S'mores Cupcakes

Hubby and I went to his parents house to visit this weekend.  We had a family dinner with his sister and brother in law and their two sweet children.  I baked these awesome cupcakes for our dessert.

I used the cake recipe from this blog and the icing recipe from this blog.  For the filling I made some heavy chocolate ganache.

Here is the recipe:

S'mores Cupcakes 

makes 24 cupcakes
 
1 box of white cake
1/2 cup (one stick) of melted butter
1/2 cup of milk*
1/2 cup of water
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
3 tsp of vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients with a mixer until well combined.  Spoon into a lined cupcake pan and bake for 13-15 minutes.
 Let the cupcakes cool completely.
*the fat content of your milk doesn't seem to matter, I have used several different milks (skim, 1%, whole...etc) and they all worked fine


Chocolate Filling

1 cup of heavy cream
1 to 1.5 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 bars of Hershey's chocolate

Heat the cream in the microwave for 1 min and 30 seconds.  Add in the chocolate and stir.  Once the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, put in the freezer for about 5 minutes or so to thicken it up.

Marshmallow Buttercream

1 cup (two sticks) of butter at room temp
1 7oz jar of marshmallow fluff
2 cups of confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cream the butter, then add the fluff.  Whip until combined (2 minutes).  Add in the sugar and whip again for a few minutes until well mixed.  Add the vanilla and mix for one minute more.

For a garnish I used 2 graham crackers, broken into 24 pieces and two bars of Hershey's.  

To assemble, I cute a well into the cupcakes and filled it with the chocolate ganache.  Then I piped the frosting on using a star tip.  I then placed a chocolate square and a piece of graham cracker.

Here is another picture of the finished product :)

Update and Steak & Mashed Taters Cake

Hello world,

A lot has happened in the month or so since I blogged last.  Here goes...

I got a JOB at an awesome law firm in downtown Raleigh where I am a legal assistant.  This was SUCH a blessing from God because now I am both bringing in some income and gaining invaluable experience that will help me in my future career.  I have been working here for two and a half weeks now and I absolutely adore it.  I look forward to learning more as time passes.

Also, I have signed up for two classes this fall at my Alma Mater, NCSU (GO PACK).  I am taking some extra classes to beef up my transcript in the hopes that a law school who is considering me for admission can see that I have more academic potential than I showed during my undergraduate degree pursuit.  I am taking a Political Science class, Problems in American Democracy, and a Philosophy class, Ethical Problems in the Law.  I hope they go well and that I can pull off two more A's :)

My Lovely and Beautiful cousin Michelle is getting married in September so I have been doing some fun things to get ready for her wedding in the past month as well.  I blogged the making of her bachelorette invitations and everyone totally loved them.  Her bachelorette went off without a hitch (except some guy tried to accost me outside of the bar we went to in downtown Richmond at 3 AM...of all of the girls I was with, he chose the former police officer and current RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) instructor...bad move pal, he came very close to being badly injured, but he let go after we had a "come to Jesus" meeting).  The next weekend I went to Richmond again for Michelle's bridal shower and we had a blast.  The food was great and my mom and aunt did a wonderful job decorating and planning cute games.  Michelle loved it!

My husband and I also went to and two awesome weddings.  Our friends Laura and Seth got married and are huge comic book nuts, specifically, Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl.  They had a Batman Themed wedding and a unique reception.  Both their bridal party and groom's party were comprised of girls and guys which was really neat.  They wore batman-like masks and stood at the altar of the church in the shape of the Nightwing symbol.  Their reception was like a carnival at a farm with inflatable jump houses, tons of toys/candy decorations, and fair food.  It was a blast.  It rained shortly after the bride and groom arrived but that didn't phase them, in fact a rainbow touched down in the field next to us so we all got to see the end of a rainbow...no pot of gold, but it was still neat :)

The second wedding was that of our friends Sarah and Matt.  They had a lovely church wedding with one of the most fun receptions we have ever been to.  The food was amazing and the decor was beautiful.  The colors were shades of purple and Sarah had decorated with purple gingham and made an indoor picnic with mason jars filled with wildflowers.  They had yummy pulled pork and grilled chicken with green beans and potato salad.  Everything was served family style in antique bowls.  They had a HUGE amount of guests and after we ate we all danced the night away while one of Sarah and my husband Jordan's college friends James DJ'ed.  It was a blast and they sped off in Matt's white Corvette at the end of the night to enjoy their honeymoon. 


