Bumpin' Pumpkin

Thanks to everyone who came out and visited us at the Turlock Night Farmer’s Market last Friday. We had a blast again! If you had a "Bumpin’ Pumpkin" cupcake on us, let us know what you thought.

Pumpkin brings thoughts of fall, and I hope cooler temps are just around the corner. Kids have started school. The light isn’t as bright when I am waking up. And, it seems to be getting darker just a little bit earlier than it was just last week. Fall is on its way!

Our next event will be later in September, when the temps should be a little cooler. The Modesto Bridal Fair will be held on September 18, and we will be there! If you know any brides planning their wedding, let them know to check out the Fair. There will be so many vendors there, providing everything from invitations to dresses, to flowers and cupcakes (wink, wink). It will be a great place for brides to get ideas, make plans and find some great services – all in one place.

Hope you have a blissful day!

Night Farmer's Market in Turlock

It's just about that time again! Friday night CBJO will be at the Turlock Farmer's Market which goes from 4-8pm. Come out for a wonderful way to spend a Friday evening, with music, food and entertainment! We'll be giving out free samples again. If you missed out last time, you sure don't want to miss out this time! Hope to see you there!

Just 10 more days!

Until the Turlock Night Farmer's Market! Don't forget to come by and check us out.

We'll be there August 26th! The market runs from 4-8pm and there will be music and entertainment, along with delicious food. Mark your calendars, come on out and enjoy the night! Hope to see you there!

Going Bananas!

This weekend (August 13 & 14) in Sacramento, William Land Park hosts the 2nd Annual Banana Festival. Tickets are $5 for adults and kids 5 and under are free all weekend! Sounds like a great deal to me!

On the home page, it says there will be all kinds of banana goodies to taste, from banana breads to ice cream, pudding and even . . . soup? Hmmm, that would be interesting. Banana soup. . . Somebody's gotta try that and let me know how it is. I'm having trouble imagining it. Is it cold? Is it hot? Is it sweet? But, I digress.

They don't mention CUPCAKES! Well, we here at Cupcakes By Jo have an awesome banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

So if you go and check out the Banana Festival, please sample the soup and come back here to leave a comment and tell me how it was. And, if you really want a banana cupcake, well, just let us know!

And, don't forget, we'll be at Turlock Night Farmer's Market later this month, August 26th.

Cupcake Wrappers

Just perusing some other cupcake blogs and sites, I came across these lasercut cupcake wrappers. I think they are beautiful, and obviously make the cupcake become more than just a cupcake. But are they really functional for eating the cupcake?


Spring Lasercut Cupcake Wrapper
from http://www.accenttheparty.com/


I mean, how am I supposed to dig into that delicious, scrumptious cupcake? Which brings me to another question: How do you eat a cupcake? Are you a "peel-and-bite" section by section eater, or a "peel-it-all-away-and-devour" eater? For me, normally, I'm a peel-it-all-away-and-devour eater. I like to peel the entire cupcake wrapper away, revealing the delightful dessert in all its glory. The last time I had a cupcake (Okay, it was plural - cupCAKES), I peeled the wrapper away and separated the lusciously frosted top from the bottom, essentially saving the best for last. (The frosting was really good!) Can I do that with these wrappers that seem to double as works of art? I'm thinking, not really. I'd probably remove the cupcake carefully from the lasercut wrapper, and then proceed to devour!

The lasercut wrappers are truly beautiful, and I can see that they would add just that extra little detail to the presentation of the cupcakes, especially for fancy events like weddings (which we do!).

So, how do you eat a cupcake?

Time goes by . . . Turlock Night Farmer's Market coming up!

Cupcakes by Jo will be at Turlock Farmer's Market on August 26th. Yes, that is about one month away, but time moves forward - every day!

Can you believe there are only 40 days left until Labor Day? The end of summer vacation slips slowly, day by day, until we realize we need to get some school supplies for the upcoming year, and then - holy cow! School will be starting in 2 weeks! You know that's how it happens.

We better get busy having some fun! Make sure to join us in August (which will be here before you know it!) at the Turlock Night Farmer's Market in Downtown Turlock.

What are some fun things you have done this summer?

Cupcakes in honor of the final installment of Harry Potter

"It All Ends" . . . tomorrow. The final installment of the Harry Potter movie franchise opens in theatres Friday, July 15. While perusing other cupcakery blogs, I came across this entry. Some daring and creative baker - and Potter-fan - has created a cupcake based on the butterbeer drink featured in Hogsmeade, the fictional town near the school, Hogwarts.

