First, let me just say how wonderful it is to have freedom to live my life for what I was created for. Going to and seeing other countries really puts things into perspective and helps you realize how wonderful it is to have the freedom to have the life you desire; get an education, choose your own job, have as many children as you wish, or even just walk outside and know you are safe. For that I am thankful to the people that have given so much!

Now on to the FUN STUFF! The fourth of July brings a lot of room for fun creativity. You can make plenty of fun and colorful dishes and desserts or even decorate your backyard to enjoy the special occasion. I didn’t have much time to do anything super creative — actually the only themed items are food! Pretzel Salad (recipe below) and chocolate dipped pretzel sticks with red and blue sprinkles. The photos and links below are just some inspirational posts from some awesome bloggers and sites out there. Hope you find the links below helpful for your 4th celebration this year or next….

• Simply Creative Insanity: Awesome 4th of July Table Design
• Twig & Thistle: DIY 4th of July
• Paper & Cake: Red White and Blue Decor
• Two Hearts Together: Flag Treats
• Taste of Home: Red White and Blue Torte
• Eventagious: Party Ideas

Pretzel Salad

Layer 1: Pretzel Crust
2 C. Crushed Pretzels
3/4 C. Melted Butter
3 Tbs. Sugar

Layer 2: Cream
8 Oz. Cream Cheese
8 Oz. Whipped Cream
1 C. Sugar

Layer 3: Jello
6 Oz. Strawberry Jello
2 C. Water
20 Oz. Sweetened Frozen Strawberries (or other Frozen Berries)

1. Mix the crushed pretzels, melted butter and sugar; Spread into a greased 9×13″ pan. Bake at 400 Degrees for 8 minutes and cool completely.
2. Beat cream cheese until smooth; add sugar and fold in the whipped cream. Spread over the cooled pretzel crust and set aside.
3. Bring the water to a boil and dissolve the jello. Cool slightly (until barely steaming — I usually pour the jello into a bowl to let cool). Stir in the frozen strawberries and let thicken a little. Pour over the cream mixture.
4. Cover the salad and place in the refrigerator to set.
5. ENJOY!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Why are cupcakes so so fun?!

I adore cupcakes, which is why I am happy see them EVERYWHERE! I have been busy baking a lot of fun cupcakes for birthdays, gatherings, summer and just because! There are just so many fun things that can be done with cupcakes for themed birthdays, baby showers, bridal showers and other occasions that can use a cute boost! Let’s just face it — a cupcake can do a world of wonders to make any party or gathering more memorable.

The above photo is of my most recent cupcake “adventure.” Champagne cupcakes with fresh Raspberry Buttercream Frosting. I have made buttercream before but never with a fruit in the mix. Not only was it easy and exciting, the result was delicious! (even my husband says it is his favorite cupcake frosting I have made to date!) So there you have it, ladies and gentleman, it is a winner! After making this frosting, I did a little research on buttercream (and probably still need to do a bit more) and how to work with it; but first, the recipe:

I followed my original recipe for buttercream that I received at my Wilton cake decorating class a couple years ago and threw some fresh raspberries in the mix.

1/2 c. Butter (softened)
1/2 c. Fresh Raspberries (washed and dried well)
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 (16 oz.) bag of Powdered Sugar

Mix the first four ingredients until softened:

Gradually add the powdered sugar, scraping the bowl after every few additions, until smooth:

A few things that I didn’t know about buttercream:

• If made with butter (as in this recipe) instead of shortening — it is going to harden when refrigerated, so take it out about 30 minutes before you want to frost your cake or cupcakes (or if you have the cake/cupcakes refrigerated, take out 30 minutes before serving)
• You DO need to refrigerate buttercream and any dessert that uses it due to the fat-sugar ratio
• If you need softer buttercream, use shortening (but note it will not be as tasty, in my opinion)
• If it is going to be warm/ hot when serving it, keep it refrigerated in order for the frosting to keep it’s shape & not melt! Especially if using a lovely tip to frost your cupcakes :)

Wow, there were a lot of things I didn’t know about buttercream, and still don’t know. The next time I make it — hopefully soon — I will put some more time into researching it. Hope that this helps you for the time being! Below is my finished product at it’s finest…

Would you believe me, if I told you that I’ve never made Banana Bread before?

Isn’t that one of the most basic recipes ever? Well, you can believe it… because I haven’t – UNTIL NOW!

I was wandering around my kitchen and came across 4 bananas that were pretty spotty and brown. My first thought was, “dang it, what a waste!” Oh, quite the contrary my friend! The light bulb finally turned on… BANANA BREAD! I had to look up a recipe online (since it was late and didn’t want to wake my parents to get theirs). There were of course, many to choose from; but most were very similar to one another.

I decided to follow Laura’s recipe – deciding factor? Hmm, well I love how creative she is when creating cards, so why not her recipes?! I threw in some chopped walnuts and coconut (and omitted the pecans). IT WAS DELICIOUS! Next time I will keep the coconut out since it added more texture (and calories) than flavor, but will still sprinkle some over the top before baking because it was pretty and it added a nice little crunch.

This last minute venture was definitely a success and I for sure see many more banana breads in my future! I still love the recipe that my parents have used all of my life, so that will be the next one that I try out – moister, I think; maybe they add more bananas? Hmmm… Until then, enjoy this recipe and a quick photo of my very first banana bread.

