Pots and Pins

Burp Cloths, Hooter Hiders and a Sweet Pillow...

I've been crazy busy - working, sewing, baking, cleaning, eating...wedding flowers, wedding cakes...it's enough to make my head spin...faster!  For a baby gift, I decided to make some hooter hiders (Ha!) also known as nursing covers (blah!) and then I had to make some burp cloths to go with them and then I realized that I hadn't made any for the girl so back to the machine I went! 

But first, I made this sweet, sweet pillow for someone in California!  She needed it for a shower this Friday so I had to work fast...I think it turned out very cute. 

Matching burp cloths seemed like a good idea...a new mom can never have too many of them!

These burp cloths were made by following this tutorial from MADE.  I've usually sewn burp cloths by adding cute fabric to ready-made cloth diapers...but Dana has this great tutorial for making them any size you want, still with cute fabric but without necessarily using diapers...on these burp cloths I used diaper fabric and these cloths measure 10-inches by 16-inches...not too big, not too small...just right!  Seriously easy and fast...two burp cloths take about 15 minutes, start to finish!

Eight burp cloths in an hour!!  That's pretty fast!  They make great gifts...and you can use scraps!  I backed some of these cloths with waffle fabric I had to make dish towels out of...I also had some towel fabric and I used that on a few...whatever soft, absorbent fabric you have will work.

Four hooter hiders...two for the girl, two for a gift...easy, fast and a fraction of the cost of buying them.  Plus, they are practical and used over and over and over!  There are patterns on-line but if you'd like a really easy pattern, shoot me an email and I'll send it to you.  Now I just have to finish the drapes for Elsa's nursery and make a car seat cover...today!!!  No rest for the wicked!

 

Missy's Blessing Quilt...

Mitch + Jessie = Missy...all 7 lbs. of her.  I haven't met little Missy yet but she is quite the little looker!  Missy is getting blessed this Sunday so I thought she should have something appropriate to wrap up in...

Believe me, it's as luxurious feeling as it looks!  White stain that's machine quilted with wool batting in between...warm and silky-soft.  I usually put silk-dupioni on one side of blessing quilts, it's equally as soft but not "slippery"...but in my haste to get this made and out the door I had the thing quilted before I realized I used the wrong backing...either I need to slow down or my brain needs to speed up!!  This is the second blunder in a week!!  Buy really, no harm done, as long as little MIssy isn't a squirmer and slides right out of her quilt!

 

 

 

 

 

You can click on the pics to see a larger version, then you might be able to make out the embroidery.  Around the edges Missy's full name is embroidered with pearl cotton, along with her birth date.  Satin is machine washable and dryable - and after coming out of the dryer it's much softer - I love the feel of it.  I'm thinking I need to make myself a blessing quilt...perhaps a bit larger and maybe in a soft brown color because where I'm going I don't think white is required! 

 

 Missy's gramma sent me this picture of her, isn't she so sweet?!  There is just nothing like a new grandbaby...speaking of, I shall be getting MY new grandbaby on January 12th!  A C-section has been scheduled, unless SHE comes early!  The girl is still planning on calling her Elsa...whatever...I'm calling her Macy...think about it, being named after a department store is a great idea!  All of her gifts will come in a personalized bag and all of her clothes will come with her name already in them!  I still have another month to convince the girl this is the right thing to do...Grandma's should be able to name their grandchildren...especially when their daughters have kids and live 800 MILES AWAY!

 Missy's blessing quilt measures 40 x 40-inches - the perfect size for the perfect baby.

Powdered Sugar Mints...

The addition of little details can turn an ordinary event into an amazing one...or an over-the-top event, which is my favorite kind.  To help with one such festive gala, I was asked to make fondant dots...just typing the word fondant almost made me throw up a little in my mouth - it's like eating paste.  Although I would think paste would taste better - not that I would know as I was NEVER a paste eater!  Were you?  If you were, don't tell me because the kids I knew who ate paste also ate boogers, and pencil erasers.  I only ate food - however I did have a thing for salt dough but that's another story.  So buying, making or using fondant in any form is repulsive to me - my apologies is you're a fan - it's just one of those things I cannot do.  I explained this issue to the gal who asked me about making them and she said, "Well, do you have something better?"  I replied, "Why Yes, Yes I do!"

