Cakes and Cupcakes and Pretzels...oh my

So the last two days I've spent the better part of the day baking,frosting, dipping, rolling and generally covered in chocolate, caramel and batter. Mom and I did our marathon baking/cooking session.

Thursday was the dipping day, wherein we dipped large pretzel sticks first in caramel, then chocolate (we had three different kinds--milk, white, and dark), then rolled in some kind of finely chopped topping (we had ~ 7 different types). It was slightly insane--we got about 114 sticks done (minus ones that broke or that were tasters). Then the packaging portion of the evening came. We put each stick in a wee bag with a twistie tie, then put several of those in a larger goodie bag (with bats punched out in them and ribbon woven through the bag cutouts) with a card and stickers. I got to keep for the party whatever mom didn't give to neighbors. The result of these was like a homemade candy bar on a stick--really yummy. So lots of effort, but definitely worth the time.

Friday was a baking session. We made tombstone cookies (we had the cookie cutter). Then I came up with a list of funny/witty names and wrote those in icing. Trick for smoothing frosting on the cookie--dip knife in hot water and keep it hot (have gone for years without knowing this) Sam joined in for a bit and added some Kurt Vonnegut tombstones, which looked really cute. Then we did cupcakes (three flavors--chocolate with lemon icing, yellow cake with chocolate icing and orange sprinkles, and pumpkin spice with chocolate chips and craisins--no frosting). And...wait for it....two fudge cakes with an awesome pattern on top with confectioner's sugar (we had a stencil). Looked sooo awesome!

Sam and I then made a trip to the grocery store and liquor store to get last minute stuff for party tomorrow, plus lots of dry ice. So we should be all (or at least mostly) set for tomorrow. Gave the pumpkins a water bath so that they'll be fresh and firm for tomorrow--it's amazing what a thirty minute bath will do for one of them. Speaking of which, I've got one that should come out pretty soon....