Friday's Treat

I have to start by saying this has been the BEST week I have had in a while...My babysitter was unable to watch my little girl this week so no work for me! YAY!!

I love making desserts. Anything and Everything that is categorized under baking I love. That being said I also love cooking, smoking ( meat ) and grilling but there is something about baking. Not sure what it is but I really enjoy doing it so making these sweet things for my husband to take to work every Friday has been more of a treat to me than any one I think:)

OK, so the treat of the week.....Buckeye Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Fudge!

Neither one of these are kind to your waistline....On Friday's I always feel like I have to run an extra mile to make up for the 1 treat that I eat:) Fortunately for me this week they contain milk and my daughter does not handle milk very well so I have little desire to eat these. Although they do look amazing! I did eat a piece ( or 2 ) of fudge and that is really good!

I told my husband I was going to make something somewhat "good for you" again this week and he told me he has been getting request that I make something with Peanut Butter and Chocolate. I had to laugh...I'm getting request now:) I suppose it was going to happen sooner or later! I do have several recipes for this type of dessert but I wanted to try something new so I turned to google and I found these at Six Sisters Stuff Blog. Which I thought was cool given that I come from a home with six girls...and then our lone brother:) I didn't use their recipe, just the idea. I made chocolate cake from the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box. I think that it has the texture of a boxed mix but is homemade so taste better. I waited until the cupcakes were baked and then pressed a reese's into the center. For the Gnache I only used the heavy cream and semi-sweet chocolate because there really is no need to add more sugar to these already decadent little cakes and it really doesn't need it! The fudge is just your basic PB, Butter and Powdered Sugar with a little bit of Vanilla and then at the end quickly mix in Chocolate Chips, not too much or you chips will melt completely and you only want them to melt a little bit.

I think this should take care of anyone's chocolate peanut butter craving for a while:) Hope you enjoy and have a great weekend!!

Mary Elizabeth

My Daughter

I think so far I have been very good about being equal with the kids. Spending equal time with the boys versus my daughter. But, I will admit that there is something special about having a girl. I look at her and can't wait to teach her all the things I know and see her grow into women. This is probably how a father feels with his sons. My sister took these pictures of Rhainnon and I had to share them. She is getting so big but on the flip side is quite a handful. More then the boys put together. She already is one of those sisters that won't her brothers get away with anything. She is quite the tattletale (she isn't really talking yet, but has no problem getting her point across).

                          

Now I will have to take some pictures of the boys to post.

Christine

Friday's Treat

Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Vanilla Cinnamon Glaze

If you saw last Friday's post you saw the Mint Oreo Brownies. Everyone loved them but they were very rich so they didn't go as fast as the treats usually do. There was even one left on the tray when my husband got home! He said no one could eat another bite...haha....

So, this week I decided to do something a little bit lighter ( I thought about saying healthier but I don't really think these muffins are "healthy" even though they aren't that bad for you ). I found the recipe for them here. The only thing I added was the Vanilla Cinnamon Glaze which was just powdered sugar, cream, vanilla and cinnamon that I drizzled over the muffins. I added some vanilla to the recipe and also shredded the apples instead of cutting them into chunks, I liked that better....They are really good. My husband said they were gone almost instantly! I guess people didn't feel as bad eating these as the mint brownies:) I didn't get to take a picture but they looked just like the ones on the Taste of Home page ( plus the glaze )....Very easy to make!

Hope ya'll have a great weekend!!

Mary Elizabeth

DIY Bird Art for the Nursery

So the nursery is finally finished! It has actually been "done" for a while I just kept forgetting to show ya'll what I did.

I wanted something very simple. I don't really like the cartoon/story book themes that I see so many nursery's in. The color on the walls is a blue-ish green except for the wall with 2 windows. We left that white, just to break it up a little bit. This is the color we painted it when we built our house and I picked it out with the intention of using that room as the nursery.

Everything is white with a pastel pink accent. I'm still gathering the accents for her room but like the rest of my home it is always a work in progress. On a side note I saw the perfect sheets at Target the other day in passing....I should have just grabbed them but I was in a hurry. I will be picking those up soon!!

So the Bird Art....I posted a few weeks ago about the pictures on found on Etsy that I really liked. I decided to make them myself and I am so glad I did. I just love how they turned out.

A few dollars in paper from Hobby Lobby and frames on sale for $5....much cheaper than the ones on Etsy! And I think just as cute. I am really liking the birds for some reason. I have bought several bird or bird themed items lately. I guess it makes it seem like spring/summer:)

Lyla really seems to enjoys these prints too. When she is on the changing table she stares at them and just coos and aahhhs at them, smiling the whole time:)

Mary Elizabeth

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Friday's Treat

Mint Oreo Brownies

I can't believe another week has come and gone already!! I seriously don't know where the time goes.....This week I made Mint Oreo Brownies. I had to do something green because tomorrow is St. Patrick's day ( the only reason I celebrate this holiday is because it's my birthday:) )

I didn't have a recipe so I looked online for some inspiration:) There are many variations of mint and oreo brownies.

