acropolis

I received some pictures from the port call in Piraeus, Greece and wanted to share them.

Acropolis at night; beautiful!

My Love was thinking of me while seeing these amazing places and went to the market (not one of his favorite places) to get me some Mati beads ~ evil eye beads.  I'm a lucky lady!

I would love to spend the rest of my life on a beach like this; with all my family and friends.  But the beach wouldn't look this pristine for long.  It would end up looking like the circus moved in.

handkerchiefs

I like to carry handkerchiefs.  Usually they are plain white men's hankies that I can pick up at a department store.  This year I've decided to try add some character to my handkerchiefs.

January:  crocheted lace edging on 2

February:  I made 15 and sent 12 as valentines.

March:  After making quite a few in February...

I'm starting to think about making my next hankie.

bunny slippers for two

We've been seeing cute baby bunny slippers a lot lately.  I know...of course...spring time...Easter, right.  My Girlies asked for a pair.  So winging the whole thing I made a simple ballet slipper with a strap.  Then added ears, pom-pom tail, ribbons, and face.  I don't think any of the slippers or ears were done the same way.  But they turned out and my Girlies are happy with them; that's what counts!

cupcake challenge ::: week 3 ~ easter

carrot cupcakes with cream cheese whipped cream-spiced  frosting topped with toasted carrots, coconut, and sugar nest holding jellybean eggs.

I made these cupcakes with a pre-packaged carrot cake mix following the recipe on the box. 

The frosting was made following this recipe with a couple changes.  I used 1 cup of powdered sugar instead of the 1/2 cup white sugar called for.  I didn't add the almond extract but used 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a dash of allspice.

Mix 1 cup of coconut and 1 cup of grated carrot and toast in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes; stirring every 5 minutes.

When the coconut and carrots cooled down I frosted the cupcakes and dipped them to pick up the flakes.

My Girlies picked out the nest of jellybean eggs at Target.  They look like they would be easy to make using royal icing.

cupcake challenge ::: week 2 ~ mocha

I'm not a mocha drinking kinda girl so when this challenge came up I started thinking of how I could participate but not have to smell mocha filling the house.  I thought about decorating cupcakes to look like the mocha moth, but I didn't want to try and pull that one off.

Then I got to thinking of ways to make cupcakes look like a cup of mocha... mug cakes!  In the little espresso cups I got my Girlies for tea parties.  The best thing about these cup-a-cakes is it takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. 

a-cup-a-cake
4 Tablespoons flour
4 Tablespoons vanilla sugar
2 Tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder
1 small/medium egg or 2 Tablespoons of a large whisked egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
4 Tablespoons chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients in a 1 cup glass measuring cup or a large mug.  At this point you can nuke the cup-cake in the microwave for about 3 minutes.

I separated the mix into 6 espresso cups filling them half full.  Then put 2 of the cup-a-cakes at a time in the microwave for 1 minute 20 seconds. 

If you like mocha you could substitute the sugar and cocoa powder with Ghirardelli Chocolate Mocha Hot Cocoa powder.

I spooned some vanilla whipped cream on the top and then a little chocolate whipped cream in the center and swirled it with a toothpick.

whipped cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons vanilla sugar
1 Tablespoon of dark chocolate set aside

Whip cream, vanilla, and sugar together until it starts to thicken up.  Spoon onto each of the cup-a-cakes.   Add the dark chocolate powder to the remaining whipped cream and mix in.  Spoon in the center of the vanilla whipped cream and swirl with a toothpick.

Now to enjoy my cup-a-cake!

cupcake challenge ::: week 1 ~ strawberries

strawberry shortcake cupcakes

vanilla butter cupcakes 

whipped cream

1lb strawberries

I like homemade whipped cream, but you could use store bought or cool whip.  Toss the bowl and beaters into the freezer to chill them while slicing the strawberries. 

whipped cream

2 cups heavy whipping cream

6 Tablespoons vanilla sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Take the bowl and beaters out of the freezer and add heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla to the bowl and whip on high till whipped cream consistency.

Spoon whipped cream onto the cupcake and arrange the strawberries.

- My Littles didn't want to decorate their own.  They just wanted to eat them as I made them.

-Cream cheese whipped cream frosting sounds yummy.  So next time I will give this one a try.