Raspberry Cupcakes

I have so much to be thankful for today. Easter for me is about new life, fresh starts, and gratitude. I spent the day celebrating with family and friends the amazing gift that Jesus gave of his life and by his resurrection.  I've been singing this song all day long.

For our family gathering today I wanted something fresh and new too. I instantly thought of raspberries. To me they taste like summer, and at this point I am so ready for warmth and sunshine.

I really LOVE the flavor of raspberries. I can eat a whole carton of fresh berries in a flash and frozen berries make excellent ice/flavoring in water or a punch. I have a bunch of berry canes that I can't wait to plant as soon as the thaw comes (courtesy of kind neighbors).

I topped these raspberry cupcakes with raspberry frosting a fresh raspberry with a white chocolate chip inserted into the opening. I mean I topped the ones that we hadn't already eaten as a "muffin." Face it, the difference between a muffin and cupcake is pretty much the frosting...

RASPBERRY CUPCAKES
1 c butter, softened
1 1/4 c sugar
4 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
2 1/2 c flour, sifted
1/4 t salt
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 c milk (cow, nut, rice, etc)
1/2 - 2/3 c raspberry puree*

Line muffin tin with baking cups. Beat butter and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk, mixing well after each addition. Mix in raspberry puree. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 22-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from pans and cool on racks. Makes 21-24 cupcakes

RASPBERRY FROSTING
1/2 c shortening or softened butter (I used palm shortening)
1/4 c raspberry puree*
2 c confectioners' sugar, sifted
dash of salt
1/4 c white chocolate chips + 1 t shortening

In a microwave, melt chocolate chips with shortening. Mixing after every 30 seconds until just melted. With a mixer, cream together shortening and sugar and salt. Alternate adding in puree and white chocolate while mixing until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate slightly to stiffen frosting before pipping onto cupcakes or frosting with a knife or spatula. Frosting is light and fluffy, but will become very soft if left in the heat.

* Raspberry puree was made with 12-16 oz of fresh raspberries. I ran them through the blender and pushed the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds.

A Jedi Birthday - Part I and Part II

My Star Wars fanatic turned 9 and of course had dreams as big as the galaxy about what we could do to celebrate. In the end, we had two simple parties - one for family and one for school friends. I referred to them as Episode I and Episode II. Time and money were at a premium, but the end results were simple, fun, and well enjoyed by my young jedi.

Birthday Party EPISODE I - Family
MENU- Taco Bar with seasoned ground turkey, sauteed peppers, corn, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa, tortilla chips
CAKE- Green light saber cupcakes & vanilla ice cream
DECORATION - black plastic table cloth (dollar store) using a white paint pen to draw a galaxy on, birthday boy's spot with labelled for Jedi Ryan, Lego Star Wars creations & figures

Birthday Party EPISODE II - School Friends
MENU- Pizza, Yoda Soda (label around a green bottle of soda or juice box), baby carrots & celery
CAKE- Blue light saber cupcakes & vanilla ice cream
DECORATION - black plastic table cloth (dollar store) using a white paint pen to draw a galaxy on, each child's spot with labelled for each Jedi (their names), Lego Star Wars creations & figures
PARTY BAGS - found little Lego Star Wars kits on clearance a month ago and stashed them away. Bags were tied together with a glow stick light saber with a character picture threaded on it
ACTIVITIES - outdoor light saber/blaster battles, glow in the dark light saber battle,balloon light sable battles, general chaos

A little bit of electrical tape around the bracelet connector was a quick job and so much fun for the boys Okay, it was fun for too. I saved the two pink ones in the pack for the "Mom Sabers" and broke them out when the boys were getting a bit out of control. That way I was int he middle of it and could keep an eye on things. I may or may not have added to the chaos and my husband may or may not have made me stop before the other parents showed up to pick up their kids.

I took balloons for making animals and wrapped duct tape around the end to make a saber handle. This was chaos, but my living room and all the kids survived. Lots of laughter involved. The kids each took one home with them.

It doesn't get easier than a light saber cupcake spread. Covered a paper towel roll with tin foil and electrical tape and lined up colorful cupcakes. Super easy to slide in a gluten-free cupcake and everyone else gets a regular one.

Kindergarten Valentine Recap

I was the lucky mom to get to plan the Valentine's Day party for my son's kindergarten class. Everything went really well despite a last minute round of food poisoning that I came down with the night before the party. Ugh. I'm so glad that I had all the activities planned and to the teacher ahead of time so all I had to do was make some brownies and marshmallow pops. Both simple enough to do while you are not feeling well.

While I was really happy with the results, I was more pleased with how easy it was to pull together.

I adapted my usual Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows when I found heart shaped marshmallows. I melted semi-sweet and white chocolate chips with a bit of palm oil shortening. After I put the heart marshmallow on the end of a coffee stir stick, I dipped one side of the marshmallow in chocolate and then dipped them into sprinkles. Laid out on a cookie sheet, I stuck them in the freezer for a couple of minutes to harden. I put them on display in a mason jar so the kids could easily grab them, but the moms in class ended up plating up the snacks and serving them to the kids.

