Cake Balls-Part 2: The Successes

And now, the riveting conclusion to Cake Balls-Part 1.............

So the cake ball pops were not a complete failure.  There were just a few bumps a long the way.  We actually ended up with many wonderful and semi-wonderful looking cake pops. 

How we made our cake pops:
2 boxes of cake mix
2 containers of icing
A bunch of Candy Melts from Michael's (we had 5 bags but only used about 3 bags)
Sprinkles
Cake Pop sticks (from Michael's)

1-Bake the cakes according to package (very important)
2-Let the cakes cool
3-Crumble the cake into a bowl and add about 3/4 of a can of icing
4-Mix the icing into the cake to form a dough (add more icing if you need it)
5-Roll the dough into little balls and then refrigerate or freeze them so that they are more firm (makes it easier to dip in the melted chocolate)
6-Melt the Candy Melts (or you can use real chocolate, I think Candy Melts (CM) are easier because they harden faster but real chocolate might taste better)
7-Dip a stick in melted CM then dip the stick in a ball and dip the ball back into the CM until it's coated.  Quickly add sprinkles before the CM hardens.  You can also let it harden and then write on it with more melted CM or draw designs on it with melted CM
8-Stick it in styrofoam to fully dry

T constructed a cake stand for us out of styrofoam and ribbon.  We started with the sprinkles and then B5 did an excellent job of writing letters (and drawing creatures) on some of the balls.  Basically the ones that T and B5 made are much prettier than the ones I made.  I also tended to shriek or yell when my cake balls did not turn out as planned.  It got pretty tense up in there (for me, not for other people).

Our biggest success by far was figuring out how to transport the cake ball pop cake from T's apartment (3rd floor by the way) to the bar later that night.  We sat in contemplation for a few minutes when we realized we would need something to put the cake in, in order to move it.  Then T decided to take action and after searching through her storage closest for a few minutes, T pulled out this drawer which ended up being the perfect thing to transport the cake.  (We cleaned and disinfected it before putting the cake in there by the way.)

So I took the cake to my house and then later was in charge of transporting it to the bar.  I was very freaked out the whole way to the bar and sat in the back seat with the cake to make sure it stayed safe.  I also yelled at B for going over speed bumps.

However, we made it and the cake was a success!

I'm not really sure what she was blowing out here as this cake ball
cake had no candles.  However, M seems to think it's hilarious.



Scavenged...

In case you haven't heard, this weekend I participated in a Scavenger Hunt Birthday Party Extravaganza for my friend Shanzie who just turned 30.  The scavenger hunt consisted of 5 teams of 3 to 4 people.   These people then ran around local stores and restaurants taking pictures of things (like a Maryland license plate, a person with a cool beard, the giant horse in front of PF Changs) and collecting items (menus, brochures, pennies, etc).  There were also several extremely hard riddles to solve (ok, apparently they were only hard for me).  My husband, B was in charge of planning and scoring the scavenger hunt.  Below is my hard hitting interview with him...

Tallying up the scores...

Please give a brief description of the scavenger hunt?
B-This was your typical scavenger hunt. You had a list of items that either needed to be found or photographed.  I kept it limited to The Friendly Center (local outdoor shopping center) and downtown to try to limit the travel time.  There were a total of 68 items, including 10 riddles to solve. And the riddles were hard.  There was one that was so hard that no team got it.  Granted, I had a typo that made it impossible to figure out, but still.

How much time did this take to plan?
B-Hard to say. When you are doing something you love, you just lose track of time.  But in all seriousness, all of my hourly charges are detailed in the itemized bill that I sent to Shanzie.

What was the funnest part about organizing this?
B-I enjoyed coming up with what people had to scavenge, particularly the riddles.  I enjoyed the looks of frustration on both my wife and Shanzie's faces when I told them I couldn’t give them any details of the scavenger hunt because that would have been inappropriate.  That was all a lie though, I could have told them, but I really enjoyed that feeling of power.  Also the friendships.

Do you think you did a good job?
B-I included a Comment Card for Shanzie to fill out rating her experience.  I will wait to see what comes back, but I would say it was an A to A+.  Some comments that were overheard Saturday night during the post-hunt party...
“This was the best birthday party ever, including the time when my parents got me a bouncy castle”- Shanzie
“I am in a moment of euphoria, scavenger hunt high is so much better then a runners high”- Beezus5
“After watching you host and lead a scavenger hunt, my love for you has increased twofold. I am the luckiest woman alive”- JM
“I am an expert on Ashton Kutcher”- Curly T
***all of these where made up, except for Curly T.  She is an Ashton Kutcher expert.

Did you have a sense of fulfillment once it was over?
B-You know, I did.  It might have been because while everyone else was out scavenging, I was drinking at the bar (special shout-out to Old Town Draught House).  But I would say it was about 70% sense of fulfillment, 30% beer.

