Chocolate Midnight Cupcakes

May 26, 2008, 2:07 pm

I did some baking today. Well, first, I did tons of yardwork, both today & yesterday, so I decided to treat myself to a little relaxation by baking. And, since my dear friend, Sarah of Bellissima Cakes sent me a wonderful goodie package of cake stuff, I had to try it out. Here’s how they turned out:

cupcakes.jpg

Now, let me mention that these are not completely from scratch. But I did doctor up a box of cake mix and made the frosting by myself! So here’s the recipe, adapted from “Chocolate from the Cake mix Doctor” by Anne Byrn.

Chocolate Midnight Cupcakes

1 package devil’s food cake mix from a box

1 cup water

1 cup mayonnaise (I used light mayo)

1-4oz package of egg substitute (you could use 2 eggs instead)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350ºF. Line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Place cake mix, water, mayo, eggs and vanilla in mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer for 2 minute. Scrap down sides as necessary & beat on medium for 2 minutes. Scoop large dollops into 24 cupcake liners. You should use most of the mix, if not all. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, until they spring back when touched or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely. Frost (see recipe below).

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3-4 tablespoons milk

Mix butter, vanilla and 1 cup sugar in mixing bowl and blend until incorporated. Add the remaining sugar alternately with 3 tablespoons of milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, blending on low speed. Increase mixer to medium and beat until light & fluffy. Use this to frost cupcakes.

I also wanted to mention that I used Sarah’s amazing homemade pure vanilla. It is incredible - she needs to package this stuff up and sell it. It’s 100% Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. I never realized the difference a good vanilla could make, especially in a vanilla buttercream frosting! And, for my cupcakes, I used a cake decorating baggie thing (I’m no baker, that’s for sure - can’t you tell? I don’t even know the names of the tools I used. Pastry bag - that’s what it is, right?) Anyway, I did some fancy decorating, because I was playing around with all the cool stuff that Sarah sent me, but you could easily just frost the cupcakes with a knife. I also dyed some of the frosting purple to add accents - I used Wilton cake coloring pastes for that. They are super cool & so concentrated, you only need a tiny bit to color the frosting!

I can’t wait to try more stuff. Ty’s birthday is coming up & I think I might try to make & decorate a cake just for him! Wish me luck!

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New Product: Mariposa - just $1 until Friday only! *FREEBIE, too!*

May 22, 2008, 7:06 pm

EDITED 6-15-08 - This product has been moved to my store at SBE and you can now purchase the full kit and get the blog freebie included in your download. The freebie has been removed from my blog now. Thanks!

Grab this now while it’s only $1, because I think I’ve gone out of my mind. My newest release is called Mariposa & is perfect for your pretty little girls! It’s on sale ONLY AT SHOP JMT for just $1 through Friday night at midnight EST and then it’ll go to it’s regular price of $5.50 and also will then go up at SBB, too.

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And here are some additional previews:

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What a steal for just $1, right? Oh, and did somebody mention freebie? I had some extras that didn’t quite fit with the kit - the paper pieced butterflies was where I started and then decided to do a more whimsy/freestyle look with the kit. But I liked them so much, I had to add some numbers and a paper, too, so here you have it: (click the image to download it from 4shared - I’d love comments here or at 4shared!)

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And, because I think I really HAVE lost my mind, be sure to check out the rest of my $1 specials going on now through Monday, 5-26-08: (click HERE to see my $1 specials page at ShopJMT):

 

There’s something for everyone there - alphas, paper packs, mini kits & even a full kit in there! Have a great weekend everyone!

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Well, well, well, Lyme Disease it is :(

May 16, 2008, 9:45 pm

I saw my doctor on Thursday & sure enough, my Lyme tests came up positive. They ran 2 different tests - one that tests for the antibodies in my blood (they’re there) and another that identified a few strands of the bacterias in my blood. A bunch came up “reactive.” I go between being really worried & thinking it’s not a big deal. Since it was the allergy doctor I was seeing when we found out, he’s the one who’s treating me. But, I’m going to get a 2nd (and 3rd) opinion by seeing my regular doctor and a doctor friend of the family, too, next week. The allergy doctor put me on strong antibiotics for the next 4 weeks (and after reading all about Lyme & treatments, I actually asked him if he could up the dosage so we can be sure to knock this thing out - he agreed). But, I want to now switch the care to my regular doctor just so I can be sure I’m getting the best care I can. The biggest thing that worries me is that I’ve read so much about how steroids are contraindicated with Lyme Disease. Meaning you absolutely shouldn’t take steriods when you have Lyme because the steroids can weaken the immune system, allowing the bacteria to basically have it’s way with you. And I was on some major doses for several weeks to help with the hives. So those little Lyme bacteria may be running wild in my blood. I’ve also heard that antihistamines can also weaken your immune system, so since my allergies really aren’t bothering me now, I may go off the antihistamines completely. I haven’t told my allergy doctor that yet, but I think after I see the other 2 doctors, I may tell him that after I kick this Lyme Disease, I can see him to talk about what allergy treatment I may need. The allergy doctor seems to think my bad cough & even the hives aren’t related to the Lyme’s, but I’m sure they are. I have a feeling that my body reacted to the bacteria of Lyme’s by making hives. And the cough could go along with the immune system being suppressed. Who knows - me & my google diagnosis - what do I know?

