Gotta sweet tooth?

Thought I would put together a post about some recent goodies that have been floating around the LaClair house...like I need ANY treats??
Being a wife and mom, I once again this year made my *own* birthday treats. I opted for cupcakes this year-easier to share with people..less for me to eat! My sweet friend Brenna made cupcakes like this on St. Pats, and I thought they looked SO COOL that I decided to try some of my own for my birthday..they were SO GOOD and everyone loved them! All you do is make a white cake mix, and color the batter with food coloring!

I also got SO MANY treats for my birthday this year...A whole gift bag full of berries..yes, a GIFT BAG full of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries...a platter of chocolate heart shaped brownies, and a fruit pizza. Thanks Jenn! It all was wonderful!
Lisa made me brownie bites..they were so good!
Tiny brownie cups with white filling, and a strawberry slice on each one. They were divine, too! Judy brought me a whole plate full of Puddles of Yum...needless to say, I was not starving that week, and I walked a WHOLE lot to make up for the sweets!

A couple weeks later, for Easter, I made some easter egg cupcakes...obviously, this was my first attempt at frosting grass, and these tinies had been to Mooers and back before I took the pic. They were mini cupcakes, so three of these = one regular one...munch away!!

For Easter dessert at Mom's, she made they cool little pies in canning jars. She did chocolate, strawberry, and blueberry. They were so good! We found the idea for them online, and they say you can make them up and freeze them before baking, then pull them out of the deep freeze and bake! These are a great gift idea!!

Back to work tomorrow! Where did the weekend go? Furthermore, I had a few days off last week...where did they go? Here's hoping the weather is better this week! I have never taken the phrase April showers so literal until this year!
**Keri**

Valentine's Day Wrap-Up!!

Here is a huge mishmash of photographs from my Valentine's Day! I have to say, I was a very spoiled gal this year. I got MANY actual Valentine's, from all the special people in my life!! I grouped them in sets for the photographs, as I would like to keep my sanity with this lovely dial up!
These first two are from my friend Judy and my Mama! They are just gorgeous! Judy also sent me some treats that you will see below, and my Mom used the coolest mulberry cardstock with tiny hearts embedded in it!


These next two are the ones I made for Cody (top) and Peter (bottom). I actually made them a while ago, for Buzz and Bloom, and tucked them away until the Holiday arrived!

Here is the next grouping. Top left is from my buddy Brenna! This is her first card ever-she is a scrapbooker, and finally decided to take the leap! I love that is has my name on it, cause I NEVER find anything with my name spelled correctly!! Top right is a little card that my dear baby boy lifted off my card rack! In his defense, after he took it and hid it, he did come to me and ask me if it was okay that he did it. Bottom right is the card my lovely hubby gave me. He did buy it, but pointed out the fact that is WAS homemade looking, and I reassured him that it was indeed homemade paper. It had a lovely verse inside!! Bottom right is my Valentine from my daycare girls and their parents. Morgan, Reanna, Emily and Randy! It came with some Kissables, too!

These next two are from my best buddy Peg (I drew her to the dark side a few years ago, Buwahahahahah!!), hers is on the top, with my favorite set that I like to borrow, Loads of Love, and the cuttlebug embossed background, and the bottom on is from an online friend of many years now, Linda! Hers has some intricate handiwork, and a felted heart ornament that is detachable!!


Last but certainly not least, as you can see from the empty chocolate wrappers, is the cute "candy wallet" that Judy sent me. You can visit her blog at www.stampinmyheartout.blogspot.com . This lovely was made with die cuts from the SU! Bigshot collection, and filled with lovely candies! Hit they spot, they did!!

This is the little gal that came to live at my house yesterday. I have collected Boyd's Bears for about 10 years now. The longer time goes by, they fewer I have collected. I love them all, decorated with them-not CRAZY all over the place bears, but just one here or there. They are each very meaningful and special to me! ANYWAY, my hubby got this little lady with a knit sweater for Valentine's Day! She is very sweet. She brought me a pretty pair of earrings, too!


This is what else she brought me. A diamond heart pendant! I have been eyeing the heart shaped and circle shaped pendants like this for quite a while, and am not a HUGE jewelry person, but this fits me perfectly. Simple, understated! I am a very blessed wife!!

