So far we have baked and frosted 200 cupcakes while keeping our cool, stored them overnight and got them to the venue, and now we are going to show them off.

Cupcakes can entice nearly anyone into their presence like the Sirens luring sailors to their doom. Without any special displays or fancy decorations.

So we could leave well enough alone.

We could just line them up on a table and say “have at them”. And probably no one would say a bad word about it. Especially not once they’ve tasted the ridiculous red velvet cupcakes.

Heck, I bet you could launch cupcakes across the room for people to catch like Tshirts at a hockey game (or basketball or… you get the idea) and people would scramble and elbow each other out of the way just to catch an ultimate cupcake.

But that’s not how I roll.

I had a vision. And my vision included cupcake stands. 4 of them. At least.

They would be distributed around 2 or 3 dessert tables. And across the room, there would be a table set up with a cookie buffet stocked with homemade cookies for guests to take home as favors.

And then there was the photo booth. You know, the old school kind you still find sometimes at the mall.

Yeah, with all sorts of accessories and props for people to play with in their photos (Not those kind of props. You know, tiaras, funny glasses, boas… that kind of thing. Sheesh).

So yeah, I tend to dream big. It is only recently (in my thirties?) that I’ve learned that maybe – just maybe – doing it all is sometimes too much. And maybe going overboard isn’t called for. Maybe sometimes.

Anyway, back to reality. I did some research and found a couple of cupcake stands ranging in price from $30-$50. Multiplied by 4?! Ouch. That didn’t really fit my budget.

Not to mention, what the heck am I going to do with 2-4 cupcake stands after the party? Where would I store them? When would I use them again?

I won’t lie. I was disappointed and almost ready to to hit the “Checkout” button anyway, budget be damned. I mean, they were already in my shopping cart anyway.

But I took a deep breath and stepped away from the laptop.

A few days later I was in Borders (by the way, did you know they are closing a bunch of stores? The ones that are closing are having crazy sales… just fyi, in case you are needing any book-type stuff).

I browsed the crafty section and then the wedding section. And one book in particular jumped out at me: The DIY Bride. I flipped through the pages and there it was: my cupcake stand.

So I took the book home with me (I have a weakness for books and consider it a good day when I make it out of a bookstore with fewer than four books… which is also why I don’t go to bookstores very often anymore).

Cake circles (8-Inch, 12-Inch, and 14-Inch), scrapbook paper, some rick rack, plastic cups, and some glue. That’s it. Infinitely customizable, and disposable (recyclable). Perfect.

Notes:

• The scrapbook paper I used was 12″ x 12″, so to cover the 14″ base cake circle, I had to do some patch work.
• I used spray adhesive to attach the paper to the cake circles and hot glue to attach the rick rack and plastic cups.
• Use spray adhesive in a well-ventilated space (I went outside)
• Work quickly (and carefully) with the hot glue. I’d run a bead of about 3-4 inches and attach the rick rack to the edges, then do another 3-4 inches.
• Lightly trace with a pencil where you want to place the plastic cups (centered) before doing anything with the hot glue.
• I used really basic clear plastic cups between the tiers, but you can get creative to match your style and decor.
• For more DIY wedding stuff online, be sure to check out DIY Bride.

I made 4 cupcake stands, but only used 2. There was only 1 dessert table. The cookie buffet idea was filed away for another time. And the photo booth was just nixed.

It was hard to let go of the cookie buffet and the photo booth. But pushing to make those details of my vision happen was starting to stress me out, which went against the theme that Dan and I had set for our party: relaxed, easy, and fun.

It turns out the cookie buffet would have been overkill anyway. 200 cupcakes was enough for most everyone to have 1-2 at the party and then take 1-2 home.

(I had one friend who skipped dinner completely so that she could eat 3-4 cupcakes. I think she was sick of cupcakes (literally) after that so her husband got to enjoy the ones that made it home).

We used plain brown paper bags (lunch sack style) to send cupcakes home with people. I looked for cupcake boxes and almost let myself get stressed about it, but in the end the paper bags were simple and perfect for the casual style we were going for.

Anyway, I hope this series on my trials and triumphs making the cupcakes for my own wedding reception is helpful for you in some way… even if it only inspires you not to do it yourself :)

So you’ve got 200 cupcakes piled up in your kitchen, now what do you do?

First, figure out how to store them

I have 2 cupcake carriers. Each holds 36 cupcakes. Normally this is an excessive amount of cupcake storage, but for this endeavor it came up short.

