Happy Turkey Day!

Okay, it's a few days past Thanksgiving day but...you know me! I hope everyone's day was great and that it was filled with lots of delicious food and especially some good sweet stuff ;)

I didn't do too much cooking this weekend, a bit burned out from my mini pies. For Thanksgiving day I did manage to make roasted vegetables and key lime tarts and for Turkey Day part 2, I made yeast rolls! Yeast rolls how I love thee. They are so fluffy and light and just too much deliciousness...they actually remind me of elementary school. Good times.

So, since I didn't really make anything too great to share I thought I'd post a couple pics of a cupcake I made a while ago. And when I say a couple of pics, I mean it. There are only 2. I really need to tie my camera around my neck to force myself to take pictures, come to think of it I don't think I took any on Thanksgiving! Uh-oh...

Snickerdoodle Cupcake


I made these for my sister Susan's birthday since she is a lover of the snickerdoodle cookie. The cake was light and cinnamon-y.


Now, I know this picture is small but I'm pretty sure it was taken with a cell phone...I know, I know. I made a boiled icing with a bit of cinnamon sugar on top, very yum!

And a pic to reminisce Zeke's first Thanksgiving...

All things mini!

I know what my problem is. When I say I'm going to update my blog more often, I never do...like I'm jinxing myself. So, I'm not saying that anymore and we'll see how it goes ;)

A friend on FB (Sherree) posted a link to a great blog called "Our Best Bites" with a specific entry about mini-pies. As soon as I saw them I knew I had to make them ASAP. First off, here's the link http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/09/single-serving-pie-in-jar.html

On to the deliciousness...

Guess what kind of pie I'm making first?


I could have sworn I took a picture of just the crust in the jar but I guess not...



Here are the pies with filling already in place


...a few with crumb topping (also known as Dutch apple pie)


Or here I am making a mini lattice!


All yummed up and ready to eat.
Enough for 2 but when things are this cute everyone will want their own.


Have you ever made a pumpkin pie from the pumpkin?




One thing I really love about these pies is that you do not have to pre-bake them. You make them and then pop in the freezer until you get a hankering for a jar of hot pie. I also plan on making mini-chicken pot pies, will post pics when I do.

My freezer is like pie heaven...



I did manage to make a healthy dessert (if you can believe that). My sister is on Weight Watchers and didn't want to partake in my baking shenanigans so I decided to make some point friendly brownies for her. If I told you the ingredients (all 3 of them) you would not believe me; so I will not divulge that info unless asked ;). Let me just say for 2 points each they were chewy, fudgy and GOOD!





Did I mention this was going to be a long blog??




The fam and I were going to watch the Charger game at a friends house and I felt like making something new to take. Since I've been in the mini mood and really didn't want to go the carb-y route (cake, cookies, etc) I decided on cheesecake. Now, when I googled "mini cheesecakes" for inspiration I found lots of results of mini-cheesecakes made with a special cheesecake pan. Sorry but I'm not interested in buying new equipment unless absolutely necessary. I decided to take the plunge and figure it out on my own and wouldn't you know it worked.


Crumb crust in mini muffin tins.


All cheesed up


I was already slicing and dicing apples so I just went with an apple pecan topping.


Everyone seemed to enjoy them!

If you haven't become an "official" follower of mine and like my blog, please do so! It makes me feel special :)

And you know I can't end a blog without...

No need for Hostess!

A week ago or so my mother bought me Martha Stewart's Cupcake book and there are so many ideas in there! Usually I am inspired by a recipe but add or subtract to make it my own but when I saw her cream-filled cupcake I had to make it. I used to make a dark chocolate cream-filled version but am not sure where my recipe is currently. Anyway, it was my grandma and grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary so we all went out to dinner and I decided to make up these bad boys for this special occasion.

Jumbo Cream-filled Cupcake




Plain Jane...

Hollow it out!

Handmade oven mitt by cousin Becca!

An "S" on top so no one forgets who made them =)

Cream center deliciousness!

Last but not at all least

June's on its way out!

Well, a few days ago Ziggy turned 9 months old! Time has really flown for us and we have started preparations for his 1st birthday party. He has been having a heart attack lately about everything...ugh. Anyway, I've heard it's just a phase and he'll get over it sooner or later (hopefully). Still no new teeth but the 2 he has are all the way through and sharp as heck! When he's super hungry he says "mamama" and also says "no" and shakes his head. He's crawling all over the place and doesn't have any interest in cruising furniture. He likes to walk with his push toy and lay on BiBi's bed. He's just awesome.

Next up, a few fun events!


Zeke's first trip to the beach.


Sister, Me, Zig and Bub at the top of the Coronado Bridge during the annual Bay Bridge Run.


Boob, Cyn and Zig having fun in the jumper at cousin Jack's 2nd Birthday party.

Bub and I hangin' at the party.


Someone's happy about his daddy's first fathers day!