So that ties up our Valentine's Day! It was a wonderful day. I wrapped it up, half sick, with a pizza supper, and hot fudge pudding cake. Peter's Fave! I didn't get a photo, unfortunately! I will post the recipe below, though. We also watched The Dark Knight. I was quite apprehensive, but I am glad I watched it. I am a very tender person, and knowing that Heath Ledger is no longer with us is heartbreaking. BUT WHAT A PERFORMANCE!! I see now why is was nominated for an Oscar. I am not a big follower of the Academy Awards, but MAN I hope he wins!!

Here is the recipe::
(It is a Hershey's recipe)
Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
1 1 / 4 cups sugar, divided
1 cup flour
7 tablespoon cocoa, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 / 4 teaspoon salt
1 / 2 cup milk
1 / 3 cup margarine, melted
1 1 / 2 teaspoons vanilla
1 / 2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/ 4 cups hot water
Heat oven to 350 F. In large bowl. Stir together 3 / 4 cup sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla; beat until smooth. Pour batter into 8 or 9 inch square baking pan. Stir together remaining 1 /2 cup sugar, brown sugar and remaining 4 tablespoons cocoa; sprinkle mixture evenly over batter. Pour water over top. DO NOT STIR. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool 15 minutes; spoon into dessert dishes. Spoon sauce from bottom of pan over top of cake. Serve warm with whipped topping, or VANILLA ICE CREAM!! if desired.

We are on vaca this week. Winter break!! Thank you Lord! Have a blessed week-I have a fresh layout to share very soon!!
**Keri**

How Many Dozen??

Good Friday Morning, everyone! Boy, am I beat. I am so glad it is almost the weekend! Cody recently decided to be in Spanish Club. Even though he does not even like Spanish. Typical kid, typical boy, and you will see where I am going with this in a minute. Apparently, there is a field trip next Friday. Over to Vermont to see the Flamenco (sp?) dancers at the Flynn Theatre. Well, that is reason enough to be in Spanish Club, right? Miss a whole day of school?! ALRIGHT! So if you wanted to go on the trip, you had to pay for your ticket, and make something for a bake sale (today) to help pay for the bus. She also requested that it had a Valentine feel to it, as the holiday is so close at hand. So when Mom and I went to town the other day, I picked up sprinkles, cello bags with hearts, and all kinds of baking supplies. I have been trying not to bake, so I hadn't bought any flour/sugar, etc. since the Holidays! I did a double batch of spritz cookies, in pink, and white, and I did a triple batch of sugar cookies, complete with royal icing and sprinkles. Cody did the sprinkles!
I think I made about 10 dozen cookies last night, at LEAST! I was so tired I was drooling. I finally got done, got them all packaged, and went to bed after 10 pm. I made 20 packages for the bake sale, and a special one for Cody's best school buddy, the nurse. Here is my recipe for sugar cookies. I have been using it for years, and it never fails! Always remember not to roll them out too thin!
Keri's Sugar Cookies:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups flour
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift in flour, b. powder and salt. Let chill until easy to work with. Roll out to a 1/4" thickness and bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes.
*I don't let them get brown at ALL. Not even a litte bit.*

Royal Icing (from Martha Stewart dot com)
2 cups conf. sugar
2 1/2 tblsp. meringue powder
1/4 cup water.
Blend well and add coloring if desired!



I used a zipper bag with the tip cut off, for the icing. I use an offset spatula to fill in the middle..Here is what the bake sale packaging looks like:
I used a cute punch with a Purple Onion Designs sentiment for the middle, and tied it with a pink ribbon. Purple Onion Link is in the sidebar!!



Here is the special treat for our friend, the nurse. I got this cute box at Michael's and loved it!! They have all kinds of prints for the holidays. I filled it with goodies and tied it with a huge grosgrain ribbon, and a sentiment tag.

Now all I have to do is make up a tray for tomorrow's SU! workshop!
Have a great Friday!
**Keri**

Christmas Cookies!!

My dear friend Judy sent me a care package a couple of days ago. She makes THE best spritz cookies. So she sent me her recipes, and a cookie spritzer! I got down to business this afternoon-and made some awesome cookies! I am quite tickled with my production! I managed to get covered in green food coloring, but that is nothing new. Here are some of the other awesome goddies that she sent me-these great ornaments,
some monogrammed notecards, a box with some Yankee tarts, and a cute little basket full of kisses! Most of the goodies were made with the Big Shot that SU! is now offering, along with exclusive dies!
Thank you JudyB, I hope you are proud of my cookies, couldn't have done it without you!
Merry Christmas Eve!
**Keri**

Weekend Stampin' UP! Workshop!

