One Month Later...

Whelp. I knew it would happen. This is why I have never really been a "blogger!" Life gets in the way people!

Top 10 things that have contributed to the large gap between posts: 

1. Work. Last week I was at school every day until 6:30 or 7. Possibly the week before as well. Ew. Gross. Ugh. 

2. HOCKEY PLAYOFFS. I'm a bit of a fanatic. Let's go Caps!! (obligatory #CAPSLOCK @washcaps)

3. Our outdoor soccer league is finally getting to regular schedule (rain kept us from playing the first several weeks)

4. Weekends away/with visitors. Springtime apparently = ALL the visits. 

5. More work. Writing IEPs, doing transition meetings, lesson planning...not enough time in the day!

6. Procrastination

7. Third Rock from the Sun is on Netflix! Game of Thrones is back!

8. We decided we are going to move this summer! Which led to apartment hunting and.. 

9. Cleaning out closets/stuff around the house (still need to work on this)

10. Warmer weather has meant we've been outside a lot more! At the outdoor bars, taking a walk, grilling dinner, etc. 

I started to try and type an actual post but all of those things in the above list (particularly #1 and #5) have made me what we (in college) call "cracked out." I'm so tired but I'm giddy but mostly tired but also not in a bad mood just really really really REALLY in need of bedtime happening soon. And I don't write as well. But it's more entertaining, from what I hear.

So, to make it up to you, here's some lovely pictures to show what I've been up to: 

--> Going to Williamsburg, VA to visit the ol' collegiate stomping grounds/spend time with friends who are moving halfway across the country in a few weeks. We had an enjoyable time wandering campus on my spring break, and pointing and laughing at the students who had classes/exams. We didn't actually do that. We just talked about doing that.

 <--  Enjoying the pleasant spring (less so enjoying the pollen that accumulates everywhere) by taking some walks and hanging out on the back patio*.

*This is actually not from my back patio.








 <-- Baking lots of things for Easter and in general. Easter was entertaining because I got my cousins to show my mom how to video chat me, and she took pictures of me (on her computer) video chatting with them, on her camera.

--> Spending time with friends on nice evenings! This is a picture of one of the games at our favorite local hangout. We call it "Barcade" because we never remember the real name. They have a bunch of old school video games and you can play any of them for 25 cents. It definitely brings back old memories!



 <-- My Easter Peep wreath from my grandma. She made this for me one year as a Christmas gift, and it is awesome! She also got me the peep basket and cover. Last week, my mom gave me some greeting cards and the front is a peep with the phrase "Inside, we're all the same." Can you tell my family likes Peeps? It's actually part of an Easter tradition I started where we roast the peeps like marshmallows.

DONUTS. DONUTS. I MADE THESE. TASTE SO GOOD. DONUTS.

Okay I think we need to end there today. I have some interesting baking challenges coming up and a few pre-summer crafts/activities I want to accomplish. Which means I'll be rearin' to go with material and clearly should not take another month to post. Clearly. Obviously. (Donuts?)

Feeling Springy

     The weather has finally gotten less "abominable snowman" and more "typical spring." We have had so much rain...thank goodness the temperature warmed up or we'd be in school until August! Living in a place where there is no plan for snow days and no good way to make roads safe when it does snow has been frustrating. I'm used to living in a place where it's not a state of emergency when you get a couple inches of snow, and I do love a good snow day. However, the last two years of "HOLYCOWTHERE'SSNOWLETSALLFREAKOUT" has been a little tiring.

I think that this image defines "Meh."
This is my beautiful curtain that looks
so blah in the low light. 

     Meh. I'm feeling meh. It's just that time of the school year where we teachers start wondering if we've really done all we needed to do, and figuring out our priorities for the last 9 weeks of the year. I've felt a little inadequate in the teacher realm lately due to being completely overwhelmed with paperwork. So I tried to do something this week that would make me feel like I made a positive impact. Which, of course, meant heading to the kitchen. My baking challenge this week was "fillings." Fillings? Fillings. The suggestions were all sweets, which I LOVE and I had so many ideas for all kinds of delicious, provocative, and sinful looking treats that I could make (most involved chocolate), but I challenged myself to go a different direction.

