Cupcakes FTW

Here is a well-known fact about me: I love cupcakes. I like baking them. I like frosting them. I like eating them. I like looking at things adorned with cupcake images. I like owning things adorned with cupcake images. So it should be no surprise that on a recent trip to Barnes & Noble {I love that place, don’t you?} I was perusing the value priced books and came across this gem:

Oh la la! For $7, it had to be mine. I’ll just add it to my cookbook collection

You might be wondering how many cupcake recipe books a person can own before they all start to look the same. I'll tell you, friends, they aren't all created equal that's for sure. Hello Cupcake is one that is full of eye candy, but unless you have a monstrous sweet tooth, you probably aren't going to be eating most of the cupcakes featured. Luckily, I do have a sweet tooth & an eye for over the top confections. The Cupcake Bible; however, has more basic recipes. Here are a few that caught my eye and therefore MUST be made promptly:

                                                                        

Pretzel dragonflies? I love it! 

Pink lemonade cupcakes with little straws? Yes!

Bite-sized doughnuts covered in scrumptious cinnamon.

Whoopie pie cupcakes taste oh so yummy!

                                                         

HALLELUJAH

The post title all in caps is necessary because I am, in fact, yelling, "HALLELUJAH!" We finally have a reprieve from rain. Not only that, the sun is out. Holy moly!

To celebrate, I made my first green smoothie today. Kale, pineapple, pears, and vanilla yogurt with a kiwi fruit garnish.

Oh my goodness. It was so yummy. I knew my little one-man blender was going to be one of my favorite purchases. Then I went out to the deck and guzzled it down while reading. Delightful.

The other day I picked up a book on healthy cooking for kids. I might cross out the word kids and fill in my own name in pink Sharpie. There are some serious gems in this thing. Sunshine Toast, Souffled Baked Potatoes, Creamy Pasta Bake? Roast Vegetable Lasagna? I'm pretty sure that somewhere deep inside me, there is a fat 10-year-old just begging to be let out.

One thing I'll be staying away from like the plague? Tomato soup. Blech.

Maybe later I'll show you the amazing blazer I picked up for $2.50. Are you jealous? You should be. I'm wearing it today with some sweet red pants.
In the meantime, I'm going to snack on leftover Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese from Mr. Mac's

Yummy Yummy in my Tummy

Rain has been pelting down on the city most of the week now. The forecast says that next week is going to be filled with scattered thunderstorms. The fact that it's also cold is just adding insult to injury. Here's what I know:
a) I need vitamin d
and
b) I picked the wrong week to order from amazon
I ordered this amazing book about cooking sugar and had it shipped amazon Prime {loves it}. Yesterday, I raced home from work to save it from the rainstorm of certain doom. The box was drenched and my heart dropped. Imagine my sweet relief when I pried it open to see plastic protecting my beloved new treasure. It wasn't. But, luck was on my side and my pretty little book is in one {dry} piece.  In fact, I've been sitting on my couch wrapped in a snuggly blanket pouring over a few cookbooks to get inspired.

In case you're wondering, yes I do eat regular food. It's not all treats, smoothies and chocolate happiness here.

Now that that's out there, let's get to looking at some things I've been meaning to make/bake/eat/devour/enjoy/share:

These 3D cupcake cookies from The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle look too adorable not to make for my sister's baby shower {Two pregnant sisters!}

Martha Stewart's homemade graham crackers would be perfect with homemade marshmallows.

For this, I can only say 2 words. HOLY MOLY!

I don't like the store-bought kind, but I'll give these pop-tarts a chance.

Or perhaps I should make some mint jelly and use it on some homemade english muffins.

Seriously, Smitten Kitchen? I'm in love with you. DIY Goldfish. I love them... because they're so delicious.

This weekend I don my swell-looking apron and compose a culinary masterpiece. Until then sweeties...

TGIF

What an extremely looooooong week this was. I was looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend full of fun in the sun. Instead the forecast is screaming at me saying it's going to be cold and rainy.

New England, you're really cheesing me off. Is that a saying? Cheesing someone off? If it isn't, I'd like to motion that we add it to wherever we need to. Implement it in your daily lives, please and thank you.