Saturday was my annual Stampin Up workshop! I had about 10 ladies at my home, but I forgot to take a picture until most of them were gone!! By the time I took these first two pics, it looked like a tornado flew over the table, we were all munching, and tired from all the stamping! It's a rough life!! Anyway, when the weekend was all said and done and I collected a couple of outside orders from hubbies doing their Christmas shopping, my party total was $1400.00!! I am still in shock. I went into the day with no expectations, with the economy the way it is. Several people had asked me if I was still going to have my party, so I went on with it, and boy am I glad I did!! Now the hard part starts-waiting for everything to arrive! Can you imagine the mess I will be in when the boxes arrive and I have to sort it all?? I will definitely make sure that my daycare kids are gone before I even open the boxes!!
My thanks to JudyB for being a rockin' demo and helping me so much!! She created awesome projects and made sure everything was perfect for us!!

This is a picture of the first card that JudyB created for my workshop, using SU! Loads of Love. We masked the truck to stamp the tree in the back, used two way glue on the tree, and added Dazzling Diamonds for snow. Very cute card!!
This is the second card we made, also using Loads of Love. This one is a fall one, using Pumpkin Pie, Bordering Blue, Very Vanilla, and Chocolate Chip! We put the pumpkins and the scalloped circle on pop dots. Love that taffeta ribbon!
And last but not least, this is the dessert I made for the occasion. I got the recipe out of "The Cake Mix Doctor" cookbook that was Grandma Omi's. Mom made it for me a few years ago for a workshop, and I decided to try it myself this time. Fall is the perfect time! If you love pumpkin, this recipe is for you!! You will not be sorry for trying this one, gals....everyone FREAKED about it!! I am sad that it is gone!!

Pumpkin Pie Crumble Cake

1 package yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter or margerine
4 eggs
2 cans (15 0z.) pumpkin
1 can (5 oz) evaporated milk
1 1/ 4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 tablespoons chilled butter or margerine
1 cup chopped pecans
Grease and flour a 9x13 inch cake pan. Measure out 1 cup of the cake mix and reserve for topping. Place rest of cake mix, butter and 1 egg in a mixing bowl, and blend. Press the batter over the bottom of the prepared pan. For filling, place pumpkin, evaporated milk, 1 cup of sugar, 3 eggs, and cinnamon in a bowl. Blend until combined. Increase mixer speed, and beat until mixture lightens in color and texture. Pour filling over crust in pan. For topping, place remaining 1 /4 cup sugar, chilled butter, and reserved cake mix in a bowl. Combine until crumbly. Stir in pecans. Distribute topping evenly over filling mixture. Bake at
350 for about 60 minutes. It is done when the center of the cake
no longer jiggles and the pecans have browned. Cool and serve
with homemade whipped cream.

Have a great Tuesday!

**Keri**

Cherry Squares

Thought I would share another recipe with you-one that I made last night! This is one from my Mom, that I have always loved! Cody would eat half the pan in one sitting if I let him, Peter doesn't care for it cause he only likes chocolate and pumpkin. Cody and I seem to make the best of it!! It is a very easy tasty recipe:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cups butter or margerine, softened

pinch salt

1 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 can cherry pie filling

Mix the flour, brown sugar, salt, and oatmeal in a bowl. Mix very soft butter into dry mixture, until it is crumbly. I use a pastry blender.

Press half of the mixture into a 9x13 pan. Pour can of cherry pie filling over bottom layer, and spread it out evenly. Spread other half of crumble mix on top of pie filling, and press flat. Bake in a 375 oven for 25 minutes. Enjoy!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I am holding an SU! Workshop here tomorrow!

**Keri**

Ghoulishly Good Cookies....

I have an old stand-by chocolate cookie recipe that I adapted last night into a Halloween recipe. I know, a bit early, but I wanted to give it a test run, so I could share it on here, in case anyone else wanted to try it!
I found these great new Halloween M&M's at K-Mart the other night, and their colors are so cool! Much better than the traditional orange and black, these also contain a slime green color, and a great purple color!!

Of course, being the peanut butter lover I am, I also added some Reese's Peanut Butter chips to the recipe!

