pinterest

Ever wanted to see what my inspiration board looks like?  Well, I have a great virtual pin-board(s) over on Pinterest where I gather all of my online goodies. 

Add me to your RSS reader HERE.

Here's a quick taste...

sweet tooth

I have had one serious sweet tooth these days.  Whether it is Trader Joe Brownie's with Sea Salt {omgoodgess} or Fro-Yo with Captain Crunch and strawberries....it doesn't matter I'm craving it!  Saw these cute little jar baked pies on Not Martha and had to share.  She is one magnificent lady and I am now craving these little sweeties. 

SIDE NOTE: I feel so "cut and paste" these days.  Not too much inspiration going on here and I am just up to my eyeballs in busy.  I have some goals in mind, but for now please bear with me as I seek out some personal inspiration to share....until then I'll share the brilliance of others on the interweb and the random thoughts that pop into my head :)

these bars....

...are my favorite.

v-day diy

I love all the handmade ideas on the interweb. Here's a few of my favs...

1. DIY cookie bouquet from Our Best Bites

{photo source: Our Best Bites}

2. Cutest ever Valentine's Brownie Bag from Twig & Thistle{pic source: twig & thistle}

3. Totally use Girl Con Queso's Christmas gift for V-day - a GREAT idea

{pic source: Blog con Queso}

4. Design Mom's Mad Libs Valentine has been on my mind all year. I will use this idea at some point! Genius.{pic source: design mom}

5. Marta's 14 Valentine's Ideas from 2 years ago still rock.

Hope you have an amazing Valentine's Day! I'll be making treats and celebrating with my family on a GLORIOUS day off from work!!!

birdie in a basket

One of my all time fav breakfast foods is definitely what I call Birdie in a Basket.
{I've heard it called, Egg in a Hole --bleh}

I like mine with whole grain bread and jam.
I had this morning for breakfast :)
The Pioneer Woman gives a step by step HERE.

sweet potato vs yam

Seriously, DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE?

Probably not. Because most people don't. You are not alone :)

Here's the easiest explanation I have found by, Jennifer A. Wickes:

Most people get confused as to what is a sweet potato and what is a yam. In the United States, most people use both terminologies to refer to a sweet potato.

The sweet potato is found in tropical America and is a part of the Morning Glory family, while the yam is a tuber (a bulb) of a tropical vine found in Central & South America, as well as the West Indies, Africa and Asia.

Differences Between Sweet Potatoes and Yams
There are two main varieties of sweet potato. The pale sweet potato has a very thin yellow skin with a bright yellow flesh. This variety is neither sweet nor moist, but more the texture of a white baking potato. The darker skinned sweet potato has a thicker orange skin with a sweet moist flesh.

The true yam is not marketed or grown widely in the United States. It is sometimes found in Latin American markets. The flesh can range in color from off-white to yellow to pink to purple. The skin color can be from off-white to a dark brown.

Both the sweet potato and the yam are available fresh from October through March. When selecting a sweet potato, choose a medium sized variety with smooth unbruised skin. With yams, choose unblemished ones with unwrinkled skin.

I also like this article and this post on the great debate.

So now you and I both know....

what we commonly refer to a YAM is actually a SWEET POTATO!

So, make your Thanksgiving recipes with CONFIDENCE that you are using the right vegetable regardless of what the grocer marks it as!

can you tell me how to get...

...how to get to Sesame Street! Happy 40th!

These Sesame Street inspired cake pops from Bakarella are sure to be the most ingenious baked good found on the internet in 2009.
I challenge you to find something cuter.

They are almost too cute to eat!

mini pie favors

I la la LOVE these mini pie favors from SMP. I want to give mini pie favors at every party I throw. I do love pie :) Plus you can also download favor tags HERE {use for diy wedding}.

roasted veg

Come fall one of the first things I do is get some fresh produce, fresh herbs, chop it all up, toss with olive oil, seasoning {and whatever else you want} and roast in oven to delicious perfection. You cannot do this wrong....unless, of course you burn it to a crisp.

Toss in salads, on pizza, mix into omelets, etc. You will find amazing combos and a zillion ways to use your roasted veggies. I like this how-to for first timers.

ps Brussel Sprouts are soooooo my favorite :)

Before:

























After:


























Pics taken on my iphone with the ShakeIt app

cake pops

So I talked about the cake pops I made with sis Emily a few weeks ago on my twitter and I keep getting questions for a step by step. Here are the Halloween inspired cake pops I made for the cast today....a step by step if you will.....

I found my original inspiration at Bakerella. I like this tutorial from Pioneer Woman too :)

take a cooled 13 x 9 cake and crumble into a large-ish bowl

chocolate pre-made frosting....easy, quick, and unpretentious :)

add spoonfuls of frosting into cake crumbles and mix

continue to mix frosting and crumbly cake together to create a dough

roll by hand into similar sized balls and place on a cookie sheet
Line with foil {or wax paper} to ease clean up

place in the freezer for a quick chill
or put in the fridge for a few hours to get 'em all nice and solid

your tools
styrafoam block, candy/choco melts, deco, lolly sticks

take cake balls out of freezer and insert lollipop stick into cooled cake pop

melt choco/candy melts in a double broiler {I actually did mine in the microwave}
use a little shortening/veg oil to thin out the chocolate a bit if you need
use a spoon or mini spatula to cover cake pop

put them onto the Styrofoam block and into the freezer for a few minutes
then, transfer to the fridge for more solidifying

time to dress it up with some Halloween ribbon and candy wrapper

finished product

A bunch of gorgeous Halloween Cake Pops

all pics taken on my iphone....which now has chocolate all over

mummy heads

Love these mummy treats from recipegirl.com {found via DesignMom}

have your cake and eat it too...in about 5 minutes

I read about this somewhere before, but Shelterrific reminded me of the genius called 'Chocolate Cake in a Mug' which only takes about 5 minutes to make. GENIUS! I can't wait to try it! This would make such an easy activity/treat for a movie night, or for the kiddos to do for Family Night.

FIVE MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.










Some video to make sure you don't freak out when the cake rises in the microwave:

walking taco

In between shows on Saturday we went to an outdoor food festival featuring local Iowa cuisine. It was BEYOND cold for October, but fun nonetheless. One of my favorites would definitely have to be the cinnamon ice cream over an apple tart. I'm salivating right now just thinking about it!

my new shades :)

Ever heard of a walking taco? I hadn't until this past weekend. And can I just say....YUM. What a perfect tailgate party or outdoor fiesta food! Basically take an individual sized cheese doritos or fritos bag and snip it open. Dump on all your taco goods, plenty of sour cream and love.

Casey and I eat a walking tacoAdam isn't so sure about the walking taco

Such fun :)

cowgirl cookies

I loved this post over at Bakerella. Soooooooooo cute. Yee haw!

maria's taco xpress

Thanks to Caitlyn, I went to get some lunch at Maria's Taco Xpress here in Austin
(a total fun Austin haunt--do come here when you visit).

Wow!
The place was over decorated in a fun, kitchy way and the tacos were goo-ood!
Cait, your recommendations are welcome anytime :)