I made a basic fudge brownie, added some mint extract and then put a layer of mint oreos on top and baked it just until done. I like a chewy, fudgy brownie so I don't ever bake them as long as a recipe says to. The middle layer is a cream cheese vanilla frosting with marshmellow cream mixed in. I added mint extract to this as well as some green food coloring...Once the brownies were cool I covered them with the frosting and then added a layer of crushed mint oreos.

They are every bit as good as they look! I must warn you though, they are MESSY!! Finger licking is encouraged after eating these:) Don't they look amazing?!!

I hope ya'll get a chance to make these...let me know what you think!

Have a great weekend!!

Mary Elizabeth

Recipe for Fridays Treat

Oh-So-Coconutty Cupcakes

I have to start by telling you to use the coconut milk. I haven't in the past but am so glad I did this time. It made a huge difference in the cupcake....much more coconut flavor!

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 C Sugar

3/4 C Butter

3 Large Eggs

2 Tsp Vanilla

1 Tsp Coconut Extract

1/4 Tsp Almond Extract ( I didn't use this )

2 1/2 C Flour

2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Salt

3/4 C Coconut Milk ( if you use the milk in the can it is recommended to chill it overnight )

1/2 C Shredded Coconut

Cream Butter and Sugar. Add Eggs and Extracts. Fold in dry ingredients and then add the chilled Coconut Milk. Fold in Coconut. Place in cupcake pan and bake at 350. The recipe recommends 30-35 min. but I only baked mine for about 25 min...If I had left them in the whole 30 min they would have been to dry I think and almost burned.

Coconut Frosting:

1/2 C Butter

3-4 C Confectioners Sugar

A little bit of Coconut Milk ( 3-6 Tbls ) or as much as needed.

1 Tsp Vanilla

1 Tsp Coconut Extract

1/4 Tsp Almond Extract ( I didn't use this in the frosting either )

Beat butter and sugar until creamy and then add the milk as needed. The book says you can add food coloring if desired but frosting is such a pretty white when done that I think it would ruin it to color the frosting.

Frost cooled cupcakes and top with shredded coconut.....then sit down and ENJOY!!

Hope you make them, they are well worth it:)

Mary Elizabeth

Friday's Treat

Oh-So-Coconut-y Cupcakes!! If you love cupcakes and coconut this is the treat for you! They are so moist and tender and coconut-y....perfect! I have never actually made these before but there is a picture in one of my favorite cookbooks ( A Passion for Baking ) that I always look at when I am using that book...the picture doesn't do these justice. The coconut is so pretty:) My husband told me this morning on his way out the door " I am soo excited about these cupcakes, they are amazing!" Like me my husband has a thing for sweets/desserts. His sweet tooth leans more towards fruits and mine is chocolate. These cupcakes
though, no matter your preference, are delectable. Yes, I said it....delectable!!

So...any great plans for the weekend? There is a visit to Hobby Lobby and Pier 1 on my schedule. It is time to decorate for spring and I can't wait to get some things going.....pillows, wall hangings, new center piece for the dining room table. I will let you know what I find...

Have a great weekend

Mary Elizabeth

In Love with Curtains

I love my new curtains for the living room.

It took me FOREVER to find the material that I wanted. I finally find it on fabric.com. I am still working on covering the actually window. My husband wants blinds, but he doesn’t have to clean them. He hates that people can see right in. I am leaning more for some kind of sheer right now. We have been there for two and half years now, so obliviously, I’m not in a big hurry to cover up the windows.

I saw a post on a blog awhile ago about the curtains she made. She was posting about “training” your curtains. She said that if you did this they would always fold back correctly when you opened them. So, I gave it a try and had curtains like this for a couple of days. Start at the top and make your folds, tie. Keeping the folds going straight and even down the curtain, tie again in the middle. Continue the folds and tie at the bottom.

I just used ribbon to hold the folds in place for about 3 days.

Needless to say everybody thought I had lost my mind. But, it works. They always have the crisp folds.

I still have a couple of things that I want to do in the living room and dining room. Really the whole house. Of course, I wait till the end of my pregnancy to scramble like crazy to finish it all. This time though I have no energy. My hopes and goals are set high, but time will tell what really gets done.

Christine

Friday's Treat

So this past Friday I made Pumpkin Roll Monkey Bread!! So good. This was a first for me, will definitely be making this again. I found the recipe here. She took so many pictures that I didn't bother to post any. The only thing I did different was add a Brown Butter Glaze. I have to warn you though, they are very rich! You should try them, absolutely amazing:)

I hope you all had a great weekend and great start to your week. I am getting frames this week for my daughters nursery so will have a post on that in the next few days...can't wait to share!

Mary Elizabeth