Back splash tile

Before

I have this awkward area above my sink and
and opposite of the sink. So I bought 3 squares
of back splash tile and glues the rows on. It took all of 15 min. and it adds a lot to the kitchen.
I would love to go all the way around, but we
are trying to sell the house. So we just wanted
to add interest and show buyers that the green/gray counter tops can look nice.

After

Cancun, Mexico

 

Earlier this year a friend of mine invited me to go to Cancun with her, all expense paid. What would you say? YES!!  We stayed at an all inclusive resort, it was hard to leave the beach. We just wanted to soak up the sun, and that is what we did. It was amazing! The creatures pictured were just on the path between our room and the private beach. There are a lot of excursions you can take outside of the resort, that cost extra of course. We did not do any of them, we just wanted relaxation, and that is what we got. Lazy Days on the beach and Dancing all night. You don't get a lot of culture that way, and it is not always my preferred way of visiting another country, but for this vacation, it worked out perfect. We stayed at Catalonia Royal Tulum, it was small compared to other resorts where I have visited. But the rooms were nice and the beach was beautiful. The food was better at Sandals in Jamaica, but I guess when it is unlimited, they have to use lower quality. Overall, beautiful place to stay.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Making these cupcakes has become a fall tradition in my house. They are so yummy!

The one bit of advice I would like to offer in making these, is the frosting, it says to beat the butter and cream cheese for 3 min. (DO THIS STEP) set a timer, even longer if you have to, the longer you whip it, the better the frosting tastes. I use to avoid making homemade frosting until a professional cake maker told me the use a lot of butter and whip it for up to 5 min., I tried it and my frosting was amazing, FINALLY! It does make a difference.

 

Pumpkin cupcake recipe

Cupcakes:

• 3   cups 

  all-purpose flour
• 1   tablespoon 

  pumpkin-pie spice
• 2 1/2  teaspoons 

  baking soda
• 1   teaspoon 

  baking powder
• 3/4  teaspoon 

  salt
• 1 1/2  cups 

  granulated sugar
• 3/4  cup 

  vegetable oil
• 1/2  cup 

  buttermilk
• 1   can 

  (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
• 4   

  eggs

Frosting:

• 1   package 

  (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 3/4  cup 

  (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1   box 

  (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar
• 1   teaspoon 

  vanilla extract
• 2   tablespoons 

  milk, plus more if needed
•  

  Orange food coloring
•  

  Fine and coarse orange decorating sugar
•  

  Pretzel sticks or rods

directions

1.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 mini cupcake pan indents and 12 regular indents with foil or paper liners. Line 6 jumbo cupcake indents with foil or paper liners.

For cupcakes:

1.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt together until well blended; set aside.

2.

Beat sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, pumpkin puree and eggs in a large bowl on low speed for 2 minutes or until combined. Add flour mixture and beat for 2 more minutes or until just combined.

3.

Divide among liners, filling each about 2/3 full.

4.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 12 minutes for the minis, 18 minutes for the regulars and 26 minutes for the jumbos, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

For frosting:

1.

Beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl on high for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and milk and beat until smooth and a good spreading consistency, 2 minutes. Add an additional tablespoon of milk if mixture is too thick.

2.

Divide the frosting into two bowls and tint to different shades of orange with food coloring. Mound the frosting on top of cupcakes and make rounded. Roll the entire cupcake in the sugar to coat or roll just edges in sugar, alternating between fine and coarse sugars as desired. To make indentations, press a wooden skewer on top of the sugared cupcake. Add pretzel sticks or rods as stems.

Roxy -Halloween

 In 2013, a local radio station had a costume contest for animals, my daughter wanted to enter our darling pug, Roxy. So, being the wonderful mom that I am, I worked for 2 day straight on this flying monkey costume, made from scratch. You can probably tell. It was fun, everyone wanted to get a picture of her when we got there. She was not even phased by the costume, she just followed along like the star that she is.

Loving the attention "Here, get my good side!"

Chicken gnocchi soup

This is one of my families favorites. My 16 year old says mine is even better than Olive Garden's :)
Last night I substituted the spinach with swiss chard, I have also used kale, my family of 6 eats it up anyway we try it. Click on the link to get the recipe. Delicious!!
Chicken gnocchi soup

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup finely diced onion
• 1/2 cup finely diced celery
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 quart half-and-half
• 2 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth (if you enjoy a thicker soup, use 1 can)
• Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1 cup finely shredded carrots
• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh spinach leaves
• 1 cup diced cooked chicken breast (you can use a rotisserie chicken)
• 1 (16-ounce/500g) package ready-to-use gnocchi

Instructions

Melt the butter into the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes translucent. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the half-and-half. Simmer until thickened. Whisk in the chicken broth. Simmer until thickened again. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, the thyme, parsley, nutmeg (if using), carrots, spinach, chicken, and gnocchi. Simmer until the soup is heated through. Before serving, season with additional salt, if necessary.

`Roxy 10/8

                                      How could you not love this face?
Roxy is still doing well, other than the tumor in her mouth, you would not know she was sick. I take her everywhere I can, and of course she gets a lot of treats, which are her favorite things in life. She believes all food should be hers.

Painting Polk-a-dots

My daughter wanted me to paint polk-a-dots on her wall, so I came up with a cool way to make this happen for her. I had just bought a set of three plastic mixing bowls with lids, so I took all three different size lids and traced them onto the walls with chalk. Chalk is great to trace things with, because it is easy to wash off, you do have to be careful of the color, it can change the paint color a little if it mixes in too much. Then, I just filled in the circles with the colors I wanted to use. She loves it! And it was so easy :)

Peanut butter Chocolate Chip Bars

I just made the yummiest bar cookies, my kids are divided when it comes to dessert, half want chocolate chip cookies and half want peanut butter, so the logical answer is to combine them, of course.

 1/2 C Butter Crisco
1/2 C Peanut butter
1 C Brown sugar
2 tbsp Honey
Mix together then add
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
Mix together then add
2 C Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 C Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
Mix together and spoon into a 9x13 cake pan
Bake @ 350 degrees for 15 to 20 min.
It will be a little gooey in the middle.