3rd Times the Charm????

I need a little bit of luck today.

Both my mom and sister have attempted making homemade flour tortillas and they didn't seem to come out right.

Lets see if I can get it ...

Been wanting to try this for months ...

Just couldn't bring myself to try it yet.

Lol

Kinda chicken!

Ill admit it.

My grandma has ALWAYS made homemade torts and they're delicious! 

However ...

She doesn't have a recipe ...

Just throws the ingredients in a bowl and TADA! 

Homemade deliciousness! 

Lol

So here's my first attempt ...

Personally I don't think there's enough water in them ...

Seems like they're gonna flake apart but maybe that's how they're supposed to be.

Lol

I'll try adding a little bit more next time ...

Can't seem to roll them out in a perfect circle either!

Lmao!
gonna have to work on that.

But that's ok ...

Cast iron pan needs to be super hot ...

I actually ended up turning mine down a bit cuz I burnt the first couple ...

Tho that didn't stop the kids from eating them anyway.

Lol

Ended up cooking them less on each side then the recipe calls for too ...

And even tho they're kinda small and not perfect circles ...

They're still soft enough to roll.

Tho they seem a bit thick for me ...

But still delicious!

Far from the ones my grandma makes but pretty darn close!! 

=)
Thank you Merci Mama for the recipe!
definitely throwing this one in my recipe book for next time!

Happy Sunday Peeps!
i'm out!
Time to make some cupcakes!
=)

First Time ...

People that know me ...

Know that I do NOT like pie.

Not a pie girl ... At all!

I'm a cupcake girl!

Everyone knows that!

Lol

However ...

My parents were up to their ears in apples. 

It's that time of year.

Asked if they gave me some if I would make an apple pie for them. 

First time for everything right?!

I've never made a pie.

Scratch that ...

I've made Cream Cheese Pie.

But that has a graham cracker crust.

Completely different!!

This has an ACTUAL pie crust.

Never done that before.

Not gonna lie ...

I'm nervous at how it comes out. 

So I got on Pinterest to try and find a recipe.

Found one that didn't seem TOO hard. 

Had almost all the ingredients too!

Perfect! 

Was just missing two.

Stopped at the store yesterday to grab it and I was set this morning to give it a go.

Cut up the apples ...

(Thinking to myself ... Are these even the right size?!) 

Oh well!

Hahaha!

Mixed in all the other ingredients ...

And put it on the stove. 

Above is the before ... 

And here's the after!

They look delicious right?! 

Had to let those cool so I decided to start on the crust.

The apples I was fine with ...

It's the crust that freaks me out!

Lol

A little Fun Fact about me ... 

I HATE cutting butter into a flour mixture! 

Oh em gee!

It took FOREVER! 

But I finally got it all in.

Geez.

Rolled it out and fit it to my pie plate.

Even gave it a fancy edge! 

Ha! 

Had to keep it simple.

After I filled the crust with the apples ...

Personally I don't think that's enough apples ...

But that's all I had to work with.

Lol

Decided to challenge myself and make a lattice top for this pie. 

Turns out the lattice was UBER easy! 

Kinda thinking that a full crust layer on top would've been a lot harder!

Lol

Having to fit it just right.

No thanks!

I even added some stars to make it pretty! 

Haha! Now it's in the oven baking ... 

Figured I'd start the blog while it bakes. 

Lol

Here's the link to the recipe that I used ...

Thank you Domestic Goddess for the recipe and helping me make my first Apple Pie. 

<3
http://domesticgoddessadventures.blogspot.com/2009/09/apple-pie.html 

The edges of the pie started getting dark so I covered the pie with some foil in hopes that it doesn't burn.
That's the last thing I want or need!!
lol

Well ...

Here it is!

All finished.

Now I just gotta hope that the crust is baked completely thru-out!

It's definitely pretty! 

Hopefully the family loves it later!

Ta-ta for now peeps!! 

Happy Saturday!

<3

Class of .........

1993! 

My hometown's Class Reunion is tonight and I felt honored to be able to make cupcakes for it! 

=)

I'm pretty excited cuz I'm alumni too!

Tho I'm Class of 2006. Lol

6am came waaay too quickly this morning ... 