 

 

 

 

Powdered Sugar Mints have been in my recipe box since I've had a recipe box.  They can be made with any flavoring and into any shape by using small cookie cutters or pressing into a candy mold.  I usually make them at Easter time in the shape of eggs - they just melt in your mouth - and a bag of them make a nice little gift, too!

Once the candy is made, you can divide it into pieces and add different food colorings to get just the color you want.  I was asked to use orange, red, gold and green...and so I did...I always do what I'm told.  Since these dots were going to be used to decorate cakes with white frosting, I flavored them with orange extract...so good!  Mix, roll, cut and let sit to dry...that's it!  It's a fun thing to do with kids, too, not too messy and no one is going to think less of them for eating CANDY unless they tell their dentist!

Powdered Sugar Mints - Pots and Pins

1 egg white

4 tablespoons cold water

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 lbs. powdered sugar (about 8 cups)

1 teaspoon flavoring

Food coloring (just a few drops until you get the desired color - paste colors work best)

If you are going to make all of the mints the same, then mix all ingredients together with a spoon and then knead with your hands until smooth and lump free.  You want the candy-dough to be the consistency of  Play-doh.  If it's too stiff, add a teaspoon or two of water, but go slowly, you don't want it to be sticky.

If you want to make different flavors and colors, divide into different portions, and add different flavorings (if you divide into fourths then just add 1/4 teaspoon flavoring to each, if you divide into thirds, add 1/3 teaspoon, etc.) and different food coloring to each.  Knead by hand until well mixed and smooth.  (Put candy portions into plastic bags to keep them soft and smooth while you roll out the different portions.)  Roll out candy between two sheets of parchment or waxed paper with a rolling pin.  Cut into desired shapes with small cutters.  Place on parchment or waxed paper to dry (when you can handle them without them sticking, about 30 minutes on both sides) then they will be ready to be boxed or bagged or placed into a candy dish for eating!  Makes about 100, depending on the size of your cutter. 

Those green dots look kind of pathetic!!  I delivered the dots and they were used to decorate six cakes...I don't have a pic to show you but I heard they looked fabulous!   Try these for Easter...use pastel colors and  small egg-shaped cutter...or a small bunny cutter...so, so cute - and good!  Let your imagination go crazy and you'll be making different colored/flavored mints for every holiday under the sun - and then some!

Sock Cupcakes, Sock Roses And A Diaper Cake...

When I was flat down with the ghombue, I sent the boy to buy me some baby things for a shower...he got everything I asked for and then some.  I told him to buy a package of infant socks...ONE PACKAGE...he came home with 18 pairs of infant socks.  He's thorough to a fault.   After I got better, I was going to return the socks, then I remembered this:

Baby socks rolled up into "roses" and pinned to greenery...it was very pretty on the table.  Of course, that only used about a half dozen socks...so what to do with the others?  I played around with them for a bit and then I remembered seeing socks as cupcakes at Pleasant Home!  So I "borrowed" her idea and made these:

(Take a minute and check out Pleasant Home, she's one clever gal.)  My local grocery store bakery gave me the plastic cupcake container - sometimes they sell them for a buck a piece - a small price to pay for a cute idea, no?

  

Michaels craft store had these darling wooden flowers, butterflies, bees and dragonflies  - already painted - that adorned the cake.  They were 59 cents each!  Pretty ribbon held the diapers together and the layers just sit on top of each other - no pins, no magic.  Easy to assemble, easy to take apart.  The little bear peeking out from the top finished off the cake.  It's sitting on a glass cake stand - hard to see - but with the stand this cake was about 3 feet high!  I used 66 newborn diapers - which is probably one week's worth!  

The mom to be didn't know what she was having so pink and blue cookies were the favors...as it turned out, Kjarsta, who's baby wasn't due for three weeks, had a LITTLE GIRL just 3 days after the shower!  Must have been all the excitement from opening all those wonderful gifts!  Congratulations Kjarsta!!

If you need a fabulous diaper cake and don't have the time to assemble one yourself, check out the Diaper Cakes from ediapercakes.com - they are absolutely adorable!

****************************************************************************************************************************

"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story."  ~ Orson Welles

Cream Cheese Squares...