Brownies taste even better when they are shaped like a heart right? I under-baked the brownies (half with sprinkles and half without) just slightly and when they cooled I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to make these sweet treats. The bonus is all the scraps were left over to be eaten later when I felt better.

I took pictures of the kids before the party peeking through a heart shaped cookie cutter (that thing got a lot of use). The kids used the pictures to make cards that said "I spy with my little eye, someone that I love."

The kids played site word bingo - Valentine style.

I'm not quite sure when the white conversation hearts were replaced by blue... Our candy counting sheets were a little bit off, but still worked.

Chocolate Pancakes

These are a fun breakfast surprise and no more "unhealthy" than any other pancake. The chocolate seems decadent, but doesn't come with the calorie count of chocolate desert. The boys opted for simple powdered sugar to top these with while I put some crushed strawberries on mine with a bit of powdered sugar. I opted for the lesser amount of sugar in the pancakes, but without the sweeter topping, they could use a bit more.


This is one to definitely repeat.

1 1/4 c flour (GF Mix - I used 1/2 c millet, 1/2 c potato starch, and 1/4 c oat flour)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t Xanthan gum (if using gluten free flours)
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/4 c raw or brown sugar (1/2 c if you want a sweeter cake)
2 T cocoa powder
2 T oil
1 c milk (cow, rice, nut)
1 egg (or replacer)

Stir dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, wisk the wet ingredients. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Heat your a griddle and oil it with coconut or sunflower oil. Pour about 1/3 c of batter and cook until bubbles start to burst and the batter stiffens. Flip and cook the other side for another minute or two. Serve with powdered sugar, maple syrup, macerated berries, whipping cream, or your topping of choice.

Living In Walnut Grove

The magical land of Walnut Grove was so appealing as a child. I really could picture myself and Laura being good friends. We had a common foe - Nelly Olson. Laura dealt with her at school and so did I. She in person and I was teased on the playground by having my name shorted to Nelly (unfortunate nickname that took me until 4th grade to eradicate) and then linked to the snobby TV/novel personality.

Well, the land that sounded so magical, must have been a nightmare to pick up all those walnut trees. While we only have 5 or 6 mature walnut trees in our yard (more in the woods), the harvest of the green covered nuts has been intense this year. With little rainfall this summer, the trees have put their efforts into producing seeds to ensure their existence/propagation.

This bounty in a large yard cart, comes from just about a 5 days since our last clean up on just one tree. Yup, we got plenty of walnuts. Hundreds of them.

We are lucky to have a 6-year-old who is thoroughly fascinated by the nuts and enjoys picking them up. Out 8-year-old, however, is not. He gets a quota to pick up before he is done. The ironic part of this is I'm allergic to the things so we don't put them to use, just dump them in the woods. Such a shame. I have fond memories of cracking walnuts from my Great Aunt Vi's house as a child. I have saved a few for decorating in vases, but they are starting to rot and need to join their friends in the woods as well.

The wind has stopped for now so hopefully we'll have a few days of respite until we are out collecting again. That's a good thing. We've had several of us down with golds and my little man has his first fever of the season.

I think we are all a bit worn down after months of remodeling, moving, starting school, unpacking, sorting, having a garage sale, and trying to keep up with life. I'm not sure which is more tiring, the physical work or the emotional toll of change and instability.

We've all had to work our way through it, some of us better than others. The joy of returning "home" has been mixed with a homesickness for our friends in ND. But finally being in our own home, we are praying that the stability and normalcy that comes with it will help us put down roots and find our place and calling in this place.

We have been blessed. Now is the time to rest and remember all the ways that we have.... but more about that later.

Summer Living

What I'm loving about living in Michigan again...

* Having a bag packed and ready for the beach at all times
* Trees and rolling hills (that my 5-year-old thinks are mountains)
* Watching my children playing with their cousins
* Lower grocery prices
* Fresh fruit and veggies available along the roadside
* The feeling of sand in between my toes
* Watching my boys fishing off the dock with hotdogs
* Sunsets glistening off the water
* Running into people in the store that I knew from way back when
* Puttering around in my mother-in-laws flower gardens (until we get into our house next month)
* No plains for the wind to come sweeping down...

What I have not missed about Michigan...
* Rude drivers
* Summer road construction & pot-holes
* Earwigs & Mosquitos
* Humidity
* Long drive times

It's a good thing that the first list far outweighs the second.  While it is great to be "home" again, I sure do miss the amazing people of North Dakota that we met. It has been much more of a difficult transition than I imagined, but God has been good to us each and every step of the way. We've made amazing memories this summer already, and there is a lot more left to come.

The challenge is to soak in these moments, to be grateful for each blessing as it flies by, to capture each moment and experience the gift that it is.

Mango Salsa

Here's a lovely sweet and spicy mix that tastes like pure summer. This works great with chips, in a salad, or with chicken.

1 Mango, finely diced
8 Roma Tomatoes, finely diced
2 Jalapenos, finely diced
1/4 t Salt
1/2 Fresh Lime, juiced
1 t Sugar
1 T Cilantro, chopped (optional)

Give this about 30 minutes to let the flavors meld together. But yes, it can be eaten right away if you can't wait and it still tastes good.