Wilton Treat Pops Review

I love to cook and bake. One of my favorite things to make is cupcakes. It's also one of my favorite things to eat. So, when I had the opportunity to work with Wilton, I was extremely excited. Wilton is the

Crème de la crème of cake decorating and candy making supply companies. I have been buying Wilton products for years. They wanted me to share with you some of their really awesome products. I received the Treat Pops, which is really cool because I love the sherbet treats that these were inspired from.  I love that it is so much easier to eat, especially for my six year old.  We can make whatever cake we would like and any icing flavor. I love that these are reusable. It reminds me of my Grandma Rose, because she would reuse anything she could. It makes the Treat Pops more fun because you can have countless treats in them.  I also received the Mini Whoopie Pie Baking Pan. When I first heard of Treat Pops, I was kind of curious how the cake would fit.  I wasn’t sure if you were supposed to crumble the cake up. I know that would make a messy presentation and possibly a messy treat, I was excited to learn that they have a pan for that. Wilton really thinks of everything.   You could also use the pan to make mini whoopee pies.  I don’t think I have ever had whoopie pies, which will be my next baking venture.  Another product I tried out was the Treat Pops Decorating Set.  I have a love/hate relationship with icing, when it comes to decorating.  I am happy to report that the Treat Pops Decorating Kit was so easy to use. I actually had fun doing the icing and it turned out nicely. I think it is because you get bigger tips.  Bigger tips are easier for me to use. The tops of my treat pops actually looked professionally done.  

Making Treat Pops are really easy. I used boxed cake mix. Now you get a lot of extra cake batter so either have extra Treat Pops available or come up with a dessert for the leftovers. I refuse to throw away cake batter.   My original plan was to make Treat Pops for our weekly play date, but then I realized there are a lot of kids involved.  There are a least twelve kids, not including parents.  I also knew that I would be worried that someone would throw away one of the Treat Pop containers away in the park trash can.  I decided that I would just make six Treat Pops, since that is a lot of Treat Pops for just me and Noah. I ended up using the rest of the cake batter and frosting to make cupcakes for our play date. It ended up making the exact number I needed.

 I filled up the Mini Whoopie Pie Baking Pan per Wilton’s instructions with a Tablespoon of batter in each, and then baked them until they were done. I started with 9 minutes and added more time until done. I didn’t want them to burn.  When they were cool I added coloring to my icing and then filled the pastry bag with the long tip in the Treat Pops Decorating Set.  I put a cake in the bottom and then began layering with icing. The top of the Treat Pop container doubles as a stand which is really helpful when you are filling them.  You have to be careful that you don’t push it up though.  I finally topped with a big swirl of icing and used some sprinkles.   These are so good. They are also portable and really fun to eat. Noah was so excited to try Treat Pops.  They are the perfect blend of cake and icing. I know my best friend who loves icing would love these, especially because you can control how much icing you put in them. You can also use fruit. I think gelatin and cream would even be good in a Treat Pop. 

Have you tried Treat Pops? What flavors would sound good to you?

Thank you to Wilton for providing me the items in this post for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Noah Loves to Wear Hats

Noah has always worn lots of hats. He received a couple knitted baby hats at the hospital when he was born. It is really important to keep a baby’s head warm. A lot of heat escapes from your head. I thought that he looked adorable in hats, so I kept buying different ones.  I would get him holiday baby hats. My favorite was his Santa hat for his first Christmas. He even had a first Easter hat because it had bunny ears. He had little baby baseball caps too. I really like to send hats as a gift to newborns. All newborns look so precious in hats.  I am waiting for some of my pregnant friends to give birth so I can buy baby hats for them from Babski Baby.  My Grandpa always wore a hat.  He had a huge hat collection. It was fun when Noah was a baby to put my grandpa’s hats on him. Of course they were huge but it most of the time my Grandpa had a hat on. He would never wear one to church or out to a nice restaurant.  Noah’s middle name is the same as his first name. It is a great way to pass down his memory to my son.