I've been wanting to make these for four years...ever since I had one at a bridal shower.  I asked for the recipe and the hostess said she'd email me but she never did...and every time I saw her SHE would bring up the recipe and say, "I forgot to email it to you, I'll do it as soon as I get home!"  but she never did.  So she's off my list!  After a few failed attempts, I finally got it right...creamy smooth cream cheese surrounded by a light and flaky crust, with just a hint of cinnamon...it's dang, dang, dang, dang good!  Definitely company worthy...so make a batch, invite your friends over and have yourself some "cawfee tawk!"

The mister ate these like he was tossing back a handful of Skittles...couldn't get enough fast enough!  Which was a little discouraging because that meant I had to eat them just as fast or there wouldn't be any left!  And really, they should be savored...with a nice hot drink...a roaring fire...a good book...without a lurking caveman with large paws and no couth. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Still trying to figure out how to remove the watermark...without success!)  These need to be kept refrigerated but allow them to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before eating...just so the chill is off and the pastry isn't as cold.

Cream Cheese Squares - Pots and Pins

Pastry:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces 

1/4 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup ice water

Filling:

1 1/2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup sugar

Topping:

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

Make the pastry:  In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar.   Add the butter to the flour mixture and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Make a well in the center.  In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add this mixture to the well.  With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Make the filling:  Beat cream cheese, vanilla, egg and 1/2 cup sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until blended.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove dough from refrigerator and cut in half.  On a floured work surface, roll out half the dough into a 9-inch square.  Transfer to a buttered 9-inch square baking dish.  (Roll the pastry over the rolling pin and then unroll it over the baking dish.  Press into place.) 

Spread filling onto the crust.  Roll out remaining dough into a 9-inch square and place on top of cream cheese mixture to form the top crust.  Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon in small bowl and sprinkle over the top crust, as much or as little as you like. 

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool completely before cutting into squares.  Makes 16 squares. 

"If you want to be happy, be."  ~Leo Tolstoy

**************************************************************************************************************************

One year ago:  Cheddar and Green Onion Muffins

Two years ago:  Pannekuchen and Sugared Bacon

 

 

Tomato Aspic...

One of my Christmas gifts from my dear friend Joni (the writer, pageant queen, radio talk-show host, model, gardner, cooking-contest-winner - just to name a FEW of her talents) was the hilarious book, Being Dead Is No Excuse The Official Southern Ladies Guide To Hosting The Perfect Funeral by Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays.  This book is an entertaining look into Southern life and death...geared to educate one on the proper way to have a funeral.  It's filled with helpful hints that everyone can use, and is quick to point out that a "good funeral is good for everyone".  I had no idea about everything that is involved in a Southern funeral...I've never had the pleasure of attending one as of yet - the closest I've come was making a funeral hat for Miss Delcie.  Delcie was my brother's and SIL's nanny/maid to their 5 children when they lived in Fairfax, South Carolina.  Delcie didn't drive so every day Miss Ellie would go and pick her up and bring her back to their plantation to clean and iron and watch cartoons with the kidlets - or something like that.  I met Delcie when I went to visit many years ago and even then Delcie was old.  Delcie announced during my visit that her ex-boyfriend had passed and that he would be "funeralized".  We told her how sorry we were and asked if they were still close and she said, "Oh no!  I'm going to his funeral because I want to make sure he's dead!"  Delcie wanted a "funeral hat" to wear so I made her one...big and black with flowers attached - she was thrilled beyond words.  I would have loved to have gone with her...and if I had known about funeral foods, I would have made something and taken it over to the bereaved's home...the ticket to a funeral - any funeral...is food.

According to the book, the TOP TEN FUNERAL FOODS are:

Tomato Aspic with Homemade Mayonnaise

Fried Chicken

Stuffed Eggs

Virginia's Butter Beans

Can't-die-without-it-Caramel Cake

Homemade Rolls

Banana Nut Bread

Aunt Hebe's Coconut Cake

Methodist Party Potatoes

Tenderloin

I'll be making these "to-die-for" foods in the next coming weeks!  All of those recipes are in the book, along with a ton of others - it's really a cook book with "funeral advice" thrown in, along with some very funny stories.  I highly recommend it.  If you'll notice, the number one food is the Tomato Aspic - no Southerner would dare to die without having Tomato Aspic at their funeral - it would just be un-southern/uncivilized.  So, to my family and friends, when my time comes, somebody PLEASE make sure I have Tomato Aspic at my funeral (even though I'm not Southern, I wouldn't want my funeral foods to be uncivilized!)...you can skip the Homemade Mayonnaise (which is the suggested accompaniment), I prefer to eat my aspic with crackers, celery or shrimp...not that I'd be eating, of course, but I wouldn't want to ask too much in your time of grief. 

