Catch up and Questions

Goodness, I've been meaning to post this for over a week now. But between trips to the beach with my sisters and mom and trips to the hospital because of my husband's kidney stone, I haven't managed to. I still don't have much time at the moment. I feel like I have tons to do all the time. But no need to get into that... I'll just focus on writing this.

The past 2 weeks I did cupcakes!! First was for a little girl at our church. She is absolutely adorable!! She turned two in December.

I had a lot of fun taking pictures of these, if you can't tell. I'd love to put them in cute frames and whatnot like I see on others' blogs, but I don't know how to. So if anyone does, please share!!

These are vanilla with cream cheese icing. I was very happy with how the cc icing turned out. And I love these big cupcake liners!! If you can't tell, they're taller than the normal ones. 

The next batch were actually the same as these but with buttercream icing.

Some were chocolate this time, obviously. Can you tell how ugly the icing is?! It's really noticeable right after you see the cream cheese ones. The buttercream had so many air bubbles. I know that seems like an obvious cause, but I make buttercream all the time and basically do the same thing everytime and sometimes it's worse than others. This time I did use salted butter (sorry, but it was on sale and the unsalted was gone and butter is expensive these days!!) but I never would have thought it would make that big of a difference. Any ideas?

This is why the post is titled "Catch up and Questions"  I have a few questions to throw out there for anyone who might be able to help. Please help me solve the air bubble issue. Next: I baked several chocolate cakes tonight using the same recipe I've always used. Recently I've had problems with my chocolate cake sticking to the pan! So frustrating. I'm going to have to rebake some of the cakes because they were ruined. Even if I put wax paper in the pan, they'll stick some to the paper. WHY?! Could it be because I'm doubling the recipe? Is it possible to use too much non-stick spray?? I must figure this out.

I saw some Magic Line square cake pans for sale online... I have a set already and I love them. But I have learned since I've been baking and since I always make layered cakes, that it's nice to have at least 2 of each cake pan. It saves time; I can bake cakes twice as fast. They would've come in handy tonight since I had to bake 2 - 6", 4 - 8" and 2 - 10". So I'm debating whether to get them or not. They'd be nice to have and I think they're worth the price, but I have no idea where I would store them. I've already out-grown our renovated pantry and am constantly trying to rearrange things so it's not cluttered. Hmmm.... decisions, decisions.

Alright, last request for feedback. I just filled out my form for the cake competition, wrote the check, and sealed and stamped the envelope. The competition is a month from today and I know it'll be here before I know it. The theme is Grandma's Closet so if you have any ideas or suggestions at all, please share!! I know I've asked before, but it's out there again. Think, think, think :)

Well I don't think it took me too long to write this. I really wish I could figure out how to frame my pictures up all snazzy and what not, but I need to stay focused. More to do before I go to bed. I've got a few cakes this weekend and have intentions of using some of my Christmas goodies!!! I'm so excited. Hopefully I'll have a chance to post pics this weekend. 

Night!