Ghoulishly Good Cookies
2 cups All-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups butter or margerine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
Half bag of peanut butter chips
Half bag of Halloween M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, cocoa, soda and salt.
Beat butter and sugar in a large bown until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in M&M's and peanut butter chips by hand.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 minues. (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.) Cool slightly and transfer to a cooling rack.

**I placed extra M&M's on the tops of the cookie dough before placing them in the oven!**

Here is how they came out!!

And here is the Code Man taste testing one RIGHT BEFORE SUPPER!! Doing his best to look like a complete goofball!!
Please, try my recipe and let me know what you think!!

**Keri**

Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins

Good Saturday morning! Hope everyone is having a divine weekend so far! The sun is shining and the sky is blue-which is more than I can say for the past 3 weeks!
My mother in law sent home a big dish of blueberries for us a while ago. I had been meaning to make muffins-and finally got to it yesterday. I pulled out a bunch of recipes I had printed off the net a couple years ago, and chose the one that looked the best. Like I said-not my original or family recipe, but it will be my family one from now on! Let me also add that I do things kind of old fashioned. I don't have a KitchenAid mixer..Just a hand mixer, when I use it! I use my great old enamel bowls for EVERYTHING, and everything in my kitchen is pretty much mix and match. But everything still turns out great!
Blueberry Steusel Muffins
INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
3 cups blueberries

Streusel Topping
all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, chilled


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt.
Stir the flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping over unbaked muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

**This is a large recipe. I got 3 dozen regular sized muffins. I had about 3 1/2 cups of blueberries, and I threw them all in, so there is almost more berry than muffin, but oh, are they good! THe berries were of the very large variety. I don't know where she picked them, but they were huge! The crumb topping was nice and crunchy, and the muffins perfectly browned. Two thumbs up!**

Have a great Saturday, everyone! Peter and Cody are going into the woods for the day, so I am on my own. My top goal is to get the rest of what used to be Cody's play room emptied out of toys, so I can prep it to paint. It is going to be my new scrapbook room! This needs to be done in the next 2 and a half weeks before my daycare kids come back for the year! The contents of the toy room are currently residing in my livingroom, until the scrapbook room upstairs is emptied and I can move everything up there! Follow? Have a good one!
**Keri**

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Strawberry season is upon us in Northern NY! Mom, Cody and I went to Burke last week and got 14 quarts between us. Not bad for an hour picking! I will freeze some for Strawberry Pretzel Salad, but one thing I like to do with fresh berries is the Fresh Strawberry Pie that my Grandma Brooks used to make. I remember being very small (she passed when I was 10) and being in her kitchen at a family dinner and having her put that pie in front of me. Me, being a very picky eater, could not believe this was how beautiful this pie was, and how good it tasted. No rhubarb, no mincemeat, etc. My aunt gave me the recipe years later after I had been married, and now I make it every summer, for me, and for my Daddy-to remind us of Grandma Brooks. So here is the recipe, it is very simple--and oh, so good with home made whipped cream!





Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 quart strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 T. cornstarch
3 T. strawberry Jell-O powder
1 cup boiling water
baked pie shell, or graham cracker crust

Mix well sugar and cornstarch.
Add boiling water, cook until mixture
comes to a boil, and thickens. It will
change from foggy to clear. Remove from
heat and add dry Jell-O. Chill completely
in sink of cold water and ice. Pour over sliced
strawberries than have been placed in a pie
crust.
Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Have a great day!
Kerilou

Birthday Cake

Happy Monday morning! Vacation is OVER, I am STILL SICK, and back to work first thing this morning. Reanna is eating her blueberries and pancake and fruit loops next to me here in the kitchen, so I thought I would start out my week with a little blogging.


Okay, so here it is, in all it's glory. I told you that I wasn't a professional! But the taste completely outweighs the looks! My friends were pleased with it, and that is all that matters! It took me a while as I still did not feel great, and my hand hurt from all the stars, but boy, did it look good! I made a batch of cupcakes to keep here at home, cause the natives were a bit restless at the thought that there was nothing here at home for them to eat!
It is a beautiful morning, expected to be in the 30's today! We are expecting a snowstorm Tuesday night into Wednesday, with 6-12 inches coming our way....I just keep telling myself that March is just around the corner, and these storms will be fewer and farther between. And the days are getting longer! We push the clocks forward in just 2 weeks!
Have a great day! Keri

Hello!!

