Happy New Year

The company was good, the food was good, the timing was . . . bad. We had friends from church over to ring in the New Year! Since there were only 6 of us, I thought it would be the perfect time for a dinner party.

Lots of times for dinner parties, I try to serve a make-ahead type dish- like lasagna or enchiladas. All you have to do is pop is out of the oven and onto a plate. This time, I went for bold and daring- it backfired. Big time!

New Year's Eve Dinner Party Menu

Veggies and Dip (brought by Jenn)

Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps

Walnut Pear Salad

Herb Roasted Tenderloin

Buttered Rosemary Rolls

Roasted Broccoli

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Vanilla Buttercream Cupcakes

Chocolatey Brownies (brought by Nicole)

Things were going pretty good as I was getting ready, but unfortunately, I have not mastered that art of all the dishes being ready at once.  We planned on eating at 7:30- it was more like after 8:00ish.  The grill ran out of steam (or propane) and we had to move the tenderloin to the oven.  I moved the broccoli to the bottom rack- a little crisp on the bottom when it came out.  I served the rolls as the guests were eating their last bites of food and wiping their mouths and practically pushing their chairs away from the table.
 

Jennifer, Matt, Jeremy, Nicole & Tom (Not Pictured: Me)

But we still had a great time and no one even complained about the late dinner and bad timing!  I'm a little bit of a perfectionist about these things, so I'm a little disappointed with the way things turned out.  Maybe that is something I can work on in the new year?!?! 

 

Or maybe I can console myself with one of these leftover cupcakes?!?!

We didn't quite make it to midnight, but we had a blast playing games and getting to know each other better!  Hope you had a wonderful and happy new year!

What's in a spoon?

The other day, I came home from work and I stepped out the front door to check the mail. I was really surprised to see a big package from Anthropologie on my door mat. I don't really talk about Anthropologie that much- I'm pretty sure Jeremy doesn't even know it exists. I couldn't really figure out who would be sending me something from that store. Then, I got really nervous that it was just delivered to the wrong house!

But no, it was for me! My BFF, Am, sent me the best measuring spoons ever! I've wanted them for such a loooong time, but couldn't really justify the purchase. As you can see, I have several sets of measuring spoons . . .


Amy was with me in Anthropologie one time (when I was buying them for someone else as a gift) and I could not stop talking about how much I loved them!

I have several sets and I should really think about donating a few to a better cause, but I probably won't. These cheap, plastic mustard yellow measuring spoons should be the first to go, but I'll never get rid of them!

After college and before I was married, I didn't have so many sets of fancy measuring spoons. I was telling my mom and my Nana about how I was baking a dessert and somehow, I lost my teaspoon. I don't know what happened to it. I don't know if it was baked into the dessert or if I accidentally threw it away. It just disappeared. That meant anytime something called for 1 teaspoon- I had to use the 1/2 teaspoon twice. Funny story!

But my Nana couldn't believe it! She gave me an extra set of hers- the cheap, plastic mustard yellow measuring spoons. Who even knows how old these things are?!?! So, I'm holding on to them and holding on to the memory!



On to seeing these little spoons in action . . .


I was making cupcakes for a work friend's birthday. I always like to try new things, so I settled on a vanilla cupcake with chocolate chip buttercream frosting.

For the cupcake part, I used the "white cake" recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I feel like almost everyone I know has this cookbook, so I'm not going to post the recipe. If you want the recipe and don't have the book, email me and I will copy it for you.

I'm a big fan of this cupcake recipe! They turned out really well! Better than a mix!

I used a buttercream recipe from Martha Stewart.

Basic Buttercream

Ingredients:
12 ounces (3 sticks), unsalted butter, softened
1 lb confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Beat butter with a mixer on medium high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

To make it chocolate chip buttercream- add 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips. I used regular chips, but I think mini-chips would have worked better.

The finished product spells out "happy birthday sami!"

I made the letters by melting vanilla flavored candy wafers. You can find those at most craft stores (Michaels or Hobby Lobby). They come in lots of different colors!

Put about 1/4 cup or so of the wafers (depends on how much writing you plan to do) in a ziploc sandwich size plastic bag. Microwave for 30 seconds or until wafers have melted. Snip off a tiny corner of the baggie and you're ready for letters.

