Old friends and cream puffs....

I met two long-time friends for lunch today. One friend I get together with every couple of months, and the other I haven't seen in at least 15 years - maybe more. We all used to attend the same church at one time. Lunch was at McKoy's Smokehouse and Saloon off Old Pineville Road. They have to-die-for macaroni and cheese. BBQ and some good conversation among old friends is like the perfect Saturday. 

I don't think either friend has had my cream puffs before, so last night I whipped up a small batch of 18. I gave each friend a polka-dot box of 5 cream puffs. The waitress managed to lift one from each box with her sweet personality and kindness, and she was willing to forfeit her tip for another. Wait....what? Now, that's a pretty good review right there! For the record, we weren't about to let her do that. Anyway, that left 8 cream puffs. 

I ate one as soon as I got home. So now we're down to 7 cream puffs. 

I sent a text message to three officers to see if they were working hoping I could pass off a box to them. One officer was off, one detective was off but on call, and one officer was home sick with strep throat. 

I had to go to the grocery store for a few things and pass a shopping center along the way that almost always has an off-duty officer in the middle of the parking lot, so on a whim, I fixed another polka-dot box and took it with me, and I was right. 

The officer rolled down his window as I pulled up and I introduced myself. I told him I was a volunteer with CMPD. I gave him my name and told him I was also The Cream Puff Lady. He was very nice. He smiled and said he would love a cream puff. He seemed pleased to finally get to try one, and that always makes me happy. He said, 'maybe another officer will pass by and I can share with them'. I said, I hope so, and with that, I wished him a good night.  

The two puffs diminished to one, and now there are none.  :)

♥

Daydreams and food trucks....

I've been thinkin' again.

When I found myself at a career crossroads in 2016, I had already promised a cream puff drop to the nice officers in the CMPD North Division. So two days after losing my job, I kept my promise and delivered two boxes of cream puffs.

It was nice walking in there, not rushed for a change. In a conversation with the kind lieutenant, I told him what happened and that I was enjoying my time off. With a cream puff in-hand, it didn't take the lieutenant long to say...."Miss Ann, I think you should start selling your cream puffs. You're sitting on a GOLD MINE!"

As lovely as that thought it is - and I think about it a lot - the regulations are very strict. For example....some people bake cakes at home and sell them for profit, but it's not that easy for my cream puffs.

According to the Dept. of Agriculture (weird that this would fall under their department), I cannot make cream puffs at home (for profit) and the first two reasons that nixed it for me were:

1. I have a pet - my darlin' Clementine. No pets allowed inside the home if you're making food for profit. At least that's the rule for NC.
2. The puffs must be refrigerated.

I'm sure there are many more reasons, but these were the first two road blocks.    

I haven't closed the door on this dream completely. I checked into renting a professional kitchen. The idea sounds easy enough, but it's expensive and the puff filling needs to chill overnight which means I would need a refrigerator (with a lock). I would have to leave the filling there in a strange, unattended refrigerator. That creates a whole other problem and, well, that's just not going to happen. I need a locked refrigerator if I can't keep my eye on it.

My other idea was to turn my garage into a kitchen. Now wouldn't that be amazing! It would be pet-free. No doubt an expensive investment just to make cream puffs.

My friends tell me all the time....'you need to open a bakery', which inspired this post. Not so much a bakery, because I want to concentrate on what I do well and what my friends behind the badge like most....and that's my Cream Puffs.  

What I envision is a mobile truck/trailer, bee-bopping around the city of Charlotte selling only cream puffs and coffee, and soft drinks. With retro signage that screams "The Cream Puff Lady!" 

With retirement five years on the horizon, it gives me some time to try to figure it all out.

Here are a few ideas that keep my dream alive. Each one has its own unique personality. I love them all!

'La CREPERIE de MARIONE' -- this adorable food camper resides in Barcelona. Click here.

1962 SANTE FE VINTAGE CAMPER converted into a super cute mobile food truck -- click here.

I love this, although the window doesn't seem very secure. Anyone who knows me knows that I am all about safety first!

I would need about 3 of these refrigerators.  :)

MARGUERITE du PRE is a cute little yogurt truck, somewhere in France.  Click here.

SWEET LUCIE'S ORGANIC ICE CREAM resides in Mar Vista, CA. This 1959 International Harvester Metro was a functioning ice cream truck for over 30 years in Los Angeles, CA. It was in a serious state of repair when Sweet Lucie's acquired it in 2009. After a four year restoration, it was brought back to it's original glory. Super cute, eh? I love the white-wall tires and the red rims. Click here.

Love the white wall tires and red rims.

COMBI COFFEE in Porto, Portugal. Click here.

CAROLINAS in Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil (a sweet shop)

I just LOVE this one! I could definitely see myself selling my cream puffs in this.
Enough room for coffee, and an adorable sign that reads....'The Cream Puff Lady'.

PINTEREST

♥

Happy Halloween....

I love this time of year. Halloween is the holiday kick-off from now until we ring in new year. I loved it as a little girl, and I still love it now. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here and gone before we know it. It all goes by so fast.

