Time traveling back to the 1960’s today. Yes, I owned this machine for the purpose of drying my hair! I was one lucky girl…I think I had every fancy gadget available when I was a child! This is one fancy gadget. To operate it you set it up on a stand, place a chair in front of it and turn on the heat!
If someone found one of these in Storage Wars….Wahoo….What A Find! Top Price $59.00
Hi I’m LeAnn and I’m a cupcakeaholic….don’t know when it happened or why! Today I made these cute MINI's– Be still, my heart!
When I came home last night with my new hairdo--- DH asked me what I did for my BBF Nancy for cutting my hair. I told him I’m not talented like she is so she has to just understand that being friends is my contribution to the relationship!!! Then I thought about it and I’m not sure why but it brought to mind the plethora of things I've wanted to pursue but didn't have the opportunity while I was working….and now that I’m retired I should surely be able to master a few things! I could remove the rust from my piano skills (since there are not enough players at our church), or I could finally bring all those old clothes in my closet that are out dated or just to small and give them to Goodwill, or maybe I should learn a couple of recipes that don't call for cream of chicken soup. On top of this there is a crazy phenomenon going on right now Cup Cake Shops in every town. Yes, I have found my favorite, but with that said I do like to experiment in my own kitchen.
Here is today’s recipe and it was delightful!
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 small box vanilla instant pudding
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
Raspberry seedless jam
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the cups of a standard muffin tin with paper or foil liners. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and pudding; set aside. In a liquid-measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla; set aside.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add half of dry ingredients, followed by milk-vanilla mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Do not over mix.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Add approximately 1/2 - 1 tsp of raspberry preserves & swirl into batter with a toothpick.
With MINIs I got 24 and enough for 6 regular sized cupcakes! MINIs took about 18 minutes to cook
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in tin, then remove and cool completely on a rack before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 - 8oz package cream cheese (I used the full fat version to remind me of cheesecake)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar.
Beat cream cheese, butter & vanilla until smooth & well blended. Slowly beat in powdered sugar. (Adjust amount until you reach desired consistency).
Frost cupcakes as desired. Garnish with fresh raspberries.
ENJOY!
See that skinned knee, yes summer is here and outside is where K-bear wants to be.
He is sportin’ the new hat to shade the eyes…
He is the sunbeam that warms us everyday!
Today with fresh strawberries on the counter, I decided it was time to perfect my cupcake skills. Always to dry, or under cooked, or with a big dip in the center was how it has been with my previous attempts. After many hours of research as to why I couldn’t make them come out just like the “Cupcake Wars'” I DID IT………………Sweet, moist, and they didn’t fall apart.
For the Cupcake……….
2/3 cup fresh whole strawberries
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 egg whites, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
Place strawberries in a food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix together milk, vanilla and strawberry puree; set both aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (a hand mixer will work just fine too), cream butter on med-high speed, until light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes.) Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add the egg and egg whites until just blended.
With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the strawberry mixture; mix until just blended. Repeat with remaining flour and strawberry sauce, scraping down the sides as needed until well blended.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. The trick here is to not over fill the muffin cups, overfilling will cause them to sink in the middle!
Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool before icing.
Now for the icing…it is absolutely incredible SERIOUSLY!!!
6 tablespoon Flour
1 cup milk (whole milk is best, but I use non-fat when it’s all I have and it’s actually fine)
1 cup real butter (I prefer salted, but you can use also unsalted and add salt to taste)
1cup sugar (that’s granulated sugar, not powdered sugar)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract, or other flavor if you wish.
Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan. Smash any flour lumps with a rubber spatula to keep mixture smooth. Keep cooking mixture until it resembles thick pudding, almost a paste-like consistency.
Put this mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely, it’s fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don’t want it warm at all. As it’s cooling, feel free to stir it occasionally to speed up the process and keep it from forming a crust on top. When it is chilled, you can move on to the following step.
It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You’ll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, not the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Don’t be scared. It’s going to look like a goopy mess and kind of lumpy and separated.
But you just wait. It’s gonna blow your mind in a few minutes. Beat on med-high until it comes together and becomes light and fluffy. It can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes.
It will transform from that sloppy mess into something gorgeous, fluffy, and incredibly light and silky. If the time has passed and it still looks like a hot mess, just keep on beating and it should eventually come together. Feel the mixture between two fingers to see if the sugar granules have dissolved; if not, just beat a little longer. Use it to fill or frost cupcakes, cakes or other pastries. You can’t go wrong putting this on just about anything….just a spoon works well for me!
In the corner by the picket fence and just below the little rock wall was my very first sandbox. I remember spending hours playing in the shade of this beautiful backyard. That was so many years ago, but the memory is still there. I loved that sandbox. Mom told me that it was gone the first time she saw a cat use it for a litter box! Didn’t even cross my mind when I was a kid.
Dad now grows a garden in the spot and look how beautiful his yard always looks. He never lets it go a day without being manicured. I’m so proud of that backyard!