The last bit of news is that my friend John had a surprise birthday party thrown by his lovely fiance Meredith.  Knowing that I am and avid baker, she asked me to make his cake and had an unusual request...Apparently for their wedding John had asked for a steak cake as his grooms cake, but being the ultra classy southern belle that Meredith is, she had to decline because their wedding is going to be the epitome of Southern Charm and Beauty...it just didn't fit into the theme.

Meredith said that they would have about 12-15 guests over for the surprise party and so I suggested making cupcakes to go with the cake.  I had a great idea to make mashed potato cupcakes because what man doesn't love steak & taters?  I know my hubby does :)  I saw Paula Deen make TV dinner themed cupcakes on her show once, and I knew it was the perfect accent to the steak.

Here is what the cake and cupcakes looked like displayed.  Apologies for the grainy pics, the lighting was not great.

 For the cake, I used a scratch red velvet cake recipe found here so that when we cut into it, the cake looked like a perfectly cooked steak.  Instead of baking cupcakes according to the directions though, I just poured the batter into a well greased pyrex rectangular dish and baked until it was done.  After the cake was done and fully cooled, I cut the cake into the shape of a steak and plated it onto a large platter.

Next, I whipped up this amazing homemade chocolate buttercream.  I iced the cake liberally.  Next I made the cupcakes.

I wanted to do something fun and different for the cake flavor so I decided instead of simple white cake, I would do Almond Cake.  Here is the recipe:

Almond Cupcakes

Ingredients 

1/2 cup butter 

4 egg whites 

2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1 cup buttermilk 

1 1/2 cups sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1. Allow butter and egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line 20-24 muffin cups with paper bake cups (or coat with cooking spray). Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, vanilla, and almond extract; beat until combined. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full.

4. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.

5. Frost using a round tip like the one pictured here.  I used my cream cheese butter cream for the icing.

 6. I then made a small well in the top of the cupcakes and drizzled caramel in the wells making it look like gravy.  To top it off I used unwrapped lemon Starburst candies to make pats of "butter"

 Next, I used some of the leftover cream cheese butter cream and piped it in the shape of a T-bone onto the steak. Finally, I melted some chocolate chips I had in the pantry to make the "grill marks" on the steak.  I put the melted chocolate in a small sandwich bag and snipped a tiny piece off of the corner.  Using this, I piped the "grill marks" onto the cake.  Because the chocolate chips didn't have any cream or liquid added, I knew it would harden back up and keep the lines clean.  I refrigerated the steak cake uncovered for about 30 minutes to make sure the chocolate and the buttercream had set so the would not get ruined by plastic covering.  I placed the cupcakes in a large foil pan and covered them (since my cupcake carrier was full).

Here are some brighter pictures of the finished product!

Bachelorette Invitations!!

So it has been a while since I have blogged...a lot has happened :)  My husband and I went to a wedding and I baked one of the cakes.  It was a pink lemonade cake and it was DELICIOUS.  I'll blog the recipe someday :)  The wedding was so beautiful.  It was outside in the mountains of NC on a family farm.  There were sunflowers growing in the background of the ceremony and we sat on hay bails...it was so cute.

We also went to Smith Mountain Lake and then to the mountains of Northern Virginia for my maternal side's family reunion. We tent camped and enjoyed the outdoors.  It was a fun four days.

Now to the subject of this post...
My beautiful cousin is getting hitched in September and I made invitations for her bachelorette party based on some things I saw on pinterest.  Here is a tutorial of how I did it.

I needed 18 invitations so here is a list of supplies:

18 pieces of black 8 1/2" x 11" card stock
1 piece of a 8 1/2" x 11" card stock of a contrasting color for template
9 pieces of white 8 1/2" x 11" card stock
9 sheets of silver scrapbook paper (I used 12x12 and cut it down to size)
2 sheets of hot pink 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock
clear stamps (numbers and letters)
silver ink
lace ribbon with pearls
hot pink ribbon (1/4 inch) I used about 1 and a half spools of 10 yrd
scissors
a pencil
a ruler
a hole punch
hot glue gun
glue stick

I started by making a template for the outside paper. I measured 2 and 5/8 of an inch from the left side of the paper (landscape) and made a tic mark for the fold.  I did the same on the right side and folded the paper so that the flaps were the measured width.  I then measured 6 inches from the bottom of the paper and marked each flap on the edge.  This is where I would draw the diagonal for the cutouts to make it look like a corset.

I drew a line using  a ruler and a pencil from the top left corner to the mark on the edge of the left flap and did the same for the right.  I cut out the triangles.  Next, I used the ruler and measured to make the holes that the ribbon would lace through.  If you spend the time on the template, the rest of the actual parts are cake.  The edge of each flap is now 6 inches long so I made a dot with my pencil 1/2 inch up from the bottom and then on each inch until I reached the 5 1/2 mark on my ruler.  I repeated this for the other flap.  Using the hole punch, I punched out where I had made the marks.  The template comes out like this (please excuse my messy craft table...):

 
Make sure you make good creases in the paper.  I use the handle of my scissors to crease my paper.

