Calling all cooks....

Today was another great day for Marie. With much anticipation....we were finally able to celebrate her "friend" birthday party. Marie chose to go to 

"THE FINISHING SCHOOL" 

and do a cooking class for her party. Can I just say.......what a fantastic, fun place to celebrate your 10th birthday! The staff was absolutely amazing. They were pros at keeping the girls entertained and the party flowing ever so smoothly for a good 2 hours.

I am so impressed with their professionalism and excitement..... I could tell they LOVE their job! They helped make Marie feel like a million bucks. We took way too many pictures, but the girls were so darling, I just couldn't help myself. 

This is Paige and Kimberly. They were the women in charge of the party.

 Loved em'

The girls got to decorate their very own chef hats to wear and take home.

The gift table. Marie has the nicest, most generous friends. 

The gifts were lovely!

This was the dining room table (Marie got to pick her favorite colors)set for 12 girls.

The first game we played was a food matching game

decorating chef hats

Marie and her daddy

Marie and her mommy

The girls pose right before they get down & dirty with pizza dough

learning about pizza dough, yeast and how it works. They each got a piece of dough 

to work with and make their pizza crust.

This was such a fun game. It had something to do with cotton balls and blind-folds

Hannah won and got a cute cooking prize!

Time to dress their pizza's with toppings.....hmm...

While the pizza's were baking, we played hide the thimble 

Time to chow down.... the girl's were served their individual pizza's along with carrots and ranch dip, cut strawberries with sprinkled sugar and lemonade. 

Hannah, Hannah and Abi

Lu and Marie

Allie and Kate

Rachael and Kallie

Alivia and Kelly

Time for my favorite part....... Dessert!

Marie specifically asked if I would make her Chocolate cupcakes with a fudge middle and Chocolate frosting! She doesn't look excited does she? I'm posting the recipe for the cupcakes at the bottom of this post, just in case you want to re-create these Chocolaty, calorie busters!

Lastly, Marie and I sewed the girls their own aprons to take home as their party gift. They looked so darn cute I had to take yet another picture. 

I hope the girls had a wonderful, unforgettable day. I know I did!

Dreamy cream filled chocolate fudge cupcakes

1 (18.25 ounce) package Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® devil's food cake mix 1 1/3 cups water 1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs 1 1/2 (12 ounce) containers Betty Crocker® chocolate, fudge frosting

1.	Heat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees F for dark or nonstick pans). Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 24 cupcakes, using water, oil and eggs. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
2.	Spoon frosting into a plastic decorator bag. Use a fairly large frosting tip. Gently push tip into center of cupcake. Squeeze about 2 teaspoons frosting into center of each cupcake for filling, being careful not to split cupcake. Frost tops of cupcakes with remaining frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting 

1 stick salted butter - room temperature

1 stick unsalted butter - room temperature

1 cup shortening

1 tablespoon Vanilla extract

2 pounds confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)

4-6 tablespoons very cold milk

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions

Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add Cocoa powder and mix thoroughly. After all of the sugar and Cocoa has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk... one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.