok, so I'm obsessed

April was a month filled with my new favorite treat. CAKE POPS! It all began with Shanti's birthday (a coworker of mine) and quickly became a new favorite treat. I originally saw the idea on Bakerella.com, which is a cute blog of the author of the book Cake Pops. Thank goodness for Powel's book store, because all other book stores in the area were sold out and I couldn't wait to buy this book!

I had to try out these cute little babies first...after all, anyone who knows me KNOWS how much I love Ice Cream-so these had my name written all over them! I was so excited to try them our for Shanti's birthday. A labor of love like this was only worth making them for someone that I adore! (ha I was up till 2am on a work night making these, so I hope she liked them as much as I did!)

The process of making cake pops is pretty simple actually!

First, make a sheet cake following the normal instructions & let it cool. I used a Betty Crocker cake mix because it is simple and I heard they crumble better than homemade cakes.

Once completely cooled, grab chunks of the cooked cake in each hand, and crumble into a large mixing bowl by rubbing the two pieces of cake together. I was surprised by how easily the cake crumbled. Make sure to break apart any larger pieces.

Next, scoop 1/2 can of frosting (I used chocolate) into your bowl with the crumbled cake and mix with your hands!

The frosting acts like a glue for the cake pops-I didn't expect them to be so moist once mixed together, but if your mixture is too dry the cake balls wont hold together. It you add too much frosting then they wont hold there shape.

Roll them into ping pong sized balls and place on wax paper.

Depending on the amount of time you have, place the cake balls in the fridge for 2 hours or freezer for about 10-15 minutes. Then need to be chilled before dipping, but if they are too cold your candy melts coating will crack. I was short on time, so I placed them in the freezer till they were chilled but not frozen.

Using a serrated knife, cut about 3/4 inch off the top of your ice cream cones-this will make them the right size to hold your cake pops. Place the cones in a styrofoam sheet, making sure they are securely pressed in so they can hold the dipped cake pops.

Melt about 1/2 lb of white chocolate melts in a double boiler or fondue pot. Mix in some food coloring of your choice (pink was a no brainer!) You could melt the chocolate in the microwave, but using my fondue pot was so much easier for temperature control.

Once the candy melts were completely melted, I dropped one cake ball in at a time and completely covered it in chocolate (mixing it around with a spoon) I then placed the coated cake pop on top of the cone allowing the excess chocolate to ooze down the side of the cone making it look like melting ice cream.

I then covered with rainbow sprinkles...

Then melted dark chocolate....(I used a spoon to scoop a little melted dark chocolate from my fondue pot and drizzle it on top of the cake pop to look like melted fudge)

Then topped it off with a jaw breaker for the "cherry on top". Red chocolate covered peanut M&M's would have worked really well too, but I didn't want to purchase a whole large bag of peanut M&M's just to use the red ones. I do NOT need more chocolate around! =)

I also dusted them with a little edible glitter, just for some sparkle.

I think they turned out pretty perfect! and I was blown away by how TASTY they were!

My Redeemer Lives!

My first PMCO concert was an amazing experience. There is nothing like a really successful concert to help you realize that the time commitment and rehearsals are all worth it. It was such a jam packed week filled with extra rehearsals/dress rehearsals, and 3 nights of performances. Each night was better than the last and I'm thankful for the opportunity to sing with a choir and orchestra of such caliber.

It was also so great to have Courtney along with me for the ride! I love having a choir buddy. Is it weird that this choir experience feels so much like my high school one? I know its dorky to be so excited about choir, but I LOVE IT! Here are some photos from each night.

Courtney and me cheesing it up on night one of our performances!

Rather than investing in a choir dress just for this first performance (I just paid for a new uniform but it wont be ready until our summer concert) I borrowed a dress from a coworker. Josh's first thing he said to me as I was walking out the door was "Hey Hermione, Where's your broom?" Jerk!

I was even too cheap to buy a pair on black nylons...Josh's church socks worked just fine for me!

