New Beginnings and Cake Pops

Whew! How time flies.....

A couple of things have happened since my last post. First of all, we decided to enroll my little bug into Kindergarten and I'm proud to announce that she passed her screening with flying colors! She's a smart cookie and is more than ready to start her little adventure at private school. I'm so proud of her that I could just cry. 

Her new thing is that she only wants to be called "Princess Barbie Rainbow" from now on and I'm totally OK with that. 

I also attended my very first women's retreat at Mt. Harmon last weekend. I was a bit hesitant at first but ended up having a great time. We went hiking on trails and decided to try canoeing just for fun. For someone who doesn't know how to swim, I had a blast soaking in the scenery and  floating in the calmness of the wide open sea. 

I also made a friend and her name was Ship. (True story.)

SHIP!

The biggest change of all would have to be my NEW JOB! I'm scared, happy and nervous all rolled up in one but I do know that this new experience will do great and wonderful things for my career. 

And to celebrate, I decided to dust off my cake pop recipe and share it with you. A couple of weeks ago I was asked to make 30+ cake pops for my beautiful god daughter's dedication and I loved every minute of it. There's something about decorating and baking at 10:00 p.m. that's relaxing to me. 

Is it just me or are Cake Pops not as popular as they used to be? It seemed like a couple of years ago Cake Pops were found at your local Safeway, Starbucks and every wedding or birthday party known to man. 

Whatever the new trend is, I refuse to believe it's Pies. No offense to any pie lovers but pies are on the bottom of my dessert list for some reason. 

Anyway, here's to Cake Pops, new jobs and Kindergarten! Cheers!

Cake Pop recipe
Divas Can Cook

Ingredients:

• One box of red velvet cake, prepared 
• 
  
• One tub cream cheese Frosting
• 
  
• 2 bags of chocolate candy melts 

shortening

• 
  
• cake pop sticks

cello bags

ribbon

• 
  
• sprinkles
• 
  

Directions:

1. Add cake to a large bowl and squish it up until it turns in to fine crumbs. 
2. 
   
3. Add in frosting a little bit at a time until cake is moist and can hold a ball shape, yet still slightly crumbly.
4. 
   
5. Use your hands to mix up the frosting into the cake crumbs.
6. 
   
7. Roll the mixture into a tight ball and place on a plate.
8. 
   
9. Repeat until all the cake mixture has been rolled into balls.
10. 
    
11. Melt 2-4 ounces of candy melts in the microwave. 
12. 
    

Dip the tip of the cake pop sticks into the chocolate and insert into the cake balls about half-way. 

1. 
   
2. Freeze for about 20 minutes.
3. 
   
4. This is probably a good time to prep up your decorations.  

1. Melt the rest of your candy melts in a double broiler. Add a tablespoon of shortening to thin out and for a glossy finish.

Transfer the chocolate into a small cup (sippy cup or a kids cup)

1. Make sure you have enough chocolate to completely submerge the cake ball. 
2. 
   
3. Remove cake balls from freezer.
4. 
   
5. Dip cake balls carefully into the chocolate until covered.
6. 
   
7. Let the excess chocolate drip off. Swirl and pat your wrist to remove the excess chocolate.
8. 
   

1. Quickly add the sprinkles while the chocolate is still wet.
2. 
   
3. Stick the decorated cake pop into a Styrofoam block for drying. 
4. 
   
5. Cover with a clear cello bag and a pretty ribbon.
6. 
   
7. Store in an airtight container. 
8.