homemade hostess cupcakes.

my grandpa used to be a hostess delivery man. so their little treats (especially the chocolate cupcakes and cherry pies) have always had a special place in our hearts/stomaches. they are our go-to treats for road trips, hospital stays, and quick pick-me-ups. i have been trying to perfect the homemade hostess cupcake for several years now. here is what i have come up with:

homemade hostess cupcakes

cake

i either use my favorite chocolate cake recipe found here or a chocolate cake mix. but only the cake mix that calls for butter, NOT OIL (it makes all the difference in the world). craig actually prefers the chocolate butter mix to a cake made from scratch.

filling

5 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

in a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk (making sure to get all of the lumps out) and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. you want it to be quite thick. kind of like brownie batter. remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

once the flour/milk mixture is completely cooled, stir in vanilla.

while the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (you dont want any graininess left). add the cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat on high for several minutes. beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.

once the cupcakes have cooled, inject the frosting into the center of each cupcake. use a piping bag with a #230 tip. shove the tip down pretty far down into the cupcake and fill until the frosting starts to come back up the top. (put a lot more in than you would think)

ganache topping

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

over a double boiler, heat the cream and chocolate together. stir constantly, until the chocolate is completely melted and combined with the cream. remove from heat.

dip each filled cupcake into the ganache so that the top is fully covered. let stand for a few minutes and then dip again.

hostess swirl

1/4 cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

dash salt

dash vanilla

milk

mix ingredients together in a bowl until combined. add milk or more powdered sugar to get desired consistency.

pipe a line of loops (using a #2 tip)on top of the frosted cupcakes. hostess cupcakes have 7-8 loops on each cupcake!

life with two boys.

is tiring, hard, exciting and fun. all rolled up in to one. i was telling craig last nite that with each day, tagg and sully are playing more and more with each other. it is very fun to watch them interact (for the most part. tagg ripping toys out of sully's hands and sully barking back at tagg isnt all that fun). i can already tell they have a special bond.

sully is a couple weeks shy of turning one. how the holy heck did that happen? it seems like he was just a newborn yesterday. then again, it feels like he has been around forever. he is cruising around, eating EVERYTHING in sight (he is for sure a bigger eater than tagg) and has quite the little (read: stubborn, bold, inquisitive) personality. we love him very much.

tagg is almost three and a half. he talks like a ten year old. seriously, just read my facebook statuses. and make us laugh all of the time. he is starting swimming lessons today (he LOVES the water) and will start pre-school in a little over a month. he is my little sunshine.

happy pioneer day.

last nite, as i was hot-gluing these covered wagons, craig said "people are going to be embarrassed. you do too much." he was 30 percent joking and 70 percent being serious. but as i explained to him, once i get an idea in my head i have to do it. so there was no turning back when i realized this sunday was going to be pioneer day and thought: wouldnt my girls love doily bonnets, aprons, and covered wagons?

a little project.

i saw this letter art on pinterest and really want to recreate it for sully's room. it is VERY rare for me to get excited about boy-ish stuff (why does everything have to bright blue and green with tractors and cartoons?!) but i thought this was pretty acceptable.

and it just so happened that craig's mom had all of his micro machines neatly packed in a box from when he was a little boy. major score.

and speaking of grandma cheri.... she and grandpa rod took tagg to the zoo a couple of weeks ago and he had the time of his life. seriously. i told cheri that she has to come with us next time we take family portraits because i have NEVER seen tagg smile so big!

these things are the devil.

seriously. when i made these i finally had to throw them in water so i wouldnt finish off the entire batch. they are that good. they are similar to my beloved caramel crackers (pine bark) but call for graham crackers instead of saltines. and then with the toasted marshmallows on top? it doesnt get much better. aaaaaannnd they go perfectly with sully's first birthday party theme. so, it DOES get better.

s'mores bars

12 graham crackers

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

a big pinch of sea salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

5 milk chocolate hershey bars

1/2 bag marshmallows

preheat oven to 350°f. line 11x17-inch baking sheet completely with foil.

line the bottom of the baking sheet with crackers. break the graham crackers in half for cleaner servings.

in a medium heavy-duty saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, and stir it over medium heat until it begins to boil. once it has begun boiling, let it bubble for two and a half more minutes, stirring it well. it will thicken a bit as it cooks. remove from the heat and add the salt and vanilla, and then quickly pour it over the crackers. you’ll want to spread it quickly, as it will begin to set as soon as it is poured.

bake the caramel-covered crackers for about 7 minutes. watch carefully and when the caramel starts bubble, remove from oven.

immediately cover with chocolate. break the bars up into the little rectangles. sprinkle marshmallows over the chocolate evenly.

