New Beginnings

I can not believe how long it has been since I wrote my last post. Time seems to really escape you when you're busy. Since I've been pregnant I've never been busier! There is so much planning involved when you're expecting. I have known for some time how I was going to decorate a nursery. It has been a blast putting that idea to work. Some ideas I've had to ditch and try again. Thankfully everything is starting to come together! Josh installed wainscoting in the soon to be nursery. 

He did a beautiful job. Here is a quick look just before the last coat of paint was up and the furniture was brought into the room.

We have since done some decorating and put the crib together! I will say that I'm doing a sailboat theme in the room. Pottery Barn Kids had these adorable wooden buoys this summer in their decor section. When I saw them I knew I had to have them! Since the cheapest one was $30... Josh decided to make some on his own. So I found a picture for him to go off of and he took a trip to Home Depot. For $25 he was able to get enough supplies to make 7. We will only be using 3. FYI you can purchase them on Etsy! 

He did a wonderful job. I painted them to go along with the color scheme I have picked out. They couldn't have turned out better! 

Earlier that week we had just got back from Destin, FL. Where we had the most relaxing vacation. There is nothing like the beach to completely rejuvenate. I came back feeling refreshed and ready to start my next project. I have decided to complete a major project in our home each month for the next 4 1/2 months until baby Charlie arrives. First project on the list.... paint the kitchen and kitchen cabinets. With a cupcake job this weekend, the kitchen will have to wait. Hopefully before the end of July the kitchen will be complete and I'll be posting pictures! 

A Hard Week Deserves Treats!

A dear friend and I decided to make cake pops last Sunday. I have made cake pops many times in the past. However I have not tried my hand at plain cake pop balls. I have always shaped them into something different each time. Plain cake pops are not as easy as they may seem. 

I used a lemon cake recipe that I use often. We made a lemon cream cheese icing. Southern Living has a great cream cheese icing recipe! It is important to make sure that you do not add too much icing to the cake mixture. Too much icing will not allow the balls to hold their shape and can cause them to be overly sweet. If you place the balls in the freezer for 15 minutes before you dip them, the stick stays in place much better.

We used chocolate melts for the outside. Be careful not to cook the chocolate too long. If it starts to burn the chocolate with get small hard pieces that resemble rice krispies. I wish we had used a candy bag on the vanilla coating. It would have been much easier to apply. All in all I thought it was worth blogging about. 

Girls night is a must as a married woman. It becomes an essential especially after almost 6 years of marriage. My friends and I planned to watch Stupid, Crazy Love. This has become one of my favorite movies. Steve Carell does a fantastic job conveying what it must feel like to be hurt by the one you love most after 25 years. The rest of the cast did an equally great job. Watch it! If you believe in soul mates and that people can change for the better... you'll love it!

 Because I love to bake, I knew I wanted to serve dessert and coffee. I also work full time and had limited amount of time to prepare something. So this dessert I'm going to share with you is to die for and super quick!

Chocolate Lave Cakes

(Makes 4 small custard size cups)

4 squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 whole eggs

2 egg yokes

6 Tbsp. flour

Microwave butter and chocolate together in a bowl. Stir until well mixed. Stir in eggs and egg yokes. Add flour and powdered sugar and stir until well mixed. 

Pour into well greased cups and bake for 13-14 minutes on 425 degrees. Make sure not to over cook. You want the middle to look slightly under cooked. Once finished you can place upside down onto a plate. I served it with home-made whip cream and ice cream! They were a hit! This was a perfect dessert for a group of woman!

Valentines Day Card

I typically purchase my husbands Valentines day card each year. However this year I was feeling a little crafty and decided to make my own. I love to peruse the Martha Stewart website from time to time. She always has creative and fun card ideas.  You can download the templates from the website.

Because I love to scrapbook on occasion, I had card-stock on hand. You would want a thicker paper for this project. 

I still need to cut some string to attach to the back of the plane to the three heart clouds. It is different from any other cards I've seen. Its really simple and sweet!

Lemon Anyone . . .

If you don't know already I have a love for all things lemon flavored! So when my mother needed cupcakes to take to work, lemon was the first thing I thought of. These were made with one of my favorite cupcake recipes Sour cream pound cake cupcakes with a lemon cream cheese frosting.

 I wanted to spice them up a bit . . . this called for lemon curd! 

I have used the same recipe for lemon and lime curd for a couple years now. I decided that I wanted to try a different recipe this go around. I found a really simple and delicious recipe online.

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup lemon juice

zest from 3 lemons

1/2 cup butter, melted

Whisk eggs and sugar together. Mix the eggs and sugar with the lemon juice, lemon zest, and melted butter.

Place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute at a time stirring in between. Total time until it thickens should be right around 5 to 5 1/2 minutes. Then let it sit to thicken further. Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container. 

I couldn't believe how easy this recipe was. It tasted great too! It makes just enough for 24 cupcakes if you choose to use it for that. 

Needless to say the cupcakes turned out to be amazing as my husband would put it. There isn't anything better than lemon and cream cheese together! 

Cupcake Pops

In honor of my love for cupcakes, I devised a plan to make cake pops in the shape of cupcakes. With much hard work and hours spent in the kitchen, I think they turned out great!

Because I mill my own grain, getting the consistency right can be tricky. Don't worry they came together just fine. I baked a simple vanilla cake and added a cream cheese frosting to the mix to get the balls to stay together. Once they were rolled into balls I used a cookie cutter to make the bottom form a cupcake liner.  The next step CHOCOLATE . . .

Once the bottoms were dipped I added the sticks. Then it was time to dip the tops and add the sprinkles. From there it all came together very quickly! These cake pops were a hit!