Hey, Everyone! I am still here...got coaxed out of hibernation for the afternoon by my best bud Lisa Renea...LR-this is for you!! Glad to know you are still checking in on my poor blog!
Now, what to write? I am COLD! I am sick of being cold! When is 18 degrees a good temp? Today it is! It has been SO COLD and SO WINDY! Those two things are NOT a good combination!
A few announcements to make!
1. I AM COLD RIGHT NOW!!
2. I AM SICK OF BEING COLD!!
3. I am and Auntie again!! My new nephew, Zebulon Russell, arrived on January 18th! Of course, he is THE cutest thing ever, and he has already stated that I am THE BEST auntie in the world. Was there ever a question? He is quite the little cuddlebug, too!


4. Buzz and Bloom has their new Design Team profiles up! Check them out here! We have quite a talented crew!

Now, here is a GREAT new recipe that I have recently discovered. We had a cookie swap at church before Christmas, and my friend Lynne brought these.
Now, I don't know if anyone ever tries any of the recipes I post, but I strongly urge you to try these..they are way simple, and are some of THE BEST cookies I have ever had...They contain no flour, and no eggs, and are so moist and chewy you won't be able to resist! They call for M&M's and Chocolate chips, but I either use ALL M&M's or substitute the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips. I also have used holiday M&M's. They were so cute with Christmas M&M's, and my next project is to make some with Valentine's Day M&M's. I also picked up some bags of all green M&M's, they are marketed for Valentine's Day, but I will use them for St. Patty's Day cookies! I don't have a photo of the cookies, they don't last long enough to take one! So here ya go!

Aunt Sandy's Cookies
From Lynne Hogle

Melt in microwave:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. Karo Syrup

Add:

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup M &M's

Mix all together
Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes...
** I use more M&M's and Chocolate Chips..I use half a bag of each...**

So try it, and tell me what you think!! Thanks for sticking with me!!

A Nor'Easter Sunday!!

Good Sunday morning, for the Arctic North! We are in the midst of our first HUGE snowstorm of the season, but our 5th (I think) overall..So I thought this would be a great time to update my poor, neglected blog! In my defense, I have been working feverishly on a Buzz and Bloom project, as well as Christmas presents that I was hired to make, or decided to make for gifts to give to family! I just finished my Christmas cards, and the first batch went out yesterday! So here is a little bit of what Christmas is like at our house!

Berry Shortbread Dreams

Here is a batch of divine cookies I made for a church exchange a while ago. They went over very well!
1 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
Mix and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons water
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Roll refrigerated dough into one inch balls, make an indentation with your thumb, and fill with seedless raspberry jam. Bake at 350 for 14-18 minutes or until edges are golden brown. When cookies have cooled, drizzle glaze over them, and store in air tight container! They will melt in your mouth!
**I believe you could substitute vanilla for almond extract without any problem..**

Here is our newest Christmas tree, in our newest room!! It isn't a great shot, but you get the idea. It is a 9 foot tree I got at Lowes, UNLIT-with pine cones already attached. I added the clear lights, some 6 inch grapevine wreaths, some bows and bells, and even laid some large pinecones on some of the branches. I got the angel from LTD..her little primitive candle lights up!! For the bows, I took some tan/red and tan/green fabric and cut strips long enough to tie a bow. I threaded a large rusty jingle bell on the strip, and tied it on the end of a branch. I also pulled threads out of the strips to make them look frayed.




I hope to be back later with some more Christmas photos! Have a great day! Keri

Camp

Michelle asked me a long time ago to make sure to take some pictures at camp. I actually managed to get a few-just never got them posted! So here are some pics from my camp vacation!

Here is my younger brother, Neil, with Cody. Neil showed up one Saturday morning and it was a nice surprise, as I don 't get to see him as much as I would like! Aren't they cute??

Here is me with Neil! Man--I think someone needs to start lifting weights to tone up those arms! AHHH!!

Here is Cody and his cousin, Craig. Craig's mom and I are cousins and the boys are inseperable! They love each other and each other's video games so much!! We usually trade them off to each other for meals b/c they cannot be apart! This was my last meal before my surgery-Garlic Parmesan Smashed Potatoes and Sizzlin Chicken Skewers, and fresh green beans. They wolfed everything right down! Oh, and don't forget the blue Hi-C! A camp must! And as long as I am here, here is my recipe for the chicken!!