He has had many hats so far and I don’t expect it to change anytime soon. He took over my only hat and made it his own. It has a seven on it. He doesn’t wear it too often. He prefers his team hats.  He has all kinds of them. His uncle Mike likes to give him hats.  The last time they were here he received a couple new hats.  Noah looks really handsome in them. It’s funny because he won’t wear them backwards. When I wear a hat I wear them backwards because I think they look better. Not Noah, if you put a hat on him backwards. He will automatically switch it around.  I am not quite sure why he does it though.  I think he was told it should only be worn with the bill in the front.  It was probably my mom who told him.  I am sure some day he will think wearing his hat backwards is cool.  I am sure his hat collection will grow a lot in the next few years.

Do your children wear hats?

10 Things I've Learned About Parenting By Watching Star Wars

Like most kids growing up in the '70s and '80s, my childhood revolved around Star Wars. That magical little trilogy was just the greatest thing ever invented next to snow days. Now that I'm grown and have kids of my own, I've had the sheer pleasure of reliving it all through their eyes. (As well as reliving the nightmare that is the Prequels.)

Now if you're a parent and you haven't seen Star Wars, well, what's wrong with you? Stop reading right this second, go rent Episodes IV - VI and watch them. Then we'll talk. For all you other folks, whether your kids are old enough to watch it or not, I've realized something pretty magical about that Galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars is a great teacher.

Not about war preparation or special effects or crazy alien languages. Uh uh. Star Wars is a wonderful resource for parents. There are a slew of powerful life lessons you can grasp from the movies to help shape your younglings' lives. I've compiled a list of the 10 most important parenting lessons you can absorb from watching Star Wars. Some of these are great advice for parents to follow, some are great to pass on to your kids, and many apply to both.

Read on and, of course, May the Force be With You.

1. Choose your destiny. Even if you have incredibly lofty goals, like say ruling the entire galaxy with your son by your side, it's their life, not yours. You need to let your kids follow their own path. Don't "Force" them into what you want them to become.

2. Do or do not. There is no try. Okay, so maybe Yoda's advice doesn't really apply to things like potty training or trying to ride a bicycle, but the essence of his fortune cookie ramblings is that you shouldn't be wishy washy with things. Make a decision and stand by it. Either do it or don't. Don't try it, meaning you don't give it your full attention.

3. Han shot first. True Star Wars fans will completely agree with me on this one. For those wondering what the heck I'm talking about, in the original Star Wars, Han Solo shoots Greedo in the cantina and then escapes. In George Lucas' updated Special Edition of the film, he changed it so that Greedo shot first and then Han fired in self-defense. The lesson here is twofold. First, it's okay that sometimes "good guys" do bad things. Or "not so nice" things. And second, you do NOT mess with a classic movie.

4. Love your sister. (But not like that!) Family is everything. Even if you grew up on completely different planets and didn't know about each other's existence, family is important. You should be there for each other. Just be sure you know who your biological sister is before you accidentally start playing tonsil hockey with her, okay? Ewwww...

5. Everyone's family is dysfunctional. Whether your father is the Dark Lord of the Sith, your single mother was a slave on a desert planet, or you literally have thousands of identical clone brothers, it doesn't matter. Every family is dysfunctional, so don't for a minute think yours is any weirder than someone else's.

6. Bullies never win. They can hurt you mentally and physically. They can create a fully operational planet-sized weapon of mass destruction. Twice. But no matter what, in the end, bullies will always get what they deserve.

7. Ignore the Smells. Hopefully you'll never find yourself stuck in a frozen tundra somewhere with the only means to your survival resting on the warm guts inside of a large, furry beast. But even still, parenting has its fair share of "ickiness" that you just need to suck up and look past. From projectile poop to puke, there's plenty of grossness that'd make any sane human run for the hills. But just like in life, sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves, find some guts (preferably your own), and push on.

8. Teddy Bears have teeth. Always watch your back. Those cute adorable walking teddy bears may seem furry and harmless at first but they carry big sticks (and spears) and can do some serious damage if you're not careful. So never jump to quick conclusions about a person or situation without uncovering more details first.

9. Trust your instincts. All the data in the world and computerized targeting systems cannot replace human instinct. If you think you can hit the bullseye with your eyes closed, and you truly believe it and feel it, go with your gut. Same goes for any situation you just feel is wrong.

10. Let the Wookiee win. Pretty sound advice for anyone no matter their age.

 

Andrew Kardon is a daddy blogger over at Mommy's Busy, Go Ask Daddy, as well as a freelance writer. He regular contributes to Singlemommie.com where he dives into the super scary world of... parenting!