Graduation Cupcakes

I've been absent this past week because I was home in Georgia for my little sister's graduation! Her graduating class had more than 750 students but it passed by surprisingly fast! I'm so glad I was able to be there and so proud of her for all she's accomplished!

For her graduation party, I volunteered to make Oreo truffles and cupcakes. I had seen the cap idea various places online and decided to add a diploma into the mix. These were a big hit with everyone and added to the graduation decor! Use your favorite cupcake recipe!

For the graduation hat, you'll need Reese's Peanut Butter Mini Cups, small rectangle shaped cookies (I used chocolate covered graham crackers), Twizzlers or Fruit Roll Ups, and small round shaped candy (I used Red Hots).

Place the peanut butter cup upside down on top of the frosting. Use frosting to adhere the cookie to the top of the peanut butter cup. Cut small strips of the Twizzers or Fruit Roll Ups and use the frosting to "glue" it to the cookie as the tassels. Add the Red Hots or mini M&M's on top of the tassels, and you have a graduation cap!

For the diplomas, I simply used Pirouette Cookies and cut them into thirds. I had planned to add a red twizzler tie around the "diploma" but left them plain instead. Enjoy!

10 Goals For This Year- Food and Blog Related

I can hardly believe 2010 is over! It seriously feels like just a few months ago that my husband and I said "I do" and moved out to California from Georgia together! We made it out just in time to ring in 2010 together in California and I feel like the time has flown by!

So many wonderful things have happened this year.

Neil and I spent our first year together as a married couple and celebrated our one year anniversary on December 19th. I feel so blessed to be married to him and even more blessed that we were able to spend our entire first year together. As a military couple, I wasn't sure it was going to happen especially since many of his buddies deployed. But here we are in 2011 and the only separations we've had to endure were during my canoe trip and a trip home for spring break- not even a single field exercise!

We also welcomed our pup Lucy into our home. She is the sweetest little cuddlebug and the perfect addition to our family. Although she suffers from severe separation anxiety and drives us nuts sometimes, we couldn't imagine our life without her. I also welcomed a new brother into the family when my older sister got married a day before our anniversary! It's been such a wonderful year and all of these things and more have helped to make it so. Thank so you much for reading my blog and sticking with me! I wish you a very happy and healthy 2011!

My 10 Food/Blog Goals for 2011

1. Post at least twice a week- I actually want to post more than this but considering my 21 hour load that I'm taking at school this semester ( :0 ) I decided to stick with two. I admire all the bloggers who update daily and would one day like to be able to do that. But in the meantime, my goal is twice a week and more when I can manage.

2. Host a giveaway- I won 2 giveaways in 2011 so I'd like to give something back to you guys! As soon as I decide what to give away, I'll be sending some goodies your way!

3. Do a Blog Makeover- Right now, I'm using a template provided by blogger. I'd love to design my own header and make over my blog but since I have absolutely no skills with HTML or any design talent, I think I might have to pay someone to do it for me. Once I get over my indecisiveness and decide what I want it to look like, this blog is getting a makeover!

4. Join some kind of blogging group- I'm not sure exactly how to word this but I'd love to join a group that posts once or twice a month in response to some kind of challenge. I know there are a few that work through cookbooks and post weekly so as soon as I find one my goal is to join in!

5. Host a dinner party- We've had people over for dinner and I've hosted Thanksgiving and Easter but I'd love to host an elegant dinner party and go all out on food and decor. Reading the Luxury Dinner Party posts from Project Food Blog gave me all sorts of inspiration. Our kitchen table only seats 3 though so perhaps a new table is in order :)

6. Work with yeast- Yeast intimidates me and I've never even attempted to work with it. This year, I'd like to work with in in order to make pretzels and bread and maybe even doughnuts!

7. Tamales- I had tamales for the first time at my internships Thanksgiving party for the kids this past year. They were delicious and I'd love to try my hand at recreating them.

8. Dog Treats- I received a book for my birthday on how to make organic dog treats and have yet to try it out. Lucy, our pup, loves all the table treats she secretly gets from me but I think it's time to actually make some dog-only treats for her.

