friday feet

"RED"
erin: Arriving at the airport from the RED eye.sheena: one of my favorite things about fall......canvas sneakers:)

business time

Just a few items of business: 
1. Thank you to everyone who has hit up my shop in the past few days! There are still a few things left.....get 'em while they're hot!

2.I am so happy this little blog was featured on Be@Home (thanks emma:) 


3. We are still eating (and loving) our home made yogurt. I have figured out that a gallon of milk's worth of greek yogurt will get us through about one week

I wish....

he wished that daddy would come home early. 
she wished for another dog. unfortunately, she won. yikes.
 I wish for the same as the boy wished for (every day actually)I wish I could personally thank Mother Nature ( I don't think she reads my blog) for this weather. Hot days, cool nights. I am finally easing into fall.
Now I wish I could ask her to cool it down juuuuuuust a teeny bit during the

anna & matt

more over here!

SALE!!!!

Remember how I had an Etsy shop? me too. Of the 1000 things I have going on in my life right now.....a few have to go. I'm SLASHING PRICES (said in my best radio ad voice) left and right, and FREE SHIPPING within the US! I only have a few prints/postcard sets left so go check them out HERE!

My birthday!

Här kommer några bilder från mitt födelsedagskalas i helgen. Temat i år blev vitt, svart och rosa!

Glöm inte att anmäla dig till tävlingen som pågår tills på torsdag. Var med och tävla här!







English
Here are some pictures from my birthday party. The theme was of course white, black and pink, some of my favorite colors!

going greek

this is a major step in our friendship here......you're either going to say, "hey, this girl's ok" or "this girl is a hippie nut job". Believe me, had you told me a few years ago I'd be making my own yogurt, I would have laughed in your face while scarfing down my light strawberry cheesecake Yoplait. 

My how things have changed.

It was like Christmas Eve. I didn't sleep.....at all. I had my

Orange County Cupcake Showdown~Amanda Cupcake!

Amanda Cupcake. Queen of her Domain at The Cupcake Showdown ~ OC!

The Orange County Cupcake Showdown on September 21st, 2010 was a success for ten bakeries in Orange County, California.......including Amanda Cupcake! (me!)

Famed foodie & event planner for the Cupcake Showdown - Jayne Lee Yang discovered Amanda Cupcake online.

Thanks to Jayne's invitation,  I could not resist the opportunity to participate in my first ever cupcake competition.

Somehow in two days~all by myself (keep in mind I am not a full on bakery yet--I am Amanda Cupcake trying to make it in this big big world of sweetness!!) I baked & decorated about 700 cupcakes total.  My dad was my assistant! He ran back and forth getting me the ingredients I needed whenever I ran out. :) The best dad ever.

I have never experienced such cupcake madness in all of my life! There had to have been over 500 people that showed up just within the hours of 7-9pm at Access Media in Fountain Valley.

By the time the night was over, all of my cupcakes were eaten!
The whole night was a blur of cupcake paparazzi from the OC Weekly, OC Register, Marianthefoodie, and other food bloggers, cupcake lovers and photographers. 
My cupcakes were the supermodels of the event.

I didn't win but I did hear that I was one of the top three cupcakeries in the competition out of all the votes! So I came very close. It feels pretty amazing since this was my first cupcake competition!

Amanda Cupcake felt her 15 minutes of fame that night~filling more than just her tummy with confidence and hope for a successful future in cupcakes!

OC Weekly described my layout as "Cupcakes that look like seascapes of Ariel the mermaid's kingdom complete with white chocolate seashells."

Cupcake Wars...Oprah....Ellen Degeneres....Martha Stewart....do I have a chance? Please say yes!

Amanda Cupcake---Cupcake Showdown Flavors:

• Cupcake balls covered in dark chocolate & edible sparkles/sprinkles
• Cupcake Pops that looked exactly like Ice Cream Cones
• Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting
• Carrot Cake with a surprise apple pie filling
• Vanilla with a surprise white chocolate filling
• Margarita with tequila & lime
• Chocolate Pumpkin Spice
• Devil's Food topped with Caramel Corn
• Strawberry with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
• Snickerdoodle with a surprise chocolate kiss in the middle

Links to Articles about Amanda Cupcake:

OC Weekly Article about Amanda Cupcake at The Cupcake Showdown

OC Register Article about Amanda Cupcake at The Cupcake Showdown

Marianthefoodie blog
(soon she'll post a youtube video where she interviews me about my cupcake inspirations!)


