A Little Slice of Heaven

I have been craving lemon cake for a couple of weeks now.  A friend of mine mentioned that someone made her lemon blueberry cupcakes for her birthday.  Um. Yum.  So, I have had lemon on the brain for a while.  Pinterest is nothing if you don't do something with the things you pin, right?  I pinned this recipe for Lemonade Cake and decided to try it this week.  Let me tell you, I will be making it again!  

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups fat-free buttermilk
• Cooking spray
• Frosting:
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; 

beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes).  **It feels kind of like putty at this point.

Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk.

Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.

Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. 

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl

beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.

The only thing I didn't like about this recipe is that it used the concentrate lemonade.  I think I will look for another way to get the same flavor/texture next time.  I know there is already sugar in this, but I really don't like adding the extra High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Enjoy!

Smoothie without the moo

I had some fruit that was going to go bad soon, so I decided to make me and my little man a smoothie. Now, he is a little sensitive to milk and bananas, so I use coconut milk and kiwi for potassium. Check it out!  I used 1 apple, 3 clementines, 2 kiwis, ice, and about a cup and a half of coconut milk.  If you want a little bit of a vanilla taste, use vanilla coconut milk.  For chocolate, try chocolate almond milk.

That's him saying "Thank You!"  

Resolution

I don't really make a resolution each year because I think it is pointless to try to do something you most likely aren't going to do.  Sure, I need to lose some weight, but I don't want to put this lofty goal out there and be disappointed when I don't reach it in the amount of time I think it should take.  So, this year, I did something different.  I made a goal to learn something I have wanted to learn for a long time.  I wanted to learn to knit.  I thought, knitting looks very relaxing and you get to make things that people will love.  Anyway, I was visiting with my awesome Grandmother a couple of weeks ago and she said, "Oh, that's easy, you'll be able to do that!" What encouragement!  She also gave me a book, an impromptu lesson, and my first set of knitting needles.  Needless to say, I'm hooked.  I only know one stitch, but there are tons of YouTubes out there to teach new stitches.  Here's one channel that I found: http://www.youtube.com/user/verypinkknits.  What am I creating this time?  Well, I started out with a scarf, naturally....
I also have a verse this year.  Psalm 19:14 says, May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my redeemer.  I often chastise my children for their attitudes and words, but rarely look at my own.  This is the verse I will be praying this year!

The Big Picture

I am going to start off with my favorite and most inexpensive crafty idea yet.  I have been wanting to get these pictures framed or put on canvas for a while now.  I came across a pin on Pinterest that I was very intrigued by. I am very excited to say that I followed the tutorial over at www.sugarbeecrafts.com and I am IN LOVE with the results.  So, here is my experience with The Big Picture.

Step 1:  I uploaded my beautiful pictures taken by Photos by Laura to Office Depot's copy center online.  You can also download your images to a flash drive and take them in.  Here's the really cool part.  Choose the Architect or Engineer print sizes.  Mine is a 24"x36", I believe Mandy on Sugarbeecrafts.com chose a 36x48.  If you choose the larger size, you have to send it off and can't just go pick it up at your local Office Depot.  That was the case with my Office Depot.  They didn't print anything larger than a 36".  Anyway, I printed two different pictures. The only drawback is that they only print out in black and white.  These prints cost me about $6 to print (for both).  The paper isn't flimsy like I thought it would be.  It's sturdy and my photos came out beautifully, not grainy at all.

Step 2: I went to Lowe's and bought one 1/2"x 4'x8' sheet of Styrofoam insulation that builders use.  It's right by the insulation.  If I do this again, I will probably buy the 3/4" instead of the 1/2" because I think it would be just a little bit more sturdy.  I had to cut this in two to get it into my SUV.  I'm very sure the men in the parking lot that I asked for a knife were very scared.....I found some scissors, though, so I didn't need the knife.  They can cut it for you inside and if I weren't so stubborn, I would have taken it back in to get cut.  This cost me $10.10.  I think the thicker one was only a dollar more.

Step 3:  I stopped by Michael's craft store and bought some black acrylic craft paint, a sponge brush, some Elmer's spray adhesive, and a sheet of duct tape.  If I would have thought about it, I would have also picked up some new blades for my utility knife.  I spent about $7 on these materials.

Step 4:  I drove home and immediately got started. I laid out the picture I was working on over the styrofoam board.  I positioned the edges exactly where I wanted them.  You might want to mark where you want the bottom and side edges, so you will know where to cut.  I eyeballed it.

Step 5:  Using a sharp utility knife and a straight edge, cut the styrofoam.  If you have access to one of those fancy shmancy styrofoam knife thingies, use it.  My cut edges came out pretty rough.

Step 6:  Lay your photo back on the styrofoam to make sure you have it like you want it.

Step 7:  There is a film on the styrofoam.  You want to gently pull all of the film off of the board.  It comes up fairly easy.  If you got the aluminum backed board, you might pull off the aluminum that shows over the edges.  You won't see the back, so it isn't necessary to pull all of the aluminum off, but you do want to pull all of the clear film off.

Step 8:  Paint the exposed edges and about an inch or two of the outside edges of the board.  If your photo has a lot of white space around those edges, you might want to be a little neater about it than I was.  I can see the black a little bit through the paper on my picture, but it isn't really noticeable.  Do not use spray paint....it will eat your styrofoam.

Step 9:  You want help with this step.  I suggest another adult.  I tried using my 10 year old as a helper and it was a little stressful.  Generously spray the area where the picture will lay with the spray adhesive.  Mandy tried modge podge and said that it was a huge mess and she ended up having to start over, so don't use that.  With your helper, line up the picture where you want it and gently put it on top of the board.  Smooth it out and Voila!  You have a BIG picture!  To hang, I used the duct tape and some wire across the back.  Make sure you use more than one layer of duct tape or it won't hold.

Now, go crazy with this!  I actually got two pictures and could get one more out of the styrofoam.  All in all, I spent about $9 per picture on this project.  And.....my husband loves it!  Here is the other one I completed:

New Blog!

So, I love to create.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am not afraid to try new things. A few of my loves are baking, decorating, and (of course) singing.  My husband probably thinks Pinterest is of the devil because I get way too many good ideas from it.  This blog is for me to share my creations.  When I make something new that I have seen on Pinterest, I will always give credit where credit is due!  For instance, I snagged this great header from www.shabbyblogs.com.  I wish I were that creative with web designing, but I don't have the patience for it.  I hope you enjoy sharing in my creations!