I don’t necessarily recommend having 2 cupcake carriers unless you know you’ll use them often. I only have 2 because I ordered one and at the same time Dan bought one for me at Costco. This was a couple of years ago so I kept one at my apartment and one at his place which somehow seemed reasonable. Now I’m not so sure. It did however come in handy for this project.

Beyond the cupcake carriers, I had a couple of standard cake boxes on hand (sized for like an 8 or 9-inch layer cake) so I filled those. But I still had almost 100 cupcakes out in the cold.

Then my mom had a brilliant idea: Let’s build a fort.

And so we did…

With one carrier on each side, and the rest of the cupcakes lined up in between, we wrapped the whole lot with plastic wrap. Perhaps this was overkill.

Boxes and carriers

• I bought this 36-Cupcake Cupcake Courier from Amazon. It’s pink. And it’s hefty (though not great if you only have 1 dozen to transport). It comes in other colors too (though why you wouldn’t want pink is beyond me). Also, I’ve seen this one at Costco recently.
• Dan bought a 3-Level Snapware cupcake carrier from Costco a couple of years ago. I haven’t seen it there since then. The best I could find online was this Snapware 2-Level Cupcake Carrier on Amazon. It’s not as hefty as the pink one, but it can be handy for smaller batches since you can snap-on or snap-off levels depending on how many dozen you have to carry.
• I had a couple of pink bakery boxes I bought from Cake Works (my local bakery supply shop). (Unfortunately, I could only find them online in bulk quantities)

If you don’t have animals in the house, you may not need to go to such great lengths to cover and protect the cupcakes for a short overnight stay. Then again if you are using more perishable ingredients your cupcakes may need to be refrigerated in which case you’ll have to figure out how to fit them all in the fridge yourself.

Now… how to get them there

It’s good to have friends. Especially friends who will chase you down to make you give them something to do, because, you know, you’re a control freak or something. I didn’t say that, your friends did. That’s between you and them.

But seriously, having someone willing to tote 200 cupcakes from your place to the venue is a lifesaver. This is the day of your party so you should be relaxing, primping and not worrying about those cupcakes. Even though I know you will.

But still, find someone you trust that can handle it for you because even if you think you can do it all, you’ll enjoy your party more if you don’t.

I’m in the middle of that picture (in case you didn’t recognize me all dolled up). And to my right is April, my cupcake princess. She made not 1 but 2 trips to get all the cupcakes to our party venue, Picchetti Winery.

Because she is wonderful. And because I had eaten too much sugar to come up with a better plan to transport all those cupcakes. (She brought all the cupcakes in the carriers and boxes, emptied them and then came back to get the rest).

Luckily the winery is nearby. Had it been farther, I probably would have listened to my mom. She suggested lining a plastic bin (like the ones that fit under the bed — like this) with foil and putting all the cupcakes in a few of those. That definitely would have moved more cupcakes at once. Still I wonder if the risk of frosting disaster would have been higher?

Anyway, back up in that picture of me and April — To my left is Kristi. She’s in the band. She plays a wicked banjo. Check her out in action with the Coffee Zombie Collective…

If you are in the Bay Area and looking for a party band, look no further. Seriously, the comment we heard the most from those in attendance was some version of: “The band is rad!”.

They had everyone dancing. I’m still waiting for someone to send me a video of my mom and Dan dancing. You have to see it to believe it. They were both shaking their groove things something fierce.

I hate to do this to you again, but this post has become rather long. So I will follow up with a part 3. There isn’t a lot left to say: we’ve made the cupcakes, stored them and got them to the venue, all that is left is displaying them.

I could just skip it but I’m too excited about my cupcake tiers (so cute, easy & cheap!) not to share.

It’s almost 2010. Do you have your resolutions ready? I have been making my list and checking it twice though I don’t really like to call them resolutions so much as goals or steps. Resolutions sounds so strict. I have a number of goals, too many for one person really, so if you need some ideas just let me know, I’m happy to share…

Among my list are the typical things like “lose weight”, “eat healthy”, and “save money”. Which is where those chocolate bars come in… at least for the first two goals. I’ve been carrying around some extra weight now for over a year, so it was on my list last year as well but I managed to procrastinate 2009 away. I’m that good. SO entering 2010, I am going in with a plan. And some specific objectives. Instead of just saying I want to “lose weight” and “eat healthy”, I am cutting down on sweets which sadly means there will be fewer cupcakes and cookies on this blog for a little while though I will be replacing them with some equally delicious food for thought and a few lighter dishes as we start the new year. But I can’t give up dessert entirely. So instead of having a cookie or five after dinner, I am going back to the French Women Don’t Get Fat idea of eating a small piece of good-quality chocolate… not the entire candy bar, just a little bit.

