.spiced pumpkin cupcakes & my kitchenaid!.

if you've visited my blog before, i don't think its a surprise that i thoroughly enjoy baking. after our wedding and all the bridal showers were done and over, i think we practically had a new kitchen! luckily my hubby shares the same desire for good food and cooking - although he usually leaves the baking to me... ;-)

well as if we didn't feel blessed enough - we came home friday night to a big box on our door step (one of the many benefits to living in a secure condo building). as soon as i looked at the box i knew what it was - the kitchen aid stand up mixer we registered for! my sweeter than sweet aunt purchased us a very generous wedding gift. so naturally i couldn't wait to use it... i mean, look at how beautiful it is!

yes - if you look close enough you can see i'm signing 'i love you' to my dear aunt! :)

now - on to the delicious spiced pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese (om nom nom) frosting... i found the recipe at my favorite food blog - http://www.annies-eats.com/. i'm used to pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, etc. i fell in love with the idea of pumpkin cupcakes. especially since i had pre-purchased cute october themed cupcake liners! lol. these cupcakes are soo moist on behalf of the pumpkin - definitely give these a shot! check 'em out!

and one more picture for good measure...

check out the recipe: http://annies-eats.com/2010/10/20/spiced-pumpkin-cupcakes/

ciao!
ss

.brown sugar bundt cake.

for my bridal shower i got a ton of fun baking stuff! this whole time i haven't had a cooling rack and i got one finally! i also got a bundt cake pan (johnny loves bundt cakes) and an awesome cake dome! (plus some other amazing stuff!) so of course i so couldn't wait to use all of these goodies!

johnny loves cakes that are subtle, so i decided on this brown sugar bundt cake. but it called for a caramel drizzle over top which makes it more 'dessert' like and not so good for a coffee cake in the morning. so i ommitted the drizzle and decided to dust the pan with cinnamon and sugar. it turned out delicious! the cake was absolutely delicious! just sweet enough but not over powering.

yum!

i also attempted to photograph the cake in the cake dome but it didn't really work that well. the lighting in our condo is a toughy. we have really strange overhead lighting and large 'picture' windows. there really isn't a happy medium between natural and man made lighting for photography. when our windows are open it lets too much light in and our overhead lights cast a yellow tinge. i'm still experimenting with how to make the lighting work! nonetheless, here is the cake dome photo, mostly because i'm so excited that i have a cake dome! lol!

happy friday ya'll!

xoxo

sc

.its been a while.

wow! its crazy how quickly time goes when you're planning a wedding and still trying to maintain a nomal life. we are now 16 (SIXTEEN!!!!) days away from the wedding. we are soo excited! and thankful for a three day weekend coming up so we can finalize stuff! the next few weeks are going to go just way too fast! but we are beyond ready for this, we are so excited to finally be married!

because things have been so hectic i haven't had a chance to post anything lately. so i figured i would just post a 'collage' of pictures from my latest baking and cooking endeavors! yummy!

stuffed bell peppers!                        chicken enchi'mamas'!

island spice pork tenderloin!                 stef's homemade granola!

grandma c's lemon bars!

i also made some yummy coconut cupcakes for my bridal shower, but in the excitement of it all i forgot to photograph them! crap! lol. oh well.

the stuffed bell peppers were my fiance's idea. whenever he says he wants something i usually end up making it, after intense recipe research of course! :)

the chicken enchi'mamas' are a recipe i've made before but the second time around - OH MY GOODNESS! yuuuumy! its a totally 'from scratch' recipe, you make the enchilada sauce and the whole deal. soo delicious. and of course my fiance nick named them! ;-)

island spice pork tenderloin is recipe i found on http://www.annies-eats.com/, its seriously so simple and absolutely delicious. its a staple around our house now! we've made it multiple times since my first try.

my homemade granola is sooo yummy! it has everything in it and i am obsessed with it now! after the first try at it, my fiance told me he doesn't want us to buy cereal anymore! he loves it with milk, and i love it in my greek yogurt. its a very loved recipe now! i'm getting hungry just thinking about it!!

ohhh grandma c's lemon bars! where do i begin?? you know those recipes that bring you straight back to your childhood? this dessert is one of those! the recipe is perfect. the crust part is crisp, not mushy and the topping is gooey lemony goodness. LOVE this recipe. i finally got it from my mom, and made it during the middle of what us washingtonians refer to as a 'heat wave'. they're such a refreshing dessert during hot weather! :)

one last photo! what remained of my mini coconut cupcakes! they were so cute, they even had zebra cupcake liners to match the theme my friends came up with! they were a coconut cupcake with coconut buttercream! delish! :)

happy friday everyone!

xoxo

sc

.blueberry cinnamon rolls.

my love of baked goods and sugar entirely contradicts my fitness and health goals... its pretty funny! i am a sugar and junk food junky but at the same time love to stay fit, run and work on toning my muscles... but just as much as that, possibly even more, i love, love, love to bake! (i'm sure you have noticed if you've viewed any of my blog posts)

a few weekends ago i was inspired to make blueberry cinnamon rolls by another food blog. i've been wanting to try to make regular cinnamon rolls, but it always seemed like i never had quite enough time for all of the rising steps. when stumbling across a very delicious post for blueberry cinnamon rolls, i knew i would just need to make time! however, i didn't love everything about the post so i ended up making my own... it was a combination of three recipes - one for dough, one for filling and one for a cream cheese icing/frosting.