The photos:
(All taken by OC Weekly, the OC Register, Valerie Durham~OC Cupcake Showdown photographer, friends & foodies Shastin Fletcher, Anne Marie)

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes & Cupcake Balls covered in Chocolate!

Vanilla Rainbow Cupcakes. MmMmmM.

 Some Amanda Cupcake Fans buying my Peacock themed Cupcakes.

My friend Alicia & I in the cupcake zone.

 Sugar Flowers. Beautiful and Delicious.

Snickerdoodle & Red Velvet.

 Carrot Cakes with an apple pie surprise in the middle!

 Tiny Dancers on the Red Velvet Cupcake Carpet!

The Amanda Cupcake Logo.

 My friend Shastin's view of Amanda Cupcake. I love her artistic eye!

She also makes jewelry. Shastin's website is:  www.pulchritudejewelry.blogspot.com

 Another one of Shastin's beautiful vintage inspired photos. :)

 My friend Anne is a major foodie & she was the photographer of this yummy-ness.

 Being interviewed on video with Marian The Foodie! She is a famous food blogger. :)

 Another Amanda Cupcake Fan~she chose the tiny dancer cupcake!

 This is a view of cupcake madness! (the people who showed up to eat cupcakes!)

 Cupcake Kaleidoscopes!

(Hint hint...these ship well!)

 OC Weekly Paparazzi Photo!

"Cupcakes that look like seascapes of Ariel the mermaid's kingdom complete with white chocolate seashells."

The Giant Cupcake!

 More Amanda Cupcake Fans! The guy on the right is eating my chocolate ~ cream cheese cupcake.

 My sweet Cupcake Showdown Volunteer~Chels

A really cute Amanda Cupcake fan-

eating one of my carrot cake jellybean cupcakes & a cupcake cone!

All about the Cupcake Love.....

xoxo ~ Amanda Cupcake.

over the weekend....

the end.

friday love

It's Friday!! Hooray! I cherish the weekend 1000 times more now that everyone (oh--yes--did I mention Robby is back in school too?) is in school. Here are some of the things I loved this week.....

I love chocolate. You do too, right? These are the cupcakes I made a few weeks ago for our back-to-school feast. They should come with a warning.....they are so incredibly rich and chocolatey.... I

friday feet (we're back....this time for real!!)

erin: on top of the world! .....sheena: .....at the bottom.

so......we like to dress up

If you happened to stumble upon our end-of-summer (Robby's side) family get together....you might just think we are crazy. And maybe we are. But let me tell you....crazy is fun! So WHAT if we're having a full-on themed costume party in September while we all stay on the beach....that's how we like it! With Halloween coming up right around the corner, I thought I'd share the last few years of our

cherry almond granola

A little something has snuck into my world and stolen a good chunk of my free time.  It's called... the real world. 


I have had a job these past few years, but new this year I have been given more responsibility with a lot more hours.  The good news is I absolutely love it,  but the bad news is I don't have as much time to share what's going on in the kitchen.  Because yes, we are still eating around here so be patient with me and I will get back to sharing.

Enough about that because what you really need to know about is this recipe.  I have been on a search for a great granola recipe and I'm afraid my long search is over with just one recipe.  I was ready to buy pounds of oats and spend many an hour slowly toasting different recipes until I found just the right one, but this has become an instant favorite.

From my little to kitchen to yours... Enjoy.

Cherry Almond Granola
Adapted from Peace Meals, Junior League of Houston
Recipe Notes
I have never met a dried cherry I didn't like and I am sure any variety you find at your grocery will be great.  I used tart dried cherries for this recipe.  Though I haven't tried it myself, the original recipe suggests throwing in some mini chocolate chips after the granola has cooled for an afternoon snack.
Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 cups sliced almonds
1 cup dried cherries (an extra 1/2 cup if you love these)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 flax seeds
parchment paper
Step by Step
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, mix together the oats, almonds, cherries, coconut and flax seeds.  Stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan over low heat.  Stir until well blended and sugar has dissolved.  Pour sugar honey mixture over granola and mix to coat well. Spread the granola on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 32 minutes or until golden brown, stirring halfway through.  Cool completely, then loosen from the baking sheet and crumble.  Store in an airtight container.