What if anything would you change about the hunt?
B-It was pretty much perfect.  But I would look to limit the driving. Both Beezus5 and Mrs. Acorn may or may not have run over a pedestrian.  (Note-No participants or innocent bystanders were injured in this scavenger hunt)

Do you think Hobie was mad that you were doing all the planning in front of him and then didn't even invite him to participate?
B-Hobie and I are cool.  He understood that with his heightened sense of smell, he would be at an obvious advantage in regards to scavenging.  He said as long as I didn’t include his bone in the hunt, he was ok with not being invited.

Which team did you want to win?
B-I had a soft spot for Team Mo-Tif-vated.  I mean, they only had three people, two of which were from out of town.  I think they did well for all they had working against them. Plus, they were the only ones to put together a team outfit.  Oh, and JM’s team.  We made a pact 2 years ago to always support each other through better and worse. I know you are thinking it was our wedding vows.  Nope, it was an OIB Olympic Games Unbreakable Vow overseen by Beezus5.

Why didn't you give your wife more of an advantage over the other teams?
B-One, I put JM on the team with the only participant who could fit into Harry the Happy Dragon. (PHOTO needed.) Two, JM and I have been to 99% of the places on the list together. Three, she lost because of a key tactical error. I gave everyone 10 minutes to strategize before the hunt began, but Team Mo-Tif-Vated was the only one to take advantage.  Yes, they finished last, but still, she should have focused on the higher point riddles.  That’s Scavenger Hunt 101.

Team Member with Harry the Happy Dragon-5 Points

Would you consider the Scavenger Hunt Extravaganza a success?

B-The goal of every scavenger hunt that I have ever put together (well, this was my first one) was to get people to spend two hours taking pictures of themselves looking silly while I hang out at a bar watching college basketball.  So yes, in that regards, Scavenger Hunt Extravaganza was a rousing success.

Thanks B!  Even though my team only got 3rd place, (I mean we did only have 3 members whereas most other teams had 4 players) I had an excellent time.  Yes I think I pulled a muscle when I was trying to photo myself in front of the PF Chang horse and yes I was profusely sweating after running from the Harris Teeter to REI to PF Changs, but still, I had fun.  I would like to give a special shout out to Mrs. Acorn's husband who was willing to sprint in any direction we told him although he usually had no idea where he was going (since he just moved to this city) and of course to Mrs. Acorn for jumping into the Harry the Happy Dragon ride without thinking twice.

Team Photo-5 points

Bridal Shower Decor by MoYo (rhymes with Fro-yo)...

Remember my friend Morgan from such events as the A-Corn bridal shower and the Las Vegas bachelorette party?  She's also the person who presented my with the best hair accessory ever.  Well this weekend she was back in town displaying more of her wonderful and unique bridal shower planning.  Mo's sister is getting married in a couple months and this weekend was her bridal shower.

Mo showed up at my house once again with her giant suitcase in tow.  But this time it wasn't filled with clothes, it was filled with bridal shower decor for her sister.  The theme of her sister's bridal shower was "A Night Out or In" so people gave her gifts such as movie/restaurant gift cards, a picnic basket, etc.  The gifts were basically stuff for her and her future hubby to do together.  So Mo decided to make each table a different theme based on something that the bride and groom enjoy doing together.  I was amazed when she pulled these out of her suitcase.

She used photos, stickers and greeting cards to make these.  They were even cuter in person and really unique.  I heard they were a hit at the shower and her sister claims she's going to display them in her house. 

She also did tons of other planning, including games and prizes.  She always goes all out for events.  You know it's going to be awesome if Mo's involved.  Here are favors she put together.  They were little bags with fortune cookies (aka a night in with take-out) and little tea infusers (it was also a tea party).  These were also really cute.

I think she did a really good job.

What's the most unique thing you've seen at a bridal shower?
Do you want Mo to plan your next party?

Mo Young's Guide to Planning "Special" Bridal Shower Games.....

Um, why are MoYoung and I holding up a giant face photo of our friend's fiance?  Well I'm going to go ahead and let MoYoung tell you about that.  Take it away Mo.......