I probably could have taken the time to at least find matching socks...

Look at those vowels! These pictures are so funny to me..

Dallyn Vale Bayles was such a great performer and I loved hearing him live

Night 3

Glaring at the brunette bobble head directly in front of me. She swayed, bounced, & bobbled all week. I was lucky if I could see the director!

Our Director David Thomas

I LOVE this picture of the lady on my left (PAM) She is so intense and what a perfect depiction

Ahh...another great pic =) You go Dallyn

This old guy was the highlight of my Easter concert experience. Before an a'capella piece he played the chimes 3 times before a young fellow orchestra member took them away from him. Our director was about to lose his mind. Needless to say, I felt bad for the old confused man. He just wanted to start our piece off with a little pizazz!!!

Short little clip of our choir, sorry about all the background noise!

Mr. & Mrs. Stayner 03/11/11

Jessica & Eric were married in the Salt Lake Temple last weekend-March 11th. I felt so lucky to have been even a tiny bit involved in their wedding & we had a great weekend getaway. I loved spending a few days with my family and I tried to soak up as much sunshine as possible while escaping from the Oregon rain for a short time.

Jess had asked me to be her escort at the Temple, and it was such a privilege to join her on her special day. Every moment brought me back to almost 3 years ago when Josh and I were married in the same temple. It was an amazing experience. Both remembering my own day when I married my best friend-and participating in Jessica & Eric's wedding. Thanks Jess for being such a good friend and for sharing your day with us!

Me Cassandra & Jordan

Josh was convinced that it was a bonnet that I was going to wear to her reception...



The Candy Bar



Off to Fiji

Swagger & Young Dubliners

A few years ago, attending a few shows/concerts a month was the norm. Brittney and I had so much fun finding new bands and venues. Since moving from Utah & getting married-I haven't had many opportunities aside from Warped tour in Atlanta. Unless I was in the mood for bluegrass, Dahlonega was too far anything worth attending & Portland has too many venues to choose from! While we were in Utah we were able to go to a Young Dubliner concert with Swagger as the opening band. This brought back so many memories. It was fun to go with my Mom & Step dad, Brittney, and our cute husbands!

Doesn't he look like a crazy leprechaun? He is an amazing violinist but kinda looks like a convict...

Were hoping that in the future Tyler & Brittney move to Portland. We had an amazing weekend hanging out with them and were bummed to go back home. We miss you guys!

Weekend in SLC-Day 3

We were so lucky to be able to spend so much time with our family and friends over such a short weekend. Between going out to Rodizio Grill with my family to celebrate Josh & Daniel's birthday, hanging out with Tyler, Yuko, & little Koharu at Texas Roadhouse, Breakfast at IHOP with Mom, Ernie, & Dan, Chili's once with my Dad and again with Tyler & Brittney, and Sub Zero Ice Cream for lunch with my family-when I say we ate the entire trip I meant that literally!

Liquid cream + Flavorings + Mix ins + Liquid Nitrogen

= ice cream???

We were first introduced to Sub Zero at Brittney & Tyler's wedding reception. I swear Josh and I had at least 3 bowls each at their reception! They make the best ice cream I have ever had and we have made going there a tradition every time we are in Salt Lake City. In fact, we were willing to drive to Provo (where its original location is) just to have this tasty treat. Lucky for us, they have opened a store at Jordan Landing (MUCH closer to both my parents!) so we didn't have to make an extra long trip.



Dad & Brey scoping out the flavors & mix-ins

Too bad Dad didnt realize we were taking a pic...

Raspberry with mixed berries, Toffee Caramel with Cashews, Cake Batter with rainbow sprinkles, Root beer, Black raspberry with mixed berried, & Chocolate with bananas & brownies. I have a horrible habit of finding one flavor that I absolutely love and never ordering anything else. I guess maybe I'm just in tune with my taste but sometimes I miss out on trying new things. At least I was able to try everyone else's! Can you guess which one was mine?