"Betty Crocker's Light Golden Cake"
and then decided not to use the convection setting on the oven because it was already hot in the kitchen.
BIG MISTAKE.
So THEN we salvaged as much as we could... :)
Tossed the dark bottoms to Libby-the-Poodle...
And crushed the remaining cupcakes into crumbs.
I had Casey make butter icing:
1 cup soft butter
4 cups confectioners (powdered sugar)
3 teaspoons almond or vanilla (she used almond, I love this girl!!!)
1/4 cup milk
Mix butter and sugar on low, add milk and flavoring, whip on high for at least five minutes.
Add frosting to crushed/crumbled cake in bowl, just enough to be able to shape the cake/frosting mix into balls.
Now came the fun part:
We took three bowls and divided up the crumbled mix.
I added 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam to one
I added 1/3 cup caramel sauce to the other.
I added 1/3 cup white chocolate chips to the third bowl of mix.
We formed each bowl into fifty-cent size balls, about an inch in diameter. But the size doesn't really matter, because now you're going to dip 'em.
We melted white chocolate chips in one bowl over hot water...
And dark chocolate Ghirardelli over the other pan of hot water.
And then we rolled those bad boys in various chocolates to see which would be crowd-pleasing faves.
OH MY STARS!!!!
Casey and I made so many people happy yesterday.
It was MANIC how happy they were!!!
:)
These are raspberry/vanilla filled:
These are caramel cake filled:
And these are white cake/frosting/white chips filled:
We turned our lemons into lemonade. We turned bad cupcakes into SERIOUS good eats!!!
We saw the glass as half full.
We...
Well...
You get it!!!!
And then there's this, which is pretty exciting and I have to share it:
This is the cover for my first independent book release,
Try, Try Again....
I LOVE IT!!!
I'M HAPPY DANCING IN UPSTATE!!!
I LOVE THIS STORY... And some folks worried a "reunion" story wouldn't sell...
But guess what's HOT right now???
SMILING!!!!
Reunion stories...
I love reunion stories. I love second chances... New beginnings.... old love, rediscovered...
SUHWEEEEET!.
I'm so excited. I could barely type this, because I'm that excited... to have this wonderful book set in New York City take a place on my kindle shelf next to all my beautiful Love Inspired books...
I'M DAZZLED!!!!
To have two more Kirkwood Lake books coming out this year.... SMILE!!!!
To have a beautiful Christmas historical coming out with Summerside Press in October.... SMILE!!!
And two independently published Ruthy-books about to hit the shelves....
COLOR ME HAPPY!!!!!!
And then there's this:
And then this:
Reasons to smile at Ruthy's?????
Too many to count, LOL!
I'm hungry! congrats on the books- looked for the ebook but guess they're not listing them yet. bummer. I have to do pre-order or add to wishlist or I forget :-(
ReplyDeleteSusanna
I'll post it here and on facebook when it comes out, Susanna! And it's such a fun story of redemption and second chances. I love it!
Deleteok - I need to check facebook - haven't seen any posts from you and I'm pretty sure I have you on my 'like'. sometimes I see a post from Missy. Guess I need to find who else is on there!
DeleteSusanna
cant wait to see when it comes out.
ReplyDeleteME, EITHER!!!! And I'll give it away free for the first days, so get it FREE and do not be afraid that I'm insulted by that. It's a cool deal and then you can tell me what you think.
DeleteI love this book....darlings.... but don't let that SWAY YOUR REVIEWS/COMMENTS, LOL!
Fabulous, just fabulous. So glad you are branching out. And I like the term independent, rather than self-pubbed. It suits your personality better. AND mine!
ReplyDeletePeace, Julie
Hahahahaha!
DeleteMary-of-many-names put me on to that, and I like it better too... to be indie-published just means it didn't quite fit what traditional publishing is looking for at that moment, on that desk... So why wither in mothballs, right?
And this one got so close to ABA publishing, but didn't make it to the final blue ribbon race... So now we'll launch it on its own and you'll see how Ruthy handles the BIG APPLE!!! :)
Congratulations!! Can't wait to read these stories coming out!
