For All You Land Lubbers

I'm a member of a pretty amazing moms' group.  Thatbaby is one of the youngest in the group, but the moms are all about my age and all really fun.  We get together with the kids, without the kids, in large groups, or even just a couple of us at a time.  But up until this weekend, it's definitely been exclusive to us moms.

This weekend the whole family was invited to a Pirate Party hosted by one of the women in the group.  They had recently returned from a wedding in Barbados where they got to sail on a pirate ship and decided to bring the party home with them.

It was a chance for us to get together and for our husbands to better understand why we drop off the kids with them so we can escape into some margaritas.

The invitation said to wear your best pirate gear.  So we did.  Thatbaby was reluctant to wear his mask.

Poor kid.  It took him 9 months to figure out his parents are nuts.  You can almost see him begging for someone to save him.  Those poor tortured eyes.

I already knew the company would be great.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a bunch of fantastic women would have some pretty cool husbands.  And the food was phenomenal.  They served Caribbean chicken, rice, beans, rum punch, fruit, chips, salads.  Thatbaby gorged himself on watermelon which is his favorite thing right now.

My own contribution was in the dessert field - since you can never have too many desserts.  I decided that cupcakes, which are already a crowd pleaser, would be even more so if I kept them with the theme.  I decided on a nice, nutty pecan cupcake and paired it with a cream cheese frosting.  Playing around with food coloring and my little pirate man was born.

Almost as cute as the little pirates that were running around the party (newly walking babies are tough cookies).

Pecan Pirate Cupcakes

2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup chopped pecans

cream cheese frosting

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Place liners in  muffin pan.  Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Add the egg, milk, and butter stirring only enough to mix.
3. Stir in the pecans.
4. Spoon into the pans filling about 2/3 full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.
5. Cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting.