Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Rock Me Mama Like A Wagon Wheel...


Kitchen Island- thatkitchen.tumblr.com

lonestarwesterndecor.com

Wagon Wheel Mirror- CB2.com

Wheel Bookcase! designspiration.net

Stylemepretty.com

Wagon Wheel Gate- organicgardening.com

INSPIRED BY: Old Crow Medicine Show's "Wagon Wheel" 






Tuesday, August 30, 2011

It's Tuesday and I forgot to post!

Well Dear Friends,
 I let Monday slip by without posting Most Delish Dish Monday! I thought about it yesterday morning... OK, I didn't think about it, but I have a reminder set on my phone so I don't forget- except at 10:00 am I wasn't ready to post, and dismissed the reminder, thus I forgot. So, here you have it, a day late but still just as yummy, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream. This recipe is from my grandmother, Dorothy Lou.... I am so in love with them. So delish, and actually packed with veggies... icing free they could be pretty good for you!!...??


For the Cupcakes:
1 ¾ cup sugar
½ c soft butter
½ c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. buttermilk
2¼ c. flour
8 tbsp cocoa
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. grated zucchini (not peeled)
1  c. chocolate chips

Cream sugar, butter and oil together. Add eggs, vanilla and buttermilk, beat with mixer. Mix together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Beat well. Stir in zucchini and 1 cup chocolate chips. Pour batter into cupcake pans. Bake @ 350 degrees 25-30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.


For the Icing:
2 sticks, plus 4 Tbsp. butter, unsalted
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter until fluffy- approximately three minutes. Combine powdered sugar and cocoa in a small bowl. Add dry mixture to creamed butter, adding milk 1 Tbsp. at a time. Add vanilla and mix until fluffy.


These are AWESOME out of the refrigerator... Happy vegging! :)

Saturday, August 27, 2011

How-To- Cupcakes in a Jar

Well hello there,
I hope all of my friends on the east coast are buckled in for this ride on Hurricane Irene! I thought I would share a how-to with all of you who might be house-bound and surfing the internet.

I have had the 4 oz. wide-mouth Kerr mason jars for these little jems for sometime now. I just recently got around to making them for my previous etsy shop, The Baking Bar. For those of you who follow my blog, you know that The Baking Bar is no longer operating (so don't go looking for these- you'll just have to make them yourself !)

Now, there are a few ways you can make these. You can make individual cupcakes, which is what I did first, or you can make a sheet cake and break it up into small pieces- which I did second and is a HUGE time-saver.

So on the left, you have a cupcake, which I have cut in half and pressed into the bottom of the jar, swirled in some Swiss Meringue Blueberry Buttercream (YUM). I then flattened the top part of the cupcake, placed it onto the layer of buttercream and finished with another swirl of buttercream. On the right is the version I made with sheet cake, broken into pieces and pressed into the jar- as you can see, not much of a difference aesthetically and well worth the saved time!

For your viewing pleasure a few more pictures... These would be great for a party or gifts... especially for kids parties... a well contained piece of cake= less mess! 


Monday, August 22, 2011


I need to share this recipe with all of my (maybe 3) blog readers :) I just wouldn't feel like a good blog-hostess if I didn't!

I made this recipe last weekend after having a craving for something with peanut butter and chocolate. But I didn't just want something with this fabulous combination, I wanted something decadent too! Let me introduce you to my new favorite brownie: Peanut Butter Cup Brownies. These are everything a girl could ask for... or any man that likes peanut butter and chocolate! I suggest refrigerating them... it makes them extra good!




Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Brownie:
  • 3/4 cup butter, melted
  • 2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
Peanut Butter Filling:
  • 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
  • 2/3 cup honey
Ganache:
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
  • 4 tbsp. butter
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan and toothpick comes out not quite clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
Peanut Butter Filling: Stir together peanut butter and honey. Spread over cooled brownies.
Ganache: Melt butter and chocolate chips together in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds, until smooth. This should only take 1-2 minutes. Pour evenly over brownies and spread carefully. Cool on counter or in refrigerator until set.
I found this recipe where else... FOODGAWKER!! It is from a blog called Becky Bakes. Check out her other yummy dishes by following the hyperlink :) I changed the recipe just a tad to include less butter and they were still amazing!
ENJOY!!


Friday, August 19, 2011

New and Improved

Well, Hello. I believe it's been about two months since the last time I posted. That was right about the time I also said I needed to start blogging more often!

Alot has happened in that time, including the summer flying by...

I closed The Baking Bar at the beginning of this month. It was my choice, prompted by the fact that when I decided to make everything official, I, in the process found out that I couldn't get a permit to bake out of my home from the Deparment of Health because I have a dog. I was a little perturbed by this. The inspectors explanation was that if I had a cat it could jump out of the litter box and on to the counter. Now, as much as I like to think my little Lily is as clean as can be I realize she still rolls in the grass and probably steps in dog excretions. However, she can't get up onto the counters and she doesn't shed either. I think for that reason I should have been an exception to this rule! Oh well, it looks like now I will just have to blog about my delicious recipes and share them with you! That is what inspired me to create Most Delish Dish Mondays. Every Monday, I will share with you one of the delicious dishes I've made recently. Get ready to salivate.

I also decided to close Le Bebe Nest. There are millions of baby focused stores out on etsy and I really wasn't getting anywhere with my baby items. However, I still love to create things for little ones. So, I decided to change the look and feel of my store and create a new generic name that will allow me to focus on whatever I want, rather than being stuck in the category of baby items due to my shop name. You will still see some of the baby items offered on Le Bebe Nest in my new store, Elizabeth Lou and Company . I will be shifting from the variety of baby items you saw in Le Bebe Nest to nursery related items... at least for now, until I find another fun thing to make :) I so enjoy making baby quilts. They can be absolutely adorable and the end product is always worth the hard work!


I will be working endlessly for the next couple of weeks to get Elizabeth Lou and Company on it's feet. So many things to order (cutomized tags, packaging materials, buisness cards...), so many things to take pictures of and post on my etsy shop and of course lots of sewing and crafting to do to fill up my shop! If any of you mommies out there have any ideas of things you would like to see in my shop, please let me know and I will certainly take your thoughts into consideration!

Well, I think this post has grown long enough...

Until Monday (I promise!)