"One day, all of this will be yours." "What, the curtains?"

      See, I am not a breakfast fan. Don't get me wrong, I love breakfast foods. Brunch foods as well! There's so many delicious options! But in the morning, my body would rather be asleep than getting up, and for some reason my stomach wakes up dead last. It takes a while before I really want to eat something! I have learned in the last 2 years that going in to work before 8 and having to be professional while interacting with middle-schoolers takes two things: COFFEE, and breakfast. I usually stick with something like a half a bagel, or a banana, or granola bar...something small and really not that great for breakfast.

     So I made what I will call "biscuitmuffins," because they look like a muffin and taste like a biscuit. And I stuffed them with scrambled eggs, bacon, and some cheddar cheese. It's a sneaky way to add protein (and CHEESE omg) to an otherwise carb-based breakfast. I thought it might be a way to start changing my breakfast habits. Plus, it's just the size of a muffin (some were smaller than this one, even) so they were perfectly sized for my lacking morning appetite. Not only that, but they taste great. Like, really really great. Like the kind of great that makes your same sex coworkers ask how your marriage is, because they want you to get divorced and then they can marry you and you can cook for them all the time.

Cheesy bacon biscuitmuffin deliciousness.
Also, next up...photo editing software. 

     I followed the dough recipe from this site, and the process, and it made exactly 8 biscuitmuffins.  Looking back I could have made a few of these a little smaller and made 10, but that's really just me being picky. Happy eating!!

St Patty's Day Tradition! aka MOAR CUPCAKES

NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMmmmmmmmm...

     That is what it sounds like at work when I make cupcakes for a baking challenge. And for the St Patrick's day themed challenge, cupcakes were a must. I know they go around Pinterest like crazy, but I love making these. I've been told they should not be called "Carbomb cupcakes" as the internet calls them. Instead they should be called "Guinness Cupcakes with Whiskey fudge filling and Baileys frosting." I have been told via Reddit that the former title is offensive to Irish and that posting these on St. Patricks day is apparently ignorant.  I figured they were named after the drink which contains all of those elements, but then I learned that is also offensive.  Regardless of the name origin, unintentionally connected history, or lack of Irish-ness in general, these cupcakes taste phenomenal. And to me, they embody all the fun bits of the American version of St Patrick's Day shenanigans and incorporate some out of the ordinary baking ingredients. Guinness! Whiskey! Bailey's! Hooray!


     I followed a conglomerate of recipes because I've completely forgotten my "go-to" website for these babies. The cupcake and frosting recipes came from Liquor.com. The process was easy enough to follow, although I made a mess of it the first go around (of course). They turned out tasting light, fluffy, and chocolatey, but they were so light, actually, that when I put them in my cake holder to keep for the week, they starting melting- and not the frosting...the cupcakes! They were maybe a bit too light, but taste was not a factor. Also, I'm really not a fan of using mascarpone cheese in frosting, as it makes the frosting turn out a bit too soft for my liking. I had a lot of leftover frosting (hubs is not complaining) because I had to add more butter to stiffen it up! Again, however, it tasted delicious. It's hard to say if I'll keep using this recipe in the future.

The filling recipe came from Country Cleaver and OH MY WORD was it easy, delicious, perfect, and marvelous. Mmmmmmmmm.

Fudgy, whiskey-y goodness.

For me, baking is relaxing. Except for the whole "stressing out that I want it to turn out perfect, look perfect, and taste perfect" thing. Typically whatever I make looks like a hot mess, but tastes great! Curb appeal? Eh who needs it. I enjoy the process of making something and having it turn out to be pleasing, either to me or someone else. The feeling of accomplishment is very satisfying, especially when it tastes great as well!

So adorable!

This weekend was the jackpot, though. THESE cupcakes are absolutely sinful and somehow I hit the trifecta of not falling apart, tasting amazing, and looking pretty good too.
                                                       
                                    
                                    Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Just a Blue Moon and I

     Today at work was a "catch up on meetings/paperwork/getting things done" day for me, and therefore my students. While I was leading IEP meetings, working on paperwork, and getting caught up from all our snow days, my students were also catching up on finishing work they hadn't finished from this past week! Woo woooo productivity!

