Hoe Down & Bake-Off

This week was our big "Hoe Down" put on by our church, Rock Harbor Mission Viejo. Honestly, I'm so blessed to be a part of such a fun community of believers who truly love as Jesus loved. The Hoe Down was a time to gather as a community, invite family and friends and just have a lot of fun. We had pulled pork sandwiches, slaw, baked beans, and good ole fashioned cornbread. I did a little face painting for the ga-jillion kids who go to our church. There were sack races, a bake-off, and they even had a "caller" who taught us how to square dance. Of course, I jumped right in with Bailey asleep in the Ergo like a little kangaroo. Who says you can't doe-see-doe with a 12 week old? Seriously, it was so much fun. 

One of the biggest reasons I was anticipating this particular event was because I entered the bake-off with my maple bacon salted caramel cupcakes. I fully expected to win. I pulled out a chair to sit when they started to announce the bake-off finalists. So, naturally, I slid my chair back in ready to go up and claim my prize. Of course I was going to win.. Did they call my name? No. I was shocked. I made a brown sugar cupcake filled with salted caramel, topped with maple swiss buttercream, BACON and a hard candy caramel halo and it didn't even place? What more does a baker have to do? Turns out they forgot to taste my cupcake. I'm pretty sure God was trying to humble me. 

Anyway, I thought I'd share my cupcake recipe with you. It was a HUGE hit, even though it didn't win.