A Cupcake Challenge and Audition

I must admit—posting cupcakes twice in a row is a unusual even for this cupcake lover. But I have two good reasons. First Hoosier Homemade has thrown down the gauntlet with a fun cupcake challenge on Tuesdays during the month of August. The theme is summertime fun and each week will have a specific challenge. Secondly, since I am hosting a baby shower in the near future, I am “auditioning” recipes.

Let the games begin!

Our first challenge is to create a cupcake with a flavor that screams summer to us. Now, for me, smells evoke memories more than sights or sounds. The minute I smell fresh- cut grass I am once again a barefoot little girl shadowing my father as he does yard work. My feet are covered in damp St. Augustine grass and I am hot as I struggle with a rake in the humid Mississippi heat. But I know that a reward in the form of a treat and air conditioning is right around the corner.

Mom always had pink lemonade waiting in the kitchen for us. Yes, it was just made from frozen concentrate. But it was ice cold and full of pulp. More than that, it was sharing a victory and a job well done. Fresh cut grass and pink lemonade don’t scream summer to me….they whisper in my ear of happy times gone by.

So yesterday I tried my hand at a pink lemonade cupcakes. It would be just perfect for a little princess, princess in waiting, or bride to be. It could be made in pale yellow with regular lemonade for a gender neutral baby shower. Oh yeah, and it makes a fabulous lunch :)

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

1 (9 oz.) pink lemonade frozen concentrate, thawed and divided

3/8 cup water

1 white cake mix ( your favorite brand)

3 egg whites

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with paper liners. Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until just blended. Fill muffin cups with about 1/4 cup batter each to insure cupcakes of a uniform size. Bake according to package directions or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool five minutes in pan and remove to finish cooling on wire rack. Frost with Lemonade Buttercream. Garnish with sprinkles if desired.

Lemonade Buttercream Icing

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3 tablespoons lemonade concentrate

red or pink food coloring (a little dab will do!)

Blend butter with 1 cup confectioners’ sugar on low to medium speed with electric mixer. Gradually add remaining two cups of sugar and concentrate. Blend well. Mix on medium to high speed until the mixture is fluffy and uniformly pink. Pipe or frost onto cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with pink sugar crystals if desired.

Pink (or any color) Sugar Sprinkles

Shake 1 cup of sugar with 2 drops of food coloring in a plastic zip bag. Shake well!! Pour onto paper plate and allow to dry 15 minutes before using. Sprinkle with a spoon or shaker onto frosted cupcake. Store leftovers in sealed plastic bag for later use.

Don’t forget to join Hoosier Homemade on Tuesday for the Cupcake Challenge. I can’t wait to see the recipes! You can join the party I am also joining Blessed With Grace for Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. You'll find the party here! I am also linking to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to share this sweet pinkness! You can join the party here.I am so glad you stopped by!!! Thanks for coming and don’t forget to say hello!

I’m A Deadheader

Deadheader—sounds like a bad rock band from the eighties, doesn’t it? But no, I am a deadheader of the garden variety.

These are my window boxes full of petunias, pink impatiens, geraniums, and creeping jenny. This spot gets partial shade and partial sun at different times of the day. The petunias love the sun and the impatiens seem to bloom even more as long as they get plenty of water. To ensure blooms all summer I deadhead about twice a week.

Deadheading is the removal of dead or spent flowers to encourage more blooms and improve the overall appearance of the plant. It in effect fools Mother Nature by preventing the flower from going to seed. Some blooms like these petunias can be merely pinched off. Others like geraniums should be snipped at the bottom of the stem.

This year, because Charlie, a high spirited springer spaniel puppy, is temporarily living with us, I decided to save us all some heartache and plant all my annuals in containers. We’re all happier that way.

The ivy and grasses survive year round in the pots and provide a good back drop for each spring’s new annuals. This pot also contains rosemary and a new little herb I planted for the first time. It’s called boxwood basil and is bushy and compact just like a true boxwood. Pinching its leaves also encourages new growth and of course the leaves have the same flavor and smell as regular basil. Hibiscus will usually drop their own faded blooms themselves, but you can speed the process and promote more bloom by removing them.

More pink and white impatiens and another shade of pink hibiscus. This also contains lavender that I have planted for the first time. That’s the the Ole Miss Colonel Rebel watching over the pot---he’ll soon be replaced by a new mascot.

My pink hydrangeas have bloomed their little hearts out!

I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday and Laurie at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie for My Favorite Things. Container gardening and pink flowers are two of my favorite things! Happy Saturday and thanks for stopping by!

One Smart Cookie

Actually this post is about more than one smart cookie. First, there is my good friend who gave me this lovely pink (there it is Beverly!) tiered dessert stand last year. She’s the smart cookie who combined my love for cooking, entertaining, and gardening to come up with the perfect gift!

It is the very definition of “whimsical”—fanciful, amusing, and unexpected!

