Leather and Lace Cupcake

This weekend, I competed in Project Cupcake: The Ultimate Fashion Themed Cupcake Challenge. The competition was presented by Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee and Goldi's Shoe Parlor and it was much girlie fun! It was just the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon with me hanging with my cupcake girls:-) Awesome time!

Anyway, my cupcake was Leather and Lace Cupcake:

It's kind of hard to see it in this picture but these are chocolate cupcakes with white buttercream enrobed (pardon the pun) in candy clay which is embossed to look like leather and lace...hence the name:-)

Update: James Conway took this shot from the event:

© James Conway Photography, 2009.

Herb Roasted Potatoes

Here, I am doing more menu planning with I'm an Organizing Junkie and finding more deals at Pick N Save for $5 Dinners .

This week is going to be less crazy for me which is good...I needed a break. Pick N Save have Chuck Roast on sale for $2.49/lb. (normally $2.99/lb.). And, when you buy this, you get a 3lb bag of onions, 5 lb bag of potatoes and 1 lb bag of carrots for free!! Shut-up! What a great deal!! I picked up a set because...
I am playing along with I Blame My Mother on The Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge (FNCCC). This week the chef of choice is Anne Burrell. I had a really hard time finding a recipe from her selection. Everything was either really expensive or took really a long time to cook or was totally high in fat. I don't know about you but, I don't have that kind of time or money or waistline. I finally chose her Herb Roasted Potatoes that I am going to serve up with that chuck roast that's on sale . Check out the recipe below:-)

Here is everything that I am serving this week:
Monday: Semi-Homemade Spaghetti

Tuesday: Chuck Roast with Ann Burrell's Herb Roast Potatoes (check out a picture and my review on Wednesday:-)

Wednesday: Garlic Chicken Risotto

Thursday: Leftovers (PTO Meeting)

Friday: Eat Out (Volunteer at School)

Herb Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients:
1 lb new potatoes, assorted varieties and colors are great
6 cloves garlic, smashed
2 Tbs finely chopped sage
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters, as long as they are all about the same size.

3. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and add the garlic, sage, and crushed red pepper. Generously sprinkle with kosher salt and olive oil. (The potatoes will absorb a lot of oil and salt; they will taste bland if we don't go big here.)

4. Lay the potatoes in a single layer on a sheet tray and roast in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Check the potatoes halfway through the cooking process to rearrange so the potatoes will have even cooking time and get evenly browned. The potatoes should be nice and brown and really well flavored. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

5. Hot potato!

Servings: 4

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (4.6 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 400.5
Calories From Fat (17%) 68.36
% Daily Value
Total Fat 7.78g 12%
Saturated Fat 1.08g 5%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 1443.17mg 60%
Potassium 1388.01mg 40%
Total Carbohydrates 76.65g 26%
Fiber 5.02g 20%
Sugar 1.5g
Protein 12.35g 25%

Recipe Type: Side Dish

Source
Author: Anne Burrell
Source: The Food Network
Web Page: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/herb-roasted-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Recipe Cost: $1.47 ($ 0.82 on sale)
Serving Cost: $.37 ($.21on sale)

Friday Foto Fun with Safety Town

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-) At my daughter's elementary school, they have this great program at the beginning of the school year called Safety Town. The kids learn all about how to read street signs, to cross the street, stranger danger, good touch and bad touch and posionous vs. nonposionous. They get a trip to the police department and the fire department too. They even get a T-shirt and they get to graduate from Safety Town. Here is my little graduate:

Hello Fall

Hello Mums:-)

Tackling Colorful Cupcakes

This week, I competed in the Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Color Challenge. I chose to do an ode to the challenge's partner: Goldi's Shoe Parlor with my:

Gold-i-schläger Cupcakes

Goldschläger is a strong, clear cinnamon schnapps liqueur with 24k gold leaf flakes. Staying true to my ode, I made cinnamon cupcakes iced with a sugar glaze covered in candy clay and painted gold to look like gold bars coming out of an antique safe.

Also, check out Cupcake Tuesday on Hoosier Homemade . They have Cupcake for a Cause this week. Now, that is my kind of charity event!

Friday Foto Fun with Boo Boos

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-) You see these?


These are the first boo boos on my youngest that I didn't tend to. Fallen on the playground without her mommy to kiss it and make it better:-( I think I am taking it harder than she is.

Save Those Tomato Seeds

"Gardening is a way to say that you believe in tomorrow." If that saying is true, than I believe! And if that is true, I need to save some seeds to have tomatoes tomorrow...or in this case, the spring.

Saving seeds is easy if you follow these steps:

1. Seed a tomato

2. Place said seed into a very fine sieve:

3. Rinse the seeds gently. The goal here is to remove the gelatinous material that the seeds swim in and the thin membrane around each seed. This takes longer than you think because those membranes can be really stubborn. For the really difficult ones, you can gently rub them between two paper towels. This is what it looks like before and after:

4. Dry them on a paper plate. See how many seeds I got from a half of a tomato?

5. Once they are dried, wrap the seeds in a paper towel and place them in a labeled food storage bag.

6. Store them in the refrigorator until them at ready to plant in the spring.

Happy Saving:-)

New Indoor Garden

 It's time for me to start my indoor garden again. If I start it now, we will have lettuce and herbs for the winter:-) The light table took quite a hit this year so, we needed to rebuild it. I didn't take before pictures but here are some afters:

And this table is all ready for the summer plants to come in when they are ready. I have 4 ferns, 5 impatiens and one marigold to bring in. My seedlings will be big enough to come out by then:-)

More Fall Goodbyes

Today, we are saying a heart-felt goodbye to...

...our pool. You served us well this summer. I had both my girls home all summer and we spent hours with you this season. Thank you for the fun and the cooling and the relaxation! See you next year:-)

Bye Bye Marigolds

...see you next year:-(

Garden Cleanup

This weekend, I tackled some garden cleanup:

Before:

After:

What did you tackle this week?

Friday Foto Fun with Buses

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-)

Earlier this week, I wrote about my youngest daughter's first day of kindergarten . Today, I am posting a picture of her on her new bus because on the way home...


...she got put on the WRONG BUS!!! My five-year-old kindergartner was allowed on the wrong bus on the way home on her first day of school!!! Thank goodness our school has a Men and Mommies on the Bus program and the bus mom figured it out right away! So, she was never really "missing" however, I was sick with worry until she made it safely back into my arms...an hour later!!!!

Apparently, after painstakingly getting all of her kids into the right line, her bus was late. So, in the shuffle to move her line to make room of another line, she got "misplaced". It all would have been fine if the bus hadn't been late.

But, all is well. She made it home on time the next day and the next so, head's aren't going to roll but jeezz....I don't ever want to be that scared again!!

Grape Fest

This:

Turns Into This:

And then Results in This:

First Day of Kindergarten

I was going to just post this picture because I like the idea of it:

But, she looks so happy in this picture, I couldn't resist:-)

Happy First Day of School Baby!! I am so proud of you!!!

Back to School Shopping

On this first day of school, I am looking back at our back to school shopping. Every year, before we go shopping, we have to clean out our closets, write down what we have and make a list of what we need. I didn't take any before pictures but here are the results of our trip:

How did your back to school shopping go?