Makes 8 cups.

sundried tomatoes

excuse me, "sundried" tomatoes.
These are about as sundried as we're going to get.....leaving them out to dry in the real sun would result in no tomatoes for us, and a whole lot of tomatoes for Charly.
I planted 16 tomato plants this year thinking I would have this huge abundance of tomatoes to can. But: 1) we eat a lot of tomatoes2) I'm too impatient to wait to have a giant batch of tomatoes to

dear september,

Well.Here we are again.It's the same every year......just as you're about to leave us.....I decide that maaaaaybe you are ok.It's not that I don't like you, so I'm truly sorry to be rude upon your arrival. It's just that I'm always enjoying summer so very much, and then YOU show up (uninvited) (and too early), and remind me that my summer fun is about to end.I find it funny how everything

sweet and simple

very sweet.

Last week was a cake week.
You know.....an extra long, extra busy week, that you knew you'd only get through with the promise of cake over the weekend.
I like to reward myself like that.
I love cake. Chocolate cake. Chocolaty chocolate cake. I am always on the hunt for THE BEST chocolate cake recipe.....and I think this one comes close. I made it a few weeks back--half of it made

Var med och tävla!

Nu är det dags för något nytt här på bloggen, nämligen en tävling! Nu har du chansen att vinna en söt rosa slickepott av märket Rice, en underbar grytlapp och ett antal av mina favoritmuffinsformar (jag skickar med fler än de på bilden). Allt du behöver göra är att kommentera på detta inlägget och säga att du vill vara med, samt gå med i min facebook-grupp (länken finns i menyn till höger) om du har facebook. Glöm inte lämna namn och något sätt jag kan kontakta dig på(email eller länk till blogg/hemsida) om du har turen att vinna! Tävlingen avslutas Torsdag 30:e September kl 23:59. Kort därefter drar jag en vinnare.
Lycka till!

Tävlingen är nu avslutad!

married....

....over here

Cookies!

Något jag älskar men som jag av någon anledning nästan aldrig bakar är cookies. Jag kan äta hur många som helst, direkt från plåten. Risken att bränna sig är väldigt stor. Igår kände jag hursomhelst för att baka just cookies. Efter att ha kollat runt en stund på olika recept hittade jag den här intressanta kombinationen och slängde ihop ett recept. Beroendeframkallande!
På tal om något helt annat, är det någon mer som ska till Scandinavian Cake Show i helgen?

Cookies med macadamianötter, torkade tranbär och vit choklad
ca 30 st

-3 dl mjöl
-0,5 tsk bikarbonat
-1,5 dl ljust muscovadosocker
-1 ägg
-1 tsk vaniljextrakt
-115 gram rumsvarmt smör
-100 gram vit choklad
-100 gram tranbär
-75 gram rostade och saltade macadamianötter

Värm ugnen till 175 grader.
Blanda mjöl och bikarbonat i en skål. Hacka nötterna och chokladen.
Vispa smör och socker krämigt i en annan skål. Tillsätt sedan vaniljextrakt och ägg och vispa. Blanda försiktigt i mjölblandningen och rör tills det blir en deg.
Tillsätt nötterna, chokladen och tranbären och rör tills allt är väl fördelat.
Rulla ut små bollar (mina var ca 2-3 cm, men gör större för större kakor) och lägg på ett bakplåtspapper. Lägg dem inte för tätt så att de sjunker ihop! Tryck till bollarna så att de blir lite plattare. Grädda i ca 15 minuter.
Njut!

love like a sunset

last hurrah

The Beach House. It's the official goodbye to our summer every year. Did I just say "goodbye", and "summer" in one sentence? ouch. I'm still struggling.
But this is the perfect send off--a few days on the beach with cousins (we're up to 13!), where we do nothing but play in the sun (or snuggle in sweatshirts driking hot cocoa, if that is what Mother Nature has in store for us)....but we'll take

we.