     Seeing as how that's the theme of the day, I thought I'd catch up and write a megaton of posts tonight. Or just 2. Also my husband is busy with work stuff this evening so it's just me. Correction: me and a blue moon. We are here, trying to keep ourselves occupied after dinner. So blog posts are just rolling in.

     I've got more food to show you!

Please enjoy these camouflage cupcake liners

Notice the crumb trail. I'm a mess.

     These are some of the best cupcakes I have ever made. And while you're scrolling through this post, looking for pictures of the rest of the dozen that I made....well they're gone. I ate them. Or shared a few. But mostly I ate them. I just ate this one, actually, immediately after I uploaded the pictures.

     Red Wine and Chocolate Cupcakes, with a "Red Wine" buttercream. These were my submission for last week's baking challenge.They are heavenly. Decadent but not too heavy, rich but not too dry, and the frosting is just sweet enough to balance out the robust red wine, chocolate, and cinnamon combination in the cupcake. I mixed these up with a hand mixer, since that's all I have, although the recipe says to cream with a stand mixer (Psh). Also, I think I'd want these to taste a little more chocolatey, so I might add 1/2 tsp. cinnamon next time, instead of 1/4 tsp. But that's just me! I still thought these were wholly scrumptious, though, so maybe I'll chicken out and keep the recipe the same the next time I make them...




     Here is a cupcake with my "Blue Moon" towel. I am an avid Manchester City Football (Futbol) fan. I figured I'd put the towel in the picture since I'm drinking a Blue Moon, and because I'm just weird when I'm at home alone on a Friday night.

You can find the recipe over at Tide and Thyme! I'll copy it below as well. Eat up!!

Chocolate and Red Wine Cupcakes

Recipe makes and frosts a dozen cupcakes

8 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
3/4 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Then add in the egg and egg yolk, as well as the vanilla, beat well until combined.

Add in 1/2 of the dry ingredients, followed by the wine, then the remainder of the dry ingredients. Mix until well combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl if necessary.

Divide batter evenly into lined muffin pan. Bake for 18 minutes then remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

In the meantime, to make the frosting, whip the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar, as well as the wine and vanilla. Beat until no lumps remain. Frost cupcakes as desired.

But seriously...

Time for a little inspiration!!

     Sometimes, I get crafty. And sometimes when I get crafty I think, "This craft needs to be meaningful and worth my time, and not just frivolous." Trying not to be wasteful, I decided I'd make something inspiring and do a little recycling at the same time.

     I have several blank canvases laying around but the one I wanted to use most was actually a misprinted photo canvas I got in the mail last year. After contacting the company about the canvas, they of course sent a new one, but I was left with the crappy looking one! So, I brought it to my table and sat to work covering up the previous photo with white acrylic paint. Then, added a background color.

This is actually upside down from my viewpoint
whilst taking the picture. Huh. 

     Now, when I saw this color I was very pleased because this is my favorite color. A sort of cobalt, cerulean blue. Always has been and always will be! And then I started planning the rest of the canvas and realized that there are few colors that show up really well on top of this color. Oops.

     Inspiration for this canvas actually came to me several months ago. When Maya Angelou passed away, everrryyyone was posting their favorite Angelou quote on every social media outlet possible. I had absolutely no problem with this; I really enjoyed having a day where scrolling through media meant that I was enlightened by her wisdom, inspired by her triumph, and smiling at her happiness. However, a friend of mine posted one that made me give a resounding "Amen" aloud to myself as I read it. "You may not control all of the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them"

     To me, this is a excellent hard truth with which I feel everyone must come to terms. Our choices define us and we are all prone to those unfortunate choices. As a special education teacher, to me this quote also inspires the thought that decisions have different weight for each individual. Choosing what to eat for dinner is a difficult decision to someone dedicated to losing weight, but an easy one for others; deciding what to do with your life can be an easy choice for those passionate about a particular profession,

                             Dat glare, tho                                     but an excruciating one for those whose talents                                                                                         may not be easily quantified. 

