The Awkward Adventures of Kiwi

Remember this mess? I finally have the party photos edited, so here goes!




The cake balls that I rolled the night before cooled in the refrigerator overnight, on party day (about 2 hours before we were ready) I took them out and prepared some of the melting chocolate in the microwave. I dipped the lollipop sticks in the chocolate and then stuck them in the cake calls about 1/2 way, then put them back in the refrigerator to let that sit. The chocolate acts like glue to keep the cake balls firmly on the lollipop stick during the dunking process (I learned this the hard way after losing about 5 to the process).





When we cook and bake the counters get really messy, I tried (to no avail) to corral things in baskets during the process but eventually it all spilled out. I think I may have just given away the secret to my light and flaky pie crust (it's the box on top of the bread), hee hee.



The chopsticks work great for stirring the chocolate without loosing to much to the spoon. I used a small open bowl and used the chopsticks to fill in any areas that didn't cover by drizzling on top. I have seen a lot of tutorials on cake balls and let me tell you, it is HARD. They make it look easy, but they are lying to you. The mixture I made was no good, and doing this for the first time the day before the party was a bad idea. I know I will make more because they were freaking great, but I have learned a few things along the way:

1. Use an entire cake and an entire container of premade frosting. Don't try to use 1/2 a cake and guestimate the amount of frosting you need.

2. Make the balls 2 days before you need them, dip them the day before and store in a cool place.

3. Do not use candy melts, they suck. Use white chocolate and dye it with food coloring (NOT LIQUID FOOD COLORING, use Wilton's)

4. PATIENCE is your best friend, along with lots of coffee and a lack of 2 year olds running amok.

Here is the early stages of the outdoor area, we decided that with the wind and snow that the outdoor area was not going to work about half way through the day. Yes, you heard right we had snow... just a flurry mind you but it was enough to be freezing outside. We ended up moving the outdoor activities to the garage, and the eating and games inside to the dining room and kitchen.

Still he tombstones were so cute and only $1.00 at the store! Can't beat a spooky bargain :)