Movin' to the country

Like the Presidents of the United States of America sing.... Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches.

(don't know what I'm talking about.... watch the following)

Or, maybe not.  Not the moving part anyway.  I do however, like to eat peaches!  And today, you are in luck.  I'm sharing a tasty peach muffin recipe with you.

Peach Muffins

Gather your ingredients:

2 Cups self rising flour
1 Cup unsalted butter, melted
1 Cup sour cream
1/4 Cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 Cups diced peaches (about 1/4"), can be canned (make sure you drain them) or Fresh (soft and ripe are best)

And get baking:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350° F.  Either spray a 12 cup muffin pan with non stick spray or line with paper cupcake/muffin liners (I used liners and only had Halloween ones at my house ~ I guess we are celebrating the holiday a little bit early).

2.  Whisk together flour, butter, sour cream, sugar and vanilla.

(and try not to break your whisk!)

3.  Fold in peaches.

4.  Evenly fill prepared muffin cups.

5.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean.

6.  Let cool in pan for about 10 mins.  Then either try not to eat them all while they are warm, or let them cool completely before storing.

Enjoy!

Baking with my Girls

The before school bickering.
The endless questions.
The interrupting.
The whining.

Oh, but.....

The love.
The smiles.
The joy.
The carefreeness.
The easy laughter.
The snuggles.

These are the things I have been thinking about lately.  Especially when the top four seem so prevalent some days.  Because my kids are still on this earth.  Still here with me, while so many parents and families are unable to say the same.

Like all of you out there, my mind has been reeling and my heart breaking over and over and over again the past few days.  Why, why, why...........  The tears have come and come some more.  We will never understand ~ what, why or how.  We will never understand the depth of pain too many families are feeling right now.  And all I know to do is to pray.   I am praying hard ~ and I am loving and holding and cherishing every minute.

As I wrapped presents today, I thought of the many that will go unopened.
As I baked cookies with my girls, I prayed for the families who won't hear the laughter and "sprinkle" debates fill the air of their kitchens.  Noises that should be there.  But are not.

And while I feel so much sadness, I am reminded in Matthew 24:36

"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, 

but only the Father." 

So I will continue to pray.  Pray for those families who lost their "babies"their son's and daughters, the staff and teachers, they are daughters, girlfriends, mothers,  wives and so much more to so many.  But that is not where my prayers will end ~ there are so many who hurt, who need, who are lost, hungry, abused, and forsaken.  Many who need forgiveness and love.  But there is also so, so much to be thankful for ~ for people ~ for things ~ for words and actions.

And I will continue to love ~ love those I randomly encounter throughout the day (a bag of chocolates for the mail man, a door held for a stranger, a smile, a compliment) and especially for the family I have.  The ones who are always on my mind and completely in my heart.

And we will continue to love, laugh, learn and make memories.  As we did tonight.

Beer, Pasta, Chicken, Salad and Chocolate....

By now, I'm sure most of you pin stuff on Pinterest.

But how many of you actually make, create,  or purchase the stuff you do pin?  I'm absolutely guilty of pinning things and doing nothing about them.  However, I've been going through my boards to gain mostly dinner inspiration.  Here's what I've made recently:

Raspberry Beer Cooler 

(original website here)

I made this for a get together we had at our home last Friday night.  While most of it got drank, I don't think I will remake it.  Kind of tasted like a tart, sweet beer.  Does that make any sense?  This one, I deleted from my beverage board.

Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter

(original website here)

Not so sure I would agree that is "The best pasta you will ever eat", but it was ok.  I'm not deleting it from my cooking board, but I won't be making it in the near future either.  

Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

(original website here)

I made this for a family potluck.  I would/will definitely make it again.  It makes for a great side dish, or as a main course.  Put in (or leave out) whatever veggies you please.  The dressing is yummy,  just the right amount of kick to please many different palates.

and last but not least, 

German Chocolate Cake Bars

(original website here)

I also took these to our family potluck.  For me they were only ok.  They didn't have the ooey gooeyness I was expecting.  I'm deleting them from my sweet treats board, not because I hated them, just because there are better bars out there (in my opinion).

What have you been pinning?  

I finally figured it out!

I would LOVE to create a family cookbook of all of Hubby's, Sassy's, Action's, Smiley's and my favorite recipes.  That way, when they get older they have their own "special" cookbook.

Because of my desire, every now and then I ask the kids, "What is your favorite thing or things that I make for meals ~ breakfast, lunch whatever?"

I've been told these on more than one occasion:

Sticky Buns (like MY mom use to make)

(Recipe here)

And THESE chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

All 3 kids love my version of Sloppy Joe's

(Find the recipe HERE)

But for the most part.  When I ask them what they like.  I get blank stares.

And now, I have finally figured out why!

It really is obvious.

You see, this is what we had last week for dinner ~ with a couple nights of leftovers.


Chicken Pot Pie Penne via  What's Cookin' Chicago

Review ~ this was ok.  