Sizzlin' Chicken Skewers

1/4 cup hot water

1/4 cup melted peanut butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup teriyaki bbq sauce (couldn't find this so I mixed some reg. bbq sauce with some teriyaki sauce half and half to equal 1/4 cup)

2 T. honey dijon mustard

1 LB. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips, lengthwise

Put all the ingredients in a large ziplock bag, and add the chicken. Marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but the long the better..Don't do more than 6 hours, cause the chicken won't stay on the skewers!

Thread on skewers, and grill for 4 minutes on each side. Doesn't take long at all, and they are SOOO good!

For the Garlic Parmesan Smashed Potatoes, I used red potatoes scrubbed, and cooked with the skin on them. When they are cooked, drain, smash, add plenty of butter, milk, jarred garlic, and a handful of shredded parmesan cheese and stir! They are equally yummy!!

Buttercream Frosting!!

I have had such a hankerin' for cupcakes! I finally gave in yesterday and made some, but I have to get rid of some today so I don't have so many hanging around! I didn't really have a reason to make them--not that I needed one, but I thought I would dedicate these to Tracy-who just had a birthday. Happy Birthday, Tracy ! I thought of you while I ate one for breakfast!! Anyway, I am taking Andi's idea of adding recipes on her blog and running with it. Mine will mostly be desserts which I know will break your heart, but keep watching for new additions!
I got this recipe for decorating frosting from my cousin, Lauri. Everything I know about decorating she taught me. I don't know much, cause we only had one session, but I can keep myself afloat with cupcakes! Here ya go:
Lauri's Frosting:
3/4 cup crisco
1/2 cup butter
2 lbs. confectioner's sugar
1 T. Meringue Powder
2 t. vanilla
1/3 cup water
I mix the crisco, and butter together well. Then I add the Meringue Powder, vanilla and water and mix again. Then I slowly add the powdered sugar and beat it until it is nice and fluffy!! Here is your finished product BEFORE your 11 year old son BEGS you to make it blue and you have to re-wash the beaters cause he already licked them once...I sense a conspiracy here...he got 2 beater lickings last night...hmmmm.....


And here is the finished product of BLUE frosted cupcakes, with sponge-bob liners and colored sugar sprinkles...pretty festive! Happy Birthday, Tracy, they were fabulous! On another note, we are doing a bit of remodeling. You ever hear the saying " a carpenter's house is never done"? Well, this remodel has been in the works for a couple of years now!! We live in what used to be my Grandmother's house. It is from 1910! It always had this wood shed on the end that my Dad adapted into a garage for my Grandmother's Chevrolet Celebrity wagon back in the day...My old Grand Prix fit in it with a hair's width to spare...Unfortunately, when we got the Monte Carlo, we neglected to measure and it was too long!! So we put a new garage on the side of this one, and cut and access door between the two rooms. We took out the old garage door and added a set of French doors with a sky lite above them. Our intention is and has been to make this into a family room. Where Peter can put all his hunting trophies, his gun cabinet, etc. It is a nice room, with nearly 11 foot high ceilings, and you have to walk down into it from the kitchen. I can just picture it with a Christmas tree in it! I am going to give it an Adirondack twist (how fitting!! ) so be sure to stay tuned for more updates. Next time I will try to locate a before picture...not pretty!! So between working all day, working around the property, and trying to get wood in for the winter, Peter has been diligently working on getting this room done. I told him I WILL have a tree and some stairs in there before the holidays! We have been using a step ladder for a couple of years!! We acquired a bunch of beams from my late grandfather's grainery and also a bunch of barn board, so there will be beams in the room, and also for the stairs, and barnboard on the walls, to chair rail height. Here is my poor husband, doing late into the night what he does day in and day out...I swear he could tape with his eyes closed. He does a bang up job, though! I am so happy that it is finally coming together! Now we need to decide on the ceiling-paint or stucco...decisions, decisions!! Two thumbs up, Honey!!

Last but not least, this flower caught Cody's eye last week. Since then, I have been watching and there have been many more on the same genetically altered stem. I always have Heavenly Blue Morning Glories all over the railings outside my door. But this one is just more gorgeous than ever!! We have a few more of these "tie dyed" ones every day! I need to mark some of them and save the seeds when they dry up for next years crop!

Have a great day!--Keri