place the bars under the broiler for 30 - 60 seconds(WATCH CAREFULLY) until the marshmallows are to the desired toasted-ness.

once completely cool (although i couldnt even wait until it was kinda cool) break into pieces and enjoy.

holly's wedding

last nite, holly (my mom's best friend) got married. we are so happy for her and her new future! and what better way to show our support than to help plan her wedding?

we decided to do a little dessert table filled with all of our favorite sweets. lemon bars, fruit tarts, a chocolate cake, a passion fruit cake, macaroons and more!

i feel so incredibly lucky to have my mom and aunt live so close to me. it makes every day a party.

more of the treats.

the picture table. holly and john are perfect for each other. they make such a cute couple.

and holly makes one gorgeous bride. her dress was perfection.

they were so giddy walking down to the dock to get married.

holly's friend owns this property on lake sammamish. it was the perfect backdrop for the wedding.

everything was so romantic and special.

after the ceremony it was sparkler time. so pretty.

when holly asked me to recreate the lace theme from her bridal shower i instantly thought of this tree and how i wanted to make it glimmer with little lacy votives.

and the darker it got, the more my little lace votives glowed. those little suckers were a lot of work but so worth it.

i dont know what i would do without craig. he helps out with each event i do. and despite some minor grumbling, he is the best assistant around. he is the jenni to my jeff.

it was a gorgeous nite (minus the couple minutes of misty rain) and i am so happy for holly and john.

flowers and food

craig brought these gorgeous peonies home a couple of nites ago. they are by far my favorite flower.

i would like to get better a taking photographs of savory foods. its one thing to take a pretty picture of buttercream cupcakes. its a different story to make a hunk of meat look appetizing. something to work on. but i wanted to share this recipe for honey barbecued broilers. i make this chicken at least twice each week during the summer. it is SO tasty.

honey barbecued broilers

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced (i use 3 cloves. i LOVE garlic)

1 teaspoon course kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon dried ground marjoram

1/2 teaspoon dried ground mustard

dash ground pepper

chicken (i use one tray of boneless, skinless tenders)

combine melted butter with rest of ingredients. use half of the INJECTABLE concoction as the marinade. barbecue your chicken. heat up the remainder of the sauce and pour over the barbecued chicken.

fourth of july 2011

we just returned from a fantastic week in utah and idaho. i love being in utah/idaho for the fourth. everything is so patriotic and festive.

it also didnt hurt that any and ALL fireworks are legal. i dont even want to think about all the money we spent on fireworks. but it was worth it. tagg had the time of his life.

taylor came down from school to join the party.

besides the fireworks, cowabunga bay was tagg's favorite part of the trip. he was quite the fish. he went down the water slides all by himself!

after cowabunga bay, we had dinner at the river bottoms in provo.

after dinner, we walked around and found this amazing toy store. and i found amazing harry potter gear.

we also played at the provo beach club.

the group.

the next morning, the girls stopped by this boutique we saw in american fork. we were reeaaaalllly hoping we would find modest lingerie in there (so we could laugh at the utah mormons and the crazy things they come up with to make a dollar)... but no dice. just boring old skimpy stuff.

that nite, we went to salt lake to shop and eat. it was pretty dang hot (especially for the seattle grubs) but we still had fun.

because who wouldnt have fun eating at the pie? their cinna-pull-a-parts are the best thing on earth.

after dinner, we went back down to mom and pops for more fireworks. (and in tagg's case, more pop gun) underwear and guns. does it get any classier?

pop gun situation.

we loved the smoke bombs. they came in all different colors and were so fun to do when it was still light out.

the next morning, we made the drive over to paris, idaho. we took a different route (so i could stop by the park city outlets) and were pleasantly surprised when we came across THE firework warehouse of the century. seriously, i thought tucker was going to explode with excitement.

my white trash baby in the white trash firework place.

after what seemed like two hours, i pulled the boys out of there so we could make it to paris!

the morning of the 4th was the annual paris parade. we got there early so we could be front and center. paris is honestly THE smallest town ever but the streets fill up like crazy when the parade starts. who knows where all those people come from.....

tagg loves the parade.

he held on to the american flag like it was his life source during the entire parade. i think he thought it was the only way the float people would throw him candy.

we dressed up our little atv and made tucker ride in the parade. hahahaha

after the parade, we decided to white trash it all the way and make our very own slip-n-slide in the front yard.

tagg was obsessed even tho the water from the hose was fuh-reezing.

for several reasons, i wish this shot was from the front. my face explains the coldness of the water.

taylor's friends made the journey to paris to celebrate the fourth with us. the more the merrier.

waiting for the fireworks.

what do boys do when they are bored and have explosives? blow up a barbie.

some of the gorgeous fireworks. another year, another fabulous fourth of july.