Diva

When Cupcake's great grandparents passed away there was a lot of stuff to sort through.  Her great Noni passed away a few years ago and her great grandpa passed away when she was just 3 weeks old, so she never got to meet either of them.  There are a few reminders of them that we will be able to share with her as she gets older.  One of those things is the costume jewelry that Noni had.  She had all these great pearl necklaces in several different lengths.  I thought one day she would love to play dress up with them.  I was right.  She has loved playing with these necklaces for months.  She calls them pretties.  She puts them on with any outfit!  Sweatpants included.  :)  Yesterday I caught her looking like this!  What a girly girl!  She wanted to wear the necklaces to story time at the library.  Of course I didn't let her have them in the carseat, but as soon as we got out of the car she asked for them again.  She was the fanciest girl at the library.  They did get in the way of her coloring project, though, so they were eventually tossed aside.  She sure knows how to make momma smile.

Apple Cinnamon Cookies

I went to a Thirty-One team meeting last night.  On the way out I grabbed a cookie for my ride home.  It was just a cookie from a grocery store bakery.  Nothing too exciting.  There were 4 types to choose from: chocolate, sugar, white chocolate macadamia nut, and apple cinnamon.  I thought apple cinnamon sounded fun and different so that's what I went with. Oh, it was the right choice!  It was a FANTASTIC cookie.  I came home raving about this cookie.  Hubby thought I was nuts!  I had a dream about that cookie!

My goal for today was to find out how to make those cookies.  To the interwebs!  I found several recipes, but most did not look promising.  Several were just cookies with applesauce in them, so I can't imagine they have that fantastic apple taste I was looking for.  So here's what I tried.

Apple pie filling.  You don't need the whole can.  Do what you want with the rest.  Eat it straight out of the can. Make a second batch of cookies.  Whatever.  I don't judge.  Spin around in the food processor to chop those babies up.

 

Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Sing some Rolling Stones even though Fall Out Boy is playing in the background.  *Ah brown sugar how come you taste so good.*  Add egg and vanilla.

 

Add the apples. Curse that your Beater Blade broke and you have to scrape the bowl.

 

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Add it!

 

Scoop the batter onto your greased or lined baking sheet.  I prefer a Silpat.  Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top.  Be generous.  I had quite a bit leftover. And the 3rd and half dozen got a good bit more than the first two dozen.  They had a yummier crunch on top.

 

Realize that using your medium scoop makes too big of a cookie after the first batch is in the oven and switch to the small scoop.

 

Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.  Take a picture.

 

Take a bite.  Take another picture.

 

So these cookies definitely turned out good.  I could eat a dozen in one sitting.  However, they were not nearly as delicious as the grocery store bakery cookie I had last night.  Hubby approved of them, too.  He didn't taste "the cookie" so he can't compare.  I think I might have a new mission in life.  I WILL make the most delicious apple cinnamon cookie EVER.

Apple Cinnamon Cookies

1 can (21 oz.) apple pie filling
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar, divided
1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a slotted spoon, remove 1 cup apples from pie filling. Save remaining pie filling for another use. Finely chop apples in a blender or food processor.In a large bowl, cream butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth. Add chopped apples to creamed mixture; stir until well blended.
In a medium bowl, sift together next 3 ingredients and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. 
In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; stir until well blended. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar mixture. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Makes About 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Recipe adapted from Cooks.com

Puzzles!

