Well, you know my babbling capabilities are endless.

We did it! We bought a house and officially moved in!  I didn't realize how steep the stairs were until I had to haul box after box up them.  We love the house, we love the neighborhood, and we love our view! We can see out to Utah Lake from our master bedroom.

It's always weird moving into a new place.  It takes awhile to realize that it really is your new home.  My tried and true way of breaking in a new home is baking in it.  For some reason, once you have baked in the kitchen the place feels like it is yours.  To break in our new home I made some of my favorite cookies.  This is a recipe I stole from my sister Jessica and her roommate Rachel.  They came up with this concoction years ago (seeing as Jessica has been married for a few some-odd years), and it has stood the test of time.  The best part of this recipe is how simple it is.

Jessica and Rachel's Lemon Coconut Cookies

1 box white cake mix

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

2 tsp coconut extract

1 can lemon frosting

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix together dry ingredients.  Add oil, eggs, and coconut extract. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Once cool, top with lemon frosting.

Well, we like our Internet slow, okay? We can turn it on, walk around, dance, make a sandwich. With DSL, there’s no dancing, no walking, and we’d starve. It’d be all work and no play.

My good friend Stephi is getting married!  I'm so excited for her.  We met in the 8th grade, and she has put up with me since.  She's such a sweetheart, and I'm glad she has found the man of her dreams.  My friend Ashley and I threw her a bridal shower.  It was good times for all.

For her shower I made these delicious cupcakes that I found on Pinterest.

Dulce de Leche Filled Banana Cupcakes

source

Banana Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter , softened

2 cups flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. soda

2 eggs

1 t. salt

1/2 t. nutmeg

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup milk

1 t vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional- I did not add this time

Mix all ingredients on high speed in mixer for 2 minutes. Divide between 12 standard cupcake liners placed in a standard muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once baked and while still warm, I cut out a small cone from the top of each cupcake. I filled each well with 1 teaspoon Dulce de Leche, I like to use a baby spoon to do this, then popped the tops back on and pressed down so they would stay in place.Makes 12 cupcakes.

Dulce de Leche- One way to make dulce de leche is by taking a can of sweetened condensed milk and boiling it for a few hours by first removing its label and placing the can on its side in a large pot. Cover with water, about an inch over the can and cover pot. Bring to a boil then lower heat a bit and simmer for 4 hours. Be sure the can stays covered at all times with water. After 4 hours turn off heat and let the can cool. Mine did not explode and I even used a can with a pull-tab top. OR you can purchase canned Dulce de Leche, usually found in the Latin food isle of your grocery store or near the sweetened condensed milk.

Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature

1 t. vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, heat butter and salt until browned. In a large bowl place cream cheese and pour browned butter over top and beat on high speed for about 1 minute until mixture is light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing well between each addition until all the sugar is added and mixture is smooth.

This little guy loved them!

I’ve had about all the crazy I can for one evening.

Happy Easter ya'll. Today I realized at church that I  hadn't done my visiting teaching for the month of March, and seeing as today is March 31st I figured I probably should do something about that quick.  When I got home from church I whipped up a batch of cupcakes, frosted them, and made Jeremy walk around with me to drop them off.  What a sweet man he is.  The recipe I used was from yourcupofcake.com again.  I seriously love her cupcakes.  Today's concoction was Strawberry Colada Cupcakes:

Strawberry Colada Cupcakes

Coconut Cake:

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 Cup oil

1 C. coconut milk

1/3 C. sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp. coconut extract

Strawberry Buttercream:

1 C. butter, softened

4-5 C. powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp. strawberry jam or preserve

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Shredded Coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.

2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl combine eggs, oils, coconut milk, sour cream, vanilla extract and coconut extract.

4. Add cake mix and stir until smooth.

5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 17-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

6. Buttercream: Beat butter for 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar until thick. Add strawberry jam 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the right flavoring. Taste to test :) Mix in vanilla extract.

7. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes.

8. Sprinkle with coconut.

He doesn't write the orders down, he never brings you food that's hot or yours, he can't distinguish bagels from doughnuts, he hands out butt napkins, and he has worn that Foreigner t-shirt every single day since he started working here and he doesn't know who they are. I asked him.

