Great Giveaway!

Bringing Peace into the Home is offering this great giveaway -- they are giving away FIVE of these framed artpieces by Liz Lemon Swindle.  They would make a great Christmas gift.  I would love to give this to my mom for Christmas!  Click HERE for the details.

It's a Girl!!!

Finally I'm an aunt!!! I'm so excited! My little niece Aivi was born on Wednesday! Here are some really cute pics!

I love the burrito role! :)

She's so beautiful!

Congrats Dustin and Melissa!



Halloween Fondant Cake

I know, Halloween's over sadly.: ( But it's also happy, because here comes Thanksgiving, and Christmas!! Well anyway here's my first fondant cake that I've made. My friend and I made it for a contest at school. We didn't win, but it was still really fun. Thanks Jackie for the pans, and tips! :)

We used a rice krispy center for the bottom layer, and it worked out great!

You just add the cake mix around the rice krispies, and cook it.

Here is a finished picture!

Here's the bottom up close

That's the end of my post! Hope you had a great Halloween!



Chocolate Sunflower Cupcakes

These cupcakes are way fun for the fall season! I love the yellow on the brown, these colors look so good together! I got this idea from Stone Gable's blog, that I am a huge fan of!

Okay, first off you will want to make your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe.

While your cupcakes are baking, it is time to make some frosting. I used my Aunt Jackies amazing frosting, click here to view her blog. Here is the recipe for my Aunt Jackie's buttercream frosting:

Blend together 3/4 cup room temperature butter, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract, and 3-4 tablespoons water. You may need to add extra water, depending on how thick you want it.

You will also need to make your fondant for the sunflowers, here is my Aunt Jackie's marshmellow fondant recipe:

Marshmallow Fondant

16 oz. marshmallows - use good quality marshmallows
2-3 T. water
2 lb. powdered sugar

Place the marshmallows and water in a large microwavable bowl. Place in the microwave and microwave 30 seconds until the marshmallows are beginning to melt. Remove from microwave and stir the melted marshmallows and water together. Repeat until completely melted and blended together. Place in your large Kitchenaid or other heavy duty mixer bowl. You will need a powerful mixer to blend this. Use your bread kneading hook. Add the 2 lb. powdered sugar. You can also add 2 tsp. almond flavoring. Begin to mix the dough at a low speed. Mix until completely blended.
After your fondant is done, you will want to start coloring it. Take a little of the fondant out and save it for the middle of the flowers, and color the rest yellow. Use as much food coloring depending on what shade of yellow you want your sunflowers to be. You will need to knead the fondant until the color is completely mixed in. Color the saved out fondant by mixing in brown food coloring or cocoa baking powder.

Roll out your fondant. You will need a flower fondant, or cookie cutter. You will also need to use the bottom of a frosting tip to make the middles. Cut out your flowers, and middles, and set them in the middle of your frosted cupcakes. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar, or cocoa powder on top to make them look extra beautiful!

I love the cocoa powder on top!

That's it for my post for now, see you later!

Pigs in Mud!!

Pigs are so cute! My mother and I made these pig cupcakes. We got this idea from Cupcakes Take The Cake. Click here to view this website. 

Love those noses!

We made these cupcakes with a strawberry cake mix. Read the directions on the box to make strawberry cupcakes. Or make your favorite cupcake recipe.

Make your favorite frosting, and add a little bit of pink food coloring to get the color you want.

For the noses and ears you will need strawberry marshmallows.

Take a marshmallow and cut it in half to  make the nose, use an edible marker or two chocolate chips to make the nose holes. Use the other half of the marshmallow to make ears by cutting it in half to make two fourths. Use two chocolate chips for the eyes.

This should be the end result.

Just chillin' in the mud!

I think this one might have had a little bit too much fun in the mud!

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed!

I posted this with Foodie Friday.

Summer Strawberry Sorbet

Sorbet is one of my favorite desserts! Ice cream is great too, but there's something about sorbet that I really love. So I made this strawberry sorbet!  I got this recipe from the cookbook Sorbets and Ice Creams by Lou Seibert Pappas, but I just changed it a little bit. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice                 

3-3/4  cups fresh

Strawberries, hulled

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and water, bring to a boil while stirring, and cook until the syrup is clear. Stir in the lemon juice. Let cool, cover, and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, or until thoroughly chilled. In a blender or food processor, puree the strawberries, and stir in the chilled syrup.

