.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

.we're married!.

so i haven't posted in a long time - but for good reason! i was busy! the love of my life and i got married on september 19 and left the next day for our honeymoon in st. lucia! ...we are still getting life and the house back in order so i will post more about everything, but until then, i leave you with a snippet of our wedding pics!

happy tuesday!
 
ciao!
 
ss

.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

.mt walker.

i'm not sure what it is, or why it always turns out this way, but it seems that the fiance and i always have horrible luck with weather when we decide to go hiking! it could be beautiful all week, with a pretty promising forecast but it is almost always the opposite when we wake up in the morning. i'd have to say its kind of ironic!

last year we did quite a few hikes, but this year we haven't had much time between planning the wedding and johnny working so many hours at work. well this last sunday we decided it was time to get our first hike of the summer in - for once we didn't have any appointments or prior engagements. we were so excited! so we went to bed saturday night with huge plans of getting up early and heading out to the olympic peninsula. fast forward to sunday, early am... we wake up, smile at each other, look out the window and are so disappointed!! it was foggy and overcast outside! go figure!

well, we decided to give it a try anyway... weather.com said the clouds were supposed to burn off. of course when we got close to quilcene it was still too cold, so we decide to keep driving and check out port angeles with the thought that we could do the hurricane ridge hike. we get to port angeles and the weather is still horrible! so we pull out our map and decide that we were all the way out there, we might as well do a mini road trip through the olympic peninsula!! :) and me, being the huge dork that i am, suggest that since we're so close that we should visit forks! haha.

washington is interesting in the fact that you can be in a rain cloud or thick fog, drive a few miles and be in patches of sun - we have one of the strangest (and unpredictable) weather patterns in the US (fun fact)! so as we were driving down the highway, we ended up climbing into a nice patch of sun by lake crescent. it was one of the most beautiful lakes that i have seen - crystal clear water, surrounded by mountains. it was gorgeous. but alas, we kept driving and hit more fog, clouds and icky weather - which meant that we must be getting closer to forks!

we drove through the town of forks to the chamber of commerce and checked out the (of course) twilight memorabilia and their super cool loggers memorial! it was fun! we didn't stay long and decided to start heading back. after making it through the 'san juan scenic byway' (which by-the-way wasn't so scenic in the fog) we ended up hitting more sunshine! all the clouds started burning off and the sun was shining all around. we crossed the hood's canal bridge and decided that we were going to go for it! off to quilcene to hike mt. walker!

the hike was great - although it might have been a little steep for our first hike of the summer - especially since i was already sore from working out the day before. but - 2 miles in and after a 2000 ft climb, we reached the top and it was beautiful! i always love reaching the top because you're tired, mentally exhausted, and then you see what you climbed to and everything you were feeling just goes away.

all in all it was a great - but long - day. i'm so happy we got to share that day together, it was awesome just getting out there, being spontaneous and getting our hike in! i love my man - he is so good to me!

that's all folks! :)

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

.part deux: the road to delicious: pizza!.

mmmm! my pizza experiment was a partial success! it would have been a complete success if it were for a few extraneous factors. 1) i had parchment paper, or better yet, a pizza peel... 2) i had more time... 3) my pizza crust wasn't so thick. lol.

sooo here's how it came down... i got home after running wedding errands and pulled out the pizza dough which i had prepared earlier in the day. this way it would get optimal time to warm up (or so i thought). after pulling it out, i did random things around the house, and then decided to start the pizza sauce... after that i cooked the sausage... then i thought i should try to form the dough - but it was still cold! it had been out for over 30 minutes! so, long story short, i did the best i could but the dough was less then cooperative and ended up being suuuuper thick! which actually isn't a problem - it just became a deep dish! haha. then came the issue of transporting to the pizza stone - that was a debacle! i am quickly going to run out and get parchment paper to have on hand for the future. or maybe someone will be generous and buy me a pizza peel for my wedding gift! :D

anyway - the pizza was a success, although it had to bake a little longer to cook the center since the dough was formed so thick (oops!). but it was yummy! the dough was crisp on the bottom and the crust - but the best part? no grease! take that pizza hut! yuuum.

now for the best part! pictures!

sooo yummy - especially with extra pizza sauce to dip the yummy thick crust!!

i try (for the most part) to eat balanced meals, so we of course had to have a veggie! staying with the theme - i made us an italian chop chop salad! what better way to use some of the left over salami (yum!)?

it was the perfect accompaniment!

until my next food adventure...

xoxo

sc

.the road to delicious: pizza!.

i got this wild hair to make homemade pizza. i have never attempted it except for when i was a child... my mom would make the dough from scratch, let it rise, roll it out and let us do the toppings! it was so fun. so i decided to start the process early this morning; evidently from what i read, you can pre-make the dough and place in the refrigerator and bring it out later in the day. this is preferable for a working person such as myself - plus my fiance is working seven, twelve hour shifts and by the time he gets home, he wants to relax, eat and sleep! and i don't blame him! so i'm hoping to get this pizza in the oven and cooled by the time he gets home.