Now, I half-expected them to be emblazoned with Harry's face, but they are not. But, they ARE done very close to Gryffindor colors, although that just makes sense given the butter and butterscotch flavorings. Kudos to the baker for being so creative and having a lot of fun in celebrating the books and movies that have captured the imagination of so many!

This first link takes you to the blog where I found the post.

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2011/07/harry-potter-butterbeer-cupcakes-plus.html

This second link takes you to the original posting, which has the recipe, along with other very creative ideas for celebrating the end of a decade of Harry Potter.

http://www.cooklikeachampionblog.com/2011/07/butterbeer-cupcakes.html

Will you be glad or sad to see Harry Potter come to an end?

Dog Days

We are in the "dog days of summer" here in the Northern Hemisphere. Lazy days when it feels too warm to do anything other than nap. Or lounge by the water (be it a pool, lake, river or kiddie pool) with a book. It doesn’t have to be a good book; it could be a silly romance or a salacious biography. Just as long as it’s entertaining!

These are the days of summer vacations and time moving slowly – at least, for children. Remember when we were in elementary school and summer vacation seemed to last forever?

Some of our cupcake flavors really evoke summer. We have fruit flavors like Pineapple Upside Down, Banana and Strawberry, and, then, there’s Rocky Road and Confetti. They’re just fun!

Which flavor would you enjoy on these dog days of summer?

Follow us!

If you'd like to stay up-to-date on all the happenings with Cupcakes by Jo, then follow us!

There are different ways to do so. You can click on the Follow button in the right column if you have a Google account. If you do not have a Google account, you can follow us by entering your email address under "Follow by Email" and clicking Submit. You can also Subscribe to the blog (also in the right column) to get our posts sent to you directly through an existing news feed.

If you are a Facebook user, "Like" our Facebook page and you'll see our updates, which include blog posts in addition to other things.

And, if you have a Twitter account, follow us on Twitter @CupcakesByJo for instant interaction and updates, where we are and what cupcake flavors we have.

There are a lot of options. Choose the one that fits the way you like to get your information. Or choose all of them! All of these links are also available by going to our website News page.

In addition to getting updates and news from us, following us is a great way to give us some feedback. We'd love to know favorite flavors, colors, decorations - whatever you would love to share with us.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Independence Day, 4th of July!!

In honor of the upcoming holiday, we thought we'd look up "The History of the Cupcake". Here are a few interesting facts, courtesy of Open Source Cupcakes.

1. Cupcakes have been around for centuries, and likely originated around the 18th century.

2. There are two theories as to how the cupcake came to be named. One is that they were originally baked in cups or other small baking pans. The second is that the name referred to the "cup" measurements used to make it (a cupful of flour, a cupful of butter, a cupful of sugar, etc.). This second theory follows the tradition of naming cakes for their measurements.

3. Paper liners didn't come to wide use until after World War I. The James River Corporation used machines that were previously making artillery shells to manufacture the cupcake liners!

Remember as you get ready for your 4th of July BBQ or picnic, cupcakes can be the perfect sweet bite to end the meal. They are so easy to share. And, cupcakes are loved by the young and the young-at-heart! Stop by our website to browse flavors, and place an order for our super fun and patriotic, red, white & blue Confetti cupcakes!

Turlock Journal article, and Turlock Farmer's Market

We made the front page! We are so excited to share this article with you. Cupcakes by Jo is featured on the front page of The Turlock Journal, which highlighted us as a home-based business. You can read the article by clicking here.



Marisa and Jo prepping for the Turlock Farmer's Market,
photo courtesy of The Turlock Journal

We are home-based for now, but do plan on opening a store-front as we grow. And, we are getting the word out!

The Turlock Farmer's Market on Friday, June 24th, was wonderful. The weather was fantastic for both the day and night sessions. It was a great opportunity to share our cupcakes. Some people loved them so much, they purchased our mini samples! Thanks to everyone who stopped by and sampled our cupcakes, and gave us such great feedback.

We have other events coming up so if you missed us at the Turlock Farmer's Market, you'll have other opportunities. We'll keep you posted here on the blog, on Facebook and on Twitter as well! Of course, you can always check out our website for ordering information and flavors if you cannot wait to get your own little bite of bliss!

