Thank you, Firefighters Cupcakes - Day 68

  

   An obsessive soul, angry thoughts, tiny plastic lighter;
OR
   just one last smoke before quitting forever, a cigarette drops forgotten in dry leaf litter;
OR
   stealth campers staying the night in a forbidden spot fail to completely extinguish their fire before moving on.  What ignited the Waldo Canyon Fire? Not lightning.  Other than that we just don't know.
    Pike National Forest burns violently. 350 home go up in smoke. An elderly couple perishes. Countless animals die.
  Yet this heartbreaking disaster could have been, would have been worse - far more destructive, deadlier - if not for firefighters.
  These cupcakes - devil's food with chocolate buttercream frosting and Wilton sugar letters spelling out a message of  gratitude - sold at a bakesale to support the brave and effective - nearly all volunteer- firefighters who saved our little town.

Grateful baker's assistant

Extremely Diminutive French Fudge Cakes - 67: A birthday and a disaster...

I love making these - same Splendid Table recipe again, only this time in teeny, tiny bite-sized cakes.  There were 24 itsy-bitsy fudge cakes and 4 regular cupcakes from leftover batter because I ran low on regular-sized cupcake liners.     This recipe afforded enough  to make a bantam birthday surprise for one great friend and traveling companion and also to complete a comfort package for another excellent friend, who tragically lost her home and her sweet orange kitty last week to the Waldo Canyon Fire.