I found this recipe the other day for homemade tater tots. This past week I haven't been home long enough to try it out, but I'm absolutely dying to attempt it. After that, I'm going to see if homemade poptarts are any better than the store-bought type. Tasty!

If you're going to be in the Manchester, NH area you should go to the CarrotMob event on Saturday at Jewell and the Beanstalk. They don't accept debit cards on orders under $50 {BS} but they make a tasty spinach pita & an extraordinarily yummy Strawberry Banana smoothie. Their egg salad is equally as tasty. On top of all that, the place is just cute.

The poster was designed by Daniel Brian and I may, or may not, have been the voice behind the making. "It's cute, but not too cute." I'm so helpful.

Time to Make the Donuts

When my nieces spend the night, there are usually many things that happen. These include: watching The Little Mermaid, attempting to complete our coloring books {I don't remember ever finishing one from front to back}, and eating delicious things.

Recently, I had them help me make their breakfast. They were craving donuts, so we made some using this recipe. I replaced the buttermilk with applesauce. A) I didn't have any buttermilk, and B) because applesauce gives baked donuts a fluffy dough and a really interesting taste. I also cut back the sugar. The girls decided that they simply had to have chocolate chips.

Then we all sat out on the deck and they enjoyed the fruits of their labor along with pink lemonade.

 You should get yourself a donut pan of some sort and try your own. They're a hit among young and old.

I've Got a Bike, You Can Ride It If You Like

I have to preface this post by telling you that I am going to talk about food. Almost exclusively. Okay,  that's over- you were warned.

Today I got my cupcake from Queen City Cupcake. I have to say that when I walked in and didn't see any Peppermint Pattie deliciousness in their tray, I was discouraged. Fortunately, one of the trays was just mislabeled. My goodness was it ever scrumptious. The frosting was light- just the way I like it. I even got a cupcake reward card. Huzzah! Buy 11 cupcakes, get one free. I don't think this will be a difficult feat.

I probably would have gotten more cupcakes {like my favorite, red velvet} but I had just finished an AMAZING meal from The Bridge Cafe. A strawberry banana smoothie {I heart smoothies so much}, cubed steak & cheese on a tortilla with green peppers,  scrumptious potato salad that I really want to find the recipe for {mustard?! That's what I call potato salad}. I could hardly stop myself from eating all of it before I got a picture.

I even rode my bike, Coquette down to get it & put the leftovers in my basket {cupcake goodies, too}.

Speaking of leftovers, I've been thinking recently that I'm going to start bringing my own Pyrex with me to take leftovers home. I hate using those styrofoam containers. I feel guilty whenever I see them in the fridge, and even guiltier when I get rid of them. I'm thinking I might get some divided glass ones and start taking them in a canvas bag. Or is that too weird?





Tomorrow, I head to the mall for the grand opening of Ulta. I've never been to one. I'm hoping it's a lot like Sephora & I can come home with some swag. Maybe I'll even get enough makeup to make myself look like this.

Yes?

{P.S. I really love hyphens... and ellipses... but not semicolons. So I just won't be using them. That is all.}

Zenni-one Can Have Some

I have misplaced my favorite pair of glasses somewhere. They're probably at school or in one of my teaching bags. I'm guessing that since I can't find the eyeglass case for them that wherever they are, they're safe... Whatever. If they don't want to help me see then I can't help that.

What I can do {and did do} is get some new glasses. In comes Zenni Optical. My new favorite place to buy glasses on the low. If I didn't misplace or sit on my glasses, I'd buy myself a more expensive pair. Lenscrafters would probably like it if I actually bought the designer glasses I try on regularly. Let's face it, I'd tire of them quickly. I need variety. Until I become an adult and learn to take care of the things that "improve" my vision, Zenni is perfect.

So I got not one, but FOUR new pairs of glasses for under $100. In fact, if you really want to know I'll tell you that with shipping, all 4 glasses came to $46.70 and would have been a little less if I had decided to get the fourth pair at the same time as the other three. But, noooooooo. I realized after pressing the order confirmation button that what I REALLY needed were some tortoise-shell glasses.

The shipping isn't exactly the fastest, but I've been satisfied with the other two pairs I bought from them, so I'll keep going back as long as they keep having glasses that look good on me. Should I post pics when they come in? Perhaps so. Perhaps so.

