2011 Comes to a Close

I can hardly believe that today is the last day of 2011. This year has been a rollercoaster ride, full of lots of highs and lows. The lows have seemed to be worse this year than in the past, but because of those lows, this year has disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The major lows for me from this year have been the loss of my mother earlier this year, and my boyfriend moving to Northern Cali {7 hours away}.

My mom, Carol at our favorite desert getaway, La Casa del Zorro in Borrego Springs, CA.

The major highs for me from this year have been meeting some amazing new friends at school, finishing up my first ever semester of college with straight A’s, and of course, starting my blog!

My BFF, Jess, and I on my 22nd bday!

I am not usually one for “New Year’s Resolutions”, but this year I am actually making some. Unfortunately, I am going to be one of those people that has “join a gym/start working out” on my list, but I am in desperate need of it. This past year I’ve put on a lot of weight, which I think is partly due to me being depressed about my mom’s passing. Food has always been one of my loves, but my appetite has really grown this year and I find myself eating a lot more than I have in the past, a lot more than I know I should be. I’m by no means “fat” or “obese” but I’m getting a muffin top… and it needs to go away! I love me some muffins, but not when they stick above my pants!!!

Some of my other resolutions are to really keep up with my blog, especially with my Sweet Saturday/Savory Sunday/Musical Monday posts that I planned to do a few months ago.

I also wanted to spend today reflecting on this past year, and decided to share my Top 10 most visited posts from this year, so I hope you all enjoy them!

#10 on my list. This Creamy Peanut Butter Pie was baked back in August when Jennie, a fellow food blogger, lost her husband and father of her children. A bunch of people from the online food community came together and all baked pies in memory of her husband.

#9 on the list is my World of Warcraft backstory. I posted this back in August because I wanted to share with everyone how I got into WoW, where I meant the love of my life and boyfriend of 4 years, and what had taken up nearly 6 years of my life.

#8 on the list is my grandma's Angel Food Cake Frosting. I baked these cakes back in May for Easter. I absolutely LOVE Angel Food Cake, but only with this frosting. Every year on my birthday my mom would bake me two of these cakes, one for the family, and one for me because I'm a piggy *snortsnort*

#7 on the list are the delicious Individual Gorgonzola Beef Wellingtons. I made these in August for my Dad for Father's Day. These are so simple and are a real crowd pleaser. Plus, these are sure to make you look like you're the best cook in the world if you serve these!

#6 on the list is this sweet Mixed Berry Tart. I made this in late July for a family get together and everyone loved it to death. It is definitely a keeper recipe, and if you like berries, you should check it out!

#5 on the list is this quick and easy Southern Chicken and Dumplings. It has minimal ingredients, and feeds quite a few people. All you need is a crockpot and a few hours.

#4 on the list are my Mom's Sugar Cookies that I baked this month for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. My mom and I made these cookies for a lot of holidays, and are a family tradition. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

#3 on the list are the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcakes I helped crown by Cupcake Project. The other 49 Cupcake Explorers and I went through three rounds before we found this recipe, but it was well worth it. These really are the ULTIMATE Vanilla cupcakes.

#2 on the list are these moist Copycat Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes by Carrot Top Mom. I found her recipe back in January when I was looking for a Red Velvet Cupcake to bake for my mom's 65th birthday. She was in the hospital, so I wanted something small and portable, and these were just the thing! I love them, and I know you will too!

And finally, #1 on the list is this amazing Bacon-Swiss BBQ Chicken crockpot recipe. Like the Chicken and Dumplings {from the same cookbook}, it has minimal ingredients, and is a wonderfully simple summer meal.

Well, that’s it everyone! Those are the Top 10 posts most visited on my blog since I started it back in April! If you want to visit the post and check it out, you can click on the picture.

I hope that you all have a wonderful and safe New Years Eve tonight. And don’t forget, please please please don’t drink and drive tonight! Stay safe, and call AAA if you need a ride, they will tow your car and give you a lift FOR FREE if you need it!!

Stay safe, and I will see you all in the new year!!

 

♥ and harp strings,
Kate

Sweet Saturdays: Ultimate Vanilla Cupcakes

If it isn’t already really obvious, I’m just a little behind on my second Sweet Saturdays post.

By like… 2 months.

Wow…

*proceeds to hit head on desk*

Life has seriously gotten away from me lately, which I will explain about in an upcoming post about my birthday and the upcoming holidays.

But, finally, I am making time to sit down and write! I’ve missed it a lot, and it feels great to get back to it

I just hope I haven’t lost too many of you in the process… but, if I have maybe I can win some of you back today! *crosses fingers*

So, yesterday was exciting in a… mixture of sarcasm and not-sarcasm.

