Strawberry Tart Chocolate Cupcakes

this is an altered recipe from my grandmother. i start off with a chocolate cake recipe (see below) and top these cupcakes off with a strawberry buttercream icing that i have altered with a little bit of a tart taste. mr. b approved so its great for kids. leave the secret ingredient out for just strawberry.

 

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp cocoa
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp water
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 5 large or 4 extra large/jumbo eggs
• ¾ cup water
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.
1 In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and cocoa.
2 Add 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of water and 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Mix for 1 minute.
3 Add eggs, 3/4 cup of water, vanilla. Mix 5-6 minutes with a whisk, 3-4 minutes with a hand mixer, or 2 minutes with a KitchenAid mixer.
4 Pour into cupcake pans, bake at 350°F for 25-35 minutes (adjust for convection); test by placing and removing a toothpick through the center at 25 minutes. When toothpick comes out clean, loosen from pans. Let cakes cool for 15 minutes.

Strawberry Buttercream Icing:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup
• butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons Strawberry Flavor
• 8 drops of red food coloring
• 2 teaspoons of Strawberry Koolaid powder (optional)

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and vanilla. Blend in the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk, and continue mixing until light and fluffy. Add flavoring, food coloring and Koolaid powder. Blend well.  Keep icing covered until ready to decorate.               

organic blueberry pancakes recipe

Blueberry pancakes are one of my favorite breakfast recipes. Whenever blueberries are in season, I always pick as many as I can and put them up for pancakes, muffins, and smoothies This recipe will make about 12 blueberry pancakes.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 cups milk

1 cup organic blueberries (fresh or frozen)

2 Tbsp melted butter (plus more butter for cooking)

Preparation:

Pre-heat your griddle to 375° or heat a nonstick sauté pan or skillet over medium heat.

Pre-heat oven to 200°F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Beat the eggs thoroughly. Combine the milk and melted butter, and add it to the beaten egg. Then add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix gently until combined. Thin the batter with a little additional milk if necessary, but don't overmix!

Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

Melt butter on the griddle or pan. It should foam and sizzle.

For each pancake, ladle ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle or pan.

Cook until the tops of the pancakes are full of bubbles and the bottoms are golden brown.

Flip the pancakes and cook until the tops are golden brown, then either serve right away or transfer to the oven to keep warm.

Top with additional fresh blueberries if desired.

Enjoy!

Roll Tide : Sweet Home Alabama Free Printable

here is a little something i decided to through together this evening. i am working on a collegiate themed downloadable freebie kit for the upcoming october issue of lake wedowee life magazine so i had a little inspiration to make this print for you.

roll tide university of alabama sweet home alabama free print

8 x 10

click HERE to download

click here for the Auburn print

War Eagle : Sweet Home Alabama Free Printable

here is a little something i decided to through together this evening. i am working on a collegiate themed downloadable freebie kit for the upcoming october issue of lake wedowee life magazine so i had a little inspiration to make this print for you.

war eagle auburn sweet home alabama print

8 x 10

click HERE to download

click HERE for the Alabama printable.

DIY Marquee Sign : EAT for Dinning Room

i have seen several diy marquee sign tutorials on pinterest so i decided to try it our myself.

this project cost me about $25 dollars and 3 hours of my time.

here were the results.

excuse the cell phone photos but for some reason i couldn't locate my camera until this morning

(scary for someone who uses it to make $$ but it was under all the school supplies i purchased yesterday for mr. b)

 here are the links to my inspiration (with instructions on how to make your own):

oh happy day (i love you jordan! you are such an inspiration)

craft gossip (love this site for inspiration too!)

ALSO if you don't want to make these you can purchase them here:

urban outfitters ($189 per letter)

the letters i made are about 2' x 3' and stretch out from ceiling to floor in my dinning room.

i probably should have made them smaller but i have a huge dinning area that is hard to place furniture so this looks great in there.

ps: this is not an eco friendly craft :(

im sure i could have made it one if i had thought ahead

 but it is still thrifty

and what leftovers i have we will use for a later project

DIY Printable Coasters

DIY Custom Coasters

I made this craft per a special request by one of our readers (of Lake Wedowee Life magazine), Kim Stone.  There are so many possibilities to customize this craft to your style. I made four printable sets that you can download for free. These are lake/summer themed sets (well...2 are) and there are 2 custom for Lake Wedowee.

 Scroll to the bottom to download each set individually. 

I used 4x4 stone tiles ($3.97 for 8) from the home improvement store. Print the coaster set of your choice, cut and adhere to tiles with modge podge. Once dry use a spray shellac to cover the front. Allow plenty of time to dry(4-6 hours). Use felted tabs on the bottom to avoid damage to furniture.

Supplies you will need:

scissors

4" x 4" tiles

mod podge

shellac

sponge brush

coaster graphic (or you can use an old map or scrapbook paper)

Download & Print your favorite coaster graphic.

cut your coaster image to fit a little inside the edge of the tile.

cover tile with mod podge and then place the graphic on top.

cover the top with mod podge and allow it to dry a few hours.

once dry spray with shellac a few coats allowing each coat 15-20 minutes to dry.

place felted tabs on the bottom to protect your furniture.

CLICK HERE to download this set.

CLICK HERE to download this set.

CLICK HERE to download this set.

CLICK HERE to download this set.

Summer Wreath Alternative | Garden Hose Wreath

           DIY Wreath Alternative

This wreath is a simple way to add an end of summer touch to your door. I used a scrap piece of water hose, an old watering can with a succulent planted inside and some leftover flowers  from a previous craft.