Treat Making & Jess' Bridal Shower

Last weekend was Jess' bridal shower. My grandpa and grandma Ellen were so nice and let us use their condo in Orem to entertain all of Jess' many friends. Carrie, Torrie, Karolyn, and Julianne were super sweet to help...oh and Jess too...silly girl.

the invitations (with personal information removed of course)

My job was to bring dessert and provide some kind of entertainment. For dessert I decided to make caramel and chocolate covered pretzels and mini cupcakes in a chocolate shell. Easier said than done...so so much easier (and so so much more fun). Let me explain.

After running errands all day and enjoying some Cafe Rio with Jess, we started making our desserts around 9. That would be the first mistake.

My job...pouring the melted chocolate into the mini cupcake wrappers so the chocolate cooled in the shape of the wrapper.

This job wasn't too hard at the beginning...it just took a while.

Jess' job...dipping pretzels into the caramel and letting them cool.

This was working really well at the beginning...and she may have even enjoyed it for a while haha

Then the mistakes started. The caramel we were using didn't have directions on how to melt it...so we just did it in the microwave. Bad, bad idea. First...the microwave was often opened to reveal this...

...and then, once the caramel cooled on the pretzels it was ridiculously hard and brittle. But we didn't figure that out until we dipped all of the pretzels. Yes...all 30+ of them. So...around 11 (yes...in the p.m.) we went to the grocery store for more caramel (the good kind this time) and more pretzels so we could start all over.

Then...I started having issues peeling the paper off of the chocolate wrappers. We had many half formed ones...but luckily these could be remelted and used again...it just took more time.

This stuff tastes super good too so I didn't mind eating the mistakes...until there were too many mistakes to eat.

Around 12 I started actually baking the cupcakes.

This is why you don't bake after midnight.

Jess and I were so hyper all night. It was one of those moments when you are so tired everything is funny. So even though we were seriously struggling, we were having a blast.

Laughing so hard about our mistakes...me with a broken chocolate shell and Jess with a caramel explosion. I think we were both crying we were laughing so hard.

The nasty caramel pretzels we wasted a few hours on. I hope the trashcan enjoyed these.

So...back to leaving for the store. Picture this...Friday night, two overly tired and ridiculously hyper girls shopping for caramel and pretzels at 11:00. It was one of my favorite shopping trips ever.

Caramel!! haha

Super random checkout...especially considering the time of night. The cashier though we were real strange.

We got back from the store, melted the caramel on the stove (with some water) and started dipping again. This time it worked beautifully.

Look how nice that caramel looks! And it was super chewy and delicious.

After the caramel was all done we started dipping the pretzels in the same chocolate I had been using for the cupcake wrappers. New problem...the chocolate took forever to harden. By this time is was 2 in the morning and we were dipping pretzels and then holding them for a few minutes each while they cooled. If we set them down too soon all of the chocolate would slip off the caramel. We got super tired of this at the end so the last few looked horrible. But take our word for it...they all tasted so freakin good!

The final product. They weren't a whole lot to look at...but boy were they good.

While this was going on I was still taking the paper off the chocolate wrappers.

Eventually I got them done...and they looked pretty good if I do say so myself. (oh except for the two I forgot to take the wrapper off of...luckily Jess ate those two...and half of the paper that went with them. Sorry)

The cupcakes turned out well. After that we were way too tired to do anything. We saved the icing making for the morning.

The final cupcake product. Yellow cake...chocolate frosting and white chocolate wrapper. Again...not super pretty but super delicious.

By the time we were done it was 3. Yes...3 in the morning.

By the end...our kitchen looked like this. Unfortunately, by Sunday it looked even worse than this. But this was pretty bad.

So on Saturday I went for a run with Carrie and Kylie (they are also doing the half marathon on Saturday), raced home to get ready and make icing, and rushed everything over to Orem to set up for the shower. Before I knew it more food arrived, people were showing up and the party had started. Confession...I forgot to take pictures! I know, I know...epic fail! We did get two pictures of Jess with her friends.

Jess and some of the girls that go to her school.

Ally, Jess, and Ashley...Jess' friends from California a long time ago but both of our good friends now.

After having a delicious lunch with sandwiches and salad (thanks Carrie!), fruit (thanks Torrie!), chips, a fun drink (thanks Julianne!) and dessert...all on plates with cups and utensils (thanks Karolyn!) we got to some games.

First, we quizzed the girls on how well they knew Jess and Ryan. Out of 20 questions Julianne and Karolyn tied for getting the most correct. Congrats girls!

Then...we checked up on how well Jess and Ryan know each other. I had asked Ryan some questions beforehand about Jess and their relationship. I asked Jess the same questions and...if she got the same answer Ryan did...she got a prize. We found out that Ryan and Jess know each other super well...they are a perfect match!

After that we all had fun watching Jess open her cute gifts. All of that combined with visiting with great friends made for a perfect afternoon.

Thanks to everyone who helped and to everyone who came and celebrated with us! Congrats Jess! I love you and am so excited for this new adventure in your life.