{Candy Man Cookies}

Tomorrow is the premiere of my favorite TV show.

Note, I said MY favorite TV show. This time last year, when I made these Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes,  you'll note I said OUR favorite show.

The other day, I said to the Bean, "omigosh, our favorite show is coming on in a few days!!!".

To which he relied, "You mean YOUR favorite show".

A little piece of me wilted right then. A little piece of me that will never been green and happy again.

Kids are mean.

Now, granted, his favorite show is pretty dang cool. I mean, it's Doctor Who. However, he went on to tell me that Sherlock was number 2. Ok, gosh dern it, I LOVE Sherlock too, but when did this happen? When did we grow soooo far apart? I mean, my favorite show is now his third favorite? People, are you picking up what I'm putting down?

Or, it's possible I'm being overly dramatic. 

Scratch that. That cannot be true. 

Anyway, MY favorite show comes back on tomorrow. The problem with watching these cable shows is the fact that they are a literal YEAR from one season to the next. Network shows have a 3-4 month hiatus in the summer, but cable? A full year. That's just meanness.

However, in a little over 24 hours, I will be sitting down to watch the adventures of Shawn, Gus, and the Blueberry.

Psych is coming back!

photo property of USA Network

Now, if you don't know what Psych is, refer to my above link about the cupcakes. I tell a little about it there. It's a witty show, full of mystery, a fake psychic, real crimes, and oodles of 80s references.

What's not to love.

In the Season finale (in APRIL OF LAST YEAR, FOLKS), Gus had gone candy crazy. He was shoving it in every chance he got. So much so that this exchange took place:

Shawn: "You have a problem, Candy Man."

Gus: "I make the world taste good."

which is funny, cause of this song.

Get it. hahahahaaha.

 

So, I made some cookies for Gus.

I think he will appreciate them, they are chock FULL of candy.

I started with a basic, buttery cookie, to which I added over 2 cups of candy.

Cause. Candy.

I love this recipe. I have used it for years. I use to to make chocolate chip cookies, of course. I sub in some oatmeal to make an oatmeal chocolate chip, I use it to make M&M cookies, Butterscotch cookies, some cocoa powder to make double chocolate chip cookies, it's a great blank slate of a chewy, buttery cookie.

For these cookies, I added a ton of candies. As I mentioned, over 2 cups.

I used M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, Nestle Crunch, Butterfinger, Heath Bar, and a Hershey Bar.

I also used Milk Duds, but there is a trick to them. Cut them in 1/2 and place them in the center of your ball of dough. If they get to close to the edge of the cookie, they will goo out and make a bit of a mess.

Any Psych fans out there?

Do you think Gus would approve?

Cause my guys sure did.

I had to eat one (or 11) to deal with the emotional trauma inflicted on me by the Bean's declaration that we no longer share the same favorite show.

Growing up is hard.

I hear it is for the teenagers too.

Tina

*

Candy Man Cookies

Adapted from this recipe at AllRecipes

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

 2 cups all-purpose flour

 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

 1 egg

 1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract
 2 cups candy of your choice, chopped, if bars

Preheat oven to 325. 

Line sheet with parchment or a silpat mat or grease the sheet.

Add your melted butter in a mixing bowl along with the sugars, until well combined. Beat in the egg and egg yolk. Add the vanilla. Mix in the soda and salt. Add the flour about a 1/2 cup at a time.

Mix in the candies.

Bake for 13-16 minutes

Allow to sit on sheet for a few minutes before moving to cooling racks.

{Fondant Ducks & Frogs}

Today was my friend Stephanie's baby shower. Steph and I met because she taught at the Bean's elementary school. She was a 6th grade teacher, but we found out long before he made it to her class that we were destined to be friends. Once he made it to her class, she had to keep reminding the other students that he didn't get any special treatment because we were friends. Haha.

Over the last several years, I've watched a lot of things happen in Steph's life. Dating. Bad dates, ok dates, and finally, finally The One. Her engagement. Her bridal shower. Her wedding (which I have claimed to be the only wedding I'll ever be the photographer at. My nieces probably have an opinion on that matter though!). In the last 2 years, since they've been married, I've seen her sadness as another month passed and no baby. Last June we decided to book a trip to Disney World & The Wizarding World of Harry Potter together. Plans were finalized in July, and can you guess what happened next? YES! Baby. As you can tell by this post & this post, we still made it to Florida. Steph just couldn't ride all of the rides. We still had an awesome time!

So, now we are in the final countdown. Baby Zeke will be here in a month and there are just so many people awaiting his arrival! 

Today, as I said, was the shower. I asked to make the cupcakes for the event. I knew right away I wanted to make Blue Velvet cupcakes! The recipe is by my friend Heather of Sprinkle Bakes. 

My personal favorite cupcake is the French Toast cuppies by my friend Darla of Bakingdom, so I decided I must make those as well.

I wanted to make something adorable for the tops though. I came up with the idea of duckies pretty quickly, but it wasn't until this very  morning that I decided to add frogs and lily pads. Hey, I'm a planner. (Ok, normally, I am, seriously).

This is only about my 4th time working with fondant. (I use the Marshmallow Fondant recipe, also by Darla. It's easy and while still very, VERY sweet, it's much tastier than regular fondant.)

So, I'm still a noob too. When I tell you these ducks, frogs, and lily pads are easy, I'm being serious.

For one duck you'll need:

1 large (size of a quarter) yellow ball of fondant

1 medium (size of a dime) yellow ball of fondant

1 tiny (size of pin head) orange ball*

paintbrush (used for food purposes ONLY)

water

food writer

*what I have pictured is actually too big

 roll into an oval, flatten the bottom, and then pinch the back to make the tail.

dab on a bit of water and then attach the head

Now, you can kind of reshape his body as needed

Dab on a bit more water and attach his beak. This is the most tedious part.

As you attach it, pinch the ball so it becomes more beak shaped.

Now, I very highly recommend the Americolor Gourmet Writer. I've had other writers that aren't good at all. Food writers are just food coloring in pen form.

Dot on his little eyes, and... that's it! Allow them to sit out and dry a bit so they are sturdier.

For one frog you will need:

1 large green ball of fondant (the size of a bouncy ball)

2 small white balls of fondant (the size of peas)

paintbrush (used for food purposes ONLY)

water

food writer

just dab water in two places on the top and attach. WAY easy.

draw in his pupils, nose, and mouth and you are done!

For the lily pads, I didn't even take process photos. They are just a green ball, smashed. Cut out a tiny pie shaped section with a knife, and then add flowers. You can shape little guys by hand, but I used a teeny tiny fondant cutter for mine.

To get rid of excess powered sugar, simply brush away with a dry paintbrush (used for food purposes ONLY).

Want to see them on top of the cupcakes?

Okay!

As you can see by this photo, all of my ducks are different sizes. I think they are cute that way.
On the ducky cupcakes, I also added sugar pearls to look like a bubble bath :)

Yes, I totally bought her a Mickey Mouse bodysuit with personalized ears!

Happy baby, Steph & Bobby!! We can't wait to meet little Mr. Zeke!

Tina <3