by Sarah | Jun 14, 2011 | All About Home, All About Me, Random
Most of my baking craziness comes out in December when I make hundreds upon hundreds of cookies that my family could never possibly eat all of.
In the fall I go crazy with the bread baking.
The summer doesn’t usually lend to a lot of baking. The heat of the stove on top of the heat of weather just doesn’t lend to enthusiasm toward baking.
Some days you just need to.
I wanted to make cupcakes. Something beyond boring simple cake.
Out of that craving came these. Delicious. Moist. Flavorful. Yum.
Pink Lemonade Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting.
Make them.
You won’t regret it.
Recipe: Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 c. Flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 c shortening
- 1 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 5 egg whites
- 2 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 c milk
- 1/2 c pink lemonade concentrate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Mix flour, salt, & baking powder (I always sift mine together into a separate bowl).
- In stand mixer beat shortening until it starts to fluff then very gradually add sugar, mixing well between additions.
- Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add egg whites 1 at a time.
- Beat in vanilla.
- On low speed add in dry ingredients, lemonade and milk in alternating additions (about 1/3 or 1/4 at a time). Mix until just blended.
- Divide batter among baking cups, filling about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Remove and cool on cooling racks.
- Makes 24 cupcakes
Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
Cooking time: 20 minute(s)
Recipe: Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 c. Cut Strawberries
- 3 Tbs Granulated Sugar
- 1 1/2 Sticks Butter (room temp)
- 1/2 c. Heavy Cream
- 2 c. Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Prepare strawberry coulis: Strawberries & granulated sugar in saucepan and cook until juices begin to release. Cool then blend in food processor or blender.
- In mixer, whip butter until it starts to fluff, add coulis and then heavy cream.
- Add in sugar until frosting reaches desired consistency.
Quick notes
I didn’t have heavy cream, so I used 1/4 c. milk. Frosting is still delicious & fluffy, but it would definitely improve with heavy whipping cream.
by Sarah | Jun 9, 2011 | Crap, Cystic Fibrosis, Random
We have a busy day today, and the lazy days of summer that have finally arrived have my brain saying “Uh….huh?” instead of coming up with deep blog posts. So those combined factors give me a blog post of random bullet points…
* So You Think You Can Dance has started! While my husband cringes and cowers, I drink up every minute of this show…LOVE summer when it comes around!!
* Within two weeks time we went from insanely & unseasonably cold/rainy days to insanely HOT killer heat waves. To the point of not being able to go outside some days. What ever happened to spring?
* Today Brandon has some weird test for CF that apparently has become the new “Gold standard” test for the disease and could yet again change his diagnosis. Can I say that that alone has me thinking I don’t want it done…I can’t tolerate any more flip flop on this…if they change his diagnosis AGAIN after all of this I’m just going to break down and cry.
* In exactly 5 weeks I will be having the best birthday ever. My best bud, Jess, will be coming into town with her boys. They’ll be staying for about 5 days right around my birthday. I’ll be going to get my tattoo (YAY)…and it will just be an amazingly fun weekend 😀
* I’ve been cleaning. Randomly. Thoroughly. It’s strange. I hate to jinx it. It makes my husband very happy.
* In 10 weeks my kids will ALL be in school. Angel will only be in school for a couple of hours a day…but…my kids will ALL be in school. There is something not right about that thought.
* On a related note – the third/final trimester sort of sucked for both of my school kids this year. Grades dropped, behavior dropped. Not sure what happened there but leaves me feeling BLEH.
* I don’t know if you somehow missed the hullabaloo over the Circle of Moms Top 25 Faith Blogs that was turned into a spiritual warfare (including death threats to one of the nominated blog owners) – but I’m proud and pleased to say that a Pagan blog has won…and one of my favorite Pagan bloggers at that. Congrats, Mrs B!! You behaved admirably and held your head high through the chaos and ugliness thrown around.
And that’s it for today. I need to get back to my day…lots to do before we have to leave for the hospital for the newest test.
by Sarah | May 28, 2011 | Crap, Random
The school bells rang for the last time on Thursday.
