mmm strawberries

I can't resist a good juicy strawberry, and what better way to use one than in my latest obsession - cupcakes!

I got out my KitchenAid mixer and all my ingredients last night and had the kids hovering over me the entire time (they like strawberries almost as much as I do). Here is the end result - a white cupcake with little bits of strawberry goodness mixed in with a strawberry buttercream frosting. Yes, they taste as good as they look!

French Toast mini's

Maple French Toast cupcakes with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

My house smells SO good right now!

I'm also covered in powdered sugar because the dog barked just as I was turning my mixer on to incorporate the sugar into the frosting and I turned the mixer up too high - but it was worth it!

How I spent my Saturday morning

While I wouldn't have argued with sleeping in, I was up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and off to take photos this morning for a friend of mine who was participating in the Strong Vincent re-enactment at the Erie Cemetery. Here are a few of my favorite shots from this morning. (these aren't necessarily in the order that they were taken)

and my favorite shot:

The rest of the photos can be found on my Flickr site.

It's just a laugh a minute around here!

Conversation at my house about dinner earlier:

Me: I really don't want to cook tonight. Would you brown the hamburger? (*note* I can't stand the smell of burger cooking inside the house - I don't mind it on the grill, but not in the house)

Dave: No, I don't want to cook either. Why don't you make one of your faux dinners?

Me: *pause to think* What's faux dinner??

D: I don't know, why don't you tell me!

I almost fell off the chair I was sitting on when I realized what had been said. Read it out loud and I hope you giggle like I did. What he meant was like last night, when the kids asked for grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches. It was just kind of an "on the fly" dinner, nothing really planned.

He's just a regular comedian, I tell ya!

I have to laugh this morning

I just came back inside from taking the dog out. We were not three steps off the porch when this little kid that I've never seen in my neighborhood before lost his shit over my dog and started yelling "PIT BULL!" over and over again. Um, my dog is about a foot tall and looks nothing like one. I explained to him that Milo is not a pit bull at all, but he still hightailed it out of there.

See?

Milo is an 8 year old Jack Russell Terrier who has the sweetest disposition ever. JRT's aren't normally good with small children, but he was raised with mine as toddlers, so he grew up with them. The other three kids that this little boy was with came up and asked to pet him (I praise their parents for teaching their kids to ask to pet a dog they don't know - so many kids just run up and touch him).

I have nothing against pit bulls if they are raised properly. I have an out-of-state friend who breeds them and his pups are some of the sweetest dogs I know. I know we have several right on our street, but have never spoken to their owners, so I don't know what their dogs are like.

If you happen to see Milo and I around, please feel free to stop and talk, or just pet him - he'll love the attention!