my happy baker

Sweet Caroline needed to make something for her class's bake sale.
They were raising money for a child in the Dominican Republic.

She decided to make frosted brownies with sprinkles.

Who doesn't like brownies?

Or frosting?

Or sprinkles?

Delicious!!

Whenever we make frosting, we use this recipe:

Vanilla Butter Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup softened butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

milk (just keep adding a little bit at a time until you get the consistency you desire)

camp

I'm baaaack!!
And I had a blast.
This is my cabin of lovely girls.
I was so glad to get to know them.
(this picture was taken before our 6:30 am nature walk . . . invigorating!!)

I slept better than I had anticipated. (even though it was only 50 degrees in the cabin!)

The food was good and the best part was that I didn't have to cook it myself and everyone helped clean the tables! :)

The whole trip was very educational. 

It was an outdoor ed program.

Owl pellets.

Bird watching.

Geology.

Animal encounters.

Team building.

Aquatics.

Orienteering.

It was fabulous.

But my favorite part of the whole trip was catching this young man's eye every now and then.

I'm so glad I went.

gone camping . . . wish me luck

I will not be blogging for the next few days.
I'm going to camp.
With a bunch of fifth graders.
Wish me luck . . .

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I've been warned that the hardest part of the trip will be the bus ride.

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I can't imagine that will be too bad . . .

the part I'm worried about is the sleeping arrangement.

I hope the girls like to sleep because I sure do.

Another thing I'm a little concerned about is the food.

I'm a little picky lately about what I eat.

I think I may stash some things away in my suitcase.

Like dark chocolate high protein/low carb foods.

I actually am pretty excited about going to camp and being one of the people "in charge".

That means I get to chew gum and drink coffee while all the other kids can't. :)

I'm sure I will have many pictures and interesting stories to share with you when I return.

favorites on fridays

So . . . did you watch the royal wedding??

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I didn't get up early to watch it, but I have been watching coverage of it today.

Truly beautiful.

In keeping with the whole princess theme, I thought my "Favorites on Fridays" post should be about . . . well, princesses (and kisses)!

Favorite Book to Share with my Daughter about Purity: The Princess and the Kiss written by Jennie Bishop.
 

It tells the story of how a princess received the gift of a first kiss from God when she was born and her parents kept it safe for her while she was growing up. When she became old enough, they gave it to her and urged her to use it wisely and only to give it to the man she would decide to marry. Well, of course, several different men tried to sweep her off her feet with money, looks, and opportunities, but she chose a farmhand with a good heart to give her kiss to . . . oh my . . . I know that we have a few years before Caroline will be thinking of giving kisses away to boys (-SHUDDER-), but what a beautiful way to teach her the importance of purity.

"Love . . . comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

I Timothy 1:5 NIV

Starbucks style pumpkin cream cheese muffins

In the Fall, Sweet Caroline loves to get these at Starbucks.
They are pumpkin cream cheese muffins.
They are delicious.
They are $3.00.
(for one!)

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So . . . today when I opened up our pantry and saw 6 cans of pumpkin puree, I knew what I should do with them. (it sure feels like Fall around here, so why not use up the pumpkin now?)

Six. (why did I have six cans of pumpkin??)

Here is my very-much-cheaper version of the Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffin.

I'm glad I tried this recipe . . . it has just the right amount of spices.
I put plain cream cheese in the middle, but you can add brown sugar, an egg, and vanilla to make it more like a frosting. (my boys did not like the cream cheese center, the rest of us loved it)

I think I actually like them better than the Starbucks version!

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 pinch cardamom (optional . . . I didn't use)
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs 
• 2 cups sugar 
• 2 cups pumpkin
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 8 ounces cream cheese (add 1 egg, 3 T. brown sugar & 1 tsp. vanilla if you would like . . . I didn't)
• chopped pumpkin seeds or walnuts or pecans  (optional . . . I used chopped walnuts)
• cinnamon/sugar (to sprinkle on top)

Preheat oven to 350.

Put the entire brick of cream cheese on a piece of wax paper or parchment paper and shape it into a long log.

Put it in the freezer while you mix and fill the pans, up to an hour.

Mix all ingredients together (except cream cheese and nuts).

Fill muffin tins (greased or paper cups).

Cut log of cream cheese up into discs.

Put cream cheese disc in the middle of muffin, pressing down.

Sprinkle with chopped nuts and cinnamon/sugar.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part (not the cream cheese).

**next time I will use applesauce instead of the oil to reduce the amount of fat .  . I'll let you know how that works out

**also . . . my dad is gluten-free now, so I was excited to see this option:

GLUTEN FREE option:
Keep everything the same, except instead of the flour. . .
2 1/2 cups Bob's gf all purpose flour mix
1/2 cup almond flour
2 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum



Linking up with:

Rainy Day

It's raining,

it's pouring.

It never

ever

stops.

But that's OK.

I've been keeping busy inside. . . .

washing all those plastic eggs for next year(because I'm crazy like that),

looking up interesting websites like TheWritingFaculty (because I'm interested in stuff like that),

waiting on two sick kids (because I love them so),

doing lots and lots of laundry (because, well . . .that's what I do),

and missing this little guy (because he's been at school and a birthday party all day).

We're hoping for some sunny days here in Chicagoland real soon . . . until then, I will keep finding things to do inside.

How's your weather???

free piano music

My kids are taking a little break from taking piano lessons due to sports schedules.
During this "break" from lessons, I have been downloading free piano music from this site.

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They have music for all levels and you can even listen to it being played online before you download it. 

I love the songs because they are recognizable ones.

Many are classic songs that are just made easier to play (like Fur Elise).

Tonight, Caroline learned how to play Spring by Vivaldi (from The Four Seasons) and Jake learned how to play the Theme to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. 

And did I mention it is free???