As you can see, the top of my aspic (the bottom of the mold) is where the spices ended up...I don't know how to keep them "mixed" - does anyone know?  I should have turned my aspic out onto a bed of greens...and would have if I'd had any...please forgive me.  An aspic is like a jellied cocktail sauce...it's full of flavor - horseradish, lemon, onion, cloves and tomato...and can be sliced easily.  The mister was fairly taken with my aspic...however, not enough to die for.

Tomato Aspic - Adapted From Gayden Metcalfe, Being Dead Is No Excuse

4 cups tomato juice

6 slices lemon (don't worry about seeds, they'll get strained out)

3 slices yellow onion, separated into rings

2 bay leaves

tops of one bunch of celery

several whole cloves

3 tablespoons horseradish

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins recommended)

4 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Put the tomato juice, lemon slices, onion slices, bay leaves, celery tops, and cloves in a heavy pot and simmer for 20 minutes.  While this simmers, mix together the gelatin and vinegar.  (It will be very thick.)  Strain the tomato juice mixture and add the gelatin mixture.  Stir until the gelatin has dissolved.  No lumps allowed!  (I was so worried about lumps that I strained this a second time at this point.)  Add horseradish, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce.  Taste and correct seasoning if needed.  Lightly oil a 6-cup mold.  Pour the mixture into the mold and chill until firm, several hours or overnight.  Overnight is best.  Unmold on a bed of greens.  (I forgot the greens!)  If the aspic will not come out of the pan easily, run a knife around the edge or dip the pan into a sink of hot water - just for a second!   

I have to tell you, at first I wasn't "getting" the aspic...the texture kind of threw me...but after a few more tastes, it kind of grew on me and I rather like it...if you don't want to wait until my funeral to try this, I'd suggest making it for game day or your next party...if you've never had this before it will be a conversation starter!  This recipe serves 10 to 12, but for MY funeral, whoever makes the aspic should probably double the recipe, since I'm sure they'll be a crowd, those wanting to make sure I'm really dead, in which case you could use a 10-cup Bundt pan as the mold...just a thought.

***************************************************************************************************************************

One year ago:  BLT Wraps

Two years ago:  Valentine Quilt

Halloween Baby Jack Quilt...

Still in Houston...sore feet, sides aching from laughing, camera card bursting with pictures but no time to post...so I'll show you one more little quilt I did before I left my Northwest factory...

The red wall just makes this look a bit weird, doesn't it?!  Super easy and fast - machine-appliqued, machine quilted and only 36x36-inches...the perfect size to wrap up a nice wubbly little baby boy! 

Now that's more like it!  This was made for a friend's new baby...so she can take him out Trick-or-Treating in style!  A baby wrapped in a pumpkin quilt is the best treat there is!  (Nothing went wrong with this quilt...nothing faded, it lays flat, it's even, too!  Gee, I'm starting to scare myself!  Maybe my mojo is back!?) 

***************************************************************************************************************************

"Blankets wrap you in warmth, quilts wrap you in love."  ~ Anonymous

***************************************************************************************************************************

One year ago today:  Bippity-Boppity-Boo-Hoooooo

Wonky Block Baby Quilt...

While you're feasting your eyes upon my little creation here, I'm actually 35,000 feet in the air on my way to the Houston Quilt Market!!!  I'm so excited - really, it's a good thing there's a seat belt restraining me!  I used to live in Houston - we moved there when the girl was 9 months old and only stayed for two years but that was enough for my love/hate relationship with the place to bloom...loved the restaurants/shopping/Galveston/fresh seafood/Tex-Mex food/sun/Texans with Texan accents...hated the bugs/traffic/bugs/endless freeways/bugs/humidity/bugs...you get my drift.  But I'm excited to return to Houston as a guest/visitor/non-resident...and thrilled that I'll be surrounded by quilts and fabric and other people equally addicted!