New phrase? Sure, I’ll roll with it.

Real Life Crazyness

Hey everyone!!

I just wanted to let you all know that I haven’t abandoned you guys, or my blog. Things have just been so crazy for me I’ve barely had time to sleep let alone do anything else!

Right now my dad and I are in the middle of a huge move/downsize this weekend (and have been for the past couple weeks) and this weekend we’re making the transition from sleeping at the old place to sleeping at the new place. Unfortunately that means I have to move a lot of stuff… including my clothes. And I have a LOT of clothes to move…

I also just finished up my 3rd week of 17 credits worth of college classes, which has been really busy just by itself! I also have a lovely genetics quiz to study for (for my Physical Anthropology class) that I’m taking on Wednesday, as well as a Journal Review (for my Psych 101 class) that is also due on Wednesday.

And on top of both of those, my boyfriend finally got the job he’d been waiting to hear about (yay for employment!! ) but… it’s in Northern California, aka 8 hours north of me. And oh btw, he starts a week from this Monday.

My boyfriend and I have also been hard at work this week on a new cage for my 3 guinea pigs (since their old cage was much too big for my now very very very small bedroom). The cage is now pretty much finished, but it took nearly 4 days to finish between doing a bunch of other stuff related to school/moving/his new job/his move.

*takes a deep breath*

So… as you can see, I’ve had zero time for anything! But today I am getting some me time that doesn’t have anything to do with studying/reading textbooks/homework! I get to bake the next recipe for Cupcake Project’s Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake search. I have to have my review in by this evening. So I have to get my ingredients out of the old house and lug them over to the new house where all 0f my baking supplie are hiding in boxes in the kitchen and start baking! Oh. I also have to bring my mom’s KitchenAid mixer. Good thing I’m writing about this or I would have forgotten and been very very sad.

 

I have many more lovely things planned to share with you all in the near future, including setting up days for posts! So far I’m thinking of… Musical Mondays (where I share a new harp piece with you!), Sweet Saturdays (for those delicious treats we all love), and Savory Sundays (where I try out a new dinner, or maybe even breakfast or lunch, recipe on my family and share it with you!).

I love you guys and hope that you haven’t given up hope that I will return with more wonderful things to share with you! Because I haven’t! I have so many things I want to share, but I haven’t been able to make time

I hope you all have a lovely Friday, and more importantly, a lovely Labor Day weekend!!!!!

♥ Kate

Copycat Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes w/Cream Cheese Frosting

If you are looking for a go-to red velvet cupcake with an outstanding cream cheese frosting, then please look no further! These red velvet cupcakes are absolutely to-die-for. If you haven’t ever made homemade red velvet cupcakes, then I urge you to  try this! It is so easy and you can’t have just one of these moist bundles of heaven!

On my dad’s way home from work he would drive through my old town of Vista, and in the downtown there is this awesome cupcake shop called Little Cakes. They have the most delicious cupcakes, and the red velvet my dad would bring home inspired me to track down a recipe of my own! So thankfully, I stumbled across the recipe for these when I was looking for red velvet cupcake recipe to make for my mom’s 65th birthday in January. I originally found them on All Recipes, however when I went back later to re-print it I noticed the person who had put it up had removed it and put a link to their blog with the recipe. Thanks to Carrot Top Mom for these fabulous cupcakes, I make them all the time!

Family Dinner

Looks like I managed to make it through my first blog entry! Hooray! Now it’s time to get to it

After mom passed and my dad was out in AZ visiting my other sister and her family, it was just TJ and I at home. I had plans for a Sunday dinner involving a 5 lb rump roast with potatoes, carrots, onion, and celery in the crock pot, but what’s the point in making such a big meal for two people? So after the dinner was done I hauled it over to my oldest sister’s house and we enjoyed it with her family. After that meal we have been having dinner together (now including my dad since he’s home from AZ) every Sunday.

It’s really nice to be able to spend time with family on those days. I look forward to it every week. It’s a shame that we hadn’t started it after we moved closer to my sister, that way mom could’ve enjoyed it as much as I am.

For last night’s dinner I made my first ever homemade lasagna along with the red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that I had first made for mom’s 65th birthday that she spent in the hospital. I was a little daunted by the lasagne because I had never made it before, but it turned out really yummy!!

We had a wonderful dinner, and I know there are lots more to come

♥ Kate

Lasagne, Caesar Salad, & Garlic Bread

Red Velvet Cupcake w/Cream Cheese Frosting

My family enjoying dinner