Playtime and Parfaits.

Well it has been a big week for Charlotte! After 13 long months she finally learned to walk! And let's just say she is basically already running. "Slow" is not a speed she likes to operate in. She is loving having a whole new perspective of the world from standing on her own 2 tiny feet. Check out this video from her first day of walking. She is very proud of herself!

In addition to walking, she is becoming quite the chatterbox! She's been saying "mama" and "dada" for a while now, but she now says the names of our pets Bella ("Beba") and Scout ("Cow"), banana ("nana"), and all done ("a-da"). She is also working on her sign language and has been signing "more" and "all done". She has definitely left the baby stage and is officially turning into a toddler/little adult.

Hope you all enjoy the newest pictures of our little life!

Enjoying the mud and leaves on a pretty day.

Apparently the mud here is really delicious!

Celebrating our 2nd anniversary!

She decided Bella needed a playmate in her crate ;)

Last but not least, I just had to share our new favorite sweet treat, courtesy of the Pioneer Woman. Man, I sure love her recipes! You definitely have to try these parfaits.. fruit, yogurt, vanilla, cream (or milk!), and brown sugar. Yum yum! Check out here recipes HERE!

Key Lime Cupcakes

Hey friends! Just wanted to share a recipe that I made today! With St. Patty's Day coming up, I wanted to try out a nice, green dessert. I LOVE Key Lime Pie and I also love cupcakes. So I decided to combine the 2 with this Key Lime cupcake! This lime flavored cupcake is topped with a cream cheese frosting to create a perfect dessert when you want something different than your standard chocolate or vanilla.

Sorry for the not so great picture... I used my phone instead of my camera. In real life, the cupcake is more green and the frosting is more cream colored. Anyways... as much as I like making things from scratch, I also like "semi-homemade" things. This is a great example of that! Taking a box mix and turning it into something new. So here is the recipe! Enjoy!

Key Lime Cupcakes:
1 box white cake mix
1 three ounce box of lime Jello
2/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
Juice from 2 limes

Mix all ingredients and pour into cupcake pan (put liners in first of course!). Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before icing. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 box cream cheese (softened to room temperature)
Half stick (1/4 cup) butter (softened to room temperature)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Use mixer to blend cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla and continue to mix. Then, slowly incorporate powdered sugar until smooth! Easy and delicious!

*Note: If you want a thicker icing, add more powdered sugar. If you want it thinner, add a milk 1 Tbsp. at a time until you reach your desired consistency*

Caffeine in a Cupcake. Yes PLEASE!

Ok. So the other night I was hanging out with my husband and had a sudden craving for coffee. I am more of a "I like a little coffee with my sugar and cream" kind of girl, and sadly we were out of creamer. Even more sad is that there are basically no coffee shops where we live. Yeah...NO STARBUCKS! So what was a girl to do??

Like all good homemakers, I had yet to clean out the coffee pot from the morning, so I had a couple cups of it leftover. So naturally I decided I should put the coffee into some cupcakes! As much as I love to use Pinterest to find recipes, I am making a big effort to create my own recipes. So I decided to just alter a basic cupcake recipe I use to create a cupcake flavored like my favorite coffee- Caramel Macchiato!

I was so excited about them, that I totally failed and didn't take pictures of the steps along the way. Hopefully I will be able to get my sweet tooth under control next time. Anyways, here is the picture and recipe! They were super easy and SO delicious! My husband and his friends raved over them for days!

Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes

2 sticks butter (softened)

2 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup brewed coffee (Whatever kind you have will work!)

1 heaping tsp. baking powder

3 cups flour

2 tsp. caramel extract

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt ( I used sea salt, but regular salt works too)

Cream together butter, brown sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly (I blended it with a hand mixer for about 1 minute). Fill cupcake tin with liners and then pour in batter until liners are between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Remove from tins and allow to cool thoroughly before icing. Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes.

For icing, I stole Paula Deen's delicious caramel frosting recipe, and it was the perfect compliment to the cupcakes. Find the recipe HERE! 

(By the way, I did not use the optional walnuts that the recipe suggests. However, I think that chopped pecans would be a delicious addition to this recipe!)

Hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

-Whitney