5 am
step 1: pizza dough

so this is the dough... its rising right now, but hopefully this project will all turn out - otherwise looks like its store bought crust or papa murphys for din tonight! haha.

so i will post updates on this process later tonight or tomorrow... wish me luck! i'm a homemade pizza n00b!

xoxo

sc

.slightly irritated.

sigh.

i'm getting slightly irritated. i'm finally starting to get the concepts of photography that i was letting myself get confused about. essentially, i was making things much more difficult then they needed to be. however (the reason i'm irritated) i canno seem to take a steady picture! wtf!? is this what the reality of my photography is going to be?? why, why, why.

ok... enough whining. but really, i can't believe i have such an unsteady hand. maybe i'm not cut out for a hobby in photography?

...i have my second class tonight, and then we're doing a photoshoot on saturday - that should be fun. maybe the instructor can give me some pointers on how to stabilize my shooting.

sorry for the boring blog, its kind of all thats on my mind at the moment. well that and the fact that i need to finish my save the dates, but in order to do that i need my fiance to come with me to purchase supplies! lol.

.the countdown!.

When we (Johnny and I) first started dating, we decided that being the Washingtonians that we are - by about mid February to mid March, we are absolutely, 100% tired of the cold, wet and drab weather around here. So last year we took a little trip to warm, lovely Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was such an amazing, all inclusive resort. Sigh. How I miss it! After that trip, we decided that every year around that time we simply need a vacation. After all, once you have children, it’s not so easy to just take off and fly around the country.




This year we got so blessed. Our friend Joe's birthday is in February. He's originally from Oahu, and for his birthday wants to go back. And the loving, amazing people that they are - invited us!! They have a house on the island that we can also stay in... we only had to pay for airfare. And of course, we got a great deal... round-trip, non-stop tickets for about $300ish a piece! Can't beat that! So we are going to Oahu! I have never been to Hawaii, so I am stoked beyond belief. Also, my aunt and cousins live on the big island, so we bought tickets to go over there for a full day. We are so blessed!



Wooo! The countdown is officially down to 30 days! February 19 can't come soon enough! Woo hooo!



On another note, I am so excited for this evening... my first photography class begins at 7p! Can't wait! I hope I learn a lot and can take some amazing photos in Hawaii...



Sigh. Well, I guess its that time - time to get ready for work... Hawaii you can't come soon enough!



…Reminiscing… I miss you Mexico!!

.another day....another dollar.

So I am obviously not doing very well with keeping this blog rolling. Its a little difficult when you know there is no one out there listening. But alternatively, it shouldn't matter. I opened this blogger account to learn about myself - to be able to measure my own personal growth.

Lately things seem so crazy - out of control actually! Time is flying by and I do not have enough time in the day to achieve everything I want to. Its driving me bizerk! It seems that all I do is wake up - spend some time with Johnny in the AM, go to work, either rush home or rush to the grocery store, rush to the gym, rush home to make dinner, relax for a few minutes.... sleep, repeat. Ugh. When will things slow down? I know this is a common theme that everyone goes through, but it doesn't make it any more fun! Haha. Oh and somewhere in there I have to try and plan this wedding!

Its exciting because we found our photographer and I am very excited about that! Jonandmochphotography.com They are awesome - and I have known Moch since we were probably 13? Awesome. :) Now just to get the Save the Dates out - and getting Johnny to get addresses from people. LOL. That part is the biggest challenge! ...

On another note, I am so excited for tomorrow! I am taking a photography class - finally! I have had my Canon Rebel Xti since January 2008 when I studied abroad in England and France. Unfortunately I didn't give myself enough time to learn how to use the camera before I left and since I've been home, I haven't made the time. So here we are, two years later in January 2010 and I am finally going to learn how to use it! Woo hoo! Johnny's friend's wife works for a church in the area and they offer music and arts classes - so its nice because the money from the class goes toward the church - on the flip side, it makes the class extremely affordable! So I will have class Tuesday ad Thursday from 7p-9p and Saturday from 9a-12p. Can't wait!! :)

Well I suppose I should get off my rear and get ready for work - yet another busy day ahead of me. And I don't get MLK day off. Sigh.

31 days and counting until vacation. It can't come soon enough! :)

xoxo, 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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