i was pleasantly surprised with how easy the process was! it definitely was time consuming but it was a day when i had pretty much nothing but time! all in all i was suuper pleased with the outcome... they were soo yummy! next time i think i woud add a little more cinnamon filling because i love the cinnamon flavor so much!

yum. i'm dreaming about these delicious cinnamon rolls right now! i seriously wish these had lasted longer then they did... but i guess its a good sign that they literally disappeared!

but then again, how can you go wrong with cinnamon rolls, blueberries and cream cheese icing? ;-)

happy wednesday everyone!

xoxo,
sc

.cookies and cream cupcakes.

i get a lot of my cooking and baking inspiration from http://www.annies-eats.com/. i absolutely love her blog! her recipes are always great and never let down. my latest endeavor is the cookies and cream cupcake! talk about delicious oreo goodness! these were so rich but so worth it...

i don't have a picture showing the inside - but these cupcakes are filled with oreo pieces and an oreo bottom! oh my goodness. these are great!!

well - off to get ready for work, just couldn't wait to post these delicious treats! :)

xoxo

sc

.snicker doodles.

so my last baking endeavor was a yummy batch of snicker doodles. i found the recipe off of my favorite food blog... http://www.annies-eats.com/ her recipe choices hardly, if ever, let me down! i stumbled across a delicious recipe for snicker doodles one day on her site. it made me realize that i have been neglecting such a delicious cookie! i hadn't had homemade snicker doodles in, many, many years. so i decided to make them sunday night and all the while kept reminiscing of my childhood! awh. :)

anyway - they turned out delicious after a few tweaks to my baking times, since my oven of course has to bake differently then every recipe states. go figure! haha. anyway, they are truly delicious - you should go try them out for yourselves! yuuumy!

well - happy thursday everyone! in our case here in the great pacific nw, its a rainy one. sigh.... nonetheless - tomorrow is friday, and a three day weekend at that! time to celebrate. woo hoo!

xoxo

sc

.epitome of girliness.

saturday was an epitome of girliness for my bestie and i... we were initially supposed to go camping but because of various reasons it fell through. so whats the next best thing to do on a day off? girly stuff of course! ha ha. we had an awesome lunch - yummy wine and drinks - watched movies - did our toenails and my personal favorite - baked! :) it was a fun filled day!

the day made me decide that we need to do themed lunches/dinners from now on also! marissa wanted to make this yummy strawberry spinach salad recipe she has, so that was already on the lunch menu.

then i stumbled across a homemade strawberry wine cooler! what a fun idea! and boy oh boy it was amazing... refreshing and different. i was immediately in love. it was either that or a combination of wine, pedicures and 80's movies? ;)

then i followed everything up with a recipe i was dying to try - coconut cupcakes with a delicious coconut butter cream frosting! mmmmmm! of course, the consistency of the frosting wasn't up to par for me and my frosting skills were a bit off - but that's what happens when two of you finish off 2 bottles of wine. especially when you're about 5'! ha ha.

anyhow, hope you've enjoyed the food/drink/dessert pictures. of course, i could post recipes, but i'm not sure anyone ever reads this. sigh. if you want recipes let me know! more then happy to share.

ciao! sc

.strawberry rhubarb deliciousness!.

it feels so great to be able to bake again! johnny and i took a break from eating sweets/desserts and that meant my baking also went on a hiatus. i have been able to start baking again starting april 20, and boy oh boy am i a happy camper!!

last weekend my mom was very busy with moving/packing, etc. so we decided that we would spend time together and celebrate mother's day this weekend. i was given some rhubarb at work by a co-worker this week and i immediately began reminiscing about my childhood! my mom always made such yummy desserts with rhubarb because my grandparents have a big rhubarb plant in their garden. so in memory of my childhood, i decided a strawberry rhubarb crisp was in order! yuum!

can't wait to dive into this deliciousness tonight!

ciao! sc

.christmas cookies - round #1.

one thing about me - i love to bake. there is something special about it, the ability to create something is remarkable. likewise, i thoroughly enjoy watching people enjoy my creations! yum!

i made my first official batch of christmas cookies sunday. my fiance loves sugar cookies, so i make them frequently. i have been trying new recipes and haven't settled on one particular one being "the one". athough this recipe is a close first! they were soft and yummy. and i had a blast decorating them.

i think my helper did too! he's such an amazing guy - he even helps decorate! ;)

i was in the full christmas spirit last night, not only did i bake while watching christmas movies, i wrapped most of our presents. even though they won't be there long, i couldn't resist putting them under the tree!

i love this time of the year, and now that i'm getting married its so fun to start our own traditions. there are certain things that changed for me after my parents divorced, certain traditions that i miss terribly. so i'm taking charge and making them happen! i love christmas time, i can't believe its almost here. its gone so fast! i better get that last minute shopping done! oops!

xoxo,

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