You're on the Nobby List

Jacob has recently been telling Mike and I that we are on the "nobby list." He means the naughty list. While I should find this unacceptable because it usually comes when we are "mean," I just can't help by find it funny.

I will be sad when he speech becomes perfect and when his phrases are no longer so cute. For now, I will secretly smile every time I am placed on the "nobby list."

Pumpkin! Pancakes, that is.

I LOVE FALL! Here are a few of the reasons; football, beautiful colors, my anniversary, apple cider, boots, Halloween, cooler weather, light sweaters, my birthday, Thanksgiving, jeans, and PUMPKIN!  To me, pumpkin goes well with almost anything. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin bread. Okay, well it goes well with carbs, anyway. :-)

And. . . it tastes better in the fall.

I am not sure if it is because of the anticipation or because carb overload is better in cooler weather, or because hot pumpkin coffee is better and I like iced coffee in the summer. Whatever the reason is, pumpkin is yummy; especially in the fall.

In fact I just figured out what we are having for dinner. Pumpkin pancakes. I am not sure if I have bacon or sausage or anything to go with them but seriously, is there really a need for any addition? Can’t pumpkin pancakes stand alone? Yes. I think they can. And so mine will. Well, alone. . . with syrup. Yum! I want them, I need them, I love them. (Sorry, Edith Viorst reference. Wait, what? You don’t know who she is? She writes a wonderful book called Earrings! for children. To get the full experience of the book, you really need my sister, Maria to read it to you. But for now go buy it and read it to your daughter.  For a fee, I will see if Maria can join you one day. )

Anwyay, I am off to make my pumpkin pancakes. Here is the recipe.

And before you judge me, I am a “semi-homemade cook” when I can get away with it. So yes, I use Bisquick. Sue me!



So, this isn't my picture. I like recipe pictures so I added this one.
I couldn't add my own becasue I haven't made them yet, but you get the idea.
And, yes, my will be cute and shaped like pumkins. Well, no, they won't. But they will be yummy!

Syrup

(Regular syrup is great, too. This is just an extra treat)

Maple-Pecan Syrup

1 cup maple-flavored syrup

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Pancakes

2 1/3 cups Original Bisquick® mix

1/3 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 1/4 cups milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 eggs

1.    In 1-quart saucepan, heat syrup and butter until butter is melted, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in pecans.

2.    Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat or to 375°F. Grease griddle with vegetable oil if necessary. In medium bowl, stir all pancake ingredients until well blended. For each pancake, pour slightly less than 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle.

3.    Cook until air bubbles pop. Turn; cook other sides until golden brown. Serve with syrup.



*Update: I forgot to add that this is a Betty Crocke Recipe. Also, I did make them. They were a denser pancake, but SO yummy!  

I am going on a Picnik

So I kind of like to pretend that I am a photographer.  I got a fun new camera last year and have a tough time putting it down sometimes. What I was missing was an easy way to edit my pictures.  I know that Photoshop is fun, but I was not willing to part with the money it costs right now so I was looking for something VERY easy and inexpensive until I have the time to really learn Photoshop well enough to make the money worth it. 

My solution? PICNIK!

I chose to pay the $20ish that it cost to get the better version and I love it. Here are a few before and after shots. It is so fun and so easy.  If you are someone who really knows nothing about photography, but likes to think you do and likes to play with pictures, Picnik is for you.  Even the free version is fun. Try it!

There are fun stickers, costumes and fonts, also. I just am more of an "effects" person.

The Magic of a Relaxing Pedicure

I went to get a pedicure with my mom today, but this was not just any pedicure. It may have been the best pedicure I have EVER had!

I recently got my hair cut by a new stylist and she was telling me about a "nail spa" that she really liked. When I asked what she liked so much and what was so different, her answer said it all, "Everything!" Boy was she right!

The Five Star Nail spa has amazing spa pedicures. They are not as cheap as regular pedicures, but they are not outrageous, either. They start at $40 and go up, but you certainly get your money's worth.

I had a 2 hour pedicure. My feet and legs were pampered, massaged, dipped in paraffin wax, rubbed with hot stones, covered in hot towels and covered with a mask and of course, my toe nails were cut, cuticles trimmed and painted like usual. During the whole thing, I was seated in one of the best massage chairs in a dark separated area unlike the typical salon. At the end as my nails dried, my arms, shoulders and neck were massaged with oil.  I have been to spas that offered pedicures and I have been to typical nail salons, but this was different than both.  And seriously, for $45, you can't beat the price.