Turlock Farmers' Market

The Turlock Certified Farmers' Market in Downtown Turlock has been going on since May 6th, and is open every Friday from 8am to 1pm. We are so excited to be a part of this growing market that highlights local growers and producers, as well as local businesses like us!

Cupcakes By Jo will be there on June 24th for the daytime market and the special night market from 4pm to 8pm. There will only be 3 night markets this year, with June 24th the very first one.

Please come out and see us, and get your little bite of bliss - as long as they last! We'll be giving out free samples of our made-from-scratch cupcakes. Come by and say hi!

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day! Happy Father's Day!

In honor of Fathers everywhere who work hard and give their children love and affection and rules and curfews, we'd like to know, which flavor would your father like?

There are the standards: good ol' Chocolate cupcake or Yellow cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Those are bound to be a hit with just about any Dad.

But, then we also have cupcakes based on popular cakes, like Carrot, Red Velvet, and even Pineapple Upside Down. Is one of those cakes your Dad's favorite? He can have it in a wonderful, fun-to-eat cupcake, topped with delicious, rich, creamy Cream Cheese Frosting.

If you want to be a little more adventurous, maybe Dad would like a Rocky Road cupcake with Chocolate Ganache or Amaretto cupcake. Or maybe go gourmet, with Burnt Sugar with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting or Rosewater with Rosewater Icing. Or, maybe Rosewater is too flowery for a Dad?

Whatever your Father's favorite flavor, we at Cupcakes By Jo hope Father's Day is great for all those wonderful, hard-working Dads out there.

Make sure to check out our website http://www.cupcakesbyjo.com/ for all our flavors and ordering information.

Have a great day!

Patterson Apricot Fiesta

We had such a great time at the Apricot Fiesta. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

 

Our booth with the lovely Miss Marisa

  

Our booth with friends, Cathy and Annette.
They helped out by passing out flyers.
You ladies are awesome!





He gave us the "Thumbs Up!"




Mom, helping out!




Enjoying our cupcakes!
Happy customers!



This customer was such a cupcake enthusiast
that she had a cupcake tattoo on her foot!
(We had to take a pic of that!)





Jo with the winning Patterson Fire Department team

 The Patterson Fire Department had several teams compete in games at the Fiesta. The winning team (pictured above) received apricot cupcakes on the house.  We had a wonderful time at the Apricot Fiesta and we look forward to coming back next year!

We will be attending other events in and around the Central Valley, so keep your eyes and ears open for news. We will update information here on the blog, as well as on our Facebook page and on Twitter (@CupcakesByJo).

Hope you are all having a blissful day!

Patterson Apricot Fiesta Success!



Our booth on the first night


The Apricot Fiesta in Patterson over the first weekend in June was a true success.

The rains came but most definitely did not dampen anything. The Apricot cupcakes we created for the event went over very well, and we even noticed some repeat customers.

The Patterson Irrigator wrote a piece on the Fiesta, and mentioned us! You can read the piece here.

We are so thankful to all the people that came by our booth. We hope you enjoyed your little bite of bliss!

More pictures will be coming soon. In the meantime, let us know if you attended the Apricot Fiesta and what you thought! 

The Ladies love Us

The lovely Christina and Denise enjoying chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting and garnished with a fresh strawberry slice.  Mmmmmmm....

www.cupcakesbyjo.com

Thanks for ordering a tank Denise!!

Cinco de Mayo!!



Click image to visit Cupcakes by Jo!



A cupcake break!

Bartender, Karina, of Los Gallos Restaurant in Turlock, CA taking a Burnt Sugar cupcake break! Mmmm....

Click the image to visit our website!

Mother's Day is coming!

Click the image to go to our website!

Easter Fun!

We hope that all your families enjoyed this past Easter!  Cupcakes by Jo provided some of our delicious Easter egg nests for taste bud enjoyment!

Cupcakes By Jo Tanks - get yours for the Spring/Summer!

Support your favorite cupcake company and purchase a tank for the spring/summer time!  Other selections can be found in our CafePress store.  :)  Click the image to go straight there.

http://www.cupcakesbyjo.com/

April 1st, launch of our revamped company!! NO JOKE!! :D

April 1st will embark the launch of Cupcakes By Jo, formally, Jo's Dainty Delectables!  We have a whole new focus and look forward to making all kinds of yumminess for 2011!  Make sure you follow us to keep up to date on our current events and new flavors!  See ya soon! Xoxo

http://www.cupcakesbyjo.com/