Cannoli Cupcakes

For the cupcake:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup room temp butter
• 2 lg eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside
3. Whip butter and sugar till fluffy
4. Add eggs one at a time
5. Add sour cream and vanilla
6. Slowly add in dry mixture
7. Divide batter into 12 cupcake liners
8. Bake about 20 minutes until toothpick inserted in middle of cupcake comes out clean.
9. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

• 12 oz softened cream cheese
• 8 oz mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Cream cream cheese, mascarpone and 1/2 cup powdered sugar in mixing bowl.
2. Set mixture aside
3. Place cleaned mixing bowl and mixing attachment in freezer for about 5-10 minutes.
4. Whip heavy cream and 2 tbsp powdered sugar in chilled mixing bowl and attachment.
5. Once mixture is completely whipped fold into cream cheese mixture
6. Frost cupcakes and top with mini chocolate chips
7. If not serving immediately place in fridge.

Lobster Mac and Cheese

The local seafood market had a deal on lobster and Kyle wanted lobster mac and cheese since I haven't made it in a few months. This was a new recipe I found on pinterest that was awesome. Kyle even ate leftovers with this and he rarely eats leftovers. Here's the link to the recipe:

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2009/09/lobster-mac/

Wine Bottle Tags

I made these for my sisters engagement party that I'm hosting the end of August. The colors I'm going with are gray and robins egg blue with small accents of white and black. I cut these with my silhouette and stamped the heart and the stems of the flowers. Can't wait to share more items as I make them.

Brownies

I was in the mood for brownies so wanted to try a recipe I pinned. These were delicious and were a great snack. Definitely satisfied the chocolate craving I was having. Here's the link so you can make them for yourself:


http://addapinch.com/cooking/2011/01/19/chewy-fudgy-cakey-brownies/

Greek Salad and Dressing

 



 

I just made the dressing in this recipe for a salad and served it will my favorite lemon chicken on the grill. It was great to have the dressing to use throughout the week. I don't make a lot of salad dressing, usually just buy it. But after making and trying this I definitely will be making it more often. Here's the recipe:

 

http://aggieskitchen.com/2010/07/12/greek-grilled-chicken-salad/

More Scrapbook Layouts

I'm so proud of myself I finished all the Challenges today for the online crop for Oklahoma. Here are the pages and card I did today.

 Masculine Birthday Card

  

 Another layout from Laura's wedding

 I used the bingo chips for the year, these are pictures from my neighborhood from this past fall

 This was a simple layout Challenge, you printed the template, cut 4 favorite pictures to 3x3 and added them to the template

 It's hard to see the white background on this one, this challenge was to use only scraps, nothing new. So the background is a white thin cardboard that was in with a pack of paper, the little flower I took from an empty package and the paper were all scraps I had.

 Princess all ready to ring in the new year.

 Princess vs Kyle's transformer

 Aaron's Christmas 2012 present - tickets to Wrestlemania

Scrapbook Layouts

I was so glad I got to participate in an online scrapbook crop to raise money for those in Oklahoma affected by the Tornadoes. Some amazing scrapbook companies donated prizes and wonderful women gave of their time coming up with challenges for us to work on. Here are some of my layouts and a card for the challenges. Will be sharing more this week once I get more done.

 I love baking and go all out for Christmas, this year I broke it up into batches which made it much easier. I did 1-2 days of baking for work and our neighbors and a week later did 1-2 days of baking for family and friends.

 Princess all ready for Christmas, she helps open her presents.

 Laura and Matt's wedding reception

 Princess relaxing

 My awesome mom and sister

 Laura and Matt's Wedding Ceremony

 Princess napping yet again

 Love my puppy, these are instagram photos

 Love making rainbow cookies, recipe is also on this blog

 Enjoying a rawhide

 A card I colored with my copics

 New Christmas sweater

Strawberry Tart

This was a great tart, and a nice summer dessert. I put less of the sauce on this then the recipe states, but was still delicious. Love strawberries and now they have some beautiful ones in our area since we are in season for them. Here's the link to the recipe:

http://shewearsmanyhats.com/2012/05/strawberry-tart/

Easy Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

It's that time of year, the weather warms up and it's the perfect time for some ice cream. I pinned this recipe a few months ago and am so glad I did. I finally made it and it was delicious. So quick and easy to make. Here's the link to the recipe:

http://www.somethingswanky.com/strawberry-cheesecake-easy-ice-cream/

Macaroni Salad

I've tried many different macaroni salads over the years and this one has been the winner. I like it because you can customize it easily to match to the tastes you like. I didn't add carrots this time, but I have in the past and they were a great mix in. I added white onions this time since the red ones didn't look good at the market, I don't like my macaroni salad with a ton of mayo, but you can add more if you like.

• 1 box elbow macaroni
• 1 cup mayo (I don't measure this out, I add a little at a time and mix it till it's matching the amount I like)
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar
•  1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 lg onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped

1. Cook macaroni, rinse under cold water and drain well.
2. Add macaroni to large bowl, top with vinegar and sugar, stir well. Add pepper and salt. Add mayo, stir well and add pepper and onion.
3. This is best sitting in the fridge over night. When I take out the next day I stir quick and do a quick taste test and adjust the mayo or seasoning if needed. If you didn't drain the pasta well, there may be some liquid on bottom of the bowl so drain that quick also before serving.

Layouts and a Card

Since the weather was crappy today I got some scrapping done this afternoon.

 Princess getting her tan and nap on at the same time. The arrows are a stamp I've had for a long time.

 I love making cards and colored this one with my copics

 Pictures from our Christmas Card 2011 photo shoot. I love the patch of dark hair between her eyes.

 Look at that face, it's Princess Claus

 Sleeping on the blanket she took over that was a gift for me from a great friend. This dog loves her blankets.

Parmesan Garlic Grilled Corn

Found this recipe on pinterest and was delicious. I love corn on the grill and this was the perfect seasoning for it. You should definitely try it this summer when you grill. Here's the link to this recipe


http://eclecticrecipes.com/parmesan-garlic-grilled-corn

New Scrapbook Pages

I had a little time to scrap this afternoon so I did a few layouts. Trying to do as much as I can before our next trip.

 Love Princess in her Christmas hat I bought on Etsy for her. This was one of the pictures I took while working on our photo christmas card.

 Princess loves her sleep

 I love going into the city, these are instagram photos I printed from our trip into the city December 2012

Scrapbook Layouts

Here are some recent scrapbook layouts. The weather has warmed up here so I've been spending a ton of time outside and haven't been posting as much, but I will be trying out some new recipes soon preparing for an engagement party I'm hosting and will be sharing those.