Baby and a pie

Well, busy busy as ever around here. Biggest news is that we bought a house! It is under construction so we have several months until we move but we are happy that the search is finally over. It is a single story on a big (enough) lot and more importantly it is ours, wahooo! I will post pics of the progress, right now it is dirt...lol.

To start off with here's a pic of Zeke eating tofu, he really does like it...!



Here he is playing with "Baby Croki" it is a frog that speaks spanish and although highly annoying, he likes it, so it stays.



This week I made a Banana Creme Pie, the first ever! I couldn't tell you how it tastes because it wasn't for us. I made a pretzel crust for the sweet/salty effect then did a cream cheese base with fresh bananas, vanilla pudding and whipped cream. Looked really good!





To end this post...

The light of my life.

I'm baaaaaaack!

Holy Moley, I've been absent entirely too long! So much has happened, I can't even remember...haha. Zeke officially has 2, yes 2, teeth now! They are not all the way in yet but he popped them both in a week and actually he is a very good teether. There's no crying, whining or anything like that, the only difference in his schdule is a wake up an hour after he's asleep for the night. Seeing as how he goes to bed at 7 it's not too bad! We went to the beach on Bub's alive day and of course had a great mothers day, complete with breakfast in bed!


Us at the zoo.

Besides all of our goings on I managed to make a cupcake pop! Technically not a cupcake but still made of cake and shaped like a cupcake. It was my first try and although semi-successful I only see them improving from here on. Let me know what ya think!

Stupid Computer!

I really hate computers. Our "good" computer has a faulty hard drive and is being repaired so no pics as I am using our "bad" computer which has never failed us. Things are well, I have so many pictures of Ezekiel to share! He is starting all the new and exciting baby things like pulling himself up and trying to talk. I really hope our computer is fixed ASAP so I can post pics of my little Zig Zig...and possibly a new cupcake!

It's been too long!

Don't fret, I haven't forgotten about my blog!

So much has been going on it's hard to keep my head on straight sometimes. Some big news around here is that Saul has decided (almost officially) that it is time for him to separate from the Army. This is and will be a huge undertaking for all of us, there is a lot of paperwork involved and the great (not) task of buying a house. We have been looking for a couple of weeks now and it sucks, seriously. First, deciding on where to live is a pain then finding a house that's actually available for a decent price is almost impossible!

In baby news, Zeke is the best. Okay well, you already knew that. He has taken to his own type of "scooting" around to get what he wants. He also says "ma ma ma ma ma", still no teeth or crawling but those things will come in their own time. We have a busy couple of months ahead of us, this weekend is Easter (duh) then next weekend we are getting a visit from our friend Erin. Then we have David coming to visit in May along with my birthday (which is so awesome it takes a week to celebrate). Plus add moving in the mix and we have a spring time blur.

On to some pics of Zig Ziggy...



This is what I find when Zeke is ready to get up in the morning.



He is really enjoying his food now!



He hangs out here while I do the laundry.



I take so many pictures of him he knows to squint when the flash is coming...!



This is my absolute favorite picture of Zeke so far, he loves smiling and hanging out in his crib.

Post more later!

No cupcake, just baby!

Happy half birthday to you, happy half birthday to you, happy half birthday little bubba!

Yes, my nugget is 6 months old today and what a wonderful time we've had so far. Ezekiel has changed so much it's scary! I really do think babies should stay in the womb for another couple of months because those newborn days are rough. A smiling 6 month old is the cutest thing in the whole world! I'm not sure of his stats as his doctor appt isn't until Monday but I will let you all know then. Here is Zekie today...


Hmmm...who do you think he looks like? LOL

Have I said how much we love our Canon Rebel...?

Yep, he feeds himself!

Some food...

Hello all!

Well, it's been long enough since my last entry so here I am again. There are lots of new and exciting things going on these days and we seem to be busy all the time. Ezekiel will be 6 months on Wednesday and we can hardly believe it! Time has gone by so fast and I stop at least once a day to remind myself to really make the most of his baby time, next thing I know he'll be going to kindergarten.


I mean seriously, how can you not love this baby?!
On to some more pics of Ezekiel...here he is in his new duck "tub" with dad
and here he is eating a bread crust and some prunes (gotta love BLW!)
and here he is smiling at Saul's stumpy!


On to the cupcake...
A few weeks ago my sister, CJ took me to downtown San Diego to visit a bakery called "Heavenly Cupcake" the store itself is pretty modern and the cupcakes look great, albeit a little too cardboard-y. Anyway we decided to try: chocolate, dark chocolate, vanilla, peanut butter, red velvet and their signature flavor orange chip.

The red velvet was soooooo good, the best of the 6. All the rest were....eh, mediocre. The vanilla actually made me gag, it tasted like a stick of butter!

Enough of non-sweet cupcakes (if that's even possible), here is a really really good cuppy-cake....german chocolate! I've discovered that german chocolate lovers are beyond loyal to this type of cake, they will always choose it before any other flavor!

This is it halfway done and then all the way with the chocolate ganache on top. So chocolatey, coconutty and delicious!

Get out there peeps and show me what cupcakes you've devoured lately!

Yums to everyone.