Easy to make, but not a ton of flavor.  The kids ate it, but didn't request it as a "remaker."

Ham and Cheese Sliders with Poppyseed dressing 

via The Girl who Ate Everything

Everyone liked these.  We will definitely be making these again :)

"The worlds BEST Mac and Cheese" via Martha Stewart

This was good ~ Hubby though, has a little problem (unbeknownst to him) with food that doesn't contain some sort of meat.  Anytime I make a meatless entree, he says,  "Oh, this would be so good if it had chicken (or whatever other meat he comes up with) in it!"  So with this meatless entree...... He said, "Wow, if this had lobster in it....mmmmm lobster mac and cheese......"

So, maybe next time, I'll mix it up ~ for him :)

AND finally, I made this:

Cowboy Casserole via The Cutting Edge of Ordinary

I didn't love this, nor did I hate it.  All three kids ate it without complaining, which is always a small victory at our house.  I would probably make it again simply for that reason.  :)

So you see, I've figured out why they can't tell me their favorite things that I make.  

I like to try new recipes on a very regular basis.

It's hard to find a favorite, when I mix it up so often!

Oh well, VARIETY is the spice of life!

And just so you know, all of these meals I found on and have pinned via Pinterest.

You can find my boards here.

Cookie Baking Day

The other day, we pulled out the bowls, mixer, flour, sugar, sprinkles and the rest of the cookie goodness and set off to make some Christmas cookies.

We made chocolate spritz, white spritz and sugar cookies.

We also made a MESS (and funny faces)!

But, the most important thing we made, were memories!

Princess Cake

Smiley had decided she wanted to have a "Minnie" themed birthday party.  Just like last year :)

Then she decided she wanted a "Dora" themed party.

Then  "Princess"

Then a "Dora, Minnie Princess" party.

Ultimately she decided on a "princess" party.

I had a feeling this is the route she would take which was good, because I had "pinned" some cute princess cupcakes ~ cute and super easy!

source ~ my pinterest via Jennycookies.com

Then, I made a mistake.

I asked a 2 year old, if she wanted cupcakes or a big cake for her birthday.

Of couse she replied,  "A BIG cake Mama!"

Bring on the internet and the millions of princess cakes to go along with it!

I gave her 5 choices:

#1

Source 

#2

Source ~ Pinterest

#3

Source 

#4

(Source)

#5

(Source)

Well, which one did she pick?

# 2

I admit, #2 was probably my favorite, but I was secretly hoping she would go for #3 or #5 as I figured they would be the easiest :)

And while I liked #2, the tiara wasn't my favorite, so once again, I relied on handy dandy google to see me through!

I ended up making a gum paste tiara using the template from this website.

The process I used was pretty much the same process she used.  

I found an old utensil holder, taped my template onto it, then parchment paper over top of that.

I tinted my gum paste with pink gel color, rolled it into fairly thin "snakes" and placed it over my template. Having 2 templates is a great idea.  One flat on your workspace to guide you and one taped onto your rounded object.  To get the gum paste to stick to the parchment paper, I would dip a small paintbrush into water then paint the water onto the template before sticking the gum paste onto the template ~ it worked fabulously.

When I was finished, I set the whole thing aside to dry.  The longer you give it to dry, the harder it will become (although after awhile the color does begin to fade a bit).  Since my "snakes" were fairly thin, mine dried pretty quickly.  I let it set for about 25 hours before putting it on the cake.

I thought it turned out GRRReat!  (channeling my inner Tony the Tiger)

Now onto the cake

I did 4 layers total

2  ~ 9" round cakes one of each white and chocolate cake

2 ~ 6" round cakes one of each white and chocolate cake

For the white cake, I used a recipe I had seen on pinterest called ~ Wedding Cupcakes.  Obviously I didn't make cupcakes, but I used the same recipe.  It was a really easy recipe ~ basically you doctor up a boxed cake mix.

And the end result was fantastic!  My kids LOVED it!  They said is tasted like yummy marshmallows!  Definitely a recipe I will remake!

The chocolate cake cake was also a box mix.  I doctored it up like I typically do ~ Add follow the directions on the box, but add in and additional egg, 1 small box of instant chocolate pudding and 3/4 cup of sour cream.  The result is a super moist, delish cake!  A favorite at our house.

Between all of the layers and for the "crumb coat" before I put the fondant on, I used my very easy "go to" Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions:

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended, then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more (you can add more cream as needed to get the consistency you want)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I put the cake together with the buttercream ~ alternating layers (and no making fun that they aren't even ~ they still taste good!!!).

Then covered the 9" layers with Marshmallow Fondant (recipe found here)

And then the 6" layers.

Next, I stacked them up.

Colored some of the left over fondant with gel colors and decorated it in a similar pattern to our "idea cake", by cutting out circles and stripes, rolling little balls, and by making more "snaking" to use as trim and flowers.

The result:

A DELICIOUS cake fit for a princess!

Seriously people.... If I can do it ~ so can you! :)

Someday Crafts