Shopping Lessons I Never Learned

I'm the first to admit that I don't enjoy shopping like I used to. (Jeff probably would say this is false.) He lies.  I guess it's most accurate to say I enjoy an occasional shopping day, like when Katherine is in town. Yay for Katherine in town! We spent a few hours at Kohl's yesterday, digging through the clearance racks. At the end of our time Katherine came home with a bag of cuteness and I had one sweater to wear with my uniform black pants on Sundays. Yippee...

I told Katherine in the car, "When will I ever learn these basic rules of shopping?"

Lesson #1: The amount of items you find is in direct opposition to the amount on your coupon. Let me explain.  You have a coupon for 10% off your entire order (which is practically nothing), you will find an overflowing basket of things you must have.  You have a coupon for 30% off, you find practically nothing, except one sweater to wear with your uniform black pants on Sunday. Heavy sigh...

Lesson #2:  Never, and I mean NEVER, hold up a pair of pants and say, "These things look huge!" for they will most assuredly fit you perfectly. Every. single. time.

Lesson #3:  Don't allow yourself to shop with an adorable, petite, small-boned college student. She will look fantastic in everything while you spend your time going back and forth from the dressing room getting her smaller sizes.

Don't shop the hard way. Learn from my mistakes. And, if you see me on Sunday, yes I will be wearing my new sweater - originally $54.00, on sale at 50% off and with my 30% off coupon, final cost of $18.90. Kinda takes the sting off finding only one item. And, yes, I'll be wearing my "old" black pants.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Clearly my brain is on hiatus. I usually try to think of a clever title for my blog posts, some type of play on words or whatnot...today I've got nothin'. Nada. Zip. Zero. Let's just blame it on allergies, shall we? I blame everything on allergies. Can't sleep? Allergies. Bad grade on your test? Allergies. Forgot to pay the house note? Duh, allergies! Anyhoo...

These chocolate chip cupcakes came about as Jeff was searching the kitchen for chocolate the other night. I realized I had never used chocolate chips in a batter. So, after a spirited debate on Facebook about the importance of white vs. dark chocolate and nuts vs. no nuts, these were the winning recipe - Dark Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream.

 I had extra batter so I ventured into the world of mini cupcakes. Aren't they cute? They use only 1 Tablespoon of batter per cupcake.

a little patriotic action going on...

Here are the babies...Jeff said this size is just enough to make you mad. I say they're perfect!

Changed up the design on this one. I'm working on a fancy topper for an anniversary party in December. What do you think? I can't decide. Is it fancy or are you thinking of a wadded up piece of string?

Check back soon for another post in which I will try to have a clever title, a different topic than cupcakes and will charm you with my rapier wit. Rapier wit? Name that movie. No, really...name that movie line. I didn't make that up. I had to have heard that in a movie, but I have no idea which one.

It's Fall and That Means Pumpkin

I'm not a big fan of the color orange. Pretty much the only orange things I can tolerate are pumpkins and, well, oranges. When I saw these orange cupcake liners yesterday at Marshall's I knew they would be perfect for the next cupcake I wanted to try. Let me just say these are a little bit of fall and a lot of delicious.

Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes with Pumpkin Whipped Cream

If you've never had pumpkin whipped cream I feel like there is something missing from your life. Trust me on this. Pumpkin and chocolate, who knew?

Art Imitating Life

I cannot even describe how this painting makes me feel. Proud. Amazed. Giddy. Speechless. Well, I'm never speechless, I guess. I just look at this work of art and think, "My kid painted this!" I can't claim to have had any part in this talent, with the exception of giving birth to her. (Of course, now that I think about it, that's a pretty big part in the process.) 

I was able to meet her painting professor this week when her class came to the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth. I told him how impressed I was with how he had helped to develop her talent and that we felt like we were "getting our money's worth at SFA." His response? "She's coming along...," delivered with a big smile.

I'll say she's "coming along." And, I can't wait to see where she takes us next.

Proud mom.

Just Call Me Crabby

Before you think it, yes, I know the last several posts have been about food. What can I say? It's what defines me.  I love to try new recipes, especially when I can claim they are somewhat healthy. Crab meat was on sale this week and, on impulse, I threw a package in my cart. Cooks.com helped me to find a simple recipe for crab salad.

As I'm putting the salad together, here are the comments...

Person A: What IS that?
Me: Crab
Person A: Why is it so...so pink?
Me: Because it's not blue crab. (heh, heh)
Person B: (walking into kitchen after my conversation with person A) What IS that?
Me: Crab
Person B: Why are you ruining it with cucumber?
Me: I love cucumber.
Person B: Cucumber is blech.
Me: It also has cucumber dressing in it.
Person B: Double blech!
Me: More for me then.
Person A: (reading the crab packaging) This is FAKE CRAB! It says imitation on the package.
Me: I know. So what? What does it matter? You're not going to have any of it.
Person A: I'm going to have real food. I'm making myself some Ramen Noodles.
Me: Yeah...cause those aren't fake at all...

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Cupcakes

These cupcakes were made just because I liked how they looked in the magazine. Food stylist might be a job that's underrated. Beautiful food photography gets me every single time! While my cupcakes were as beautiful as the magazine's, the amount of time I spent making them from scratch, along with freshly squeezing juice for the frosting, and sugar glazing the lemon for the top...well, let's just say my time might have been better spent on a nap. Don't get me wrong, the taste is good, but I actually feel like the Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme box mix could compete. Still, the little sugary fresh lemon slice on the top makes me feel happy, as well as those beautiful lemony yellow lemons. Say lemons over and over. It starts to feel weird. I'm so strange...