It's a cold, dreary, rainy day here in NH. The perfect day for doing nothing. I like this :).

Happiness and Goodwill

You know that feeling of elation you get when you walk into Goodwill & score big? You look through the clothes and it's like someone with your exact measurements & style unloaded a closet full of clothes that you wish you had bought? You wander past the furniture and there's a retro table & chair set begging for you to take it home? Or, maybe {just maybe} there's something that you can envision yourself sanding, painting, placing in the perfect place in your home and admiring daily.

That's the exact feeling I've had the past few times I've gone into my local Goodwill. It's one of the few stores I have been in where sometimes I go in and have no interest in anything but I keep going back. The thrill I get when I find something I love with the 50% off color of the week barb is nothing that can be put into words. Let's suffice it to say I do a little dance where I strut like a bird, chanting the sale price and then I bust through the next aisle like the Kool-aid Man.

But, what about the books, you ask? Oh the books. Treasures galore. I love the Used Book Superstore for their books, but I always check out the Goodwill's selection. That's where I get my best vintage sewing books. On my last trip, I walked into someone's donated teaching collection. Goodbye reason, goodbye sanity, goodbye moolah, HELLOOOOOOO new, professional mini library.

But enough talk. Let's play a game of show or tell. I'll show/tell you my thrifted goodies & you show/tell me yours. It'll take my mind off the $2 diamond-in-the-rough shelf that I didn't get because I had no room in my car after picking things up from my storage unit.

Gund Bianca Peacock {stored in a bag for weeks, of course} retail: $24.99. Goodwill: $0.99

Ah! A cupcake jewelry/trinket box. Retail: Free with a $150 purchase. Goodwill: $0.99

Marc by Marc Jacob jeans. Not exactly like the ones pictured, but similar. Retail: approx: $200 Goodwill: $4.99

Old Navy 3/4 Trench Coat Retail: who knows. Goodwill: $14.99, but 50% colored barb

Confession: I didn't buy this when I saw it because I didn't really think I needed a coat that didn't have long sleeves, but you bet your sweet patootie it'll be mine if I ever find one again.

Learning Resources Cash Register. Retail: $25-$35. Goodwill: $2.99

Ann Taylor Loft Skirts Retail: varies. Goodwill: $4.99

Don't even get me started on my brooch collection. <3.

If I weren't so tired/lazy I would take a picture of some of the apparel goodies that I've found over the past week. Maybe that would be a good feature for the blog. I can post all the cool things I see {but don't necessarily buy} from local thrift stores. The wheels are turning.

Speaking of turning... it's your turn. What are some of your favorite thrift purchases or finds?

P.S.

Sooner or later, I'm going to divulge my love of all things peacock to you anyway so now seems as good a time as any. Check out the pretty little thing that's on its way to me. This Anthropologie peacock ring

Bake Bake Bake Senora

via Dujour Magazine

My favorite memories of my grandmother revolve around her in the kitchen. She made the best food {except one episode where she tried her hand at chinese chicken and the smell alone repulsed me.} I would come home after playing a rousing game of dodgeball and she would have these double chocolate chip cookies baked. Not just enough for us to eat. Oh no. That wasn't her. There would be something like 7 dozen of these cookies. Did I mention she had 8

children?

To this day, I can't find a whoopie pie that I like nearly as much as hers. No one I know has ever heard of a polka dot brownie made the way I know them. Spinach pita was the only way I would touch that freakish green vegetable. Lasagna... mmm... it's my favorite dish to this day. I have found a rival lasagna, in case you're wondering.

Every day I get emails with recipes for things that I think look like something my grandmother would have loved to make. Today's recipe was for homemade oreos. For reals? I MUST give them a try. My beloved cookbooks could use a break and it's 12 degrees over here, so my oven will warm the place up nicely. Usually I find great recipes from Martha Stewart {love love love her} or Dujour magazine {have you heard of it? It's girlish fun & full of DIYs and recipes.}

Do you have a favorite recipe?

via Baking Bites

via Cupcake Project

{P.S. I do more than bake, but baked goods are just so much fun! Have you ever used 2 of my favorite cupcake books?}