The race is this weekend.
Graduation parties spring up all around town.
Garage sales are starting to post their signs.
The Farmers Market is calling my name.
We are starting to have more warm(ish) days than cold(er than a polar bear’s toenails).
Brandon is B-O-R-E-D.
Yup. It’s summertime.
by Sarah | May 24, 2011 | Crap, Random
Washable, my ASS.
Shame on you, Crayola.
Now come wash my girls stained clothes.
by Sarah | May 21, 2011 | All About Kennedy, All About Molly, Crap, Special Needs
We have no lingering baby toys.
They broke them all.
Toddler toys?
The same.
Toys that were mine as a child, passed on to Brandon, and then the girls…
Now in the local landfill…destroyed in little pieces.
Close playtime and giggling.
Always dissolving into tears and screaming.
Hand made curtains, lovingly sewn and hung.
Ripped off the wall, the rod broken.
The girls have always been more destructive.
Their room is a barren waste-land of decorating because they can’t be trusted w/ a dresser, much less finer details like lamps, pictures, or even hangers.
They are five and six now.
And as they sit here in extended time out for their latest run of torture, mayhem and destruction. We are left wondering.
When it is time to say “Enough is Enough”?
Is it sensory issues? Is it rotten kids? Bad parenting?
Did we go wrong somewhere?
by Sarah | May 20, 2011 | Random
*A repost from a couple of years ago. After recent events and my 13 year old being diagnosed w/ CF I felt it merited repeating.
From the time our troubles started, from the time we first realized there was just something ‘off’ about Riley. From the day We realized Angel’s torticollis was more than just a lazy neck and a heavy head. From the day we realized Angel’s cough was going for a month and showed no signs of letting up. From the first time Angel intentionally injured herself. From the first toys Riley lined up. Every day, every night, every in between we are aware. We notice when Angel runs out of steam before she’s played for ten minutes. We notice when Riley is starting to retreat into her shell. When we’re in danger of a meltdown of epic proportions. In danger of a night of a screaming, pouting, angry Riley.
Now when we look back on a past of frequent bouts of pneumonia. The five years of ‘asthma’ that we have been coping with. When every cough, sniffle and clogged, mucousy throat causes panic in Brandon. When we remember the first three years of his life, the issues he had that no doctor could diagnose for us. The tests he was put through to find the answers that never came – until 11 years later when I remembered. When I put the bouts of lung issues together with the bowel issues of youth and asked for the test that changed it all.
We notice it all.
We see it in the every day.
We see it in the little things.
Every action, every reaction.
Every thought, every moment searches for the newest sign.
Every memory now is seen through new lenses.
It’s a part of our lives. It is our every day.
Then you come along and say “But she looks just fine to me.” Or “She doesn’t seem autistic.” The newest, “I just can’t believe that HE has CF. I don’t believe it. Are they sure?” And of course the “She/He doesn’t act sick.”
I know you mean well. Really, I do.
But I hate it when you say that.
It’s like you’re belittling our every day.
The days at doctors and specialists. The hours calming and refocusing an over-stimulated child (longest meltdown stands at 36 hours). The hours a day hooked up to machines to live ‘normal’. The way I lay awake at night listening to labored breathing. Check temperatures every time we feel a little warm.
I know you don’t mean it this way. I know you just mean to say that despite their troubles they look healthy and happy. That unlike other children with special needs it’s not a visible/noticeable difference.
But I hate it.
Just say they’re beautiful. Say they have a great smile. They look like they’re having a blast.
Don’t contradict what we KNOW. Riley does have autism (no matter how mild). Angel does have CF, and Brandon also has it. These are not falsehoods. They are not bad nightmares we will wake up from. They are our truth.
It is our every day.
We try to live life beyond our labels – and we only succeed by accepting them and integrating what they mean into our lives – not by denying them.
Most of my baking craziness comes out in December when I make hundreds upon hundreds of cookies that my family could never possibly eat all of.