Cupcake has lots of puzzles.  And she loves them.  We love these Melissa & Doug wooden puzzles.  She has a few with animals, a mix & match, and an alphabet set. The alphabet puzzle is a bit tricky for her.  There's just too many pieces.  It doesn't stop her from trying, though!
She likes to take one letter out and try to put it in another spot.  And when it doesn't fit she sets it aside.  Eventually we have an empty puzzle, but underneath those letters are pictures!  She tries to identify the pictures underneath.  She does really well with them!
As I type she is sitting at the same table (not in the same pajamas) working on the puzzle with daddy.  Such a smart girl.  :)

Minnie Mouse Party

 Cupcake was invited to a Minnie Mouse birthday party over the weekend.  I was nervous we wouldn't be able to make it since she wasn't feeling well and not sleeping well, but alas, it's just an ear infection, so no sickness to share!  She had so much fun at the party.  And she wore her Minnie ears for a good bit of it (until one ear fell off!).  She enjoyed the play area, the desserts, and seeing her friends (although she sees them at least twice a week!).
Rule #1 when throwing a child's birthday party. Don't put all the desserts out and close to the edge of the table.  This sneaky girl had her hand on the cookie tray every 5 minutes!  And a cookie or two just wasn't good enough.  She had to eat a whole cupcake, too!  At least she is a lady and eats her cupcake with a fork (less mess for momma to clean up!).
In leaving the birthday party I realized I have less than 3 months to plan her 2nd birthday!!!  How is that even possible?!?!?!

Toddler Photo Shoot

 Have you ever tried to do a photo shoot with a toddler?  Fun times!  I don't have a fancy studio or fun props, but I love to do photo shoots with Cupcake.  She loves the big dining room chairs, so I plopped one in the middle of the living room and told her to say cheese.  It wasn't going well.  Luckily she had made a foam heart Valentine at the library and it proved to be the perfect prop.  Mostly she tried to pick the stickers off the front, but out of the 24 or so shots I got 2 good ones.  We settled on #2 for the "official" Valentine's Day photo.  I think it's a winner.

Super Secret Valentine's Project

 Cupcake likes to send Valentines to her grandparents and godparents, so we came up with a super secret project for them!  But the secret is out, so now we're sharing with you.  I saw this great idea on Prudent Baby for making a heart stamp out of a toilet paper roll.  Corinne was in need of a bath so I figured it would be a good time to let her play with some red paint!  She sure did have fun stamping (and swirling) her heart stamp on the paper!  So much so that momma had to help so at least one of the hearts actually looked like a heart!  After her cards were done I did let her go to town on a piece of paper and she had a blast making a huge red blob!  We wrote a sweet message in each card, tucked in a picture and sent them off to her favorite people (excluding her awesome parents).  And just like her momma, Cupcake's got the crafty gene in her.  Now she wants to paint all the time!!

New Light

 So, this is a before and after post, but I don't have a before picture.  When I first started this blog I thought it would be all about what Little H and I do all day.  Turns out we can be quite boring sometimes.  How often do you want to hear about playdates or story time or going to the park?  Yeah, that's what I thought.  So, I thought I'd start including more about our entire life, which includes my home improvement projects and craft projects.  Hubby just does school work which isn't the least bit exciting, so we'll just ignore him!

Anywho, now that I intend on posting my projects I will be better about my photographs.  But I'm sure you can picture this one for yourself.  I picked up a brass lamp from Goodwill for $1.99 probably a month or so ago.  It sat in the living room for a while.  I was busy working on the desk project.  But the day I spray painted the drawer pulls I was in a crazy spray painting mood and pulled the lamp outside, too.  It got a coat of primer and a few coats of Valspar Golden Maize spray paint in Satin.  Perfection!  (to spray the lamp base protect the bulb unit and the cord by wrapping with a plastic bag and taping it in place).  I then found this gorgeous lamp shade at IKEA.  Doesn't it make you happy?

A little more work needs done on it.  I need to cut a piece of felt to glue to the bottom to protect the surface I rest it on.  And then it needs to find a home (other than on the dining room table).  I'm thinking it'll end up in Cupcake's big girl room one day.

I'm very happy with the finish I got from the Valspar spray paint and I really like the way the "cap" just twists into place, but I did find the nozzle quite difficult to press down.  I have another project that I hope to get to soon that I will be using a different can of paint and I'll let you know if it was a fluke.