I finally got my icing piping kit.  Thanks Amazon!  This week was my dear friend, and former roommate, Kenze's birthday.  To celebrate we had a little shindig at our house.  I was put in charge of cupcakes.  I had Jeremy pick which recipe to do.  He chose the Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting recipe from yourcupofcake.com  That was fine with me, considering that my favorite shake to get at the Malt Shoppe is their hot fudge banana shake with peanut butter.  He did have one addition he wanted in the recipe though.  He wanted me to put Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at the bottom of them.  I did so, and they turned out amazingly!  See for yourself:

The thing that is tricky about making these delicious cupcakes is that you want to eat them all the time.  We just started a Nicholls's family health challenge that Jeremy and I are bound and determined to win, and we can only have 4 sweets a week.  Having treats like this around the home is no good.  We're holding strong though, don't you worry.  Here's the recipe from yourcupofcake.com:

Cakes:

1 cup ripe bananas, mashed

½ cup oil

¼ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix

Peanut Butter Buttercream:

¼ cup butter

8 oz cream cheese

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 340 degrees and line about 20 muffins tins with cupcake liners.

2.      In a large bowl, mash bananas (about three) using a fork to get rid of all large lumps. 

3.      Add oil, buttermilk and vanilla and stir well. 

4.      Add eggs one at a time, being sure to mix well in between each addition. 

5.      Slowly add cake mix and mix well. 

6.     Fill cupcake liners ¾ full (This is where my recipe differed. I put enough batter to thinly cover the bottom of the liners then added a full sized peanut butter cup.  Then I filled the liners with the rest of the batter to make it 3/4 full) and bake for 12-15 minutes (mine took a little longer) or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.  Be sure not to over bake them, and place them in an airtight container as soon as they are out of the oven. 

7.     Buttercream: Beat butter, cream cheese and peanut butter until light and fluffy (should take about 5 minutes).  Add vanilla and as much powdered sugar as desired (I used 5 cups). 

8.     Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

      Enjoy!

Bagels are like glue in your intestines and ensure that everything that enters your body will remain there until you die.

I've been on a new kick lately, these guys...

I guess it's not a new kick, it's more like an old flame that was recently rekindled.  I love making cupcakes.  They are so delicious and fun to decorate.  I even bought me a frosting piping kit and some greaseproof cupcake liners.  I'm going to become legit, and fat.  I found a fantastic website: www.yourcupofcake.com
She is amazing with cupcakes.  I've only  made two of her recipes, but they were spectacular both times.  The most recent cupcakes I made were for my ward's Relief Society birthday party.  I made some strawberry lemonade cupcakes, and they turned out marvelously.  The frosting is to die for.

Lemon Strawberry Cupcakes (created from recipes on yourcupofcake.com)

The Cakes:

Lemon cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme)

1 cup sour cream

½ cup water

¼ cup milk

¾ cup oil

4 eggs

1 small box instant lemon pudding mix

Strawberry Buttercream:

3/4 C. butter, softened

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2-4 Tbsp. strawberry puree (see note)

3-4 C. powdered sugar, as needed

Directions:

1.     1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.    2. In a large bowl, beat eggs. 

3.    3. Add oil, water, and milk and beat again. 

4.    4. Stir in sour cream and then cake mix and pudding mix until well blended.

5.    5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

       6. As soon as your cupcakes, place them on a cooling rack for about 5-7 minutes and then seal in an airtight container to make sure they stay perfectly moist.  The container will steam-up inside, but won’t worry… 

7. Buttercream: Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla extract and add 2 Tbsp. strawberry puree. Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. If it becomes too thick, add more strawberry puree.

8. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

**I didn't have my piping kit when I made these cupcakes.  You can still pipe frosting without the bag and tips.  Just put your frosting in a sandwich bag, and cut off a bit of one of the bottom corners.  Make sure if you are piping your frosting that your cupcakes are cool to the touch, and that your frosting is really thick.  I think I used almost 5 cups of powdered sugar for this buttercream recipe.