Last week I baked up cupcakes and cookies for my next door neighbor, and friend, Shelley for her Bunco night. I am very fortunate to live on a street with so many great neighbors. My son has lived in my house his whole life, and the stability has helped us get through a lot. What can I say, we’re both creatures of habit. So regardless of my teacher’s pay getting slashed, my support cut, my insurance premiums increasing, I’m committed to doing whatever it takes to stay here.  As the kids on our block grow-up, my hope is that it won’t be the material things that they’ll remember, but all of the great moments spent hanging out with friends ~ hunting for Easter eggs in the dark,  competing in our annual pumpkin carving contest, or all of the impromptu  nights when we meet in the cul de sac to catch up.

For the cupcakes, I made up my favorite white cake and buttercream recipe. The purple icing continued to turn brighter and brighter by the hour.  Americolor Electric Purple is exactly what it’s called. The dice were made out of gum paste. If you can make dice out of play dough, you can easily make these. I use Wilton’s gum paste. You just mix the powder with water, and  combine until it becomes dough-like. You can knead in food dye, and then let it rest overnight. I used rounded teaspoons and shaped into cubes. Edible markers were used to make the dots and indentations on them.

I also made these coordinating sugar cookies to snack on at the party. Can you tell I had fun with the designs? The purple icing on the cookies was a beautiful shade (the neon cupcakes…not so much). I used Americolor Regal Purple and Americolor Violet to achieve the color. If you’re planning on making Halloween and/or Christmas cookies, you’ve got to order Americolor Super Red and Americolor Super Black (You’ll thank me later.). I have yet to find other reds or blacks that give those deep, dark colors.

Finally, it wouldn’t be a party without cookie favors, right? These came together quickly ~ one shape, two icing colors, and a simple design. These would also be fun for a family game night or a casino themed party.

Have a great week! It was 107 degrees in Southern California Monday. How can this be called fall?