9. Grill More- We live in Southern California so with the exception of a few weeks out of the year the weather is almost perfect for grilling. I love food prepared on the grill and hubby likes the manly feeling of manning a grill so I'm surprised we didn't do much grilling. This year we will grill more!

10. Royal Icing- I've tried and failed when my little hand mixer gave out but this year will be different. With the help of my newest kitchen addition (she'll be featured on here as soon as she gets shipped from Georgia) royal icing shouldn't be a problem. I love decorated sugar cookies and how you can make some for almost any occasion and I would love to master the technique!

Rotel Dip

This dish is one of my staples during the holiday season. There are so many parties and events to attend and I'm usually assigned to bring an appetizer. It requires hardly any preparation and can transport easily. We had this for Thanksgiving and I prepped the sausage the night before and the day of I just placed it in my crock-pot and left it alone until the guests arrived!

This is another simple recipe!

1 small box of Velveeta, cut up

1 can Rotel

3 spicy Italian sausages

Fry the sausages until cooked through and no pink remains. Grind the sausage up in your food processor. Mix the Velveeta, sausage, and rotel into a small crock pot. Set on high for 2 hours and then switch to warm. Serve with chips and enjoy!

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Once again, no picture :( I actually don't eat broccoli but my husband and our other friends assured me it was delicious! Broccoli cheese casserole seems like a staple at nearly all of my family's holiday meals. This is another recipe of my aunt's!

8 oz. jar Cheese WHiz

1/4 cup margarine, divided

20 oz frozen broccoli florets, thawed

1 cup crushed Ritz crackers

Boil broccoli without salt until soft and drain. Cook cheese and 2 tablespoons margarine until smooth. Add broccoli and 1/2 cup of crumbs to the cheese mixture. Place into a greased 8-in baking dish. Melt remaining margarine and toss with remaining crumbs. Sprinkle over broccoli mixture. Bake uncovered at 350º for 20-25 minutes.

This can be completely prepared ahead of time up to the buttered crumbs. On the day of, take out of refrigerator and allow to warm to room temp for about 30 minutes. Follow cooking directions and enjoy!

Cornbread Dressing

I have to start this post by letting you know I took absolutely no pictures from Thanksgiving. Hubby snapped one of the table and one of my plate but that's it. I'm pretty annoyed with myself especially since I put so much effort into setting up the table and food line. But I assure you everything looked delicious and tasted even better!

A few Christmases ago, my aunt gave every one in the family a copy of a cookbook she had put together of her recipes and a few of the family's favorites. My aunt is an awesome cook. She catered our wedding and people are still talking about how delicious everything tasted almost a year later. So when I started menu planning for Thanksgiving, the first thing I consulted was her cookbook!

This recipe comes from my aunt Anelda and it is a perfect dressing for Thanksgiving!

1 cup corn meal

1 1/3 cup self-rising flour

3 tbsp oil

4-8 eggs, beaten (depending on how eggy you like your corn meal)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped onion

2/3 cup chopped celery (more to taste)

1/5 cups chopped bell pepper

1 stick margarine

salt and pepper to taste

chicken or turkey broth

Mix first 7 ingredients well. Bake in cast-iron skillet at 325º for 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Cool and crumble in a large bowl. Saute vegetables in 1 stick margarine until tender. Add to cornbread. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken or turkey broth to desired consistency. Bake at 400º for 35-40 minutes until lightly browned.

You can use a cornbread mix instead of making it by hand. Omit the first 7 ingredients , except the eggs. If you choose to do this, hard boil your eggs and crumble them into the mixture.

Thanksgiving 2010 Recap

Our Thanksgiving wasn't a traditional one like the one pictured above. But it was perfect for us. Instead of family, my husband and I had a few of his single friends over and another married couple and their son. When you live 2000 miles away from family, it's just not feasible to go home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. We definitely missed being around our family and their traditions but it was cool to start our own traditions and I know his friends appreciated getting out of the barracks and having a home-cooked meal! We also skipped eating at the table and instead gathered around the couch and living room table. Our little 3-person table held all the food and we talked while watching the football games!

