The Chocolate Festival --- Kid's Day!

She was 2, yet, she clearly wanted the "brown" candy in my hand. Later, it was a single-sized chocolate treat in a dessert window. She was barely talking when I discovered her love of chocolate.

Alyssa mixes Aunt Shasta's Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes. She wants to enter these into the Chocolate Festival this year. Mmmmmmm.... can't wait!

First, we get out 6 small bowls for 6 batches. We measure the dry ingredients for all 6 batches. We work together through the first batch, she does a lot of watching. I do a lot of watching through the second batch. She's almost on her own to mix batches 3-6. (The mixer has a top with a small opening for ingredients. She can fit her hand in there, but we've mixed enough together in the past that I'm not worried, besides, I am still in the kitchen near her.)

I dump each mixed batch into a gallon-size ziplock bag with a corner cut off so I can pipe the batter into baking cups. (I figure that since I am the one who has to clean the pans and the oven --- and, she'll not be getting points for that anyway, it's ok if I fill the baking cups myself. In fact, I do all the actual putting in and taking out of the oven, too. I'm sure if they are making entries available for 6 year olds, they are expecting the kids to get help from a grown-up, right?)

Baking is so much fun!

I can't decide if Alyssa's favorite part is cracking the eggs or sampling the chocolate chips. (She has assured me it was the sampling.)

I taste-test the first cupcake. I chew on something kind of hard. I pull out a tiny piece of eggshell. Oh, man... What do you do? I remind her to be extra careful not to let any of the eggshells get in and say, "Mmmmmmm... those cupcakes are YUMMMEEEEEE!"

Late at night, she places the daisies she picked from Wal-Mart onto the cupcake stand I found (after Valentine's for $3).

I help with the hot gluing. She also ties pink ribbon into little bows and finds some sequence to glue on. I bring in a big box from the garage and cut out a circle for the stand to sit on. I wrap it with aluminum foil. The roses I received on Valentine's were wrapped with red netting and I saved it for just in case... Alyssa uses it to cover the circle, then plays in the cut out box. (It had a circle doorway!)

She gets ready for bed. I figured out how we are going to display the samples and begin cutting up more of the box. Alyssa returns and is mad at me. I have cut up her hut! She goes to bed. I cover the cut cardboard pieces with aluminum foil. I put all the cupcakes in ziplock bags so they will stay fresh for the judges. I tape her hut back together the best I can until it stands on its own again. Then I put it in her room and cover the top with a little blanket. I shower and finally go to bed myself.

Payton sits by wishing, waiting, hoping... (drooling?)

I get up extra early on Saturday morning and hot glue a tiny drop on the bottom of each little cupcake and stick it to the wrapped cardboard (so it will be easier for those to travel).

Alyssa gets up just as I finish gluing and we pipe Raspberry Frosting (another yummy recipe from my sister) on top of 201 mini-cupcakes.

(We are suppose to bring at least 100 - 200 samples, the more you bring the better your chances of getting "The People's Choice Award." I am hoping to up her odds at a prize.)

After all that icing practice, it is time to top the big cupcakes that go into the cupcake stand. We baked 18 of the big ones so Alyssa can choose her favorite 13 to put in the stand. But, now, she and I have had enough of the whole cupcake making business. She exclaims that she does not want to go anymore. She needs a break. I send her to take a shower.

(I get a phone call from the store that wanted to buy a figure skating fundraising ad from me yesterday. He asks me to come by and pick up their ad and check this morning. So, I get a break, too!)

Alyssa and I come back in a better mood and finish up. (And, yes, she ices her clean pants --- that should have been expected!)

I pack everything up into the back of the car. Eli drives us so I can hold the big cupcakes that I too eagerly placed into the stand already.

After setting up and coming back home again, Alyssa changes into her new "Chocolate Festival" T-shirt and a clean pair of pants. Her eyes are wild with excitement. An hour later we return to experience the event for ourselves.

The best part of the whole Chocolate Festival is the Candy Land game. 2 tickets only cost $1.

"Hi, Mom!"

Go to Blue.

"Look what I got from the Gingerbread House! It's two sticky hands!"

Alyssa coming out of the gingerbread house.

 They had mini-cupcakes to decorate,

and heart-shaped sugar cookies to decorate.

The kids sampled from the other displays, too. (I just nibbled on what they handed me.) There was a chocolate fondue fountain and a chocolate milk fountain for every one to enjoy. (My hands were too full to take pictures.)

Needless to say, we had WAY, WAY, WAY TOO MUCH SUGAR!

On the way out I remembered I hadn't taken a picture of Alyssa in front of her display yet. Most of the samples were already gone. She still has a smile on her face even though I wouldn't let them get their faces painted because there were a dozen or so kids already in line and it was time to leave. And, I was definitely sick.


We got home and I went to bed. My head hurt so bad. I asked Eli to go back to get her things later. He didn't want to saying we didn't need any of it. An hour later I still didn't think I could make it back myself and convinced him it was necessary for him to go because she might have a prize she needed to collect. So, he got Alyssa and went. I fell asleep.

She won 1st Place!

(And Eli cleaned the kitchen!)   : )