I put together this fun Halloween video with a few safety tips I found on the CDC website to help keep your festivities fun and safe, and I included a delicious recipe from a previous blog post. All of my friends - with and without a badge - just love them. See below or click here for the original post.

Happy Halloween!

. 

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 (3.4 oz) package Jello brand instant butterscotch pudding mix

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (optional...I did not use in mine)

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cup butter, room temperature (2 sticks)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
Paper cupcake liners
2 muffin tins (holds 12 cupcakes) * Recipe makes 24 cupcakes. I do not recommend halving the recipe, but make all 24. They will be eaten!  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin tins (12 ea) with 24 paper muffin/cupcake liners. 
• Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, and cloves in a bowl; set aside.
• Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color.  Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next.  Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg.  Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.  Place one paper liner in each muffin space. Pour the batter into paper cupcake liner. (see my notes below)
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes.  Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.  NOTE: I used a double-oven and put one tin in each oven.  If you have a single-oven,  I would probably bake one tin at a time.  I’m not sure how evenly it would cook w/ two tins in one oven, so use your own judgment there.
• After the cupcakes are completely cool, frost them with the cinnamon cream cheese icing.  

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing (Delicious!)

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

Beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer in a bowl until smooth.  Beat in the confectioners' sugar a little at a time until incorporated.  Add the vanilla and ground cinnamon.  Beat until fluffy.  NOTE: You may need to add a little more confectioners' sugar to thicken the icing.  Try it with 3 cups first, and then add more if you want the icing to be thicker, but not too much, as you don't want it so sweet it won't compliment the taste of the cupcake.  I did add a little more, but not much. Make sure the cupcakes are completely cool before icing them.

Notes:  

• The first time I made this, I panicked because after I stirred in the flour, the batter was VERY thick and was NOT ‘pourable’ as the instructions given to me called for.  I scooped the mixture out using a spoon. 
• The second time I made this, I used a scoop like this and it went much, MUCH faster.  I use this scoop for my cream puffs also and it is such a time saver.  The scoop size is a 2” circle. 
• If you use the scoop, put one scoop in each of the 24 cups, then go back with a spoon and evenly distribute the mixture until cups are ¾ filled.  Keep swirling the mixture around with a spoon to get the mixture to settle down. 
• You won't use all of mixture, so don't worry. 

I used a 16" pastry bag for the frosting and the Wilton tip #1M.

October 27, 2017 - Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Headquarters

I volunteered Friday night in the gift shop and set up my little treat table -- the first time in a long time. I thought it turned out cute. 

 ♥

It's not about the cream puffs....

My life is perfectly imperfect. How many times have I said that! I work hard. I have two jobs. I volunteer downtown with CMPD. I live in a 56-year-old house that is literally falling apart at the seams, and the saga of the unfinished wall in the den continues. Who knew finding someone to fix it would be so hard, time-consuming, and expensive.

But my worries are over, my hero handyman has arrived!

Thanks to my friend, Rachel, I finally found an awesome handyman. His name is Jerry. He put my new paneled wall up in lickity split time and did a great job. He's coming back on Monday to finish sanding, priming, and painting it. The thought of not seeing my ottoman in the kitchen and the TV in the middle of the room makes me want to cry. I'm so happy!

The last two years have forced me to slack off from cooking for my friends -- foot surgery in 2015 and losing my job in 2016. I have tried to stay in touch the last two years by my volunteer work and  delivering my cream puffs, and I did host a lunch and dinner last November, but there are so many new officers, I feel like a stranger most of the time.

About a month ago, there was a knock on my door and two officers were out front in their cute little police UTV. I'm not exactly sure what UTV stands for, but I think it's 'utility vehicle'. Their UTV seemed a little bigger than the one pictured here (theirs had a backseat). Anyway, they were patrolling the Greenway that is not far from my home and were returning from a meal break. It meant so much to me that they stopped by to say hello.

Then Friday morning, in the midst of all the house drama and repair stress, I hear the whistle on my phone alerting me that I have a text message. It was a message from one of the officers from a division across town, and it made me smile big.

It's like they understand.

So it's not about the meals; I'm not just the 'food truck'; and it's not about how many cream puffs I make.

It's about friendship...thank you, officers!  ♥
 

Worth the wait....

I made a cream puff delivery earlier this month to the sweet 3rd shift officers in the Westover Division. They moved to a beautiful new office last April, so I was happy to finally see where it was located and visit for a few minutes.  

When I left my house that night, I hadn't planned on asking for a picture, but when I walked into roll call with two boxes of cream puffs in hand, it just came out! I had met the nice sergeant a few weeks earlier, so I didn't feel as nervous as I do during some of my visits. The words came out before I could stop them! I said...."Could I get a picture? After seven years of serving you guys, it would mean so much to me to have a picture to look back on when I am an old lady and can no longer serve."

Truth be known, I have been feeling a little left out lately. I have seen numerous officer/citizen pictures on Facebook the past several years, and after seven years of serving my friends, I didn't have a picture of my own. Maybe that's how all the other citizens have gotten a picture...they just had to ask. I have never asked out of respect for the officer's privacy, but I wanted a picture before I got much older.  :) There is no better way to timestamp your life than a photograph.