What could be better than a spring bee made from a spring? :) Who knew scrap metal could be so cute? But I am a smart cookie too—Each Easter I make an elaborate dessert. Each Easter I end up with most of it left over. Everyone is too full for dessert. This year I made sugar cookies! Just the right amount for a full tummy with a sweet tooth :)

Lately, I‘ve become smitten by decorated cookies and cupcakes. I made butterflies and crosses for dessert. What could be more appropriate for Easter?—both symbolic of hope and change. I am experimenting with glazes and icings—still learning. I recommend making the cookies on one day and decorating the next. Of course, I did not follow my own advice :). This is the easy recipe I used to glaze the cookies.

Vanilla Glaze

Stir together one (16 0z.) package of powdered sugar with six tablespoons of water. Make sure you get the lumps out! Tint, as desired, with food coloring or paste. I used Durkee neon colors.

---Oh dear, how embarrassing…..does this count as a recipe? :) Just dip the cookie into the glaze with a heavy hand. Allow to drip and harden on a wire rack. Lick fingers as needed. You may add any extra frosting when the cookie glaze has hardened.

I am linking to Foodie Friday with our hostess Michael Lee West. Don’t worry, dear hostess, this is not a real frosting and no one was harmed in the production :) Click on her button for transportation! I am linking to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. Thanks ladies!

PS--Check out the top button on the sidebar. Cathy at The Stylish House needs our help!

Red and White Wishes and Peppermint Dreams

First, thank you ,thank you to those of you who joined in the fun for Deck the Halls! I am overwhelmed and grateful for your response. If you participated, commented, or just lurked :), I am glad you came! In this busy season I hope Michael Lee West at Designs by Gollum and Beverly at How Sweet the Sound won’t mind if I “double dip” :) I am linking for Foodie Friday and Pink Saturday for a spin on pink. Thanks for hosting ladies! Peppermint is a favorite of mine and a tradition that takes many forms at our house. It may show up in a table setting or party favor.

It may show up as a snack for Santa in the family room.

It almost always appears as a theme in the packages under my tree. But one place, it always shows up is in the old fashioned hard candy I have been making for years.

It’s a real treat for us to eat or to package and give as Christmas “happies”. There are lots of flavors available and some are available in the grocery store or at Hobby Lobby. Our favorites are spearmint, peppermint, and lemon.

This year I even crushed it and used it as a garnish for this pound cake. It was festive and added a touch of flavor!

This was a new idea I tried this year. I rolled the edge of the cake stand in corn syrup and then in red and white sugar crystals for an easy presentation. Here’s the recipe for the hard candy…remember, it’s not just for Christmas! Click the FF button on the sidebar to visit Designs by Gollum for more recipes. Click here for Pink Saturday fun!

Old- Fashioned Hard Candy

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

2/3 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon oil flavoring

Food coloring

Powdered sugar

Heat sugar, water, and syrup in a large saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium heat until 300 degrees is reached on a candy thermometer (hard ball stage). Add flavoring and food coloring. Stand back…the peppermint oil is potent! Pour onto a well greased cookie sheet that has been lightly dusted with powdered sugar. Allow to harden. When it is cool, the fun begins! Work out your holiday frustrations and break it into pieces with a rolling pin or meat cleaver!! Careful—the pieces may be sharp! Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Welcome to Christmas

Thanksgiving is over. The leftovers are in Tupperware and zip locs, the good china is back in place, and the relatives are packing up. It’s time for a trip to the attic! Let the decorating begin!

My sweet little niece (in an earlier picture from the spring) has a passion for all things pink and spent the holiday with us. She gravitates toward pink like a bee to honey. While we were out shopping, she found a pink Christmas tree and I started thinking. Wouldn’t it be fun to let our “inner pink child” loose on Christmas decorations?! The front door might look like this.

or this

or this

I love this one made with vintage tinsel and ornaments. The front door is our first opportunity to say “welcome to Christmas”. I’m already working on mine!

I hope you will join me for Deck the Halls this Tuesday, December 1 and every Tuesday until January 5! I’ll be hosting a fun party to show off our decorations, those we’ve visited, or simply those that inspire us. The rules are relaxed—it’s a casual party :) I’ll be posting Mr. Linky on Monday night by 8:00 p.m. central time. I hope you will make plans to join the fun!

Join Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for more pink fun. Thank you Beverly!

Pink Saturday…..I’m Dreaming and a Giveaway

I know most of us (including me) haven’t gotten the last Halloween decoration put away and the Thanksgiving menu is still on the “to do” list, but I love Christmas. So I’m dreaming…What if Christmas looked like this?

And the tree was covered in these?

Or this?

And the mantel was hung with this?

And the front door greeted you with this?

And the table was set with this?

And this?

Wouldn’t it be fun?

I posted my 100th post this week. I have loved “meeting” so many of you and hope to meet so many more. You can read about and enter my Giveaway for some early Christmas decorations here. Also……

Starting on Tuesday, December 1, I will be hosting a “Deck the Halls” party every Tuesday through January 5. You can read the details here. I hope you will join me! I hope you will grab a button after you read the details and spread the word!

Thank you Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for hosting Pink Saturday! I hope everyone has a great pink Saturday and a wonderful weekend!

