Mothers' Day Creations

Holden wanted to make some cupcakes for his mom.  He made the white cake batter and learned how to zest a lemon :-) in the process.  Once they were finished baking, I decorated the tops with an icing concoction of vanilla and lemon flavors.  It ended up being a tangy tasting icing that was actually pretty delish!  Here was the finished product for his mom, Gigi.

I also took two of the cupcakes to my family: one with a flower and a P for my mom, Pam, and one for my grandma with a flower and an S for Sandy.

This is the card I made for my mom:

The black dot stickers came out dark in the pictures, but they say Mom in silver lettering.

Hope everyone had a great Mothers' Day especially my mom! <3

Lime Pepper Chicken

I had some extra limes around the kitchen this week so I ended up making two batches of my new favorite chicken recipe.

It's very simple:  cover the bottom of the pan in spray butter, lime juice, lime zest, and pepper.  Then, place the chicken on top and more ingredients can be applied if needed.  I like to pepper both sides.  Here's what it looks like when cooking:

It's pretty delicious.  I ate two pieces right after they finished cooking :-) yum!

Ruston Farmer's Market

This weekend, my friend and I took a quick, but fruitful, (don't mind the pun) trip to the local farmer's market.  Here is my day's bounty (a potato cooking bag, a rosemary plant, four beets, and a jar of watermelon jelly):

The rosemary plant seems to be growing already which is exciting because I'm terrible with plants (that's not even a little exaggeration).  At the prospect of trying my first ever beet, I was oober excited!  I looked up a few recipes (Harvard beets was suggested by the lady at the market), but I decided to keep it simple for my first tasting. 

Beet #1:  I peeled, sliced, covered, and baked it with a spritz of butter and salt on top.  I added a bit of Splenda once it came out of the oven.  It was pretty tasty, but since the flavor was foreign, I wasn't gulping it down too quickly.

Beet #2:  It was boiled with a bit of the stem left on.  After it became tender, I was able to easily remove the skin with my hand.  I was too full to eat it so it was stored in the refrigerator.  I plan on trying it tomorrow.

Beet 3 & 4:  Still in raw form.  I may boil or bake them depending on which way I end up liking better.

Beet leaves:  The lady at the market said that the leaves are delicious when cooked down like other greens.  Since I am not a "greens" eater, I decided I would try it and see.  I cooked them down in a skillet with some butter and bacon bits.  Although they were good, I just didn't enjoy eating a hot leafy-meaty food.  After a few bites, I dumped the rest.

I haven't gotten to the potato bag or the watermelon jelly yet, but they are on the list for this week.

Stay tuned and tell your friends to check out my blog!  I'm thinking of having a giveaway once I reach 25 followers!

Dad's Birthday

Today is all about preparing my dad's birthday cupcakes and card.  He has no real hobbies anymore so I decided to make margarita cupcakes since it is his favorite alcoholic drink.  He only likes chocolate and yellow cake so I went with chocolate (added a little tequila to the batter).

 Then it was assembly time: margarita icing, sprinkles for edging, straws for decoration (the lime garnish is missing from the pic).  I wanted them to resemble the drink as much as possible.

Then voila!  The final product!  I love the tiny chunks of lime.  And the icing on these babies is addicting.  It's probably the only product I would ever want to get drunk from (tequila is also in the icing).

Along with the cupcakes, I scrapbooked a card from patterned paper, sticker letters, ribbon, and a cupcake punch (keeping with the theme, of course!).  Here is the front (you aren't allowed to see what I write inside :-))

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK SCOTT HUTTON!!!!!  Receiving pictures soon to come :-)

Hummus Pizza

This blog will be used to log my life adventures.  Usually, they are just random ways I find to pass the time.  They may bore you; they may inspire you to try something new!

Today's culinary challenge was to make hummus pizza, and as you can see below, I succeeded.

First, I used the hummus recipe: Extra Easy Hummus.  I tweaked it a bit by using a tablespoon of jarred garlic instead of a clove and thyme instead of cumin.  It was de-lish (hard to make in the blender though).

Second, I whipped up some Jiffy Pizza Crust mix.

Third, I layered the crust with the hummus, chopped broccoli, black olives, and diced portabella mushrooms.

Fourth, the pizza baked at 425 until it had a nice brown tint around the edges.

THEN I ATE 3 PIECES!!!  SO GOOD!!!