This baby quilt was made for sweet little Jacob...and let me tell you, it gave me FITS!  After it was pieced, quilted and bound, I did my usual sigh of relief and tossed it into the washer to begin the "birthing process."  When the wash cycle was complete - cold water, too - I gently lifted it out and to my horror the BLUES HAD BLED!!!  I know!!! Usually it's the dang reds!  And since I don't pre-wash my fabric (waste of time...same as ironing while piecing!) I guess I got what I deserved...but this is a gift so I had to get the bleeds OUT!  I called some "experts" who pointed me in the right direction...I ended up buying a box of Dye Grabber and a box of Color Run Remover.  I rewashed the quilt with the Dye Grabber, which is just a piece of terry-cloth-looking-fabric, and after the THIRD wash all but one small bit of blue remained where it shouldn't have been...I didn't use the Color Run Remover because I was afraid of having the fabrics around the bleed fade too!  (The Dye Grabber cloth was a nice blue color after the washings!  The package says the cloth can be used up to 30 times...if you ever have this happen I can whole-heartedly recommend the Dye Grabber...it saved me...I mean the quilt!)  I'm hoping little Jacob's mom will be so smitten with him that she won't notice that stubborn bit of blue...once little Jacob throws up on it a time or two I'm sure it will go unnoticed!

When the "birthing process" was finally complete, I pulled the quilt from the dryer and it was all wrinkly and soft - perfect!  This looks huge but it's only 36x36-inches...cotton on both sides with warm and natural in the middle and quilted with a large all-over stipple...it's sure to keep the little guy warm!

***************************************************************************************************************************

"A bed without a quilt is like a sky without stars."  ~ Anonymous

***************************************************************************************************************************
One year ago today:  She-Crab Soup

100th Shower...

I'm sure I've given at LEAST a hundred showers over the years...and this one was my all-time favorite...a baby shower for Ali.   I just adore Ali so I pulled out all the stops!  Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of pictures - just as I was going to grab my camera the guests started arriving and then I forgot!  I must remember to buy myself some ginko beloba!  

The diaper cake turned out great...and really, they are SO simple to make, why anyone would EVER buy one is a mystery to me!  You just need 4 hands (two is NOT enough,) tape and ribbon...oh, and diapers.

The Lemon Sisters, thinly disguised by this blurry shot, sang some "new lullaby's" for the new mom...The Lemon Sister on the left is truly an evil genius and wrote some very funny lyrics, which her two sibs helped to deliver in the most hilarious way...their sister on the far right brought along her uke to accompany them, adding just the right touch of "corn."  I had to get in on the act so I wrote some lyrics to another lullaby, which they belted out like they were opening at the Met - it was worth the price of admission, which was free.    

My apologies to the little sister, who is pictured at right...I couldn't show you the cute name banner or the beautiful dress without showing her, too!  The beautiful blessing gown was made by Margaux, mother of the new mom-to-be, out of the "extra" train that was cut off from her wedding dress!  The train was much too long for what the bride wanted, so they altered it and her mom saved the extra fabric, thinking that one day it might come in handy.  I wish I had taken a close up of the detail in this little gown - it's just amazing. 

I have another friend who bought several wedding dresses at a bridal shop that was going out of business...she paid $25 for each one, thinking one day her daughters might wear one when they got married...or she planned on making blessing gowns if and when she got a grandbaby...well, 3 weddings and 3 grandbabies later, those dresses are still intact.  She recently dragged them out and we had an impromptu fashion show...it was hilarious because from the front they looked great, but from the back they were unable to be zipped as none of us are a size 4!

I made 30 baby-bottle-shaped cookies for favors...and they were dang good!  Pink sugar crystals for the nipple and white sugar crystals for the bottle...If you need a great sugar-cookie recipe, click here.

I made some great food, too....in my humble opinion...and I'll be sharing those recipes with you soon. 

