Thanksgiving Cupcakes!

I haven't been doing much baking lately...busy with work...holidays...birthdays...I'm lazy...

I did, however, do some baking for Thanksgiving.  It was to be the very first time anyone in my family would taste my baking!  I was a little nervous.  Ok, I was a lot nervous.  Have I mentioned that there are some fantastic bakers in my family?  So...I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry...I decided to bake a cupcake I had already baked before.  Kinda.

I opted to make the ultimate vanilla cupcakes and then frost half with pumpkin crème brûlée and the other half with a Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting.

I didn't have time to bake before making the trip home.  So, here was the plan - I had to leave Kansas on Tuesday after work and then drive to Iowa, leaving me Wednesday to bake my cupcakes and also spend time with my family.  I did, however, find the time to pre-make my caramel.  Here is a picture of my caramel...doesn't it look lovely?

And This Is Why We Have No Good Pictures

Ian recently asked me why we don't have very many pictures of the two of us.  Truth is, we have a couple of good pictures together, but most of the time I just forget to take out the camera and take pictures.  So this past weekend while I was home and we were both looking so nice, I decided I would snap a cute new photo of us.

And this, I think, is the real reason why we don't have very many good pictures...

Photo 1 - notice the hand placement...

Photo 2 - is he looking down my dress??? (Either that, or he sneezed)

Photo 3 - eh...this one is...ok...we both look kinda goofy but at least we are trying...

Photo 4 - what?  No smile?

Photo 5 - Seriously?  What are you doing???

And, finally, Photo 6 - finally a decent one...