Baby Shower: The Spread

Today's baby shower installment is all about the spread!  This will be mostly pictures, and I'll post recipes for a few of the treats made later this week.

Check out that spread!  The shower was at 2 in the afternoon, so I opted for desserts and snacks.  The fruit salads and tomato tarts (I think that's what they're called) were made by three of the party's attendees.  Thank you again, ladies!  There were a few other treats brought, unfortunately there were no photos of the table once everyone got there.  There was just too much fun being had to remember picture taking!

The flowers were inexpensive bouquets from Publix.  The paper lanterns were purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I had originally planned to hang them, but ran out of time, so they became giant "bubbles" on the main table.

It was very convenient that the shower happened to be around Valentine's Day.   I had no problem getting colorful M&Ms.

The mom-to-be requested something of the peanut butter and chocolate variety, so I whipped up some from-the-box brownies and drizzled melted peanut butter on top before baking.

It wouldn't be a party without oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  Just sayin'.  I live and die by the OCCC.

This is the first time I've made a pinwheel cookie, and they were easy and yummy.  These have orange peel in the dough and crushed pecans, cranberries, and brown sugar in the filling.

This cake was my baby.  Cherry-almond cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.  Sadly, I have no pictures of the inside, but it's PINK, which was the whole reason I decided to make it.  It was seriously yummy, as was the frosting.  I'll post a recipe for this one later this week, fo sho.  The heart toppers are from the Dollar Tree.

So that's the food spread.  In case you're wondering, the little glass ornaments floating around the table are bubbles.  They were super easy.  I'll post a little how-to for those in this series, as well.

Sour Milk Blueberry Pancakes

I decided to whip up some pancakes the other morning, but I didn't want to make the usual plain pancakes.  Can you say boring?!  I opted to do a little variation on the plain old buttermilk pancakes recipe that's in Better Homes & Gardens.

Sour Milk Blueberry Pancakes
adapted from Better Homes & Gardens

1 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbs granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups sour milk* or buttermilk
3 tbs melted butter (you can sub oil, but I love me some butter.  Paula Deen and I will soon have diabetes in common)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-3/4 cup fruit

In a large bowl stir together flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, & salt.  In another bowl use fork to combine egg, milk, butter, & vanilla.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir in fruit.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be slightly lumpy).

For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, slightly greased griddle.  Cook over medium heat until pancakes are golden brown, turning to second side when pancakes are bubbly & edges are slightly dry.

Serve warm with whatever toppings make your heart sing.  For my husband, that means (homemade) whipped cream and maple syrup!  If you've never eaten homemade whipped cream, you're missing out.  It's 1000x better than store bought.

*MAKING SOUR MILK: For each 1 cup of sour milk, place 1 tbs of lemon juice or vinegar in a glass measuring cup.  Add enough milk to make 1 cup total liquid; stir.  Let it stand for 5 minutes before using.

Delicious Link-up!

I started graduate school about 6 weeks ago, so I must apologize for being MIA.  Apparently, grad school requires a lot of reading and assignments.  Who'da thunk it!?

In my spare time, I have been exploring procrastinating on various websites, my current favorite being the always popular Stumble Upon.  It is here, and in pretty much every show and movie that I've watched, that my husband and I have come to the rather obvious conclusion that I am very easily swayed by images of food.  If people are drinking a beer on the show we're watching, I immediately crave a beer.  If Stumple Upon links me to a website that smacks me in the face with a glorious feast, I want to cook it (most often bake, but let me feel like I'm well-rounded in the kitchen).

Tonight, instead of baking, I am going to procrastinate writing the million Discussion Board posts that I have for this week, I've decided to link up to a few of the goodies I'm dying to bake lately:

Centsational Girl just posted a delicious looking Raspberry Rhubard Crumble. This site is usually one of my go tos for home diy fun, but she popped this gem on me today, and I was beyond excited.

Glorious Dulche de Leche Brownies from Miss in the Kitchen.

Homemade Twix Bars from Not without Salt.

And last, but most certainly not least, Chocolate Cake made with Greek Yogurt from (never home)maker.

Can you say swoon?  I feel like I'm 12 again and trying to choose which American Girl Doll I want.  Luckily, unlike choosing an American Girl Doll (we all know whichever one you chose represents you for life. Hellooo, Samantha!), I can't go wrong with any of the above.

If you simply want to drool on your keyboard whilst at work, visit FoodGawker.  There are another million and one things on this site that I want to make.

P.S. I did make Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread this weekend.  I love giving in to temptation.  It wasn't as pretty as Joy's and probably not nearly as gooey and soft, but I enjoyed it.  Maybe a little too much, but that's what the gym is for.

Oh, and here's a beast video for you since this post lacked fun pictures of the food.  But, really, click on the links.  You won't be sorry.

Drop in the Bucket

As I said in my last post, I love lists, so it should come as no surprise to my beloved, loyal, numerous readers that I have started a "Bucket List". I have had a lot of time on my hands lately which has lead me to think about what I want out of life. As with most people's "Bucket Lists", mine is rather varied, but there is a large chunk dedicated to traveling (stroll the Great Wall, marvel at the Taj Mahal, check my watch with Big Ben, smile with the Mona Lisa, hike to Machu Picchu). I want to see as much of the world as possible before I die.



Sadly, I have some hindrances to these dreams, including a fear of flying and travel anxiety. I have a few weddings dotted along the East Coast to go to in the coming months and I'm already worried that I'll miss a flight or lose my luggage! Luckily, my husband is extremely level-headed and can talk me down from almost any irrational rant I'm on at the moment.

For the next few months, the weddings will be my traveling and I will have to put off my globe trotting dreams and cross something else off of my list. My list is patiently sitting in a notebook next to my computer waiting to be freed. Eliminating travel from my possibilities leaves me with many options. I could go skydiving (ha!), take salsa dancing lessons (need a partner), go vegetarian for a month, or become trilingual.

I have already begun my attempts at learning another language (French) and have a basic knowledge of Spanish, so option #4 is slowly on its way to being crossed off. Skydiving is on the list more for comedic purposes and I'm waiting on the return of my dance partner to sign up for lessons. It would appear that my best option is to attempt a dietary change. If you know my eating and cooking habits then you will understand that this should be a simple change. I'm not the biggest cook and my preferred meals tend to vary between pasta, PBJs, and grilled cheese sandwiches. I definitely don't have it in me to go vegan (I love cheese far too much!), but I think I'm up for the vegetarian challenge.

As with most everything I do, I'll start with some research before taking the leap. I don't eat tofu, so I'll have to find recipes that don't focus on it. I have already requested a packet from PETA on going vegetarian. I'll keep the world posted on my efforts once I begin this Bucket List Bullet. Wish me luck!

Mr. Koala and I have some bucket work to be done.