conference muffins

i swear i have already blogged about these little nuggets of joy.... but i cant find the post. but even if i have, conference muffins are so good they deserve two posts. several years ago, my mom's friend shared the recipe to these muffins/more-like-donuts and explained she made them for general conference. and actually its probably a good idea to only make them twice each year because they are basically just balls of butter. general conference is so special to me and these treats make the experience ever sweeter!

conference muffins
1/3 cup butter crisco

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 sticks melted butter

1 cup cinnamon and sugar mixture

preheat oven to 350 degrees. generously grease mini cupcake pan (this recipe does not use liners). cream crisco and sugar together. add egg and mix well. in a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. in a small bowl, stir vanilla into milk. alternate adding dry ingredients and the milk into the creamed butter mixture. scoop batter into cupcake pan. bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (about 10 ten minutes). immediately roll each muffin in the melted butter followed by the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

homemade funfetti cupcakes

when i was a little girl, the biggest treat was when my mom would bring home funfetti frosting. i would eat it by the spoonful. those little waxy balls are the best. so i decided to try and make my own funfetti frosting and cake.

i just mixed sprinkles into the cake batter and the frosting. it turned out pretty cool. and now i can make whatever color combination my little waxy-ball-loving-heart desires.

oh yeah, and here is a legitimate picture of our easter eggs. i love the little bunny holder my grandma-in-law gave me.

easter eggs

tonight, for family home evening, the boys and i dyed easter eggs. it was very fun. everything is more exciting with a four year old. tagg was literally having the time of his life. telling me what to draw (mostly bunnies) and trying to make me dye every single egg "turpoise".

sully's little hand holding that egg kiiinda makes me want to eat him. :)

they cant take them away from me

last weekend those mean little girl scouts took away my samoas. and even though i only bought one box this year, i dont like knowing that those amazing toasted-cocounut-caramel-chocolate treats arent around. so i decided to make my own. but a cupcake version of course.

the cupcakes ended up being just as delicious and i love how the frosting ends up looking like i placed a real cookie right on top. so there, girl scouts.

sweet & sour chicken

this is one of my favorite meals. its easy, tagg/sully friendly, and super tasty.

sweet & sour chicken

chicken tenders

cornstarch

sauce

6 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

6 tablespoons sugar

1 cup water

4 carrots

1 bell pepper

4 large mushrooms

1 handful snow peas

1 handful sprouts

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons cold water

rinse and cut vegetables into similar size pieces. set aside. cut chicken into one inch pieces. roll in cornstarch. heat oil in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. when oil is ready, add chicken pieces. stir meat until it is evenly golden brown. remove pan from heat. with slotted spoon remove chicken from oil and drain on paper towels. while the chicken is browning, combine in large saucepan ketchup, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and 1 cup water (i like a good amount of sauce to pieces ratio so i double the sauce recipe). bring to boil. to sauce add hard vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. then add soft vegetables and simmer for 2 minutes more. blend cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water in separate small bowl. add to sauce, cooking and stirring, until sauce becomes thick and translucent. stir in chicken.

serve with steamed rice.

saint patricks day treats

this past week has been so stormy. i love to bake when its gross outside. so i made a couple festive treats for friends and craig's office to enjoy.

craig worked late on monday nite, so tagg and i made these vanilla cupcakes and took them to his/my friends for family home evening. i had fun trying to pipe those mini shamrocks onto the cupcakes. i dont love the stem but i can perfect next year. :)

yesterday, i got the sudden urge to try and make homemade snoballs. they actually werent that hard to make and the marshmallow/meringue frosting was out of this world. and they tasted just like the real thing!

happy saint patricks day.

mike and stasia's amazing reception

on saturday nite, craig and i went to stasia's fantastic wedding reception. the food was incredible. the decorations were perfect. the dress was insane (wish i could married again just to steal her dress and wear it). and the couple was gorgeous.

at one point i was kind of stalking stasia just so i could get a couple close up shots.

those were the rope thingys we made at her bridal shower. they turned out so amazing.

and to make the nite even more special? i got to spend quality time with marissa and kirsten. i was in heaven.