The Pioneer Woman Comes to Tempe, Arizona

Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, came to Tempe, Arizona last Thursday evening for a book signing at Changing Hands bookstore. As a blogger and cookbook collecter (I have several 100) I was excited to attend her book signing. And it turns out, she has many other local fans too - there were hundreds of people there. Some were huge fans who have every detail about her family memorized from reading her blog. If for some reason you've never heard of her you must check out her blog - but how could you not have heard of her? Time Magazine named her blog as one of the best 25 blogs for 2009 and she has over 33,000 followers on Twitter.

If you haven't yet checked out her book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, you must. The recipes sound so delicious and every detail is explained and illustrated. The book also is full of many interesting stories and photos of her life and family on the ranch and is a great book to just sit down and read. For some great reviews, check out Bakerella and RecipeGirl. I have so many recipes marked to try - tonight, in fact, for dinner my family enjoyed PW's Cream Mashed Potatoes - very rich and creamy!

The event start at 7 pm and she started with a short speech and then answered questions from the audience. With hundreds in attendance, the seats were full and the rest of us crowded along the isles of the book store trying to get a glance as she spoke.

Once she was finished, the book singing began with group A and those with babies and children. The first group took at least an hour but after that it move a little faster. I was group M and had the chance to meet Ree Drummond around 1130 pm - it was worth the wait! She is just so sweet and this was after signing hundreds of books with still more to go. I don't think she left until after midnight. She also brought along her sister-in-law, Missy, and Mother-in-law who were also signing books.

While there I met Shealyn of SheyB. She makes really fun and sassy camera straps - I have a turquoise and brown damask one and people are always stopping me to ask where I got it. And best of all, while she sells her products through etsy.com, she is a local based in Phoenix. She brought two of her gorgeous camera straps as a gift for Ree Drummond.

Stayed tuned for a great give away to be announced this week - bigger and better than any we've done before and this one is open to anyone in the US, not just the Phoenix-metro area...

editing to add, Ree Drummond has blogged about her book signing tour last week including her stop in Phoenix

Happy Anniversary

My husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this weekend. As a gift, I made him some cupcakes - his favorite Simply Sweets flavor is white sourcream with American buttercream. The cupcakes are topped with a red fondant circle embossed with XOXOX.

Pink and Green Polka Dots for a 9th Birthday { Children's Birthday Cakes }

We created this very girly cake for a 9th birthday celebration - 2 tiers iced in light pink and covered with bright pink and lime green polka dots, a funky ball borders, daisies and a bow. We delivered this cake to a residence in Paradise Valley.

Inspiration Cakes:

3D Purple Purse Cake for a 40th Birthday Celebration

We created this 3D purse cake for a few women celebrating their friend's 40th birthday. The purse was done in her favorite color - purple! The cake is white sourcream cake, strawberry mousse filling and iced with fondant. We delivered this cake to a residence in Paradise Valley.

We also created milk chocolate high heel shoe party favors for everyone to take home.

Some past purse cakes that we've created:

30th Birthday Sports Themed Cake

We created this 30th birthday cake for a huge sports fan - he's both a player and fan of many sports including golf, football, basketball and tennis. The cake was done in gold and maroon for his favorite college's team colors- Arizona State University (ASU).

Simply Sweets Wishes You a Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I made these cupcakes for my family and neighbors to enjoy while we sat outside waiting for trick-or-treaters. Each cupcake is frosted with chocolate buttercream and topped with some scary faces - skeleton skull, devil, ghoul, and a scray monster. We also snacked on some Simply Sweets' Candycorn Bark.

Halloween Cookie and Cupcake Decorating Party

This year I hosted a cookie and cupcake Halloween themed party for some of my girlfriends. My husband and I host a large kids cookie decorating party but for Halloween I decided I wanted a night of fun with my girlfriends. I baked Halloween shaped sugar cookies and some of Simply Sweets' double chocolate sourcream cupcakes but left them bare ready to decorate. I colored buttercream for the cupcakes and royal icing for the cookies and put together a huge tray of sprinkles and candy.

I demonstrated 2 cupcake decorating ideas and then everyone got creative designing their own.

To see more details from the party, hop on over to the Desert Parties blog

Want to host your own cookie or cupcake decorating party for the holidays this year? Simply Sweets will be selling kits to make hosting your own party easy and fun! We will also be selling sprinkles and some really fun cupcake liners...stay tuned for more details.

Police Officer Retirement Cupcake Tower

We created this cupcake tower for a police officer retirement party celebrating his 30 years of service. The color theme is black, blue and sliver. The topper cake is done with stripes, shooting stars, bow and a vertical 30. The cupcakes are topped with stars. This 5 tier tower has 84 standard sized cupcakes, 2 dozen mini cupcakes and is topped with a 6 inch round topper cake. We also created 60 chocolate badge party favors.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this celebration - part 1 was hosted at their home and part 2 will be hosted at the union office.