In the meantime, I'm going to tell you about two recipes that you simply MUST MAKE NOW:

 

Pictured above is Grandma Iny's Cake From Pioneer Woman ...I hesitate to tell you what it's really called because I fear once you know you won't want to make it, let alone eat it...but when Pioneer Woman says it's great and when I second that, then you must trust us...it's great...so brace yourself, it's called PRUNE CAKE!  I know, I know, prunes...they're not just for constipation any more!  This is such a moist and wonderful cake, thanks in part to the amazing syrup/glaze that is poured over the top.  Think spice cake or applesauce cake, or even gingerbread - that's what this tastes like...except better.  This is made in a 9x13-inch cake pan, but I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter and made these sweet little desserts...and served with a dollop of whipped cream, well, they are something to write home about!     

The other recipe I have for you is from Smitten Kitchen - it's pictured above.  I have already made THREE batches in the last THREE DAYS... Chocolate Caramel Crack(ers) .  Think of it like crack, because it's THAT addictive.  If I continue making batch after batch I will need to find a 12-step program soon!  They are made with SALTINES...and SALT is the operative word here...salt and chocolate...salt and caramel...topped with toasted almonds...I'm starting to salivate just thinking about it!  If it weren't for Smitten Kitchen and her steady delivery of the most incredible recipes, which has contributed to the  steady increase on my scales, I wouldn't be able to bestow this honor on her...I have named my back fat after her. A high honor, no doubt, and one that deserves no thanks.  It was my pleasure - literally.  (This note added after my original post....the Fashionista made these for me years ago...and I had totally forgotten about them!  Which can only mean at some point I was kidnapped by aliens, taken to their Most-Excellent-Recipe-Memory-Erase-Center where my memory was wiped clean, and then returned to Earth totally unaware of their hideous act!  Else, how could I have forgotten something so delicious?!?!)   

Little Paige will be one lucky little girl - she will have wonderful parents and grandparents, with extended family and friends who will love her to pieces - just like we love her mom.  Have a happy baby Ali!     

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes...

This is a keeper!  Last week when my quilt group met to work on the American Hero Quilts, Stephanie served us these cupcakes...first, let me stay that they were beautiful to look at.  And now let me say that they were incredible to eat!  One wasn't enough...after we finished our lunch and the cupcakes for dessert...we went back to work...but an hour later those cupcakes magically appeared in the workroom and one by one, they disappeared.  Stephanie's cupcakes were a luscious yellow color...with a beautiful soft yellow-colored frosting since they are made with lemonade...but when I went to make the cupcakes I only had pink lemonade in the freezer so I made pink lemonade cupcakes...same great taste, different color.  You decide how to make yours - if you want pink lemonade cupcakes just add one drop of red food coloring to the batter and one drop to the frosting.  If you want them au naturelle then leave out the food coloring.  Either way, they will melt in your mouth and you'll be a happy camper.

   

Frozen lemonade is a staple in our freezer because the mister loves it.  I have made him fresh lemonade and he whines - he likes the "real" stuff the best.  I love the color of pink lemonade though and if I had my way my bedroom would be done in "pink lemonade" but, as if I need to say, I didn't get my way with that!  Like I said - this recipe is a keeper and on a hot day, this is worth heating up the oven and the house for...somehow, eating these sugar-loaded-bombs, that would be a technical diabetic term, you'll feel somewhat cooler even if it's a skorcher out...go figure!

Ziplock bags work great to "pipe" the icing on the cupcakes - no decorator tip either - just snipped off a tiny bit of the corner - give it a try!

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes - Adapted from Stephanie Allgood, Cupcake Afficionado

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Cake:

1 1/2 cups sugar

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 tablespoons grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 drop red food coloring

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

2 cups flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Frosting:

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 drop red food coloring

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In large bowl of electric mixer combine, sugar, butter, lemon zest, lemonade concentrate, food coloring and vanilla.  Beat until well blended, about 5 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients, mixing with a whisk.  Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, alternating with buttermilk, mix only until blended.  Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool in pans 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.  Makes 24 cupcakes.

For Frosting:  Combine in the bowl of an electric mixer at high speed, butter, lemon zest, lemonade, vanilla, food coloring and cream cheese.  Beat until light and fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar, at low speed, and beat until well blended.  Chill frosting for one hour before using.  Spoon into Ziplock bag, snip one corner to pipe onto cooled cupcakes.  Refrigerate, loosely covered, but serve at room temperature. 

Just had to show you my new pink depression glass platter that I picked up at a garage sale for $2....the ceramic cupcake bank was another garage sale find....lucky me...now if only I had some money to put in it!