This Life Well Loved: PupCakes and a Party

There is always a party happening somewhere in our house. Whether it's a "wedding to Daddy", a doll tea party or a stuffed animal's birthday, someone or something is always being feted.

This is our dog, Maya, the latest victim of Sweet Thing's party planning focus.

Every summer, Sweet Thing arbitrarily selects a date that becomes Maya's birthday. The girls get to pick out a dog treat and wrap it up in a gift bag. We make some party hats and treats, and the celebration begins!

Here is this year's big treat: PUPCAKES!

Here's what you need to make some for your pup:

*Pupcake recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1/4 cup of peanut butter

1 cup of shredded carrots

2 eggs (I started out with one then upped the ante as I went along)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

Sweet Thing donned her visor, and the baking began.

The Catfish loves using the mixer when we bake- she really focuses!

And Sweet Thing doesn't miss an opportunity to mug for the camera, even when hard at work.

Thankfully no blood was shed during the arranging of the cupcake liners.

After mixing all of the ingredients, the girls and I filled the cupcake liners to the top with batter. This dough is more dense than a regular cupcake, so we filled the liners higher than we normally would have. This recipe makes six good-sized PupCakes.

We baked the cupcakes for 15 or so minutes in a 330 degree oven then allowed them to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, I used 4 ounces of cream cheese, four ounces of peanut butter and two tablespoons of milk then whipped it within an inch of its life.

I used a Wilton 1M tip and a plastic bag ~~because I like to keep it classy when frosting~~. I have a few pastry bags, but I like to just use a quart size baggie that I can throw away instead of washing.

On top of each PupCake, I stuck a medium-sized Milkbone.