Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Everywhere!

If someone were to track our family's grocery purchases over a period of time, they would end up pretty  confused.  On the one hand, we buy spinach, carrots, chia seeds, avocados, quinoa, and bell peppers by the bucketload.    I've even had to scold my girls for using a few healthy items too quickly because of the expense (like coconut oil and nuts).  On the other hand though, in the past few weeks we've plowed through 20-lbs. of butter, several quarts of whipping cream, 2 Costco size containers of vanilla, over 15-lbs. of cream cheese, pounds and pounds of flour and sugar, and countless dozens of eggs.  

No, we don't deep fat fry all of our spinach leaves in butter....

What we have is two teenage girls who are walking incongruities.    

Emma and Cami both love to bake sugary goodies with everything that they are, BUT themselves eat zero sugar, few grains, and loads of nuts, fruits, and vegetables.    And since they don't eat their own goodies, guess who ends up being their frosting sampler to make sure the flavor/consistency are good....me!     

Recently Cami had an order for 20-dozen cupcakes and a cake topper for a wedding.   

I was a little nervous when she said that she'd accepted the job to make a cake topper, since her specialty is definitely cupcakes and not cakes.  

But she did an absolutely beautiful job.   

The order overwhelmed our house a bit (the chairs were to keep Rocky from getting at them)...

but she pulled it off without a hitch!  

The display was absolutely gorgeous (as was the cupcake baker)! 

Shortly after we finished cleaning up from that order, Cami hosted a cupcake camp at our house.  

It was mainly 12-year-old girls who were part of the camp...

They did a lot of baking over the course of the week...

and I think it was a smashing success by all accounts.   

They each got to bake cupcakes on their own and decorate them on their own as well.   It was a delight to see their creativity in action!  

It did give Cami a  little boost into her college fund...

but more than anything I think she was mostly excited to share her love of baking with the next generation!  

Speaking of which....with Cami at college, Emma is now poised to take over the cupcake business.   She's been a faithful assistant to Cami over the years and she is ready to take the reins now!  

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