I very rarely truly relax. No phone, no reading, no planning for the day. Just relaxation. Today, I did! The relaxation that I felt for those two hours is a magic that would be worth double the price.

Labor Day Weekend in Pictures

We had a fun-filled Labor Day Weekend. I thought it would be fun to share it in pictures.

On Friday night we went to the Blake Shelton concert at Fort Meade. It was an awesome show and we were very close. We could even touch the stage!

On Saturday we went to the Maryland State Fair with my mom and dad. We rode rides, playued games, watched pig races, rode "tractors", saw animals at teh petting zoo and got to see baby chicks hatch. What a day!

(Sorry the pics aren't great, but I only had my camera. )

On Sunday we baked cupcakes (see my earlier post for the flavors and recipes) for Miss Becky. In his typical style, Jakey wore his cowboy hat and was covered in batter!  

On Monday we went to the Sacred Heart Labor Day Picnic. I grew up spending my Labor Days at the picnic and it had been years since I went. It was nice to see Jakey have fun at a place that carries so many fond memories for me.

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

So as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 passes, I thought I would take the time to write my memories of that day as so many others have. I know I will never forget where I was or my feelings, but someday I may forget even more details than I already have and I want to prevent that as much as I can.

On September 4, 2001, I started my job at Fort Meade RCI. At the time I knew fairly little about the military or emergency services. I mean, I knew as much as anyone knows who learns about it at school and sees it on TV. We had some close family friends in the military, but I was not a military brat and did not have a close connection. As I started my job, each day I soaked in more and more about military families’ needs as the moved and tried to locate a new home.

Only a week into my new job, on September 11, 2001, I was on a tour with several other new employees. To be honest, I can’t tell you who was next to me in the van, or even who specifically was our tour guide. I can tell you that we got a phone call about the first tower being hit while still in the van. By the time we got back to the office take a break before the second half of the tour, the second tower had been hit and the word, “attack” was beginning to surface. Over the next couple hours the pentagon was hit, flight 93 went down, both towers fell and details began to surface. In that same timeframe, I frantically called friends and family. I knew most of them were not in harm’s way, I just wanted to hear their voices. I did however, have a few people that I really wanted to check on due to their proximity to the attacks. I wanted to talk to Jen who had recently moved to NYC and my friend Steph whose parents had careers that could put them in the pentagon or on a plane. As those of us who lived through it know, getting through to people on the phone was almost impossible and we were not yet avid texters so that was not an option. Thank God, I eventually found out that everyone I was immediately concerned about was okay. Then the true terror hit.

It took hours to get off-post that day. Security was at its highest level and the mass of people leaving clogged every exit. When I finally got home, I just started at the TV. The initial reports that I had heard did not really, at least for me, portray the true terror that happened that day. For the rest of the day and over the several days that followed, I just stared at the TV. I lived at my parents at the time and was either on their coach glued or with a friend at her house glued, soaking in every detail. I cried, I prayed, I felt thankful for my loved ones but at the same time desperately awful for those who were so directly affected. I prayed in bulk for all affected and personally for some of the separate stories we saw on the TV. I remember driving around to try to give blood, but blood banks were overwhelmed. I felt scared for our country but at the same time so proud to be American. I remember feeling like I was in a secret club of 300 million people who I could share a knowing smile with like it was a secret handshake. To lighten the mood, Eli and I would joke about which channel to watch so that we could each watch our favorite journalists, but really, it didn’t matter. We just wanted to see the progress, get more details, follow the way forward and hope to see a heartwarming story about another person who fought the odds to make it out of the rubble alive.

Eventually, the post opened back up and I went back to work, but nothing would ever be the same, especially for emergency responders and military personnel and their families. We now are commonly familiar with terms like homeland security, war on terror, Al Qaeda, WMDs and IED. The world has changed.

I am now married to a former Military Police Officer and Current Federal Police officer and have worked on Fort Meade for 10 years. I do not know what it was like before that day, but I do know now, that Police officers have to be trained differently to be able to be so much more prepared for things like that day. I know that military members and their families are making a different commitment now than they may have been expecting to make 11 years ago. I know that I am proud to be an American more than ever and am so thankful for those who put themselves in harm’s way every day to prevent another attack on our soil. The horror of that day was real but so was the bravery, the pride and the selflessness that resulted from it.