So quick that when I started to bake I ended up accidentally knocking over my whole box of cocoa powder!

Major failure!

=(

So I had to go to the store for more. 

Ugh.

Not what I wanted to be doing!

Baking didn't really start til about 7am.

Which was still ok as long as nothing else went wrong.

And it didn't!

Thank god! 

Lol

50 Chocolate

&

50 Red Velvet

Sounds easy enough.

And it was after I got in the groove of things. 

=)

Before I even started baking ...

I had some prep work a couple days ago. 

I had to cut out fondant 93s for the tops of each cupcake. 

There was a little over one hundred 3s and a little over one hundred 9s too ...

All I gotta say is ... OW!

My fingers were killing me after cutting out all 200+ of these tiny bad boys!

I'm talking sore for 2-3 days.

Lol

Anyways ... 

Back to cupcakes!

They came out beautifully!! 

See! 

=)

Pre-fondant ...

And here's the final presentation!

Love them!

They turned out better than I was expecting. 

I just hope these beauties don't melt.

It's 100* degrees outside here today! 

Eek!

Well I think I'm out for now. 

Gonna try and cool off. 

Congrats Class of 1993!

And I hope you enjoy your night!

Laters peeps!

=P

I love oil!!

I never thought vegetable oil would become such a big part of what I make in the kitchen! 

Lol

Other than using it for making Chicken Fried Steak or brownies from a box ...

I didn't really use it.

And yes ...

You heard me right. 

I make brownies from a box.

I have yet to master them from scratch.

Lol

That's my next endeavor.

Since I have changed the way I bake from butter to oil ...

Everything is turning out right!! 

=) 

And it makes me soo happy! 

No worries!

Butter still goes in the frostings I make. Lol

That hasn't changed. 

This morning I made Red Velvet Cupcakes using oil.

And ... O ... M ... G!!

AMAZINGNESS! 

=)

I've tried Red Velvet recipes multiple times and have yet to get it right.

This morning I did just that. 

=)

Look at how gorgeous they look! 

=)

I found really cute Pink Camo Cupcake Liners at Walmart this morning.

Better believe I used them. 

Lol

I'm also well on my way to reaching my goal I set for my Bucket List.

It's been kinda hard cuz it's been soooo hot ...

But this morning was only 58* and it was amazing. 

Haha!

Windows open ...

Movie playing ...

Mixer mixing ...

Cupcakes baking ...

Pure bliss. 

Since the beginning of May I've made 340 cupcakes.

That number is only going to grow as we get into the winter months.

I have another order coming up for High School Reunion Cupcakes and I'm über excited! 

I get to use my new alphabet/number fondant cutters. 

=)

Anywho ...

Here's some pics of the finished product from this morning. 

See ... Pink Camo Liners are soo cute!

And went perfect with these bright red cupcakes.

=)

Add some yummy Cream Cheese Frosting and they're perfect! 

Nice and fluffy!

Ta-ta for now friends. 

Got movie date. 

<3

Ill definitely be blogging about the Reunion Cupcakes.

=)

108* ... No thanks!

In the middle of a heat wave and god it SUCKS! 

I hate the heat. 

Makes me crabby ...

Haven't been able to bake either because of it ...

Which isn't helping me get to my goal on the 1000 cupcakes in a year thing.

=(

It's been about a month since I've made any cupcakes.

Only thing I've made recently was an Avocado Dressing.

I know it's not sweet but hey ... Oh well. Lol

It was still delicious.

A little bit goes a loooong way!

Perfect little addition to fish tacos. Lol

I got the recipe off Pinterest.

Which I LOVE!!

<3

I also got to use my new Kitchenaid Food Chopper that I got for my birthday!! =)

Looks like this ...

Can't wait til I can use it to chop up some Oreos for baking! Lol 

So much easier.

Hopefully this heat wave will go away soon so I can get back in the kitchen. 

Here's the recipe for the dressing if anyone is interested ...

Avocado Dressing

1 large avocado

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup mayo (or 1/2 cup Greek yogurt)

1 tsp hot sauce

1/4 extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves

3/4 tsp salt

I put everything into the food chopper and pressed purée until the dressing was smooth.