Click here for a world of pink! Now --- GO REGISTER here!!!

p.s.—I am posting a little early…I will be painting on Friday and Saturday…and I don’t mean portraits or landscapes :)

Pink Saturday....October Means Pink

Fall is officially here and lots of us are experiencing glorious crisp mornings and nights. Our thoughts start turning to golds, oranges, and browns...but October means it's time to start thinking pink!

October is officially breast cancer awareness month. I lost my own mother to breast cancer when she was only fifty eight years old, so mammograms are something I am passionate about. I made my own yearly appointment last week. Do I enjoy them?...noooo. Do I have them done?....you bet your ta tas! So look at your calendar. Is it time for your appointment? Think pink in October!

You can ride pink

or

Carry pink

or

Drive pink

or

Wear pink

Eat pink

You can even laugh about pink!

Just think pink and make your appointment!

Beverly at How Sweet the Sound is hosting another Pink Saturday! Click here and join her and other ladies who love pink! And while you are browsing, why don't you take time to visit a new blog...one you've never been to before...they may just the pink you are looking for!

Bananas Foster with Brennan's and Me

I am so happy Michael at Designs by Gollum has had good news to report about Mister. Wheww...the little fellow had all of us in Blogland worried. Graciously, she is hosting Foodie Friday. Thanks Michael...you never missed a beat!

And since my post, in part, is about this pink building I will be linking to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. Thanks to both! This is a picture of Brennan's world famous restaurant in New Orleans. Brennan's was originally opened on Bourbon Street in 1945 by a New Orleans Irishman who had the dream of opening a fine French restaurant. With a passion for food and the vision of a fine restaurant, Owen Brennan created a dining establishment and experience that has become legendary. No trip to the Big Easy is complete until you have had breakfast at Brennan's. Nothing can compare to sipping milk punch in the quaint courtyard while waiting on your order of Eggs Benedict or Eggs Sardou. The crowning glory, however, comes with dessert. Yes, dessert with breakfast...now you know why this is my kind of place :). Bananas Foster is one of Brennan's most popular requests and a signature recipe. Served flaming at your table, Bananas Foster is the be all and end all of desserts ! It is the perfect end to the perfect dining experience.

So, that being understood, let me give you my version. I long ago decided that there would be no voluntary flames in my dining room. If we ignite rum at our house, it will be by accident. Besides, this is too good for just special occasions. Here's a simple impostor:

Baked Bananas

Slice two ripe but firm bananas and place in baking dish. Melt 1/4 cup butter. Add two tablespoons sugar and one tablespoon cinnamon. Mix well and pour over bananas. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or zap in the microwave on high for 1 1/2-2 minutes. Serve over ice cream and top with whipped cream if desired. Tonight I used Splenda, zapped and served over low carb ice cream---still very good. Beloved said it was the best!! I made you a serving in a crystal sherbet glass--just so you can see what an elegant dessert it can be. It was so warm the topping started bubbling! This is impressive enough for any dinner party!

Now click on the Foodie Friday button for a feast of ideas and visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound on Saturday for Pink Saturday!

Pink Saturday....Pink on Pink on Pink on Pink

Ordinarily I don't post family pictures. I've seen that glazed over look people get when a mother pulls out her "top 50" dance recital pictures or a grandmother whips "Grandma's Brag Book" out of her purse. But this one, just this one, is worth seeing. My sister in law sent me this picture earlier this spring. She doesn't blog, doesn't know I have one, and is young enough to think Pink Saturday is probably a band from the seventies.

Pink perfection! I couldn't have planned it better myself! Here is my sweet little niece wearing her favorite pink play clothes and her pink star sunglasses driving her pink Barbie jeep. Her passenger is CJ the bear wearing her pink Build A Bear outfit she and I purchased on our last aunt/niece outing! Even the pink azaleas were in bloom! The stars were all lined up in pink perfection for this photo op!

Please join Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to get your Saturday started with all things pink. Last week I visited Mermaids of the Lake. It's a beautiful and fun blog. Check it out if you haven't already. Lots of participants eagerly await your visit!

Pink Saturday in the Garden

I had something else in mind when I signed up to join Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. But, I was out watering pots , beds,and window boxes and thought I might share these blooms with you before the summer slips away and takes all this glorious pink with it.

Pink hydrangea



Pink impatiens planted with sweet potato vine, asparagus fern, varigated ivy, and pink and green polka dots. Something is munching on the sweet potato vine! It must be tasty--our son's dog like to eat the part trailing on the deck!

Charlie-the culprit, but with a face like this he escapes retribution!

One perfect deep pink rose bud

A concrete basket- shaped pot filled with two shades of impatiens, pink geranium, trailing petunias, green and white polka dots, and lantana

Crape myrtles surrounding the deck and pool area

Window boxes filled to capacity with impatiens, verbena, and geraniums

A pink hisbiscus tree loaded with buds

Not bad for a girl who thinks her favorite color is blue! Please join Beverly here for more Pink Saturday fun!