     This is a conversation I hoped to inspire in my 6th grade classroom with this canvas. The finished product is sitting on my dry erase marker tray at the moment, directly underneath each day's agenda. I have to admit I haven't had that conversation I've been awaiting, but there's a lot of time left this school year for that. 

Finished product! Off center image. A little pixillated. 

I was right.

Here's a bonus snow day picture to make up for my absence:

Chapter 1: I'll probably forget about posting again for at least a week...

The World, as seen from somewhere in Jamaica (old honeymoon photo)

Hello world! 


      I have long wanted to begin an online presence to share art, poetry, ideas, recipes, or whatever else my little heart desired, but I've run into roadblocks. Not enough time, not having a functioning computer, forgetting to post, and, let's be real, a lack of material. I do not have the most interesting thoughts!

      Most of my thoughts revolve around a running to-do list in my brain, where my synapses are constantly sending a signal to one place and then another. It sounds like "don't forget to do laundry if you want your favorite running socks for your run tomorrow...I should actually put some socks on since my feet are cold!...speaking of cold, it will be spring and summer before you know it...oooh summer project list!...oooh summer travel list!...ooh lack of funds for most of the ideas that just got put on those lists....sigh...." and continues pretty much until I fall asleep. In the words of one of my good college friends, "WOMP." 

A "Work in Progress" snapshot.
Much Work.  Such focus. 

  So, now that the introduction to this blog is as thrilling as any I could spend months tweaking and working on, let's get started with material I DO have on hand. I've been participating in a "baking challenge" this year. Basically, I follow the 52weeksofbaking subreddit and each week they post a new challenge for the week. Could be an ingredient, maybe a theme, maybe a type of baked good; whatever it is I have a week to come up with my submission and upload a photo. 

      What reward is there? Is it a contest? I get these questions a lot. The answer is: several months ago I was griping to my husband about how the frosting on these cookies I made just did NOT look the way I wanted to. I had a white whine moment where I was all "these look SO ugly. This is not what I had pictured! HOW is this possible, I did all the things I should have done to make these turn out so cute, but they just look fugly. FUGLY!!" He did the traditional husband eyeroll and went straight into a very parental "Well, if you want to get good at decorating cookies, you're just going to have to practice more often." First, my brain did that synapse-running thing "I don't need practice! This is not a difficult task...although this is probably the 2nd time I've used this frosting and decorated sugar cookies with it...okay but really he just wants me to make cookies and cupcakes more often and he doesn't actually care what they look like..." etc. But approximately 30 seconds into that I thought, "Well, he's right!" 

1st photo attempt...The salt & pepper
are hiding a mousetrap. EW. What
was I thinking?!

     Hence the challenge. As the New Year began I was thinking of what my resolution would be. My resolution is usually something I decide to spend the year accomplishing. One year I set out to find facial cleansing products that did their job without destroying my skin or causing breakouts. One year it was do a better job cleaning out my closet (and bookshelves and whatever else I owned) and donating. This year, I decided, it would be to a) make better use of half the baking pans and trinkets I own but don't use very often, and b) try new baking things and get better at things I already do (such as decorating cookies).  This week's challenge was to  bake something that went with the theme of Chinese (or Lunar) New Year. I decided to make fortune cookies! 

      I used this recipe from ifood.tv mostly because the video was very helpful in learning to fold the cookies. The first round was definitely a little tricky, but after that it just got easier with each batch! This was definitely a fun challenge. Also a good snow day project- since you only make 3 at a time, well, it took a good part of the day to get them all done (It's not included on that website but one batch made about 45 cookies). 

Beautiful fortune cookies! Much better photo op. 

      I really should have ironed that cloth before taking those photos. Oops. So there's the first post. You got an idea of why you probably don't want to read this blog EVER again, then maybe I woo-ed you with a few nice photos (and one horrible one. I'm trying to show how multifaceted I am. Is it working? Guys?). And now you are thinking "Well, maybe the next post will be more graceful. I'll stick around to find out." Saaaaame thought my mother has had about me for 26 years, folks. But I'd appreciate it if you'd check out the next post just to check! Thanks for reading!