Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

I started a new job on Monday, part time doing data entry for a company called Braille Works that converts menus and other paperwork into braille for the blind. It is a great company, and it feels like a family. I have missed that so much from being laid off for 2 years. Going to school has helped, and once nursing school starts in the fall I am sure it will be better, more family-like, but I have missed that camaraderie.

Tomorrow is the company's first picnic. I've only been there since Monday, but even my family and I got t-shirts! For the picnic, I signed up to make cupcakes. I love making cupcakes! (I just got a large scoop from Pampered Chef and it works perfectly for dipping cupcake batter!)Since I had some oranges in the house, I decided to make creamsicle cupcakes.

I started with this recipe as inspiration, and went from there. My changes were mostly out of necessity (who runs out of sugar?), but a little out of taste preference. I wanted Really Orange-y cupcakes and Really Vanilla-y frosting.

I didn't have: self rising flour, unsalted butter, sugar, (crap, forgot to add the oj! (**the next morning they were pretty dry, though still edible and tasty. Next time I will definitely add the OJ from the orange I zested.) So... I did this....

I made self-rising flour by taking 2 cups all purpose flour, 2.5 Tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt. Out of this, I used my 1/5 cups.

cupcakes - Preheat oven to 350*
1.5 C self rising flour
1.25 C all purpose flour
1/2 cup salted sweet cream butter (melty)
1/2 cup margarine (melty)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar (again because I didn't have 2 cups of regular sugar)
1.5 Tbsp orange zest
4 eggs (room temp)
2 tsp vanilla extract
Juice of 1 orange

frosting
3/4 cup butter flavor Crisco1/2 cup sweet cream butter (soft)6 cups powdered sugar5 Tbsp milk3 Tbsp vanilla extract1 tsp almond extract

To make cupcakes:
In a small bowl, combine the flours. In a large bowl, mix together the butter, adding the sugar and zest, beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Add the vanilla.Add the dry ingredients in parts, mixing well and scrapping the batter. Scoop the batter into 24 cupcake papers. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.

To make frosting:
In a large bowl, mix together the butter, Crisco, 3 Cups powdered sugar, 3 Tbsp milk, vanilla and almond extracts. Mix until smooth. Gradually add in additional powdered sugar and milk. Add the milk slowly, more or less as needed to get the right consistency of frosting.

Frost and enjoy!! I find they are a little crumbly, (see above note*) maybe the 1 cup of OJ added into the cupcake batter would help that. But they are really good and not too sweet. Perfect with sweet, creamy vanilla frosting!

The Fly Lady, and Booties

I spent a couple hours today creating and printing my Household Notebook/Control Journal. It's pretty and cheerful. My cover has my every morning & night routines, as well as this week/month's focus Zone and habit (according to www.flylady.net). I have weekly to-dos, daily to-dos, and places for inspiration that comes from helpful magazines.

My to-done's today include the cat box, dishes, picking dinner (Sloppy Joe's... whatchu got?), de-cluttering the dining room and polishing the table. (Polishing the table reminded me that I would REALLY like a new table... we got this one when we got married almost 13 years ago!).

In other news... I got a phone call from Gumballs and Overalls saying that 5 pairs of booties have sold, and could I please hurry it up and bring in more!! Okey Dokey!

More pics

I've been working on more booties and Jake's earrings for Gumballs and Overalls. They will soon start offering their items for sale online, which is really exciting!!

Remember, if you would like to order something, let me know.

MIA

I know it's been a while, but I have been really busy with school, family, and crafting.

I have officially applied to nursing school, and now I need to wait until the middle of March to get my acceptance letter! in December, my hubby lost his job so now we are both unemployed. It's scary, but we are hopeful and prayerful that something great will come his way.

I have also started consigning my handmade goodies at a local shop called Gumballs and Overalls (www.gumballsandoveralls.com). The shop is adorable, and they consign high end boutique and handmade items for children 0-8 yrs old. It's been a little less than a month that I"ve had my goodies there, and I've sold a few things. It's not a full time job but it is a great way to keep me busy. My 10 year old has also just started selling his beaded and origami earrings there. Here are a few pics of some of the stuff I've sent to them. A baby blanket, hairbow tutu, angora baby dress, purple slip dress, and Jake's earrings.

Finishings...

I finished Mom's 3rd sock of the year, and I have 79 days to finish the other one. I did start it today though!! (no pic since it's her Christmas present!)

I also finished Grandma's afghan for my Mother in Law. She says that she loves it, although it is still folded nicely in the corner of her bedroom, but hopefully when it gets colder she will use it.










I have not finished 2 baby afghans and half the projects on my Pay It Forward list. Whoopsy!

Grandma's Afghan

Last Sunday, the day before school started back for the fall, My Husband's grandmother passed away. Our family was already in the midst of a crazy week, and the whole world was turned upside down for my Mother-in-Law in the span of 3 days.

Last week, my MIL went to Louisiana (where her Mom lived) to help her sister and brothers sort through Grandma's things and decide how to go forward as a family. They got back late Sunday night, and we went over to visit last night. The kids were SO excited!! They had missed their grandparents, and it had been a long week with them gone. They did bring back a few bins of items, things for herself and things for us.

For me, I got a bin of yarn, a navy Vera Bradley purse (!!!), and a BEAUTIFUL new quilt for our bed. I don't think Grandma ever even used it, and it is gorgeous and I can't wait to snuggle under it! I knew that Grandma was a crocheter since we have many items of her handiwork around our home, and I was excited about my project idea - the perfect thing for Grandma's yarn.







The little bin of yarn (I think like 1/20 of my stash would fit in there!)is of many assorted colors and many of them verigated, and none of them even remotely resembling the others. That was a little bit of a problem, but I am good at what I do so I came up with a plan.

I am taking a pound of off-white yarn and the little bin if colorful yarn, and making a granny square blanket for my MIL. The off-white, the base color, came from my own grandmother's stash that I inherited last year, and each square will be the off-white every other round, and one of Grandma's yarn colors in the other rounds, per square. The squares are quick, taking less than 15 minutes, but I am NOT looking forward to weaving in almost 900 ends! Some of the squares are pretty whacky, but I'm sure my MIL will love the tribute to Grandma. I have 13 squares done, I'll show you more when I have more to show!!

School is a time-suck

I have been out of school on Summer "break" for 8 days. I start back on Monday. I have finished up all of the pre-requisites for the Nursing Program at my school, now I have to wait to apply in January, and start next Fall. That is a REALLY long time to wait, especially since I am not the world's most patient of people. In the meantime, I am taking some other classes to finish the degree and keep the Pell Grant money coming in.

I had stopped working on yarn for a while, just due to studying constraints, but I am starting to get back into it now. Since we last talked, I did finish a few projects, though!

This is Baby Andrew showing off his blanket.











That's about it... and only because Mama wanted him out... and we all know that babies don't come until their blankies are done!

I am working on a blue baby blanket made from $.97/ball Pomp-A-Doodle. It doesn't have a baby to go with it yet... but I couldn't pass up a $6 blanket!! I also started working on a pink and green blanket from the book "Interlocking Crochet" by Tannis Galik. I am not very far because it is really confusing to me, but I am sure that I can figure it out with all my 30 years of experience!!

In other news, I had to disconnect the Hook 'N Stick website because I didn't have the money to keep it up, and with school I hadn't had the time to really give it the attention it deserved. We all know I can ignore the heck out of a website, but there I had to pay for it!

I will try very hard not to ignore you so much! Good luck to all the kids (and their parents) going back to school!