So we’ll see what develops over the next few weeks. All I know is that I’ve been dead tired today but can’t be sure it’s the Lyme’s (or the fact that I’m a mom of 3 - all of which were home today) and I’ve also had headaches & this cough. Is it related? Isn’t it? I don’t know, but I want to be aggressive with the treatment up front so I can kick this as best I can.

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Baby Bird, Baby Bird!

May 14, 2008, 10:50 am

(Said in my best Dora voice - anyone with kids who are Dora fans know what I’m talking about!) Well, we found our own baby bird to rescue:

Last night I was in the back yard & saw a Mourning Dove with 2 babies. One was on a branch & flew up to the top of our fence & then over the fence. The other was on a branch and couldn’t fly, so it just fell to the ground. Mama Dove was right above us on the roof of our garage, looking down after it. Allison & I went over to take a look at the fallen baby bird & just watched it for a bit. Mama eventually came down to sit next to it & protect it. Then we saw Papa Dove on the roof, too, just watching. After a while, the two parents flew away & Baby Bird was left there. Again, we waited & watched but the parents weren’t around. Allison & I picked it up (it’s a myth that once humans touch a baby that it’ll be rejected by it’s parents. Plus, this was a fledgling, not a true baby) and we moved it to a more secluded area instead of in the middle of the lawn. We went in for an hour or so & I called a bird rescue place (they didn’t answer). It was still out there, so from the website, I found out what I should do. I made up a little shoe box with warm water in plastic bags & tissue as a nest & put the bird in it in the garage. The lady from the rescue called me back & basically said that the bird should be fine - it’s what mourning doves do - they let the fledglings out of the nest & then tend to it on the ground. So I put it back outside, but left it in the box. By morning, it was still there. And I still haven’t seen the parents back. Just a little bit ago, I picked it up to check it out and then put it in the grass, where it hopped under a bush to stay. So, we’ll see what happens. I hate to let it sit there if it is hurt or the parents abandoned it, but I also don’t want to interfere with nature taking it’s course, even if that course is that it is a meal for the red-tailed hawk that frequents our neighborhood.

Hive update: I’ve been hive free for 3 whole days now! Yippee! I’m so glad to be rid of them & now am sure that they were a reaction to a virus or sickness I had. I went for blood tests last week & am a little worried because the doctor’s office just called to say the doctor wants to see me to discuss my test results. One of the tests I had them run was to test for Lyme Disease. The doctor, of course, didn’t think that was it, but I’ve read online about so many odd things that happen with Lyme’s, I just wanted to be sure. He also ran just a standard blood count & a thyroid test, too, which I don’t think I’ve ever had. For some reason he didn’t run any liver function tests and I had a lipid panel run about a month ago. So, tomorrow I get to see what the labs say. I’m guessing that they’ll show signs of infection - I’m thinking that this was all a cold and I had either a sinus or lung infection. I still have quite a cough, but it’s loose for the most part and that’s a sign that at least things are moving around inside me. Where early on, when the hives were at their worst, the cough was a dry, hacking cough and I couldn’t get any relief.

Digi-scrap update: I’ve decided to become exclusive with SBB and leave Scrapdish. It may seem sudden, but I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed lately, that I just had to let one store go. So now you can find all my products at SBB and a lot of my newest and most popular stuff at ShopJMT. And, if you check this thread, you will find a 40% off coupon for my store at SBB! Finally, I’m going to start giving away some freebies soon, so be sure to check back here at my blog often. I plan to get started with the first freebie by next week, so stay tuned!