I laid the template onto the black card stock and marked it to look like this:

Then I folded the paper and cut across the diagonal and punched out holes where I had dotted

Next I set out to make little bustiers to put my cousin's bra and panty size for those who wanted to get her lingerie.  I drew out a template on heavy card stock and traced it 18 times onto the hot pink paper.

To make the template I used a giant glue stick as my top "boob" circles.  I then used the ribbon spool for the sides.  I used the glue stick again for the leg holes.  It was pretty easy once I drew that out.  I then cut out all the little bustiers

Next I stamped on my cousins bra and panty size with clear stamps and silver ink.

I found some super cute lace ribbon at Michaels that had pearls sewn onto it.  I figured I could make half of the bustiers lacy and the other half trimmed in pearls.  I plugged in my hot glue gun while I cut the pearl string off of the ribbon.

I measured the pearl strings and lace to fit on the top of each bustier.  Then I clipped each piece of lace in the middle about 3/4 of the way so it would curve around the bra top.

I hot glued the lace to the back of each bustier and the pearls to the front.  When I finished they looked like this:

I made a really layout for the invitation itself using Microsoft Publisher.  I put two to a page to save paper and printed them on the white card stock.  I then cut them all out along the border.  They were just over 4" x 6 1/2"

I measured and cut the silver card stock to about 5"x7 1/2".  Since I used 12" x12" I was able to get two from each piece.

I glued the silver paper down first, then glued the printed paper on top.  I glued the bustier to the inside flap so that people could see it when they opened the invitation.  Make sure not to cover your holes and leave room for the fold!

Next, I cut the hot pink ribbon into about 28 inch pieces.  I used a lighter to barely melt the ends to keep them from fraying while I laced the invitation.  Then I laced it up and tied it in a bow!

I hope you all can give this a try!  If you're not a crafty person but you still want these for a bachelorette party I would be glad to make them for you.

Here is the finished product again:

Happy 4th Everyone!

I love the 4th of July...SO much :)  I love the colors, I love the fireworks, I love coordinating red white and blue outfits and hair ribbons, but most of all I love America and Freedom.  It is a wonderful holiday and I am really excited about it this year.

Hubby and I are going over to our friends' place to grill out, chill at the pool, and relax until fireworks.  I got some turkey brats that are really healthy, whole wheat buns, zucchini, mushrooms, and corn on the cob to throw on the grill.  Jordan and I have been going to the gym twice a day this week: cardio (running) in the AM and weights/circuit training in the evening.  I feel pretty good about it.  However....I got festive this afternoon and decided to make cupcakes...

Its Independence Day, we can have cupcakes right? ;)

Anyway, they are pretty cool.  I changed a semi-homemade cake recipe to make it my own and topped it with delicious cream cheese butter cream.  I used a bunch of different tricks to decorate too.

July 4th Cupcakes*
1 (18.25oz) box of white cake with red & blue sprinkles*
1 cup       All Purpose Flour
1 cup       Granulated Sugar
3/4 tsp    Salt
1 1/3 cup Water 
1 tsp        Vanilla Extract
1 cup       Sour Cream
2 Tbsp Canola Oil (or Vegetable)
4 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line cupcake pans with between 30-36 cupcake papers.  I used blue to go with my red, white, and blue theme.

Whisk together the dry ingredients (first 4).  Then add in the rest and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed until well combined.  Fill the cupcake papers 3/4 of the way.  I got 30 cupcakes exactly.

Bake for 20 minutes.

*this recipe could be altered for any holiday using any combo of sprinkles and a box of plain white cake

Mix up the butter cream icing recipe found here :  my cream cheese butter cream icing

Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, it is time to decorate!
I used this technique with red and blue gel food coloring :  rainbow swirl icing

But it is pretty hard to re-fill the bag and still get the color in the icing, so I only did a few cupcakes with that technique.
For the rest, I used several different decorating tips and some sprinkles I got on sale for $0.99 at the grocery store today.

Here is how they turned out :) Oh and FYI, we ARE going running in the morning so I won't have any qualms about eating one of these babies tomorrow :)

 

Next Step!!