Enjoy!!

Stay cool friends!

Testing ... Testing ...

Well ... Today was finally cool enough to bake! 

Thank god!

This 105* weather sucks!

And it's not even SUMMER yet!!

Fml!!

=(

I decided to tweak my Vanilla Cupcake recipe and use lemon juice instead of vanilla ...

There's 20 more cupcakes to add to my bucket list adventure ... 

20 cupcakes closer to 1000!!

=)

I got to use my purty cupcake liners today! 

I love them!!

I also proceeded to wound myself in this whole baking process! 

I stepped back to grab the baking powder and OH MAN!

Broken piece of glass right in the foot! OUCH!! 

='(

Wasn't a lot of blood but it was a lot for ME!

I freaked out my bestie!

Hehe

It wasn't INTENTIONAL!

To everyone that knows me ... They know I don't handle blood very well.

Like at all ...

Blood = Blackouts/Lightheadednsss

Stuffs like that.

No bueno!!

Anywho ...

The cupcakes just came out!! 

I LOVE when they have perfectly rounded tops! 

=)

Just a little tip ...

When a recipe calls for Cake Flour ...

Use CAKE FLOUR!

Lol 

The whole point of making these lemon ones was to try making them with all-purpose flour instead to see if there's a major difference.

There is!

They're not as fluffy.

Still yummy ...

Just not the consistency that I personally prefer.

Peeps at work won't care. Lol

They'll eat them anyways!

I even dyed the frosting bright yellow! 

Ha!

They're so pretty with those cupcake liners! =)

Nice SPRING-Y flavor and colors! 

=)

I filled these ones with frosting as well.

Gotta make my mama a personal box just for her.

(She doesn't like frosting filled cupcakes)

Yea ... Don't ask. Lol

Well ... That's it for now friends! 

Gotta go clean up this mess of mine and find a movie to watch!

Hmm ... 

What to watch ... What to watch .........

Spring time!!

Wow I haven't posted in a long time. Lol

Haven't really made anything new until recently. 

Decided to change the way I bake and I'm sooo glad I did! 

The cupcakes come out 10x better! 

Moist and yummy

They don't pull away from the liners anymore ...

All smiles over here with that! Lol 

I also added to my Bucket List.

Bake over 1000 cupcakes in one year!

Lots of cupcakes! Haha!

Ill keep you updated with that ...

First batch I made were Vanilla ... 

Oh man!

I've never been able to get a perfect recipe until now! 

And of course i found it on Pinterest! Lol

Here they are!

Yummy and gorgeous! =) 

Lol

I also had a new family member added to my future bakery!

One wonderful woman at my work asked if I wanted it! 

Best part ... It was FREE! =)

Man did I jump on that! Haha

Here she is! Little Miss Sapphire!

Along with my first mixer Olive <3

They both have been put to good use! 

=) 

Lol

Second set of cupcakes I've made for my bucket list project were completely chocolate! =)

Yum!

Got a chocoholic in the house! Haha!

And these were heavenly!

Even got told by someone I work with that it was one of the best chocolate cupcakes she's ever had! 

Music to my ears!! <3

Gorgeous right?!

=)

And absolutely fantabulous!!

Look at the perfectly rounded tops!!

=)

Love that I changed the way I bake! Lol

And last but not least on my little project were Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes <3

Homemade Whipped Cream Frosting and all!!

Stuffed the middles cupcakes with strawberries too!

These were a Mommies Day present for a friend of mine <3 

She loved them!

Well ... That's all for now friends. 

Until my next cupcake adventure ...

<3

Apple Crisp Cupcakes

so i finally decided to branch out ...
i've never tried baking fruit into cupcakes
well ...
today's the day
and i must say ...
the before product doesn't look very appetizing.
haha!
just being honest
look ...
see for yourself

that doesn't look that yummy to me
but maybe they'll bake better.
lol
i hope!
i kinda tweaked the recipe a little bit
and added a brown sugar/cinnamon layer on top for some crisp.
i guess these could technically be called Apple Crisp Cupcakes.

they sure smell yummy tho ...
fingers crossed that they come out the right way.
hahaha!

sure smells amazing ...
they kinda pulled away from the paper liners. =(
i blame that on absolutely NO butter in the cupcake recipe ...
what is that?!!
omg.
lol.
time for frosting
=)
i love cream cheese ...
enough said.
=)

they kinda remind me of Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes.
not quite the same ...
but in the same ball park.