With the help of JMJE I think A-Corn’s shower had the most original if not the best games ever! Here’s what we did …

The first, and technically last, game we played at the A-Corn shower was called “Don’t Cross Your Legs.” Here is how you play: Each guest takes and wears FOUR necklaces. Then, the guests are told to NOT cross their legs throughout the shower. If they are caught crossing their legs, then they lose their necklace to the person who caught them. At the end of the shower the person who has the most necklaces is the winner. There was a tie for winning this game – $hanzie and cousin of the bride to be. I had predicted that Beezus5 would win the game, but she actually forfeited early on. Oh Beezus5. I chose this game because it was played at Dorothy’s bridal shower on the Golden Girls. Due to Mrs. Acorn’s appreciation of the Golden Girls, I thought it was only fitting that we play this game. And in case you missed this episode, Blanche won the game by a landslide. (ps-from JMJE, do not google Golden Girl Shower Games, you will get inappropriate results, trust me)

We also played a game entitled “How Well Does Future Mrs. Acorn Know Mr. Acorn.” I chose this game because it’s always interesting to see how in tune couples are – plus it ranked well on all the bridal shower websites. Mrs. Acorn later told me that her Grandma really enjoyed the game too. I had previously e-mailed Mr. Acorn some questions, which he was good enough to answer. Then, I typed up the questions and answers on slips of paper and handed out the questions to the guests to read to Mrs. Acorn. Mrs. Acorn was read each question and then she had to answer what she thought Mr. Acorn said. She did pretty well – probably getting 75% of the questions right.  (PS from JMJE-apparently there was some ambiguity about what actually constituted their first date) I was impressed, and I agree that XXLarge night shirts aren’t the sexiest PJ’s around. A key thing to remember with this game is recognizing your audience and filtering out any embarrassing answers. One of the best, and definitely the longest, questions was inspired by the show 90210 – NOT that new cast but the original, with Dylan. JMJE did a stellar job reciting Donna and David’s wedding vows, and I was impressed that Mrs. Acorn recognized the vows! She gets an A++ for 90210 wedding trivia.

The grand finale of games was “Feed Mr. Acorn.” JMJE and I had long since decided that we would like to have a giant picture of Mr. Acorn at the shower. We thought it would be funny – and a great gift for the A-Corn's. I expect the picture to be mounted above their mantle! So, in order to incorporate our love for Poster Mr. Acorn, I decided that we would play a game called “Feed Mr. Acorn.” Since the theme of the shower was “kitchen stuff,” this game completely fit! It’s like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, only you try to stick a spoon in Mr. Acorn’s mouth. First we printed off a 30x20 picture of Mr. Acorn – with a hint of Mrs. Acorn in a low cut blue dress on the side. Then we mounted the picture on hard poster board. It was a beautiful sight. Everyone was a good sport and donned the eye mask, spun around, and then tried to stick a plastic spoon in Mr. Acorn’s mouth. The winner was Mama Robin! I recommend this game for any shower, as life size photos of people are not only fun conversation pieces but super classy!

Thanks Mo and if you are interested in finding out more information about Mo you can read her answers below to my very important guest blog survey.

Why do you think JMJE refers to you as MoYoung in her blog?

MoYoung = Morgan Young. Since I comment on MSIF via “Anonymous,” I decided to shorten my name to MoYoung in signing my comments. So exciting! (JMJE says, I like to spell it MoJung sometimes)

What is something you like about JMJE?

Her craftiness – MSIF is quite entertaining! Plus, she can drink with me into the late hours of the night. This is not always a good thing the next day, but it definitely makes for some good times.  (JMJE says, at this point it has become baking into the late hours of the night while slowly nursing one glass of wine.  Mr. and Mrs. MoYoung were, however, the last people up with us at our wedding after party.)  Plus, I admire her patience and loyalty, as she let my now husband live with us for six months while we were roommates at NCState.  (JMJE says, I never did the dishes, it evened out somehow, well maybe) We all love JMJE!

Name a character you relate to and why from one of the following tv shows? The Office, Lost, Saved by the Bell, How I Met Your Mother, or Friends?

Since I am not as much of a TV aficionado as JMJE is, I’m just going to defer to my favorite show from above, Lost. Overall I identify with the central themes – escapism, redemption, survival, and love! But, I remember years ago I was talking with JMJE and she asked me which character was my favorite. I said, “Sun.” I suppose I can relate to Sun as she is very guarded with her personal matters and more capable than many initially believe possible. However, I can be quite indecisive – so I do not like this question JMJE! – as I relate to many of the characters. This may be why I adore the show. (JMJE says, looks-wise she reminds me of a lighter haired Kate)

What is your favorite color?

Blue. So I am excited about prancing about in cornflower blue on 6/19/2010.

If you could have any job in the world what would it be?

If I could answer this question then I probably would have had a focus in college! Perhaps a writer for a travel magazine … or a professional volunteer. Yet I’ve always been scared of making something I truly adore a job as I would hate to one day wake up and view a passion as “eh, just work.”

So what do you think of our Bridal Shower games?
Is feeding the groom a little too weird or totally worth it just to have a life size photo to give your friend?
Mrs. Acorn was a pretty good sport as I'm pretty sure I banned shower games from my bridal shower.

PS-THE OFFICE IS NEW TONIGHT!  Office Thursday got cancelled for MoYoung Thursday but you should still watch The Office tonight.