I forgot how beautiful chocolate can be all by itself. Good chocolate… not M&Ms or Hershey’s which have so much sugar in them they are addictive (seriously… have you tried to stop eating M&Ms once you’ve started? I don’t think it’s possible). Eating good chocolate is almost like drinking a nice wine, the flavors are so complex and wonderful you want to slow down just so you can hear what your taste buds are saying.

I’ve also joined a support group of sorts… started by Lori (aka The Recipe Girl). She was chatting with a few friends on Twitter and from their collective tweets sprang Ten in 10. You are welcome to join us as well, just contact Lori or follow along with me here. Everyone is publicly stating their goals and will be tackling them head-on. The idea of ten in 10 is to make a big push for the first 10 weeks of the year and then carry that momentum into the rest of the year. In Lori’s words: “It’s important to note that the challenge is not a diet. It’s a ten week commitment to make a healthy change in your life.” If you look at the list of who all is participating, you will find me there and my goals listed are:

lose 10 lbs., prep for 10K, eat more veg/whole grains, improve overall fitness & fit into jeans again

The official start of Ten in 10 is this Saturday (January 2), but if you’d like to join and can’t do it until next week that’s okay! The more the merrier :)

But fitness and food-related stuff barely scratch the surface of what I’d like to do in 2010. I want to de-clutter my apartment and my brain. I’d like to get control of my time and stop wasting so much of it in front of the television or computer. I’d like to read more. Write more. Create more. Run a half marathon. And basically be superwoman. That’s reasonable, right?

Well, maybe not. So to keep myself motivated and focused, I have created another blog to keep track of my progress. It will be a place where I also blab a bit on some other things that fill my brain like simplifying, finding balance, changing habits, and basically finding happiness in daily life. The new blog is called 1x1year which reflects my approach to 2010: small steps… taking it on day by day. Anyway, I decided to create a new blog for this so that Brownies for dinner can continue to be a food-centric blog.

What is on your list for 2010? And how are you planning to tackle it?

Related:

• Ideas for habits to change in 2010 from Leo of Zen Habits (on his new blog 6 changes).
• Ten in 10 hosted by Lori
• How Ben Franklin and Gretchen from the Happiness Project tracked their goals

I am excited to be taking part in Menu for Hope this year. Menu for Hope is an annual fundraiser that Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim started in which bloggers from around the world donate food related items to be raffled off. All proceeds go to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). In addition to providing food, the WFP helps hungry people to become self-reliant so that they escape hunger for good. (More information about Menu for Hope can be found on Chez Pim).

How am I participating?

By donating one bid item to the raffle. I call it Brownie Essentials, but you can also think of it as a starter kit. The code for my bid item is UW26.

(UW26) Brownie Essentials – A few of the essentials for making the perfect brownie including:

• a box of Valrhona Dutch process cocoa powder
• a bar of Scharfenberger 70% cocoa bittersweet chocolate
• a Chicago Metallic Professional 9×9 square brownie pan
• The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz which has in it the single best brownie recipe I’ve tried (it’s also just a good book).

How can you participate?

By purchasing one or more raffle ticket between now and December 25, 2009. Each virtual raffle ticket is only $10 and can be put toward the bid item of your choice. The full (and impressive) list of bid items can be found here.

How to donate/buy raffle tickets:

1. Choose a bid item or bid items of your choice from our Menu for Hope main bid item list.
2. Go to the donation site Firstgiving and make a donation.
3. Please specify which bid item you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per bid item, and please use the bid item code.
“number of tickets” x “item code”

For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for UW26 and 3 tickets for UW29, i.e.

2x UW26, 3xUW29

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we may claim the corporate match.
5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.
6. Check back on Chez Pim on Monday, January 18 for the results of the raffle.

Thanks for your participation, and good luck in the raffle!

FoodBuzz put on a great festival this weekend. The food was delicious. The sponsors were generous. The attendees were a lot of fun. My feet and legs are really tired today though because until dinner on Saturday night almost everything we did was standing or walking… which with all the food was a good thing but tiring nonetheless. I wore the wrong shoes that rubbed the back of my ankles raw but that is my own fault. At least they were cute.

Friday night started out a little slow and wallflower-y for me, but things picked up when I got to the Street Food Fair. I was meeting Kristen (of Passion 4 Eating) — Kristen and I met at the International Food Blogger Conference in Seattle this May. Before she got there, I wandered around eating a meat pie from The Pie Truck observing people and surveying the food (I love people watching). It was great to know someone to start with and Kristen and I met several other bloggers that night as we grazed our way through the food carts.

