M.I.A.

Nope, I am not missing in action. My mind might be, but I am not ;). I have been laying low on the blogging lately because I have just been so damn busy! With what you ask? Well, life I guess.

This past weekend we had a surprise birthday party for my sister-in-law and fellow blogger Christina! She had no idea until the jig was up when she saw all of the familiar cars at my house! I really do love hosting. I would love to have dinner parties or get togethers and have a table made up just like Martha Stewart.

photo courtesy of MarthaStewart.com

I made homemade red velvet cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting for the first time ever, just because I love her! And they were the bomb! Wish I would have made more! Here is the recipe I followed. (P.S. the cupcakes had buttermilk in them so you KNOW they were the bomb!)

                                          

Red Velvet Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cups (125 grams) sifted cake flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoons (10 grams) regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cups (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk

1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring

1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 ounces (113 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (30 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

1/3 cup (80 ml) cold heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and line 12 muffin tins with paper cupcake liners. In a large bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.  Working quickly, divide the batter evenly among the 12  muffin cups and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 18 - 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes and them remove from pan. Let cool completely before frosting. Either spread the frosting with a knife or offset spatula, or use a large 1M Wilton open star decorating tip to pipe the frosting. Cream Cheese Frosting: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth. Using the whisk attachment, gradually add the heavy cream and whip until the frosting is thick enough to pipe. Add more sugar or cream as needed to get the right consistency. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Saturday pretty much consisted of recuperating from Friday and my busy week. I didn't do anything in particular except a lot of cutting of the hair (not mine just my clients) which is always nice!

I haven't been doing much sewing or crafting, but I have had a lot of people ask me to do hemming and other sewing projects in the near future. I am feeling that is a sign to explore that area of my creativity. It is a bit scary to invest time and money into a sewing project and not have it turn out right. But in error we learn. I just need to keep telling myself that!

We had a taste of what spring is like in my neck of the woods. the weather got up to 60 degrees! And....then it snowed today! Can I please get some spring up in here?? I have so many outdoor projects that I am itching to do that I can't take this snow anymore! I am usually a snow lover but geesh! It can be over anytime now!

With that taste of spring I did start a little bit of spring cleaning. Which led me to want to do some spring painting! I am hoping to get my kitchen painted before anything else! Wish me luck! I know how bad I am about wanting to start a project and then never doing it. *Think positive Steph!*

I finally finished my Creative Challenge Drawing! I haven't drawn in quite awhile and I was a little impressed with my forgotten skills! (Not to brag or anything!) I really did enjoy it! I may just get myself a sketch book and make that some of my "me" time. I would really love to get into painting. I need to do some research as to what types of paints and brushes are good. If you have any input on that, it would be greatly appreciated.

I have also set a little goal for myself. I keep collecting all of these great books from paperbackswap.com , swap.com, and the library and they just sit there and are not getting read! I know this goes back to a  previous post, but I needed to remind myself I guess. I just really want to read all of the books that I have not read that are sitting on my shelf before I start getting loads of other books from the library. Yet, I still want to expand my collection, so if anyone has any books they may want to swap or get rid of-I'm your gal!

I know this is quite a random post, but I just wanted to put a little hello in there and let you know how things were going on my end! Hope all is well on your end. Think spring thoughts!