ReplyDeleteSally, thank you!!! Here. Have a cake ball. :)
DeleteCongratulations!! Can't wait to read these stories coming out!
ReplyDeleteYou are always full of surprises, Ruthy! From baking near disasters to independent publishing. Curiosity is killing
ReplyDeleteme...why does a published author want to self-publish? It seems to becoming quite a trend.
Like Susannah, I zipped over to amazon and didn't find the book. You are such a tease!!!!!!
And I appreciate the gratuitous cute two-legger and four-legger pics this morning. They made me smile. :-)
I like it when an author self-publishes- there's one author I startd reading(not christian but romance) and she was picked up by a publisher after self-publishing and fans are already worried the publisher will edit her too much and change her style too much. apparently she's still self-publishing on smashwords and amazon and I think b&n but not sure about there. I think self publishing gives me leeway and freedom but that's just my opinion..hoping it means more books LOL!
DeleteSusanna
oops I think the author I mentioned only selfpublishes in ebook format- dont think she does print books herself...a publisher took some of her ebooks and put them in print seems like...
DeleteSusanna
Susanna, that's happening more and more often....
DeleteKav, in my case these are both inspirationals that won contests and awards and didn't quite fit the lines.... So it's either wait for someone to notice that they're good.... And I'm not gettin' younger, Sistah!!!!
Or take the reins and do it myself. They're different from my LI books, but only because of content, still sweet, inspirational reads.
So it will be wonderful to see if folks embrace them. Our God is the God of second chances!!! It says so on Veggie Tales!!!!
Will it only be available as an e-book? Drat, I don't have any type of electronic devise and don't see one in my future, expenses being what they are. Too bad. Hope it is a roaring success for you. Judy Sheridan Smith
ReplyDeleteJudy, I'm doing it as a print book as well but I'm not sure what the price will be... I'll know more in a week or so and I'll post it and chat with you guys about it. It's so much fun to be dabbling in new water... droppin' a line with some new bait... and with such a good story!!!!
DeleteOh, I love this! All of it. I'm so happy for you, Ruthy. And I LOVE that cover. So beautiful. Ruthy, you quickly becoming my hero. And my family's hero, once I present them with these cake balls :D
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha!!!! They will love the cake balls... I took some to our friend's house tonight to watch the parade through town, the annual fireman's carnival. SO FUN!!!! And I gave out a few cake balls to random folks in the crowd and a couple to my former classmates gathering for our class reunion... I bribed them to like me!!!! It worked!
DeleteI love that cover, too. I hired Kim Killion and the Killion Group to do the cover because she'd done such beautiful ones for Mary Virginia and Cheryl St. John... I love that Kim and her crew will work with you to emote what you want/need on the cover... and I fell in love with it!
Love it, Ruthy, just love it. From cake balls to kids to puppies, and now to indie publishing...you're inspiring :)
ReplyDeleteAnd now I'm VERY hungry. And I'm not scrolling back up to look at the pictures again until I've eaten a healthy breakfast!!!
Oh, healthy breakfast!!! 'Sup wi dat??????
Delete:)
This will be a very fun venture and I'll keep youse informed as I go along. I'm having the time of my life!
Congrats on your success Ruthy! The cake balls are a wonderful metaphor for your first independent release as well. I love the cover and I am looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDeletePiper, it's so fun!!!! Well, if death and divorce and possible suicide and separation and anger management issues can be called FUN!!!
DeleteIt's all in the spin, right?????
BIG GRIN.
The thought of two hearts re-finding each other... well, it makes my heart happy!
Love this, Ruthy!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love Indie publishing. I'm so happy to see prolific writers find a space to share all their work. More fun for readers.
The cake balls look great too. I'm a big fan of turning disasters into something beautiful.
Mary Curry you clever girl, you! Yes on both counts.! Huge success with the bad cupcakes... and you hit the nail on the head: It gives authors a chance to put things out that are a little off the beaten path. And this way, no one takes a chance on losing anything except me and Dave.... and that's okay.