Highlights from Taste of SF Street Food “Fare” (Friday night at the Ferry Building)

• Chicharrones from 4505 Meats
• The most amazing vegan and raw cheesecake from Alive
• Steak and gruyère pie (also zucchini and mushroom that I did not have) from the Pie Truck
• Greenstring Farms eggplant, dry-cured olives, feta, and parsley from Pizza Politana
• (not-so-mini) Mini Rotisserie Porchetta on an Acme Roll with curly cress & onion marmalade from Roli Roti

Saturday afternoon, we walked over to the Metron for more food nibbles.

Highlights from Saturday’s Taste Pavillion at the Metreon:

• Chicharrones from 4505 Meats (I really, really liked these. Nothing like the fried pork rinds that grossed me out as a kid)
• Chipotle caramel + almonds popcorn from 479 Popcorn
• Alder Yarrow of Vinography‘s Merlot Tasting seminar
• Gourmet hot spices from All Spice Cafe
• Toffee milk chocolate chip from Annie the Baker
• Single malt scotch candy bar from BonBonBar
• foodzie
• Frog Hollow Farm
• Autumn assortment of marshmallows (including vanilla bean, cranberry, and pumpkin spice… delicious!) from Gateau et Ganache
• Kerrygold butter and cheeses are amazing!!
• A couple of lovely Zinfandels out of Lodi from Klinker Brick Winery
• Lora and Bob La Mar are extremely passionate about their sea salt, and for good reason – It’s amazing. And the seasoning sand is addictive. La Mar’s Mendocino Seasoning Co.
• Very cute little cupcakes from Mission Minis
• The almond butter and smoked sea salt truffle from Neo Cocoa
• Beef jerky and hot dogs from Prather Ranch Meat Co.… I love these guys. (it’s okay though, Dan loves them too. When I told him I’d be at the Ferry Building, all he said was “lamb sausage?” Because there are two things Dan and I get everytime we are at the Ferry Building together: lamb sausage from Prather and a cup of coffee from Blue Bottle)
• A nice Syrah and un-oaked Chardonnay from Otter Cove Wines
• The mint patties. Oh.My.God. from Recchiuti Confections
• Bandit – Tetra Pak cartons of wine from Three Thieves – it was surprisingly good. I like the idea of the Tetra Pak but with wine I still find myself skeptical about the taste. These guys might have me reconsidering… it would be worth another taste at least.

Outstanding in the field dinner at the Greenleaf Produce warehouse

The table was long, and wound its way around walls and stacks of produce. Yes, we were in an actual warehouse.  It was a really cool venue for a dinner.

I shared the family style meal with Kristen, Arnold from inuyaki, Luna from Luna Raven’s Kitchen Magic, Ryan from Nose to Tail at Home, Rose and Lando from Spots for Dates, and Jimmy from The Thirsty Pig. The conversation was great ranging from banana ketchup to possible pot luck dinners and all sorts of other random, mostly food related topics that kept me hungry even as I stuffed myself full of the delicious dinner. It is amazing how food brings people together… it’s an instant connection.

Speaking of food…

1. A plate of pickled vegetables
2. Mushroom dashi, maitake, shimeji, enoki mushrooms
3. Udon, grilled Monterey calamari in a browned butter ponzu reduction, cucumber, kaiware, frisée & yellow pear tomato with chojang & sesame vinaigrette
4. The menu says”Sea trout baked with dashikombu, fried garlic and Japanese curry powder” but I could’ve sworn it was salmon…
5. Roasted brussel sprouts, ponzu fried garlic, guanciale, bonito flakes (this was one of my favorite dishes and I don’t generally like brussel sprouts)
6. Soy braised beef cheeks and oxtails, baby carrots and fingerling potato

As each coarse arrived at the table, there would be no less than four cameras pointed at it until it had been photographed from every possible angle. Of course, I was doing it to… it is funny to take a step back and think about how weird food bloggers are about these things but I am happy to be one of them :)

(Arnold and Lando photographing the beef cheeks)

A few more of the food bloggers I was fortunate enough to meet this weekend (some for the first time):

• Mike from Gastronomic Musings
• Stephanie from Steph Chows
• Laura from Hey Whats for dinner Mom?
• Allison from Local Lemons
• Andrea from Off Her Cork
• Natalie from Life is a Feast
• Joy and Dan from Gourmeted
• Elizabeth from The Dallas Celiac
• Christy from balance
• Evie from Hot Dish!
• Tracy from Shutterbean
• Joy the Baker who won FoodBuzz’s Best Baking Blog award
• Elise of Simply Recipes
• Joel from Six by 10 Tiny Kitchen