Now, on to the food stuff! I was able to prep nearly everything the day before which made the day of that much easier! Potatoes were peeled, veggies were cut, and the turkey was defrosted-in the bathtub I might add :) The morning of the hubby and I did some last minute cleaning and finished prepping and made a last minute grocery store run. All in all, the day of was hardly stressful! I've listed our menu below and will be adding recipes later on this week!

Appetizers

Rotel Dip in the Crockpot

Lil Smokies wrapped in bacon (requested by my husband)

Main Dish

Turkey with fresh herbs

Sides

Rolls

Cornbread Dressing

Mashed Potatoes

Candied Sweet Potatoes (a last minute addition the night before)

Sauteed Green Beans

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Dessert

Pumpkin Pie with Fresh Whipped Cream

Butter Cake w/ Cream Cheese Icing

Sweet Potato Pie

Mummy Dogs

Last night, hubby and I finally carved our pumpkin. We opened our screen door, let the 80º weather drift in for a few minutes, closed it and tried to get into the Halloween spirit by imagining it was a chilly 50º. To get us in the mood I served mummy dogs! While not the most elegant or extremely sophisticated meal, it was fun to eat these little guys and get in the Halloween mood! These would be perfect for a Halloween party!

Recipe is from Pillsbury website

1 can Pillsbury refridgerated crescent rolls

2.5 slices of american cheese, quartered

10 large hot dogs

cooking spray

mustard, ketchup, optional

Heat oven to 375º. Unroll dough, separate at perforations to create 4 rectangles. With a knife, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces. Wrap 4 pieces of dough and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like bandages, stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end, separate the "bandages" so the hot dog shows through for the face. Place wrapped hot dogs, cheese side down, on greased large cookie sheet.

Bake 13-17 minutes until dough is a light golden brown. use mustard to add features to the face. Enjoy!

Candy Corn Cupcakes

I can't take credit for this picture. I've had it saved on my computer and don't have the source.

If it's yours let me know and I'll give you credit!

I love candy corn. I inherited this love of candy corn from my dad. We would even leave candy corn out for the reindeer on Christmas Eve! Even though I chow down on the sugary goodness anytime of the year, eating it during October just makes it even better. I've yet to reach the point where I can't eat anymore but I'm getting close this October!

This recipe is simple but the cute factor comes from the coloring and decorations. I know a lot of food bloggers dislike using cake mixes but I have no problem whipping out my Duncan Hines and making some cupcakes. As much as I love made-from-scratch cupcakes, I love the ease of a mix when I have no time!

1 box of white cake mix prepared according to directions on the box

red food coloring

yellow food coloring

white icing

Divide your prepared cake mix evenly between two bowls. Add drops of yellow food coloring to one bowl of the batter. Mix until desired shade of yellow is achieved. Add red and yellow food coloring to the other bowl of batter and mix until desired shade of orange is reached. Fill cupcakes 1/4 full with yellow batter. Top the yellow batter with an orange batter to the halfway point. Bake cupcakes according to the directions on the box. Cool. Top with white icing and desired decorations!

Be careful not to bake too long or your cupcake will develop a nice brown outside and the only way to see the coloring will be to cut it in half. I learned that the first batch. Also, it works better with mini cupcakes than with the regular sized ones!

Try not to overindulge on candy corn!

Happy Fourth of July!

Fireworks between San Diego and Coronado Island

Image from stripst3r.com

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope everyone is having a fun and safe Fourth! The hubby and I are spending some time out by the pool, grilling out, and then watching fireworks down at the beach. Here's our menu-its very traditional but very delicious.

Side Dishes:

Pasta Salad

Potato Salad

Fruit and Veggie Kabobs

Main Dishes:

Hamburgers

BBQ Chicken

Dessert:

Cupcakes

"Sparklers"-http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pretzel-Sparklers