Wedding Stuff!

How excited am I that I have the ability to get a couple of wedding things done finally? Super! I'mtrying to put together all of the items that will go in the "Out of Town" guest bags.

*I've embroidered half of the boat bags so far with their respective "owners" names.

* I've already designed, printed, and cut the door hangers. I did these back December.

* I just designed, printed, and attached the labels to the water bottles (two per bag). I wish the starfish on the label showed up brighter. The "Nutrition Facts" I designed cracks me up!!

* I've completed 7 out of 16 welcome books. I absolutely adore these. (they just took a while to do!)

Bags (with potential beach towel to be embroidered):

Door Hanger:
Front:Back:

I'll post pictures of the inside of the books at some point. There are a total of 9 pages. Welcome note, Key Largo facts, getting around, sharing memories (info about where to post photos), word search, maze, hidden message word search, sudoku, and contact information!

St. Patrick's Day Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Since I haven't posted in a while, I think I'm long over due. St. Patrick's day was three days ago
and with some guests aboard, why not make cupcakes! I was a little on the nervous side after Valentines day's fiasco (which hopefully will never repeat itself). After scrolling through Pinterest, I noticed a Irish Car Bomb Cupcake pin. Upon clicking it, I was lead toBrownEyedBaker's blog. Oh how I love her! Especially her Pistachio Nut Ice Cream for my boss.

I decided a midday booze fest was in store. I love to cook with wine and sometimes I add it to my food! Okay, so I copied her recipe for the

cupcakes and ganache. Both were fabulous. Her icing, I did not follow. It seemed like a little bit too much butter in the mix. My inner Paula Dean wanted to scream for it, but I don't think anyones waistline wanted it. SuzyBakes is another great blog. Her icing recipe was what I used to work with. I did add another teaspoon (or two) of Bailey's.

Below are the ingredients so you can check out what's in each part. If you want the full recipe, see above for their respective websites.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Prep Time: 40 minutes | Bake Time: 17 minutes

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

For the Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
3 - 4 cups confectioner's sugar
3T Bailey's Irish Cream
1T milk

It's really sad being stuck in The Bahamas sometimes. I know, boohoo me, but finding decorations for... well, anything, is difficult. I didn't have time to print cute St. Patrick's Day printables, so I stuck in a frilly (and very annoyingly tall) green pick.

These cupcakes were rich, moist, and divine. Since I ran out of icing about 3/4 of the way through, I improvised. Best.Deicision.Ever. Instead of a sugar icing - whip all of these together:

For the Whipped Icing:
1/2 cup heavy whipped cream
4t Bailey's Irish Cream
Dash of sugar (optional)

It's a lot lighter and a little less "sugary". It completely did me in. Side note, because of the wrapped I cooked them in, they're best eaten with a fork!

Enjoy!