Chocolate Dipped Halloween themed Pretzels

Simply Sweets' holiday themed chocolate dipped pretzels are always a popular item - our Halloween pretzels are sprinkled with pumpkin and bat quinns. I LOVE the way the Halloween colors pop on the chocolate.

Chocolate Dipped Sweets Dessert Tray for a Bar Mitzvah

We created these two dessert trays for a Bar Mitzvah celebration this past weekend. Two dozen chocolate marshmallow pops, 3 dozen chocolate dipped pretzels and 20 chocolate dipped oreos. Mixture of white, milk and dark chocolate and topped with rainbow sprinkles. We delivered these trays to Temple Kol Ami in Scottsdale.

Cupcakes for a school Halloween Carnival

My son's school held their annual Halloween Carnival on Saturday and Simply Sweets donated 13 dozen Halloween cupcakes for the food court joining other parent owned businesses including Honey Bear's BBQ and Lux Coffeebar. We created several different designs for the event:

• Mummy Cupcakes
• Blood Shot Eveball Cupcakes
• Candy Corn Cupcakes
• Green and Purple Halloween themed - bats, witches, tombstones, skeleton skull, ghost, pumpkin
• Black, orange and white Sassy Circle Cupcakes - our most popular design done up for Halloween
• Green and Purple Spider Cupcakes

Last Chance To Order Simply Sweets Halloween Treats

Have you ordered your Simply Sweets' Halloween Treats yet? Or how about a custom Halloween cake? There's still time! And don't forget to add an order of our Candy Corn Bark - this popular confection is only available through October 31st and then it goes away...

We've gone PINK!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, our Simply Sweets blog has gone pink!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we've created a variety of pink ribbon treats for you to enjoy. 30% of sales will be donated to the Phoenix affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Treat your friends, family, coworkers or yourself and support a great cause! Contact us today to place your order - orders should be placed at least 2 days in advance. Pickup or delivery is available (delivery rate starts at $10). Pink Ribbon treats are available through October 31st.

Pink Ribbon Cupcakes - cupcakes iced with American buttercream, fondant pink ribbons and pink non-perils. Choice of white sourcream, double chocolate sourcream, or lemon poppyseed. $42/Gift box with 1 dozen cupcakes, $21/gift box with 6 cupcakes, $14/Gift box with 4 cupcakes.

Pink Ribbon Chocolate Dipped Oreos - Oreo dipped in chocolate and topped with a white chocolate (tinted pink) pink ribbon. Choice of dark, milk or white chocolate. Wrapped in a bag and tied with a ribbon. $3.00/each

Pink Ribbon Chocolate Dipped Graham Crackers - Graham cracker dipped in chocolate and topped with a white chocolate (tinted pink) pink ribbon. Choice of dark, milk or white chocolate. Wrapped in a bag and tied with a ribbon. $3.00/each.

Pink Ribbon Chocolate Dipped Fortune Cookies - Fortune cookie dipped in chocolate and topped with pink ribbon sprinkles. Choice of dark, milk or white chocolate. Wrapped in a bag and tied with a ribbon. $1.50/each. $12/take-out box filled with 8 fortune cookies.

Pink Ribbon Chocolate Sucker - White chocolate (tinted pink) ribbon shaped sucker. $2.50/each

Pink Ribbon Chocolate Dipped Pretzels - Pretzel dipped in chocolate and topped with pink ribbon sprinkles. Choice of dark, milk or white chocolate. Wrapped in a bag and tied with a ribbon. $1.50/each or $18/bag of 12.

Pink Ribbon Chocolate Bark - White chocolate bark with pieces of oreos and sprinkled with pink ribbon sprinkles. 1/2 pound of candy comes in a take-out box tied with a pink ribbon bow. $8.50

Other Great Businesses Supporting the Cause

Warrior Princess Wear
Warrier Princess Wear is a business started by an inspiring woman, Debbie Harward, who I met through Girlfriend's Biz Alliance. For the month of October and November all shipping is free! As always, one dollar from every item purchased goes to benefit Bosom Buddies of AZ. Please visit her 2 online shops: Warrier Princess Wear ebay shop and Warrier Princess Wear etsy shop. My favorite are the pink camo baseball caps!


Urban Kidz
Urban Kidz has limited edition "Peace, Love, and Cure" tanks for moms and their daughters. The price is $48 each and 25% of the proceeds go breast cancer research.


Design Her Gals
Create your own gal on stationary with Design Her Gals and a portion of sales from every order goes to the Gal to Gal Foundation which supports stage IV Breast Cancer Patients.


