Funfetti!

We got home around 9:30pm last night and I immediately got down the mixer and started making cupcakes. Until I realized I didn't have any oil... Being the amazing husband he is, Patrick offered to run to the store and get some for me.

I love that man..

Patrick brought home the funfetti cake mix and funfetti frosting after I called him from work in a panic that I didn't have enough time to stop and get some between work and Isabel's birthday dinner. I didn't want to be the mom who didn't bring treats for school and I also didn't want to be the  mom who brought store bought. I don't think there's anything wrong with store bought for the record. I just love to bake and birthday's (especially your child's birthday) is the perfect excuse to do so.

I made 24 mini cupcakes and 10 regular size cupcakes. There was enough batter left over to make regular size cupcakes and I didn't want to let it go to waste. Today is my best friend's birthday, so I'm bringing the 10 cupcakes with me to work to help her celebrate.

Happy Birthday Lorien!

Waiting for the oil.

Mini cupcakes.

Regular size cupcakes.

Perfection.

Mini- post frosting.

Regular- post frosting.

Can we be done with birthday's now?

Saturday we will be celebrating Leah's birthday (which is really on the 19th, but she won't be here for her actual birthday). The 21st is my co-worker's birthday. The 23rd is my father-in-law's birthday. Then mine on the 27th and Rachel's on the 28th.

Sometimes I feel like March is worse than Christmas..

Lazy Days

Today was quite a lazy day. We didn't wake up until 9 am. 9 am! This is unheard of in our house. Usually Patrick has to open on the weekends. This means I wake up with his alarm. Then I wake up again when his alarm goes off again. I normally cannot go back to bed after that. If I do, it's spread out in the middle of the bed. The whole bed to myself. No Patrick, no Isabel, no Marley. Glorious!

If he doesn't have to open, or he's off for the day then I wake up with Isabel when she wakes up as soon as the sun comes up. It usually never fails. That or Marley sits on my face. I guess she knows I'll get up when she does that. Then she'll meow continuously until I feed her.

Maybe it had something to do with the full moon last week. Who knows.. But I will take what I can get. Seriously... 9 am!

There really were no plans for today. The only thing that I really wanted to do was lay out by the pool at some point to work on my horrible tan lines. I now have less than 10 weeks to get rid of them and I currently can't afford a spray tan (plus I'm a little worried I'll have a horrible reaction or something will go wrong that I can't get fixed before the wedding).

We got up and had breakfast (thank you Patrick and your amazing cooking skills).

Patrick then went and hit a bucket of balls.

When he got back we went out and met my mom for lunch.

Blouse- Kohl's
Leggings- Kohl's
Shoes- Target
(I have been photo bombed again, this time by Patrick)

I went to Michael's and bought some yarn to make scarfs (a new craft project that I've started and probably won't finish).

As soon as we came home we got our bathing suits on and went to the pool. It was perfect. The water felt amazing and there was no one else there, just the way I like it.

Patrick then cooked dinner (tempura shrimp, fried rice with egg and bacon and garlic bread... I love this man.)

I did a few loads of laundry.

Then I baked Raspberry Creme Brulee Bars. They weren't half bad.

The Ingredients

The Recipe

The finished product.

Side view.

Then I worked on a scarf until it was time to pick up for the day.

Working on a scarf.

Smile for the camera!

Probably not going to be done when I need it done by, but I'm going to do my best.

It may have not been the most productive day, but it was just what I needed before going back to work tomorrow.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

While at the grocery store this weekend, I picked up a new cupcake mix and frosting. Pink lemonade flavor!

I made the cupcakes and decided that they needed a little something extra, so I got some lemon flavored Starburst's and shaped them into lemons for the top.

I would definitely make these again, however I don't think they were lemony enough for me. I will probably add some lemon juice and zest next time to give them that extra kick for summer.

Thank you Pillsbury! Great cake mix!

Tie-Dye Cupcakes

The first time I made tie-dye cupcakes was this past Easter. My mom put me in charge of dessert and had found a recipe for tie-dye cupcakes in the April edition of Cooking Light magazine. The recipe can also be found at www.Jello.com/Recipes.

Ingredients:

1 pkg white cake mix
1/4 cup dry JELL-O Lemon Flavor Gelatin
1/4 cup dry JELL-O Lime Flavor Gelatin
1/4 cup dry JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
Frosting

Prepare cake batter as directed on package.

Divide evenly into 3 bowls. Stir different flavor dry gelatin mix into batter in each bowl.

 Alternately spoon batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups 2 Tbsp. at a time until full.

(The cupcakes above were more "tie-dye" while the ones below were more layered.)



Bake as directed on package of cupcakes. Cool completely.

 Spread with frosting.

Enjoy.

I've made these a couple times since then, but I have not tried them again with Jell-o. Instead I've used food coloring. The photo's below are from last night. We are having a Cinco de Mayo potluck at work and I decided to make the layered cupcakes using red and green food dye to look like the Mexican flag. 

     

                                                                                



Making tie-dye cupcakes has become my new passion. I love the endless possibilities and all the different colors you can do. Plus, who doesn't love cupcakes?

Happy early Cinco de Mayo everyone!