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1:07:54

May 10, 2008, 12:13 pm

Well, I beat my goal of finishing the 10K in 1 hour & 15 minutes. Made it in just under 1 hour & 8 minutes. And, get this: I was dead last. Even after the 60+yo guy who I thought maybe I could take in the last mile, but he was just too far ahead. I’m pleased with my time, I feel great, so there’s no reason for me to be upset that I finished last. The race was a 5 & 10K at the same time & only 30 people ended up doing the full 10K, so what can I expect? I came in 30th, I guess I could say. (And a congrats to my friend, Laura, who got 3rd place for our age group in the 10K. Considering probably more than half of the 10K people were in our age group, that’s pretty good!

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Harder to Breathe

May 9, 2008, 8:36 pm

That’s the name of my most recent iTunes purchase - Harder to Breathe by Maroon 5. I was at Saxby’s (a coffee shop) the other day & it was on Sirius’ The Pulse station. I googled it while there because I wasn’t sure who sung it & found out it’s Maroon 5. I figured it was a perfect running song & considering I’m doing my first 10K tomorrow, I grabbed it for my playlist. Nothing like doing a run with a fresh playlist. I used to be all strict with my playlist & whatever I trained with, I had to run with. But lately I’ve been mixing it up a lot. Here’s the playlist I put together for tomorrow’s run. Quite a variety, I think:

10kplaylist.jpg

The first 6 songs are from a “Running Through the 90s” playlist I found on iTunes. Then I’ve got my Power Song, Bleed it Out by Linkin Park - that one really gets me going. So I mix in some hard stuff & then mellow out with a block of Modest Mouse. Then, at the end, I threw in a bunch of weird stuff, just to get me through the end. I *think* I’ve got more than enough songs on there. I sure hope I don’t even make it to the end because that would mean I’ve totally blown my goal of finishing in 1.25 hours.

Well, obviously, race-mode has already set in, because I’ve spent the last hour or so figuring out my playlist, so the stress has already begun. I already warned DH that by tomorrow morning, I’ll be in full blown race-mode, so he is to just ignore me. I get really wigged out on race days. It’s weird, because it’s not like I really am that stressed about the race, but for some reason, a few hours before the race (or the night before), it just consumes me and it’s all I think about. I spend 20 minutes fixing my shoes, blowing my nose, fixing my shirt…everything must be perfect for the start. I guess it’s how I get in the zone.

Well, I think I’m going to spend an hour or so vegging in front of the TV with my dogger-doo and then hit the sack. Sometime later this week I’ll have to update on my hives. Long story short: they’re still here. 4 weeks of hives. Bleh. I’ll leave you with a few LOs I did this week, one of the aforementioned dogger-doo and the other of Lauren. Both are using products I purchased on National Scrapbook Day, which was this past Saturday. Click the pics to see the credits in my DST gallery.

“Is there anyone out there cause it’s getting harder and harder to breathe” Maroon 5, Harder to Breathe

The End...For Now | File Under Jenn Runs, LO, random babbling | 1 Comment |

New product & sale announcement for NSD!

May 1, 2008, 10:25 pm

Well, I’m back in business - still suffering with some hives, but they’re getting better & I was able to get back into the swing of things this week. Which is good news, because I have a 10K next Saturday & have to get some more miles in before then! It’ll be 3-4 more days of 5 mile runs over the next week so I can get in shape & be ready for this race. But, this weekend is something even more special - it’s National Scrapbook Day on Saturday, May 3rd. SBB is going to be having all kinds of fun chats throughout the day, so check out this thread for more info. In addition, there are lots of sales going on, so check out this thread for a great list! And now for my sale info. First off, at my store at SBB, I’m having 40% off with coupon code 40SBB and it’s good through May 5th.

And, at ShopJMT, everything is 40% off - no coupon needed. You’ll see everything marked down.

At Scrapdish, all my items (except the $1 items) are 25% off.

And now check out my newest product, just in time for NSD. It’s called Sights of Spring {Dandelions} and (obviously) was inspired by the lawns full of dandelions this time of year…ours included. So before I get out the Scotts Weed & Feed to get rid of them, I was inspired to create a kit about them. It’s available at SBB and ShopJMT and with my 40% off sale running, you can grab it for under $3!

And here’s a cute LO I created with it:

That’s my DD, Lauren and man, she just looks so grown up in that picture, doesn’t she? She’s been wanting her hair braided every day lately & I think she looks so much older with her hair off her face, so I’m happy to do it for her. It usually doesn’t last through nap, but at least she gets a morning of nice hair!

Well, I’m off to bed for the night so have a Happy Friday everyone!

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