Recipe adapted from Hoosier Homemade

enjoy!! =)

Om Nom Nom!!!

i love cookies ...
i've already told you that i believe that i was Cookie Monster in my past life.
hahaha!
anywho ...
i found a recipe for Orange Creamsicle Cookies on Pinterest awhile back and never had a chance to make them.
well ...
today was the day!!
i got off work early and hit the store ...
i was soooo glad to make it thru the store and back home before the 5 o'clock traffic hit the streets!!
this time of year has everyone driving like maniacs!!
and the rain DOESN'T HELP!
just makes matters worse.
lol
after i got home i made the cookie dough and let it sit in the fridge for a little bit.
i just finished watching Brave. =)
i love Merida.

i just recently learned Archery and i'll officially say i'm ADDICTED!
SO MUCH FUN!!!
=)
my house smells like oranges.

one of my fave smells
=)
don't they look pretty??
lol
well ... tomorrow is Friday ....
YAY!
then it's the weekend.
got a couple more pinterest projects that i want to do
ok ok ... you got me
more than a couple.
lol
more like A LOT!!
i think my next project is making Sugar Stars for the tops of my cupcakes! =)
i'll let you know how that goes.

Orange Creamsicle Cookies
adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange zest (for me that was the zest of 2 oranges)
2 cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth.
3. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and white chocolate chips.
4. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Do not flatten cookies; it will make them dry. 5. Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Do not overcook! Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Ta-ta for now friends!! =)

October is .......

Breast Cancer Awareness Month =)
This whole month i've been selling cupcakes to help with breast cancer research.
Each dozen are $17 each and i'm taking $5 from each dozen and donating it to the Susan G. Komen Fund.
To date i've only sold 3 dozen.
not as much as i've hoped ...
BUT October isn't over yet! =)
and hey ... it's $15 more to help research than they had. right? lol.
that's the way i'm looking at it.
Found this the other day on Facebook!

i want one!
i dunno what i'll do with it ...
hahah ...
but i still want one!
lmao!
=)

i made these today for the tops of my cupcakes ...
Pink Pearly Fondant Ribbons =)
wasn't as hard as i thought it was gonna be either.
hahaha!
and here's the final turnout of the Breast Cancer Awareness Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes!

i absolutely LOVE them!!
<3
and they tasted amazing! lol.

ta-ta for now friends!
gotta go make dinner now that the chicken is thawed.
<3

Almond Joy Cupcakes

first off ...
lemme just say this ...
i don't like coconut.
period.
LOVE the smell! lol
don't get me wrong ...
i dunno why ... i think it's a texture thing ...
just don't like it.
however ...
my mama and my best friend both LOVE Almond Joy Candy Bars!

and it just so happens that i found a recipe for Almond Joy Cupcakes ... yay!
so here i am .... lol

baking time! <3
these liners are sooo cute!
i love polka dots!
=)

finding that Cream of Coconut was a pain in the butt!
omg ...
finally ended up at Albertsons and asked the front manager.
and where did it end up being ...
with the ALCOHOL!
Hello NON-DRINKER!
wow! i dunno how many times i passed down that aisle and didn't even think to check there.
lmao!
oops!
oh well ...

i LOVE when cupcakes come out perfectly!!
makes me feel good ...
especially when it's a recipe that i've never tried before!
BONUS! =)
now that the cupcakes are all done ...
time for the Coconut Topping

this part took FOREVER! geez ...
onto the next part ...

Chocolate Glaze =)

all my little cupcakies in a row ...
ready for frosting =)
Coconut topping first ...

then comes the Chocolate Glaze with Almond garnish =)

ALL DONE!
Hopefully they taste good ... lol.
I'll find out tomorrow.
You can find the recipe at the link below =)

Almond Joy Cupcakes
With Sprinkles on Top 

Enjoy!!
G'night friends!
<3