They were happy to oblige and, as you can see, they made me very happy too. I smile big every time I look at it.  

This picture will have a special place in my home. If I can get 11 more pictures, I think I'll make myself a calendar, ha-ha.
Thank you Westover Division for making this old girl happy. ♥
  

Cream puff shenanigans....

I LOVE my officer visits when I deliver my cream puffs.

I LOVE the 30 minutes I get to spend with them before, during, and after roll call.

I LOVE the way they cut-up and tease one another, when I know in my heart each one would lay down their life to save the other.

There are 13 CMPD response area offices in Mecklenburg County and I have had the pleasure of visiting all but one.

Last Friday night, I delivered two boxes of cream puffs (30 puffs) to a division across town. It's funny how they're all different -- some officers will dig in before roll call (if time permits), but this division always waits until after. When roll call is over, they dig in.

When roll call finished and 2/3rd's of the puffs were gone, there were two officers eyeing one of the boxes with a worried look on their face. They were a little concerned that the cream puffs would be gone by the time their shift was over. 3rd shift starts at 8:30 pm, 2nd shift returns from their shift around 9:00 pm, and then there's 1st shift....well, they roll in around 6:30 am.

So what does any police officer do if they're extremely concerned all the cream puffs will be gone when their shift is over?   

They hide them, of course!    ♥                                                  
                                                                 

                                                                 

Frosting Cream Puffs....

A friend of mine has been wanting me to show her how I frost the cream puffs that I make for my police officers. She enjoys making mini-cupcakes for her grandchildren's classroom and thought this frosting effect would be a nice touch to her own treats.

So I told her I would make a video the next time I made cream puffs for my friends in blue if I could manage holding the camera phone in one hand and the frosting bag in the other, and I have to say, despite my head-cold, I think this turned out kind of cute.

Wilton Tip:  1M

I haven't made deviled eggs in eons, but I think using this technique for filling deviled eggs would make them really cute.  I would think it would make the filling process go by much faster too!

♥

#ourfavoritecreampufflady

Last Saturday night was my first night at the gift shop in about four weeks. It wasn't a planned break. Just too much going on at work. Depending on how my work week goes, sometimes I just can't muster up the energy to make cream puffs...and I can't go empty-handed now! My body was telling me to rest, so I did.

The cream puffs disappeared as fast as I
was putting them on the plate.  

Judging by the steady stream of Po-Po's and 911 communication staff who stopped by to visit and say hello, I think they missed me as much as I missed them. I arrived a little earlier than usual hoping to catch a few 2nd shifters and I did!

A few officers stopped by who I hadn't seen in a while. I loved the grin on their faces as they rounded the corner of the gift shop (holding a cream puff). It was almost as if they were trying to surprise me. Well, they did! I was so happy to see everyone.

At the end of the evening, there were about eight (8) powder sugar puffs left (all the chocolate ones were gone), so I boxed them up and took them upstairs to the communications team. Miss Mary was working, the supervisor responsible for me volunteering in the gift shop. I wouldn't have known about it if not for her.

She hugged me when she saw me and said she wanted to take a 'selfie' with me. She posted our picture on Facebook, and paid me the ultimate compliment. She gave me my own hashtag. I have my own hashtag...how cool is that!

#ourfavoritecreampufflady

And check this out...FINALLY, a picture with an officer!! I have only waited 5 years for a photo op. I keep telling these guys..."I need pictures! My friends think I'm making you up!" I don't go on about it out of respect for their privacy, but it makes me sad I don't have any pictures with my friends. It was very sweet of this officer to agree.  

Maybe absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Whether it was me they missed or my cream puffs (maybe a little of both), it was a fun night! As long as my puffs are enjoyed by the officers all across the Queen City, I will happily and forever be....#ourfavoritecreampufflady.  

♥

A special delivery to the crew at Station 2....

Friday night I was working my part-time job at Hallmark when a couple came to my register to pay for their purchase. The gentleman was wearing a fireman's t-shirt, but not always are people really who they appear to be, so I asked him if he was a fireman. Well, not only was he a real fireman, he was the Captain at Station 2.

Station 2 is located in Charlotte's historic Dilworth neighborhood.

I introduced myself and shared a little about how I serve the CMPD. I asked the Captain when he worked next and said a guaranteed box of cream puffs were on the way.  

So tonight, Tuesday, I made 'the drop'! The Captain was off-site assisting another station, so I missed seeing him, but I had the nicest visit with three crew members. They were very kind and made me feel welcome.  

And these sweet guys gave AHOP a photo op!! I have been cooking breakfast, dinner, and making cream puffs for almost five years and have yet to snag a photo with the CMPD troops. I cannot tell you how happy I was to get this. Thank you guys....from the bottom of my heart!  

♥

The truck we are standing in front of is brand spankin' new....I was a little bummed that I didn't take a picture of it by itself. It was beautiful! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back. :)

Picture credit: CFD photo

Picture credit: CFD photo