Picture Coasters (not edible...duh)

Have you heard of the latest social media craze?  Well, the latest craze for mostly women who enjoy cooking/baking/crafting??  It is called pinterest, and if you enjoy any of the previously mentioned things, you should probably be on it.  Essentially, pinterest can teach you how to do things you never knew you wanted to be able to do.

I learned about pinterest shortly before Christmas and it helped me remember that I enjoy making things.  One of the very first things I found was a tutorial on how to make picture coasters.  In fact, I decided that coasters with Ian and my disastrous photo shoot would be perfect for Ian's apartment, and therefore a perfect Christmas gift for him!  I was also fairly confident that they were going to be AWESOME and that everyone would want some...so I decided to make some for my mom (and by some, I mean she got like 16 because who doesn't need 16 coaster?!  Really, her family is just too big...) and for friends (although I still owe some friends some coasters...two months after Christmas isn't too late to give a present, right?!). 

S'more Cupcakes

Have you ever had a craving for something and it just follows you around, demanding to be satisfied?  Well, for MONTHS, all I could think about was how much I wanted a s'more.  I blame Ian.  Now, he will probably tell you that I blame him for everything, but this really was his fault.  Ian insisted that we go camping (and that experience, my friends, is a whole other story, which I promise to blog about at a later time).  Anyway, on this lovely camping trip we planned to make s'mores and brought all the fixin's.  And we did make them.  Once.  But is once really ever enough for s'mores?  I would argue that it is most assuredly not.

So I went on a quest to find a recipe for s'mores cupcakes.  As you would expect, I found a plethora of cupcake options out on the interwebs.  I combined the cupcake recipe from Bakerella, the marshmallow frosting from the Annie's Eats, and my own chocolate ganache.  Let me tell you, this things are DANGEROUS.

I Made Soup!

In Wichita, we have a fantastic soup and sandwich place called Tanya's Soup Kitchen.  The woman who owns it may be crazy, but that's ok because she works in the restaurant industry!  Anyway, she creates all of these wonderful soups, all made from scratch, using mostly local ingredients, and it is definitely one of my favorite places in town.  She also sells her recipes.

Prior to Christmas, I was in Tanya's for lunch and noticed that her recipe books were on sale (like, buy all six and save $15 or something like that).  I decided I would buy them and give them away for Christmas presents (they are currently sitting in the back of Ian's car...so the second part of this plan backfired).  I figured I would also want to keep a couple...you know, cause I like cooking so much and how hard could it possibly be to make SOUP?

Turns out, making soup is an interesting experience.

Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes

After I successfully made homemade limoncello, I decided I needed to bake with it!  I found this delicious looking recipe on the Brown Eyed Baker and decided to try it out.  These cupcakes are lemon-limoncello cupcakes, lemon curd filling, and limoncello frosting.  The flavor is a little out of season, but I was too impatient to wait for summer, so deal with it!

Homemade Limoncello

I officially fail at blogging...it has been almost a month since my last post.  Good news is, I have a TON to post about, so be prepared for multiple new posts in a (hopefully) short time span (provided my life cooperates). 

Anyway, on one of my many, MANY trips home to Iowa last summer (yes, this is a very old topic), I went to a party at my bother and sister-in-law's house.  At this party, my sister-in-law, Amanda, served delicious limoncello that SHE MADE HERSELF!  Hers turned out so well, I asked for instructions and made my own! 

 (note - this is my finished limoncello, not a giant jar of pee)

Thanksgiving Cupcakes!

I haven't been doing much baking lately...busy with work...holidays...birthdays...I'm lazy...

I did, however, do some baking for Thanksgiving.  It was to be the very first time anyone in my family would taste my baking!  I was a little nervous.  Ok, I was a lot nervous.  Have I mentioned that there are some fantastic bakers in my family?  So...I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry...I decided to bake a cupcake I had already baked before.  Kinda.

I opted to make the ultimate vanilla cupcakes and then frost half with pumpkin crème brûlée and the other half with a Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting.

I didn't have time to bake before making the trip home.  So, here was the plan - I had to leave Kansas on Tuesday after work and then drive to Iowa, leaving me Wednesday to bake my cupcakes and also spend time with my family.  I did, however, find the time to pre-make my caramel.  Here is a picture of my caramel...doesn't it look lovely?

And This Is Why We Have No Good Pictures

Ian recently asked me why we don't have very many pictures of the two of us.  Truth is, we have a couple of good pictures together, but most of the time I just forget to take out the camera and take pictures.  So this past weekend while I was home and we were both looking so nice, I decided I would snap a cute new photo of us.

And this, I think, is the real reason why we don't have very many good pictures...

Photo 1 - notice the hand placement...

Photo 2 - is he looking down my dress??? (Either that, or he sneezed)

Photo 3 - eh...this one is...ok...we both look kinda goofy but at least we are trying...

Photo 4 - what?  No smile?

Photo 5 - Seriously?  What are you doing???

And, finally, Photo 6 - finally a decent one...