DeleteBut I will be amazed if folks don't just love this book because it's fun/hip/snarky and realistic...Did I mention fun??? After the death/divorce/anger stuff.... :)
Oh. My. Yum. What? Gimme!
ReplyDeleteThose pictures.. I'm speechless. Raspberry filled?? No wonder people were freaking out!! I'm clawing the screen! GIMME!
And I always say self-publishing. I think indie is for small publishers who aren't big six, but I see how it sounds cooler. I mean, if it's published by the author it's... self-published. Published by another publisher, however small, it's indie.
But then again, I very popular book called 'Low Country Boil' that was a huge sleeper hit this year was published by a small press. I called it 'indie' someone said, 'NO, that's for those self-publishers! This was traditional!"
Wikipedia agrees with me, but what do they know.
Terms, labels, it's all in flux.
What's real is the BOOOK! Can't wait!
And this sounds like Jessica Nelson's new book called 'Remember Love' that's a second chance book and the child has died.
Come on in, the water's fine!
EXACTLY!!!!!!
DeleteI don't care what we call it, as long as the options are open to me to have fun... get it out there... and let folks read Conor's and Alicia's story....
I love the Big Apple, so to have two books out with NYC settings this fall is WONDERFUL!!!!!!
Here's a cake ball, honey!!!
Yay, Ruthy!! Cake balls and new books and children...and dogs eating cake. LOVE IT!! :)
ReplyDeleteLibby is always grateful for KITCHEN: FAIL!!!!!
DeleteI'm embarrassed to say that for years I thought 'indie' meant from India- couldn't figure out why everyone on the forum was into 'Indie' or India movies then books! thought those Indians must be pretty hot or something LOL! finally looked it up...
ReplyDeleteSusanna
Susanna, don't you find that every biz has it's own lingo now? Medical... educational.... political... publishing.... contracting....
DeleteIt's all English, but English-specific. So weird!!!! Now you know. I think of it as indie because I'm publishing it independently of anyone else....
But whatever we call it, it's a fun ride! I can't wait for you to read it and tell me what you think! Um.... as long as you kind of like it, of course!!!
:)
hmm what if i don't like it?! LOL! I'm not wild about long sepearation stories - they're almost up there with hidden baby themes(though I have to say you threw every 'throw against the wall' theme in that first book of this series you'er doing now yet I liked it which is saying a LOT!)but another fave autobuy author has done this to me 3x and the last book I still haven't wanted to finish because of the theme :-( sniff... I think it bugs me because the woman left for college or because she ws so young and the hero held it against her for 10 yrs or more - not many of us know what we want out of life at 18 - well maybe I did but it's not what I'd choose now ya know?! yours sounds like it'll be a good one though I've put kleenex on my walmart list...
DeleteI think it's just the word "indy" - had no idea what it meant and assumed it meant from India...
Susanna
Susanna, I agree with you. If a story doesn't have reason enough to keep folks apart...
Deleteor if it seems contrived....
Then I put it down. I think the first story like this that truly grabbed me was Karen White's "Falling Home" a book I've just LOVED forever. The heroine comes back after her self-imposed hiatus and I love how Karen handled her new immersion into the life she'd left so long ago... And I thought to myself: "That's how it should be done!!!!" Because it was organic, it made sense, there was no misunderstanding that could be cleared up by a five minute convo about he said/she said... I love human emotion... I love the openings it brings and the challenges!!! We are volatile creatures! Let me know what you think when it comes out... I'm new at this but I think it will be formatted and ready to upload before the end of August... that's my goal. But I wanted you guys to see the cover and I'll probably annoy you with my new books for the next month and then.. Oh, wait, then there's another new book, LOL!!! So fun!!!!!
can't wait! love inspired makes us wait too long!
DeleteSusanna
I'm here... again.... and as much as I love the cake balls... I'm checking the date and trying to figure out if it's still Thursday, or if we never had anybody on Friday... I'm probably just confused.
ReplyDeleteI need COFFEE and we're out!! How can I go get coffee when we're out? I need it to get dressed and be presentable and park the car without running over everything in my path.
*sigh*