It's a....

Laura's nickname is "Laura Bee" so I made up this basket for the special day :)

GIRL! Our favorite chef, Miss Laura, AKA my best friend, is having a GIRL! Can you sense the excitement in my typing?!?!

This week was Laura's ultrasound...I have been waiting and waiting to find out if I'm getting a niece or a nephew this December. I have to admit, I've been hoping for a girl (obviously) since I'm having a girl myself this August!

Anyhow, they decided that they were going to use the new "filled cupcakes" way of telling the gender of baby Painter. (Fill the cupcakes with pink or blue frosting, and cut them open to share your news!) Now, Laura may be our go-to cook/chef for the blog, but she will tell you herself that baking is not her thing. No worries...it's my thing! She asked me to make the cupcakes for them to share with the family, and I could not be happier to do it!  After all, that means I would be one of the first to know!!!

So, on Wednesday morning Laura and Tim showed up at my door, with a familiar white bag in hand.  Donuts! "We brought you a donut", she said, with a huge smile on her face.  I knew right away it would be cherry (pink) or blueberry (blue).  "Well, I hope it's a boy then, because I love blueberry donuts and I don't like cherry ones!" As I opened the bag, there it was:  a cherry donut.  A GIRL! (Of course Laura knew my donut preference, so she brought me a chocolate one to devour after finding out the news!)

It was such a great moment to share with them.  I immediately ran to get my pink-themed gifts (yes, I had both ready.  I've been waiting for this moment for a long time!) and watched the parents-to-be open their goodies for their sweet baby girl.  What a good way to start a Wednesday!

...and then I got to work on the cupcakes.  Funny part...I had to make both pink and blue frosting, because my older son Sam already knows the filled-cupcake process, and I couldn't have him spilling the beans before Laura's family knew!  So, I filled them all up with bright pink frosting, a smile on my face the entire time.  After work, Laura took them to her parents house and her family members came to share in the surprise.  So fun!  At the same time, I took two lonely cupcakes over to my family (who was also very excited to find out!) and we bit into ours, too!

Hooray for pink-filled cupcakes.  As a non-pink lover, I never thought I would say that.  But the thought of Laura and I pushing our strollers around with our two baby girls, only a few months from now, just makes me giddy inside!  And, like every Sunday, hooray for surprises!  What would life be without them? :)

The finished product:  surprise-filled cupcakes for Laura's family! So cute!

Adorable AND Delicious.

Adorable and delicious--what could be better?!  I'm talking about today's recipe:  Mini Pineapple Upside-down Cakes!  The last time I made these, our friends and family ate them up so fast that I had to make a second batch the next day!  I'm making them for a family dinner tonight, and I thought since it's Wednesday, I'd just share the yumminess with all of you!  This recipe is SO easy, and I'm sure it will be a hit in your house as well!  ENJOY!



Mini Pineapple Upside-down Cakes

(24 servings )

 Ingredients:

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 (20 ounce) cans sliced pineapple

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

12 maraschino cherries, halved

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and butter; mix well. Spoon into 24 greased muffin cups. Drain pineapple, reserving the juice. Trim pineapple to fit the muffin cups; place one ring in each cup.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil and 1-1/4 cups of the reserved pineapple juice; mix well. Spoon over pineapple, filling each cup two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees  for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

3. Immediately invert onto wire racks to cool. Place a cherry in the center of each pineapple ring.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY EVERYONE!  HOPE IT'S DELICIOUS!

Sad...But True Story.

One of the blogs that I’ve been following lately is called “Pink Dryer Lint”  (www.pinkdryerlint.blogspot.com). It’s always a good read—plus, the author (Robin) just happens to be a college instructor and a mother of three girls (hence the name “pink dryer lint”).  We have a lot in common, and I really connect to her blog posts.  Anyways, one of the things that she does once in a while is post short little articles about a given topic.  Here’s an example (and I quote) from her latest post, entitled “Short and Sweet:  Cleaning Advice in 100 or fewer words”…

“While wiping down your kitchen table after a meal, have you ever knelt down beside it and inspected its underside? I just did.  My advice to you is this:  Don’t.”

I just found that hilarious, as I’m sure most of you do, too. So, while I was trying to think of a good topic for our “grab bag Sundays”, I decided to give you a summary of my day today, in 100 words or less.  I’m sure you will find it comical…

Been moving my boys to their “big boy” room.  Cried about them getting older, cried about how much my back hurts from carrying baby #3.  Went to some disappointing garage sales,  taught one class, ran some errands, kids ended up with no naps.  I cried some more.  By 7pm, you may have seen me…walking down the street with a box of cupcakes in one hand and fork in the other, pushing a stroller with no kids (only bags of crap we had bought), wandering through a neighborhood garage sale by my mom’s house.  Still crying.

**Disclaimer: This is NOT a real picture of me.  I'm sure I looked MUCH more glamorous in my ridiculous state this evening.  (NOT).