Well, yesterday afternoon I went to see a movie with a friend and when I got home, I checked my phone for texts/emails.  I had like 3 junk mails and one other email...it said in big bold scary letters....LSAC SCORE

I almost dropped my phone...I was petrified.  Of course the score would come today...right after I blogged about how worried I was about it.  I prayed for peace and I know for sure several others had as well.  I couldn't open the email though.  I was paralyzed with doubt.  I had a mini convo with the Man Upstairs and said that if I scored badly, I'm not supposed to go to law school and I will move on and pursue his will.  Then I texted my husband and told him the email had come, and I was too chicken to open it.  He was so comforting...he said "just open it baby, no matter what I support you and you're still amazing."  


I opened the email with tears running down my face and took a huge breath in...
moment
of
truth...


155  in the 63rd percentile


I had been hoping for the 150's.  I didn't want to get my hopes up and I had done some research into what a decent acceptable score would be, so 150 was my goal.  I wasn't elated with the score, as I am pretty used to scoring in the 90-99th percentiles all throughout school, but then I thought some about it.  What kind of people go to law school (or try to at least...)? Mostly some of the smartest people from college.  So of the smartest people from high school, who got into college, and then the smartest of those, I did better than 63% of them...not too shabby.  I couldn't have done any of it without God...


So I then went online and began comparing my icky GPA and my decent LSAT score with several NC law schools' acceptance data.  There is at least a glimmer of hope.  

I don't want to take the test again, as it is a logic based exam and you really don't get much better with multiple tries and it is cumulative so even if I scored much better, which is unlikely, a school would be considering all of my scores combined.


Not to mention that test was BRUTAL.  It was pretty long...from about 12:30 PM until about 5:30 PM with only one 15 minute break and it was very mentally straining.  You basically are trying to sort out really complex logic from long wordy paragraph-formed questions and answer choices or reading long passages and then answering equally long questions about them in a very short amount of time.  Then there was the writing sample...


Now, I am 24 so I have been using a computer since kindergarten.  Writing by hand pretty much went out the window after my AP english exam senior year of high school.  Everything in college with exception of one or two blue book exams, was typed, to include class notes, emails, papers, and even conversations with friends.  By the end of that LSAT after all the bubbling, and bubbling, and then writing and writing, my little hand would not move!


So needless to say, I will most likely not take the LSAT again...


NEXT STEP:
Apply to UNC, Campbell, NC Central, Elon, and Duke (idk why, because there is nooooo freaking way Duke will let me in, but hubby says don't worry about "wasting" 50 bucks on the application fee, cause you'll always wonder and it never hurts to try....gah I love him!)


Here goes...well...everything!  Thanks to all who read yesterday and supported me with prayer :)

July...

Well folks, it is July 2nd.  That means a couple exciting things and scary things are coming up for me.  First, I'll start with the exciting things :)

I have 2 sets of awesome friends that are tying the knot this month.  Scott & Kelsey on 7/7 and Laura & Seth on 7/28.  I couldn't be happier for these four people.  They are so in love and have a God centered relationship.  I can't wait to celebrate with them!

Also, July 4th is Wednesday and I think we might cook out with some friends so that will be awesome.

My mom's side of the family is having their Family Reunion on the 14th and we are going to spend some time at Smith Mountain Lake and then on Herald Mountain with them.  Gotta love sleepin' in a tent, going out on the boat, shootin' skeet, and most likely cooking a pig...

Now....dun dun dunnnn...for the scary part of July

THE LSAT
I took the LSAT (law school admission test) in June and I am projected to get my scores back this Friday.  I'm so nervous about it.  I have always been a good test taker and usually I don't freak out about testing or school stuff at all.  I enjoy academics and have been pretty good at it when I tried (those college years got away from me somehow...).  I guess this is really the first time I am having this type of reaction to a test.  

I wasn't too worried about the test before I took it, when most people have their freakouts, I just prepared using some books I borrowed from a friend and didn't think too much into it.  I packed my little ziplock bag the night before and made sure I had everything ready.  These test people were kind of crazy btw...we had to have a new passport photo attached to our admission ticket, only wooden #2 pencils (no mechanical...I don't think I've written with one of those since like elementary school), tissues, chap stick, a snack, water in a clear bottle and an ID, all put inside a clear gallon sized baggie.  If you brought something not on the list, a calculator, a phone, any electronic etc etc, they would like kick you out and hang out upside down by your toes in the lobby...it was wild.  Anyway, I got plenty of sleep, got to the test site way early, then sat and thought...eek...

