Saturday, August 30, 2008
cupcakes and other goodies
The kids also had their first day of school this week. So far, so good! *crosses fingers*
Saturday, August 23, 2008
family portraits (a photo entry)
They had some fantastic natural light coming in from their front windows in the living room. I had to take advantage of it!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Back to work!
I'm going to try to not let that bother me because yesterday, was a damn near excellent day. We had open house at the school last night. Walking up to the doors I was ready to throw up because I was completely worried that the Connor would get the same teacher Mason had last year, and I just wasn't going to go through that again. Thankfully, they both ended up with exactly the teachers I wanted them to get and I almost cried. I made Dave read the lists because I was terrified to do it.
Also yesterday, I sent Dave to work with 4 dozen mini cupcakes (Cinnamon toast ones and vanilla with chocolate buttercream). He kept telling me something like 'oh, they won't eat cupcakes, I'll be bringing all of them home, I bet you!'. Well? He was completely and totally WRONG! They pretty much flew out of the box. The girl who had the birthday yesterday sent me an email and thanked me repeatedly for sending in cupcakes for their food/birthday day. I'll be making other ones in a few weeks for their next birthday, for sure. I'll post pictures of the ones I sent (of course).
Well, I've rambled on long enough. Wish me luck at work!
Monday, August 18, 2008
those meddling kids!
I'm sick of chasing the neighborhood kids from two houses down out of my somewhat fenced in backyard (it's fenced in on three sides which means the would either have to hop the fence from the yard next door or get to our yard from our driveway). This afternoon I caught them in between our house and the empty house that's for sale next to us throwing rocks and things at our side window that is at the bottom of our stairs. The other day we had pulled in our driveway and there were those kids, spinning each other around in an office chair that they dragged over into our yard. I've really had enough of them.
I also refuse to let my children play with them because they're playing in the street all the time. Their mother (who we affectionately refer to as "Skanky") just sits there on her porch what seems like 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and watches them either play in said street or in the school yard across the street which is fenced in with "private property - no trespassing" signs posted everywhere.
UGH!
Enough about that though. I can't finish a post on a nasty note like that, so I'll leave you with some cupcake shots.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
vegan cupcakes
I found the recipe HERE.
I left out the chocolate ganache swirl because I didn't have any dark chocolate in the house, but next time I'll make sure I get some.
But, anyway ..... introducing ..... the root beer float cupcake! I made two dozen mini ones and had enough batter left for 6 full size ones. They have a vanilla "buttercream" icing (made with shortening, not butter). I wouldn't normally put that amount of frosting on a cupcake but I loved how it looked like a scoop of ice cream for the photo.
mmm Sunday breakfast
Friday, August 15, 2008
TGIF for sure!
When I'm stressed, I tend to bake more. Yesterday I tried tackling molasses cookies. I have absolutely none of them left today, my family scarfed them right up (in fact, my mom stopped over and snagged the last one on her way home from work). I will most definitely be keeping these in my collection of recipies.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Did I break a mirror over the back of a black cat or something?
I found out today that my hours have been cut at work. I wouldn't have a huge problem with this if we hadn't moved across town from where I work instead of being pretty much right across the street like before. Now I will have an hour to an hour and a half to kill in the mornings depending on the day of the week. I'm really not very happy about this.
I will go back to work when school starts, but I think that I'm going to also be looking for other employment or starting to look into starting my own business. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, I would still love it just as much if I had the same hours I had last year.
My day started off so good too with a potential order for 60 cupcakes for next weekend (I'm just waiting to hear what kind she wants - all I know is "pink icing").
Speaking of cupcakes, I sent the few that were left home with my sister last night - they were such a huge hit!
Tonight, I'm dropping these babies off and I'm quite excited about that:
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
spice cake with maple buttercream
Now, on to the cupcakes. These are for my father's birthday tomorrow. If you live in Harborcreek, at one point or another, you've probably met my father. If you happen to see him over the next few days, please wish him a happy birthday! I'll throw in a picture of my father, for good measure - and I'm opting to use the picture of him at the Hibachi restaurant, with chopsticks in his mouth that he said looked like "a walrus with buck teeth".
Thursday, August 7, 2008
4-H fair and a new cupcake
Now, what says summer more than lemonade? I only got 9 cupcakes out of this batch, so next time I will at least double the recipe.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
chocolate zucchini muffins
These don't have a real strong chocolate taste (to me anyway), but it was a good way to sneak veggies to my kids! Also - it calls for cloves and cardamom, I didn't have either of those so I just left them out and they taste great to me!
* 3 eggs
* 2 cups white sugar
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups grated zucchini
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease two 12 cup muffin tins with shortening or line with paper cups.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs.
4. Beat in sugar and oil.
5. Add cocoa, vanilla, zucchini, and stir well.
6. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
7. Mix just until moist.
8. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins until 2/3 full.
9. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
10. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.
11. Store loosely covered.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
frozen "cupcakes"
I just love making things miniature sized. One or two bites and you're done, and if you eat a second one you won't feel like you're stuffing yourself.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
more pomegranate goodness
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 cups pomegranate (or pomegranate/blueberry) juice
* 1/4 cup lime juice
Directions
1. In 1-quart saucepan, heat water and sugar to boiling over high heat.
2. Boil sugar mixture 5 minutes, reducing it slightly to a syrup.
3. Remove syrup from heat and cool to room temperature.
4. In bowl, combine syrup and both the pomegranate and lemon juices.
5. Cover and refrigerate mixture until cold.
6. Transfer sorbet to airtight container and freeze until firm, 2 to 12 hours.
Friday, August 1, 2008
How I spend my summer vacation
I have been involved in the Erie County 4-H program for the last 17 years. I started as a member joining when I was 13 and then as a leader when I was too old to be a 4-H member anymore.
Our end-of-the-season show (our Round-up) is coming up on August 9th at the Waterford Fairgrounds. The horse show is the following day, but the majority of the events happen that Saturday. Not only will there be our dog show, but all of the other projects are judged that day as well. There will be cows, pigs, rabbits (and possibly guinea pigs this year - I'm not sure), along with the other non-animal projects including small engines, bowling, sewing and cooking, just to name a few. There is also a small carnival to benefit the MDA, each game booth is run by a 4-H club.
If you don't have plans for that Saturday, please come check us out! I'll be the one running the dog registration table (usually under a blue tent) with the camera attached to her hand if you want to say hello!