Camille Love Designs
Camille Love Designs is donating 100% of profits from the sales of any 4 x 6 Breast Cancer Survivor photo frames during the month of October.

Emily Sampson Rodgers Golf Classic 2009

A few weeks ago we created a tie die cupcake tower for the Emily Sampson Rodgers Golf Classic held at the Vistancia Golf Course. The event is a fund raiser for breast cancer research and this is the second year we have participated as a sponsor. This years theme was a groovy gold glassic celebrating the 60s, the year Emily was born. The golfers were all wearing tie die tshirts and hats and the room was decorated with lava lamps. The cupcakes were airbrushed with a tie die pattern and topped with peace, love and pink ribbons.

Last year's golf ball cupcake tower:

Cakery

We recently received our new license plate and wanted to share it with those of you who haven't spotted us yet driving around town. Cakery - I think it describes our business well, at least when you are limited to 8 letters and numbers.

Our car decal was done by Quote the Walls, a local web-based business. If you own your business, you should order a car decal - its great advertising if you do as much driving as I do.

Remember, Simply Sweets delivers to all parts of the Valley - delivery starts at $10 and price is based on the delivery address. Especially popular is our surprise birthday and thank-you deliveries to offices with a gift box of cupcakes or a gift basket of chocolates - please place your orders ahead of time.

Happy 4th Birthday Brooke {Princess Tiara Birthday Cake}

We created this very girly princess tiara cake for Brooke's 4th birthday Princess Tea Party - cake iced with light pink buttercream frosting, bright pink diamond design with pearls, pink princess tiara with her name done in a very girly curlz font and the finishing touch with the ckae board wrapped in a hot pink feather boa! We've been creating Brooke and her brother's birthday cakes for a few years now and its always exciting to hear about their next birthday party - their mom plans the best themed parties! You can see more details on the party on their family blog.

This cake was inspired by some past tiara cakes:

Brooke's 3rd Birthday Cake - Little Mermaid themed Swim Party

Calfiornia Cake Camp 2009 - Las Vegas, NV

We had a great weekend in Las Vegas for Cake Camp. What is Cake Camp? Its hosted by the California Cake Club and its 3 days of classes taught by instructors who travel from all over for this great event. There's also a vendor area so its always a great way to stock up on some of the latest new cake gadgets. Its inspriing to spend 3 days with other bakery owners, cake decorators and hobbyists. Even though its hosted by the California Cake Club, the last 3 camps have been held in Las Vegas, NV at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. This was my 4th year attending camp.

I took many great classes from some great instructors many of whom you may recognize from cake challenges on Food Network and TLC including Colette Peters, Marina Sousa, Norman Davis, Zane Berg, Becky Rink and Susan Carberry.

Vegas is such a unique town - I ventured out of the casino during a break to get a soda - where do you think I am???

Its McDonalds - only in Vegas. It was huge, very different from your typical shop, and they had free wi-fi.

I took a little side trip off the strip to visit a local Las Vegas manufacturer of amazing sugar craft supplies - Chef Rubber. They create molds, supplies, and ingredients to many of the top sugar and chocolate artists. Their shop is amazing - shelves and shelves of amazing colors, dusts, pearls, molds, cutters and so much more. I brought back some dragees, pearl and disco dusts and a variety of airbrush colors - can't wait to get in the shop to play with these!

The drive back to Phoenix always takes longer because of the traffic jam through Hoover Dam on a weekend. It looks like they're building a bridge to go over the dam to help with traffic - hopefully this will be completed before my next drive to Las Vegas in 2011!

We're back in Phoenix and very busy with baby showers and other celebrations. We're also getting ready for a great October with Halloween treats and some special pink ribbon treats to raise money for Komen for the Cure.

We're off to Las Vegas for Cake Camp!!!!

Simply Sweets is currently closed this week so that we can attend Cake Camp in Las Vegas, NV. This great event put on by the California Cake Club is 3 days of classes taught by top instructors from around the world. This is my 4th Cake Camp that I've attended and I always come home with some great techinques and some of the latest cake toys.

We will reopen Tuesday, September 22. If you would like to place orders for upcomings weekends, please send us an email and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

To follow our weekend at Camp Camp, http://twitter.com/simplysweets and become a Simply Sweets fan on Facebook

Blue and Ivory Baptism Cake

This cake was created for Lucas' baptism celebration. The cake is covered in a diamond pattern with small pearls, fondant cross on top, ribbon roses and pearls dotting the cake board.

The cake design elements were inspired by 2 completey different cakes - 4th birthday princess and a 75th birthday cake:

We also created Lucas' welcome baby cake earlier this year:

Happy 3rd Birthday Erica!

pink and green girly 3rd birthday cake, originally uploaded by Simply Sweets.