My Semi-Homemade Cupcakes with Flavor Variations – Recipe at the Bottom

If you didn’t already know this, I love to cook. In fact if someone would clean up after me, I would cook all day.  You see, I hate cleaning almost as much as I love cooking.  I like organizing when I have the time, but I don’t like cleaning.  Wait. How did I get so off topic? Back to the topic . . . I also love baking.  Lately, I have been on the bandwagon of cupcakes.  My sister got some AMAZING cupcakes form Georgetown cupcakes a couple weeks ago and this weekend I tried my hand at creating a few of my own flavors.

I have a wonderful babysitter for Jakey 2 days a week when he is not at school and it was her birthday. Is there any better reason than a great person having a birthday to make cupcakes? I think not. So, on my way I went.

I have a semi-homemade recipe that I love to use for cupcakes.  It starts with a box of cake mix and adds in some rich (and maybe a little fattening) ingredients. I also have a very simple icing recipe with cream cheese, butter and confectionary sugar that stole from Georgetown Cupcakes.  I made a batch of vanilla and batch of chocolate cupcakes. Then a made a batch of cream cheese filing and one and a half batches of icing. With a few add-ins, yummy treats were just a few steps away. 

 

If you want to make your own, here are my basic recipes.
 

Cupcakes

· 1 Box Cake Mix (Your choice)

· 8 oz Sour Cream

· 1 small package Pudding Mix (Your Choice to match cake mix)

· 4 eggs (Yikes!)

· 8 oz milk (Whole is best. What? I never said these were low fat!)

· ½ Cup Vegetable Oil

1. Preheat Oven to 350

2. Mix all ingredients

3. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full if you are not adding the filling

4. If you are adding filling, fill ½ way then top with a teaspoonful of the below filling followed by a little more cupcake batter. You should end with your liner being about 2/3 full.

5. Bake for 20-23 minutes
6. Allow to cool before frosting
 
 



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cream Cheese Filling

· 8 oz Softened Cream Cheese

· ½ Cup White Sugar

· 1 Egg

· 1 Cup of Chocolate Chips or any other add-in (optional)

Mix top three ingredients until creamy

Fold in add-ins (optional)

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Georgetown Cupcake Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting (I got this off the CBS the Talk Website)

· 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
· 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
· 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
· 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1. Combine cream cheese and butter
2. Slowly add in the sugar until ingredients are well incorporated.
3. Frost on cooled cupcakes. I prefer to use a large tip and decorators bag. If you wante dto use two flavors you could combine into one bag as I did with my Mint Chocolate Cupcakes.

 

Jacob decorated this "pancake" cupcake.

 

According to Becky and my sister’s kids, the winners were the pancake and the PB banana. Although I would adjust the maple frosting on the pancake, it was a little runny.

You can add whatever you want. Just start with a little and taste your batter. You can always add more. These recipes make a good amount of cupcakes, so I split it into thirds and added the mix-ins.

For a full batch of frosting here are some flavor ideas. You will have to adjust if you split the batch like I did.

The Flavor Variations that I made were:

· Peanut Butter Cup (Chocolate cupcake with PB frosting)

· Mocha (Chocolate cupcake with coffee frosting)

· Chocolate/Vanilla (Chocolate cupcake with vanilla cream cheese frosting)

· Vanilla (Vanilla cupcake with vanilla cream cheese frosting)
· Pancake (Cinnamon cupcake with maple syrup frosting)
    For this, I just made a vanilla cupcakes and added cinimon to taste
· Peanut Butter/Banana (Banana Cupcake with PB icing)
    For this cupcake, I made a vanilla cupcake and added 1 ripe banana to a third of the vanilla mix.
     If you make a full batch, I would cut the milk in half as the bana will give moisture.

1. Chocolate Frosting - Add 1/2 cup of melted (and cooled) semi-sweet chocolate chips.
2. Lemon Frosting  - Add the juice and zest of 2 lemons.
3. Lime Frosting - Add the juice and zest of 3 limes.
4. Orange Frosting - Add the juice and zest of 1 orange.
5. Mocha Frosting - Add 1/4 cup of cold coffee.
6. Peanut Butter Frosting - Add 1/4 cup of creamy peanut butter.
7. Maple Frosting - Add 1/4 cup of maple syrup.
8. Cinnamon Frosting - Add 2 tsp of ground cinnamon.
9. Mint Frosting - Add 2 tsp of peppermint extract.
10. Toffee Frosting - Add 1/4 cup of crushed toffee candy bar

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I will take more next time I make them.

Also, does anyone know the difference between frosting and icing? I don't, so I just use both. At least that way I get it right some of the time.