Thanks for visiting!

Fun & Delicious!

As I said earlier, I have been doing much more baking than I have scrapping this last month… and it has been a delicious journey for everyone involved. Thanks to those of you who helped me decide which recipes to try and for helping taste test (though there were no arms to twist! :)

This one was both delicious and fun! I decided to make them for my nephew, Owen’s, 5th birthday in May. I thought it would be a good addition to the dessert for the kiddos — but saw a few adults enjoying them as well! I highly recommend this recipe to those of you who like oreos, have children or just like sprinkles! I got the original recipe here. Thanks to many of my favorite foodies, I have grown accustomed to step by step photo instructions along with my new recipes and while it is not necessary, it is so fun! So since the original poster didnt do so, I felt the need :) Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake Cookie Sandwiches
(Source: The Crepes of Wrath, as seen on Annie’s Eats)

Ingredients:
For the cookies:
1 package chocolate cake mix (or other flavor of your choice)
1 egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

For the frosting:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp. milk

For decorating:
multi-colored non-pareils, or other sprinkles or candy of your choice

Directions:
1. To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cake mix, egg and butter. Beat on low speed until just combined and all dry ingredients have been incorporated.

3. Roll the dough into 1- to 1 1/2-inch balls, place on the prepared baking sheets and press down to slightly flatten.

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheets.

5. To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the powdered sugar, and beat until incorporated. Add vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until fully incorporated. Add 2 tablespoons of milk and beat on medium-high speed until smooth. If the frosting too thick, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of milk and beat until incorporated.

6. To assemble, pair the cookies based on size on a work surface. Frost the flat side of one cookie from each pair. Place the other cookie of each pair on top of the frosting, flat side down. Lightly press down so that the frosting reaches the edges of the cookies.

7. To decorate, place sprinkles in a small bowl. Dip the sides of each cookie in the sprinkles, pressing down gently and rotating to cover the sides completely.

And here is the birthday boy enjoying one himself :)

EMERGENCY!!!!

I made a delicious pot of Beef Stew and had NO BREAD to go with it. That is definitely an emergency if I’ve ever heard of one :)

So here is what I did (and I have a feeling this little trick is going to save me again sometime in the near future!). I broke out the wheat bread that we use for sandwiches, buttered them up, sliced them into some (cute) triangles, sprinkled each with Lawry’s Garlic Salt and some Cheddar Cheese. Then I popped it into the broiler for about 6 minutes (until the cheese was nice and melted onto the bread). MmmmmMmmm…. this was good bread! Hubby approved!

Many times you could find me standing around the grocery store debating with myself whether or not I want to buy a whole loaf of french or sourdough bread for just the two of us. We never finish it before it goes bad and honestly, as much as I would LOVE to eat bread with every single meal — that just aint so healthy for you! So you say ‘freeze it,’ huh? It has been done and successfully several times… however I tend to forget it is in there and end up buying a new loaf anyway. So I try not to do that. This new recipe (if you can even call it that) is going to save me a lot of trouble…

Blackberry Crumb Bars

UGH, I am a sucker for new recipes and even spent an entire evening drooling over several foodie blogs and bookmarking the recipes that I deemed “doable.” Don’t worry, I will share a list of those blogs below ;)

So here is the first of the many new recipes to try out. Found on Bake or Break, where you can find many awesome recipes that are tried and true and delicious! Many seem fairly easy too. Here is my review on this recipe:

It wasn’t what I wanted it to be. In the past I have had trouble trying new bar recipes that end up tasting too floury and the list of ingredients for these bars fooled me into thinking it would be different; and it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying them, but as I said before, they aren’t the sweet treat I wanted them to be. The Blackberries that I used were not quite sweet enough and I know that I didn’t squeeze in as many Blackberries as were called for — so I would say, next time I would do it when Blackberries are super in season and use lots of them! I think I will try this recipe again because I know it can be better. I will probably also use less flour for the crumbly topping.

Here is how I spaced out my Blackberries — see? I could have SO put more blackberries!

Here is the final product — pretty huh? You should see the original recipe maker’s photos!!

Here are a few of the foodie blogs that I was drooling over this last week:

• Picky Palate
• Bakerella
• Bake or Break
• The Pioneer Woman
• Smitten Kitchen

Crockpot Beef Stew

One last recipe for today (I promise!)

It was a cool day so perfect for soup! But I wanted to try something other than my favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup. I went to Betty Crocker to check out their Crockpot soup recipes and ran across this recipe. It looked warm and delicious — and that it was! There were a few things I changed, here is my review:

This recipe was calling my name due to the caramelized onions… both yummy and NEW to me! I had never caramelized onions before so I was ready to check it out. Instead of parsnips, I used some baby white potatoes and added some celery as well. When I added the broth (mixed with gravy mix) it didn’t seem very soupy, so I doubled it. It was the perfect amount of broth for the amount of beef and veggies in there. That is about it! This recipe is hubby approved and will be saved away in my recipe box :)

Yay for another great recipe — sorry, no photos of my personal stew, but I am including the photo from Betty. Trust me it was yummy! Have a great day!