This was a special cake because one of the first cakes we did when we first opened was Erica's first birthday cake and we've done all of her birthday cake since! Its exciting to watch the kids grow up and see how their interests change. First year was a princess castle cake, second birthday was a Dora themed celebration and this year Fancy Nancy. They requested an extra girly cake in lime green and several shade of pink. The boa is a great extra touch. This cake was even brighter in person. They ordered cupcakes for the birthday outing to Scottsdale Fashion Square and a cake for the family party later that evening.

2nd Birthday:

1st Birthday:

purple and silver cupcakes for FemC launch

purple and silver cupcakes for FemC launch, originally uploaded by Simply Sweets.

These cupcakes were ordered for a lunchean to celebrate the launch of Fempreneur Connections, a networking group based in Scottsdale for women entrepreneurs. The event was held at Redendo's Pizzeria in North Scottsdale. The colors purple and silver were selected to coordinate with the logo colors.

Pink and Purple First Birthday Cupcake Tower

This cupcake tower was created for a first birthday celebration as was designed to coordinate with the Girl's First Birthday Cupcake Partyware. The topper is a jumbo cupcake which will be the smash cake for Bali. Cupcakes were iced in light pink and purple and topped with dots. This tower was delivered to a condo complex in Desert Ridge where the party was hosted at the community center.

We're featured over at Cupcake Takes the Cake

Tie dye and peace signs cupcakes, originally uploaded by Simply Sweets.

We're featured over at the Cupcake Takes the Cake blog again - this time its our Tie Dye Cupcakes! These were fun to do and we've gotten calls from all over the US asking if we ship these (we don't). Later this fall we will be recreating these for a charity event - stay tuned...

Winery inspired wedding cupcake tower

Winery inspired wedding cupcake tower, originally uploaded by Simply Sweets.

Our bride from the winery inspired cupcake tower recently sent us some professional wedding photos of the cupcake tower display from their wedding reception held at Su Vino Winery in Scottsdale.

This cake was created for an 85th birthday celebration for a man who had a jewelry business handcrafting bola ties and other locally inspired jewelry. They wanted a desert scene but no blue icing (grandpa doesn't believe that food should be colored blue) so we went with desert sunset colors of greens, reds, purples and golden yellows with moutains, saguaro cactus, rustic fences and even a small snake. The cake was topped with an 80 surrounded by a fondant replica of one of his favorite bola ties that he created.

This party was also celebrating an uncle's 50th birthday so we made chocolate dipped oreos topped with a cowboy hat and tied with raffia for a more rustic look.

Inspiration bola tie:

45th Birthday Cake with 45 Candles

black and gray 45th birthday with 45 candles, originally uploaded by Simply Sweets.

This cake was ordered as a surprise for a man celebrating his 45th birthday. His wife really wanted to wow him by having 45 candles on the cake. This was a huge 14 inch round cake. The cake was done in gray and black with stripes and topped with confetti spirals. We delivered this cake to Camarones Mexican Cantina in Glendale.

customer feedback:
Just wanted to let you know the cake was a hit! Tim was totally surprised which was really fun and about 70 people all had a piece with rave reviews. They wanted to know where we got it so Tim is giving your contact info to the entire club. Thanks again - we love it! The cake was beautiful and yummy! Thanks! Deb B

Pink and Brown Jungle themed Baby Shower

This cake was made to coordinate with the baby shower colors of hot pink and brown and an elephant and lion to coordinate with the baby's jungle themed nursury. This baby shower cake was topped with our very popular hand molded sugar shoes.

Jungle themed new baby cake

Another version of our popular jungle themed baby shower cakes. This one was to celebrate the arrival of baby Lucas - we were orginally going to do a baby shower cake for Baby Lucas but he has other plans and the shower had to be post poned. This cake was done in blue and green with a giraffe, elephant and monkey.

3 Shaped Race Track Cupcake Cake

This 3 shaped race track cupcake cake was created for a Speed Racer themed 3rd Birthday Celebration. This cupcake cake was made with half white sourcream and half double chocolate sourcream cupcakes. My son was invited to this celebration and he had a blast - all the kids were asked to bring bikes or scooters and they had a race. Then there was a round where hte parents used the kids bikes - this was quite challenging.

This cake was inspired by the 3 Shaped Road Construction Cupcake Cake

Dinosaur Race Car Themed Cupcake Cake

Some kids just can't make up their mind for their party theme and this boy decided he wanted both dinosaurs and race cars. So we decided the center of the cupcake cake with an area for dinosaurs to roam with a race car on the outer part of the cake. The mom placed dinosaur figurines and race cars on the cake after we delivered it.

This cupcake cake was inspired by the race track cupcake cake that we have done several times.