Talk Derby to me...or to my cupcakes

For my Kentucky Derby party, I made these special Derby cupcakes. My original idea was to make mint julep cupcakes because the julep is the official drink of the Derby, but honestly, they didn't really sound very appetizing. My mom bought me a Sprinkles lemon cupcake mix for Easter and I had a great recipe (and they turned out to be delicious) for key lime cupcakes, so I decided to go with the citrus theme for the party. Besides, the lemon cupcakes from Sprinkles are some of my favorite cupcakes! I also bought yellow and green sanding sugar for additional color effects. When I was in Louisville, I bought plastic fleur-de-lis's and horses at a cake supply store, and felt they would look very festive on top of the cupcakes. They were delicious, too, and I will definitely make the key lime cupcakes on another occasion.

The Derby party was really fun and it was bigger than last year. We're totally about to outgrow this apartment! We had sixteen adults, two small children, and a chihuahua! Our good friends, Keith and Sarah, were supposed to come as well, but they were sick, as well as their son. We wouldn't have had enough chairs if they had come! Most of the girls wore hats dresses and a few of the hats were decorated with fake flowers, ribbons, etc. For the race, we had a random betting pool going where one would pay two dollars and draw a random horse out of a hat. I actually had the favorite, Friesan Fire, but he got eighteenth place, and my friend Kate, who had Mine that Bird, won part of the money. We split the pot up into 1st place won $19.00, second won $14.00, and last (haha, a booby prize) won $5.00. I kind of got that system from bunco. This year, we had a very Southern dinner, consisting of BBQ brisket (from Texas BBQ in Northborough), BBQ chicken (which I made in the crock pot with the sauce from TX BBQ), a cheese grits casserole, a chipotle sweet potato dish that was really spicy and yummy (made by Holly), a fruit salad, green salad, cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches (made by Natyra), a tomato, cucumber and mozzarella salad and deviled eggs (made by Mary), the aforementioned cupcakes, strawberry cupcakes made by Seneca, and Derby pie, of course.

Overall, besides the crowdedness factor, I think all had a good time and learned a little more about the Kentucky Derby! Now, I am just hoping Mine that Bird wins the Preakness and possibly the Belmont. We need another Triple Crown winner.