15 minute windy photo session. thanks ryan.

home.

back to blogging soon.

Macaron recipe!

Här kommer en liten uppdatering på mitt gamla macaronrecept. Efter att ha gjort det ett antal gånger har jag upptäckt saker som ger ett ännu bättre resultat. Receptet är nästan detsamma, med några små ändringar. Macaronsen på bilden är fyllda med hallon & vit chokladganache och hallonsmörkräm.




Macarons, grundrecept

-100 gram skållade mandlar (mal gärna lite extra)
-110 gram äggvita (ca 3 äggvitor) som har stått framme i rumstemperatur ett dygn, täckt med plastfolie
-200 gram florsocker
-4-5 matskedar socker
-Ev. smaksättning t.ex. en tesked vaniljsocker

1. Finmal den skållade mandeln i en mixer. Sila mandeln så att de stora bitarna försvinner. Blanda med florsockret och kör gärna alltihop en extra gång i mixern.

2. I en större skål, vispa äggvitan med elvisp. När äggvitan börjar skumma,tillsätt sockret en matsked i taget. Fortsätt vispa tills marängen är tjock, fast och glansig.

3. Häll försiktigt i mandelblandningen i marängen och rör med en slickepott. Smeten ska inte vara för hård och inte för lös. Om du vill prova om smeten har bra konsistens, klicka ut lite på ett bakplåtspapper. Klicken ska sjunka ut och få en slät yta, är den toppig så rör lite till i smeten.

4. Fyll en spritspåse med rund tyll och spritsa ut små klickar på ett bakplåtspapper. Låt dem vila minst en timme på plåten, så att de bildar ett "skinn" på ytan. Känn försiktigt på ytan för att se att de inte är kladdiga.

5. Värm ugnen till 150°C. Grädda ca 10 minuter. Låt svalna och fyll sedan med valfri fyllning.


English:

Basic recipe for macarons

Ingredients:
-100 grams ground almonds (make sure to grind more than 100 grams)
-100-110 grams egg whites (about 3 egg whites), aged 1 day at room temperature
-200 grams powdered sugar
-4-5 tablespoons sugar


1. Grind the almonds in a mixer or a food processor. Push the almond flour through a sieve to get rid of any large pieces. In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar together with the almonds. Blend well, preferably in a mixer.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer. As they start foaming, add the sugar one tablespoon at a time and continue whipping until mixture gets thick and glossy.
3. Fold the dry mix carefully and slowly into the meringue, use a spatula. Don't overmix! Add food coloring if desired until fully mixed.
4. Fill your piping bag and pipe the macarons onto a baking sheet. Let them set for 60 minutes to form a dry skin.
5. Preheat the oven to 150° C. Bake for about 10 minutes. Let cool completely and fill with desired filling!

her turn.

She has waited and waited and WAITED for her turn at school. I have been ok with the wait.It's so funny how your second seems so much younger than your first was at the very same age.that was a really long sentence. She just looked so teeny tiny in her big girl bed last night....I couldn't believe I was really sending her off to preschool! My baby!She is probably one if the silliest girls you

i caved....

I did. I never thought I'd be so trendy.But with polaroid film so expensive,and my original (GIANT) instax dead and gone (RIP),I had to get this one.And I'm super duper excited.ps. speaking of RIP. I also am in the market for a new printer. And a new scanner. Perhaps a combo?...I am clueless. What do you like? (nothing super fancy....I just need to get the job done)

little kitchen loves... the marta glass

Every once in a while, something makes its way into your kitchen and just makes everything better.  That's how I feel about the Marta glass.  I first read about them here and after staring at the chips and cracks on our current glasses, I decided we needed a change.  I am in love with the Marta glass from CB2.  I can be a little bit of a cheap skate, especially with breakables because we seem to always, well, break them.  So the price tag on these babies was also very attractive because I can rest easy knowing its not going to break the bank if we break one.  

They are light but sturdy and are perfect for everything from water to wine.  We went with two sizes... the middle and the one on the right.  I love them both, but I also wish we had a few of the biggest one too.  Probably my next investment.

They also make great, sleek vases.  Wouldn't a line of these in different sizes be great table decor?  I plan on trying it sometime and will share.