I printed out a page of a font I like, so I could trace the letters and they would all be the same size and style. It didn't really work so well for this. I ended up just doing my own thing. Put a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet and pipe out all your letters. I highly encourage you to write it out several times. You never know when one might break and if you don't have extra, you'll have to start all over again with melting the wafers.

When you have all your letters on the cookie sheet, pop it into the fridge for 20-30 minutes, so they can get really hard.

After frosting your cupcakes, put the letter on top of each one!

And just for fun, some pics of Ivy and Win!

July 4th Extravaganza!

Our July 4th was full of fun and visitors. It started off on Thursday night, when Jeremy's Uncle Matt and PawPaw Walker came for a short visit. They had been to California and were driving back to Tennessee.

They were only able to stay for a short while, since they were really ready to be home!

On Friday, Madison came over to play while her mom had something important to do. I thought it would be a perfect time to get started decorating some cupcakes in red, white, and blue!



James is staying with us for a few weeks to do an internship here, so he joined in the cupcake fun!

Madison absolutely loved Ivy and Win and they loved her! She had a blast playing with them in the backyard!

Later on Friday afternoon, David, Cynthia, Deborah and Delancy came to stay with us and visit OKC. They were pretty tired from their trip, so we hung out and made an amazing 4th of July Feast!

We had steak, chicken, corn on the cob, watermelon, cantaloupe, and pasta salad. Of course, the cupcakes were for dessert!

Here is the pasta salad recipe that I borrowed from this blog.

Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad

adapted from Ina Garten

Dressing (makes more than enough; spoon leftovers over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers)

1 7-oz jar sundried tomatoes, drained

4 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

Salad

16 ounces corkscrew pasta

1 jar Kalamata or assorted olives

1 pint rip cherry tomatoes, halved

Several (10 to 15) basil leaves, chopped or julienne

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Prepare dressing by blending sundried tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, and vinegar until tomatoes are chopped. Blend while drizzling in olive oil; continue blending until mixed together.Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water until no longer hot. Pour 2/3 of the dressing over the pasta, add olives, and toss together. Add remaining ingredients, tossing together and adding more dressing until the salad is coated to your liking. Serve on a big platter with an extra sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

What a spread!

Deborah and Delancy also wanted in on the cupcake decorating action!

On Saturday, everyone wanted to see the sites of OKC. Our first stop was the Myriad Botanical Gardens.

They had some very beautiful plants and flowers.

We wanted to kiss the frog . . .

He did not turn into a prince.

We also took the ferry boat ride on the downtown river. It was very pretty and only a little bit hot!

On Saturday night, as we were eating our leftovers that we made into steak and chicken fajitas, a horrible storm came in. It was windy and lightning and thundering. It was crazy.

We played games, the electricity went off and finally, the Walker family decided to head home. We had a great visit with them!

Ivy and Winnie were also sad to see them go!!!

HAPPY JULY 4TH!

Cupcake Pops

Before I really get started on this post, I have to give a couple of shout outs. First of all, to my BFF, Amy, who told me about this blog and then, secondly to Bakerella, who came up with this idea.

A friend from work is having a little boy and I wanted to make something special for her baby shower. I decided to take the plunge and attempt to make cupcake pops from Bakerella. You might have also seen this featured on the Martha Stewart Show.

It was really pretty simple- time consuming, but do-able. And if I can do it, you can do it!!! I made the chocolate cake the night before. I wanted to be sure it had plenty of time to cool down.

Then, I crumbled it and mixed it with the entire can of cream cheese frosting. On her blog, Bakerella gives some tips for successful cake pops, I highly recommend following all of her tips and hints. Visit her site for step by step instructions and lots of really cute ideas!!!

She knows what she’s talking about!

I’m pretty pleased with the results. I think you probably get a little bit better, each time that you make them. And as you can imagine, the possibilities are limitless. Any color combination would be adorable- depending on the occasion or holiday.

It's a bonus that not only do these look adorable, but they are also tasty!!! Jeremy loved them! I only let him eat the one that are ugly! ha ha!

I found this ribbon at Michael's in the dollar ribbon section- they had lots to choose from.

I could resist adding this cute little pic of Win!!!!