Off to the Shore...

Belly Boo and I are heading off to the land of fun and sand for a week with my parents and grandparents.  I can't wait to see how much the little dumpling loves the sand and ocean this year!

We plan on hanging out at the beach, seeing the hubs play a concert with his guard band, hitting the boards, checking out the beauty of Cape May and checking out the zoo! It should be a great week and I can't wait to just relax a bit!

Beach 2010

S'mores Brownies.

I'll be the first to admit that I like my brownies undisturbed by any other ingredients.  No peanut butter chips, no extra chocolate frosting, no marshmallows - nothing.  Just give me a nice and big gooey brownie and I'm good to go.

Basically this recipe goes against all my brownie morals but it was sooo good.  And easy.  Which automatically makes it better.

Ingredients:
1 box of Betty Crocker dark chocolate brownie mix
eggs and oil as stated on box
big marshmallows, or mini marshmallows if you so desire
graham cracker crumbs

Directions:
1.  Preheat your oven as instructed on the box.
2.  Mix brownie mix together with eggs and oil.  Grease your pan and even the brownie batter out in the pan.
3.  Take your jumbo marshmallows and cut in half, place as many as you'd like across the top of the batter.
4.  Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs across the top of the mix.
5.  Bake as instructed or until a toothpick comes out clean.

They should look a little something like this.  The marshmallows get all gooey and toasted and the graham cracker crumbs get nice and crunchy.  And of course the brownies are amazing!

Not a Green Thumb

I'm really horrible at taking care of plants.  They last a month or two and then they just kind of wither and die.  It's pretty sad, actually.  Which is why I was so surprised when these lovely lilies just sprouted and took off by our front lamp post.  I didn't do anything, except for plant them last year, and didn't expect them to come back at all.

But they did.  And they're beautiful.  So thank you, garden gods for making me look like I at least have some sort of pale green thumb.  Especially next to my neighbors beautiful constantly blooming garden.

The Many Faces of Belly Boo...[An all-pictures-no text-post]

Dickinson...

Our little town is home to Dickinson College, one of the oldest colleges in the United States.  Parts of the campus date back to the 1800's and the buildings are just absolutely beautiful.  Usually the campus is full of college students moving to and from classes, but now that summer is here we're getting to enjoy some of the nice big grassy lawns and the famous red Adirondack chairs that are sprawled all over campus.  

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

I've been looking for a recipe like this for quite awhile, and now that summer is here I really needed to find one.  I did, and it totally doesn't disappoint.  It's the perfect balance of strawberry and lemon, and a really best when they're fresh out of the refrigerator.  I made them for a picnic a week ago and they flew off the table.  I topped them with little bendy straws.  So cute!

Cupcake Recipe only via Cupboard to Cupboard
Ingredients:
1 package white cake mix
1 3 oz. package strawberry jello
1 cup mashed strawberries ( 1 1/2 cup whole = 1 cup mashed)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 eggs

In large bowl, stir together cake mix and jello mix.  Make a well in the center and pour in mashed strawberries, oil, buttermilk and eggs.  Beat on low speed until blended.  Scrape sides of the blow, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed.  Pour batter into prepared cupcake pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack until completely cooled.

Makes 24 cupcakes. *This recipe actually yielded 30 cupcakes for me, so maybe I didn't fill them enough?


Lemon Icing recipe:
1 teaspoon fresh lemon rind, grated
3 tablespoons butter, room temp
3 cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
dash of salt*
yellow food coloring (if desired)

Add lemon rind to butter, cream well.  Add part of sugar gradually, blending well after each addition. 
Combine lemon juice and water; add to creamed mixture alternately with the remaining amount of confectioners sugar until it reaches the right consistency to spread.  Add in yellow food coloring to the frosting.

Beat after each addition until smooth.

Add salt. * I didn't add salt, didn't find a need for it.

Frost baked goods.


Enjoy these, seriously!

Mmm...Gelato

On Friday we took a little stroll into town and stopped in at a new creperie and cafe that opened up a few months ago.  Helena's Chocolate Cafe & Creperie might just be my new favorite spot in town.  It was seriously the brightest little cafe and has a great location.

And their gelato is to die for.  So.  Good.  I had chocolate so I could share with Belly Boo, but sampled the Blood Orange flavor and it was amazing.  The hubs had some kind of butter rum flavor that was also really wonderfully flavored.  They had the most amazing looking desserts and chocolates that I would have loved to try, and I can't wait to go back and get a crepe.

I have a feeling I might be there quite a few more times this summer!

1.  Chocolate gelato.  Amazing.

2.  Keeping Belly Boo occupied.

3.  The Hubs working on his sketching skills.

4.  The "boo-boo" lip

5.  So many yummy treats, not enough belly space.

Bad Blogger Disease

So I've really neglected blogging the past week.

We had a super busy weekend, but now the hubs is home from school for the summer, things will be a lot more fun!

I'll be back to blogging regularly soon, but for now I'm just enjoying the start to my summer!