Grandpa Al spent the weekend building the box and today he hauled in sand and sand and more sand….and Kendry in the sand!
Kendry helped with the shoveling…it took him several tries to get used to the feel of sand on his hands and feet. He finally warmed up to the idea that this was suppose to be fun. It didn’t take all that long either…now getting him to come back inside from the sandbox is going to be a monumental task! Time spent out of the sandbox is time spent waiting until it’s time to be in the sandbox again….without question. 
There it goes right on the top of the head…………….
Iris survive in my garden year after year neglected, forgotten, cut down to the ground…what an amazing lesson they can teach me………….
Stop every now and then. Just stop and enjoy. Take a deep breath. Relax and take in the abundance of life.
I’m a huge proponent of kids play sports. Growing up, I was constantly involved in one sport or another, baseball, basketball, or tennis, through high school. More important than wins or losses or how good I got at a specific sport, was the life lessons that I learned in the process.
The greatest lesson I ever learned was the importance of sportsmanship. With time, I could no longer go 5 sets on the tennis court and gone were the days I could pull up for a transition 3 but what I learned about how to treat others has never left and it is a skill that has prepared me well for a successful business career.
I was thinking about this a lot yesterday, seeing two contrasting styles of leadership. First, at my son’s soccer game, one of his teammates went down with an injury, I saw the opposing coach gather his team to explain the importance of the moment. I witnessed the opposing team following the coach’s lead in taking a knee and bowing their heads. At that moment, I knew these kids were fortunate for being taught these important life lessons now. They would be better, more successful, people for it.
In contrast, during my daughter’s soccer game, I watched player after player being injured, by the same opposing player, finishing with my daughter in the emergency room being treated for a concussion. Never once did the opposing team express concern. Never once did I see a hand extended to help up a fallen competitor. Never once did I see the opposing coach use this as a teaching opportunity. After the game, when most players leave the game on the field and become friends again, I witnessed the offending player refuse to shake her opponents hands. At that moment, I knew these kids were unfortunate for being taught how to be great soccer players but not being taught how to be great women.
Sportsmanship matters and the most important lessons you learn on the field are life lessons. What lessons do you want your kids to learn?
Fragrance triggers are like lightening bolts in our brain.
A memory so vivid it can take one’s breath away.
Brilliant - shining
Purple and white
Can there be
A more magnificent sight?
You can see them blooming in abandoned lots, having survived long after the homes they were planted next to have vanished. 
You remind me, of years past, of happy times, of neighborhood friends, and Spring Festivals.
Little clenched fists of purple, waiting to burst forth
Tiny leaves of green unfold, proud to show their growth.
It’s amazing to see how much beauty God puts into a single lilac with its breathtaking beauty and aroma.
When I was a child I spent many Sunday afternoons at my cousins’ home with my grandmother. My Aunt Phyllis was an amazing cook, in fact she was the head cook for several schools in the Nebo School District. I always asked her to make me a bowl full of “Sinkers” and she willingly went to the kitchen and began the laborious task of making the dough. I love dumplings in all forms – big, little, stuffed, doughy, whatever – but there is a special place in my heart for the humble spaetzle/sinkers, the quick-cooking, wee dumpling from Germany. because of my dear Aunt. I remember the big pot of boiling water, the huge mixing bowl, and her standing over the pot carefully slicing off bits of dough with a knife into the boiling water. When they floated to the top I knew they were just about ready to be put in front of me!
I will never be able to duplicate my Auntie’s sinkers… practice and practice is all I can do. My dear cousin, Susan, told me about this fancy gadget that has helped …since I could never master the bowl and knife technique. I love to nourish people and see them enjoy what I make and today King Kendry really took to my sinkers at lunchtime.
The weather was gorgeous Sunday so we got the dino pool out of the shed, it was cousin Brevin’s when he turned 1…and it still can …..bring on the fun! Filling it up with hose water and two buckets full of very warm kitchen tap water did the trick to make it the perfect temperature.
Soaking in the sun, listening to Kendry squeal with delight with the spray of “Freezing” water from the hose…reminds me just how blessed we really are.
Chatting about the whole Potty Training to the world seems a little weird….definitely something we should keep in house….but we were to proud, so excited, and just so thrilled that we just couldn’t keep it to ourselves! (Shhh…I left out the gorse part of him putting his hands in the potty!)
Potty Training, we have read, over and over again…… that it’s really important that you mustn’t start too early for the child and that ‘the right time’ is really dependant on the child…. So we really didn’t consider starting the whole process at all at 22 months. But today when he started showing us signs….the classic signs you hear about…we think we are on the way to a successful journey!
Updates to follow!
With a sweet breath of fresh clean air from the morning rain shower
Behold the small tiny moments when Parsley
Rosemary
Oregano
and chives
nod their heads with new growth that
survived the winter’s cold………….
Spring, she is prayed for, and called out of winter’s deep slumber, dressed in her very finest new greens.
She is welcomed into my yard…
fresh, full of life and blessed beyond words!