Refrigerate for 1 hour, or until thoroughly chilled.

Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. You can also freeze without an ice cream maker: Pour the mixture into a 8 or 9 inch square metal pan or a half-gallon plastic container. Cover with aluminum foil, plastic wrap or a lid. Place in the freezer and freeze until firm, about 2 to 3 hours. Transfer to an electric mixer or food processor and beat until light and fluffy. Transfer to a container, cover, and freeze until firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

After you are finished making your sorbet, serve it in a bowl with

 strawberry leaves, and/or strawberries.

Hope you enjoyed my post! Until next time!

I posted this at Tasty Tuesday.

I also posted this with Foodie Friday.

Beach Cupcakes and the Oregon Coast!

I love the ocean! It is one of my very favorite places to be. I especially love the Oregon Coast! I made ocean cupcakes because I love the Ocean, and because my mom made these same cupcakes for me for not one, but two of my birthdays.

I am posting this with Foodie Friday.

You will need cupcakes, Zebra Stripe gum, gumballs, graham crackers, paper umbrellas, and blue food coloring.

 Make your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe, or use the recipe I used.

Ingredients:

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1-1/3 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape side of bowl with a spatula.Add eggs to the mixture. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape bowl again. Beat on high speed for 1 minute 30 seconds until well mixed. Spoon cupcake batter into paper liners until 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in pans then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Now make your favorite frosting, or make my aunt Jackie's amazing frosting. To view my aunt's blog click here

In mixer combine 3/4 cup butter at room temperature, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon clear vanilla, and 3-4 tablespoons water. Beat until fluffy. Add more water if needed one tablespoon at a time.

Take half of your frosting and put as many drops of blue food coloring to get the frosting to a color that you like.

Now for the decorating part:

Frost half your cupcake with the white frosting, and the other half with the blue frosting. Smash graham crackers with a rolling pin until finely crumbled in a zip lock bag. Sprinkle the white frosting side of the cupcake with some of the crumbs. Place a gumball somewhere on the white frosting side the cupcake. Place a paper umbrella on the same side. We bought the umbrellas at Party Express.

With the Zebra Stripe gum you can either make a chair out of it by cutting it in half and placing the sides one side down and one sticking up. Or you can cut it in half, and cut the two corners off of one half to make a surfboard. 

With all these steps done, you now have a beautiful beach cupcake to enjoy!

Some pictures of the Oregon Coast:

I loved these!!  I know their names, but I won't even atempt to spell it!=)

They were so funny, especially when they would squirt you with water!

Look at all those star fish!!!

We loved seeing the sea lions!

 

That's all of my post! I hope you enjoyed it. Happy Summer!=)

Chocolate Summer Cupcakes!

Here's an easy and cute recipe for cupcakes! I make these to celebrate being out of school for the summer!!!! I found the cupcake recipe at http://www.cupcakerecipes.com/

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening, milk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape side of bowl with a spatula.

Add eggs to the mixture. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape bowl again. Beat on high speed for 1 minute 30 seconds until well mixed.

Spoon cupcake batter into paper liners until 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in pans then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Now you can make your frosting. This recipe is my Aunt Jackie's recipe and it is amazing! Click here to view my aunt's blog.

In mixer combine 3/4 cup butter at room temperature, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon clear vanilla, and 3-4 tablespoons water. Beat until fluffy. Add 1/4 cups cocoa powder. Add more water is needed one tablespoon at a time.

Last step.... Enjoy!!! I LOVE SUMMER!!!=)

I LOVE CUPCAKES!!!!

Lime Ginger Cookies

These are amazing! I've made them twice in one week and I'm absolutely in love with them!

Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter

1cup sugar, plus extra for rolling dough in sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon grated lime rind

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Put butter and sugar in a medium-sized bowl and cream until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until incorporated. Then add baking soda and flour little by little.

Then add grated lime peel and ginger. Roll dough into balls and roll the balls in the additional sugar. You can also mix 1/4 teaspoon ginger into the sugar to roll the balls in. Squish balls with the bottom of a cup. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. 

You can also sprinkle some extra grated lime peel on the top if you want too.

ENJOY!!!