This test is HUGE for me...quite possibly the biggest test I have ever taken.  It means the most to me of anything I have ever done.  I graduated from college and became a law enforcement officer.  I loved my career, but I just didn't feel right.  I needed more challenges intellectually and I wanted to work harder.  I felt a little stifled by my job so I decided to suck it up and stick it out...I didn't bust my bum in the academy to quit.  Six months passed but it got worse...so bad that I would break down in tears the night before going back to work...I was truly unhappy.  My husband is amazingly supportive and so we worked out a plan for me to go back to school.  I turned in a letter of resignation, and left the police department on good terms.  It was a mix of emotions...I was happy, excited, nervous, and honestly I felt a little like I was a failure...I am putting a lot of pressure on myself to succeed.

I can't justify leaving the great field of policing to go on to not get into law school and wait tables again...I just can't...

I want this so badly...I know I can be a fantastic lawyer, the best one possible, if a school will just give me a chance.  My LSAT score will be a ginormous factor in whether or not I have a snowballs chance in...youknowwhere...of getting into law school.  
I. AM. FREAK. ING. OUT.

I can't do anything about it now, except to just worry, so that is what I am doing.  My whole life rides on these results...

I have prayed a ton about God's plan for my life in the past 12 months...I know he has a plan and I know it is perfect.  I just wish I knew what it was sometimes.  Other days I am so glad that stuff is not in my hands.  I know I can't do this without God and everything that is good and perfect comes from Him.  I was really nervous when I quit my job as a police officer because I thought I might be going against God's will.  I realized though, that if He wanted me to stay there, I would not feel so miserable about it.  I also realized that God sees all of time, the beginning all the way through the end, all at once and His plan is perfect.  There is NO way I could mess it up.  He foreknew everything.  I know that if I get into law school, His will is for me to do it, and if I don't, it was never what He had in store for me.  

I can't do it on my own, that I know for sure.  So if you're reading this, and it is before 7/6/12, say a prayer for me that I will stop stressing, and have more trust in the Lord...He is a good Daddy and I need to remember that He will take care of me.

Food!

If you have been reading, you know I am trying to lose weight and get in shape.  I know I posted a cupcake recipe first, but come on, life isn't life without cupcakes!  There will be many more cupcakes in this blog's future.  For now though, I thought I'd post what hubby and I had for dinner a couple days ago (and leftover lunch the next day)

I get a lot of my healthy recipes from skinnytaste.com
Gina posts great stuff and there is a huge variety.  I made my take on her turkey cutlets and I made her BLT pasta salad!  Enjoy these folks :)

Parmesan Chicken Tenders 

1 pkg Chicken Tenders
4 egg whites beaten
3/4 c italian breadcrumbs
1/3 c parmesan  cheese
garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter


Preheat oven to 250 degrees. (yes 250, its not a typo :) )  Place half of the chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound chicken tenders with a mallet until they flatten out.  This tenderizes them and makes them cook up faster.  After they are flattened place the tenders into a bowl with the beaten egg whites.


Mix breadcrumbs, parm, and spices together in a bowl.  Put half of the butter and half of the olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat.  Once it is melted and sizzling, dredge the chicken through the breading/cheese mixture and place in the pan.  Cook until golden on each side.  Once the first batch is done, place on a pan in the oven to keep warm.  Repeat with the second half of the chicken tenders.


I ended up needing to do another small batch because I had too much chicken to fit in the pan.  Skinnytaste.com calculated the calories at 184 for one of the turkey cutlets on her recipe, which made 8 cutlets.  My version made 10 and I made the serving size 2 tenders.  


Calories:  286.7   Serving Size:  2 Tenders


I also added some marinara to the top of mine to make chicken parm (about a tablespoon per tender) and with that added the calories bumps up a bit to 304.5 calories for two tenders.




The next recipe is SO easy and delicious.  My husband LOVED it.


BLT Pasta Salad


half a box of whole wheat penne
4 slices of center cut bacon
2 large ripe tomatoes
2 cups of baby spinach, fresh
3 tbsp of reduced fat mayo (I used Duke's)


Cook the pasta according to the box.  Cook the bacon strips until crispy on each side.  After the pasta is done, drain it and run cold water over the pasta to cool it.  Mix in the mayo with the pasta.


Chop the bacon into small pieces, cut the tomatoes into chunks, and then chop the spinach to desired size ( I left my leaves pretty big).  Add these ingredients to the pasta/mayo mixture and mix all together.


It makes a little over 6 servings of a cup each.


Calories: 149.1  Serving Size 1 cup


The original recipe (http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/06/blt-macaroni-salad.html) called for 4 tbsp of mayo, but I thought that came out to be too much, so three is better :)


My husband and I made a meal of two chicken tenders and a cup of the BLT salad and it came out to 435.8 calories.  Under 500!  Not bad for breaded chicken and BLT pasta :)