Cuckoo for Coconut!

So this week I was inspired by the February edition of Martha Stewart Living. Among other helpful hints and ideas, she had a variety of cupcake recipes and ideas. I absolutely adore the cupcake heart on the cover! But I decided to go for the coconut cupcake recipe. Now Martha topped hers with her 7-minute frosting. I however decided to go for a white chocolate frosting. 

Here are the results, coconut cupcakes with white chocolate frosting. 

The cupcakes were easy to make, as was the frosting. Unlike Martha Stewart's caramel buttercream frosting. Which she pairs with banana cupcakes, however I will have to be paid a great deal of money before I try her caramel buttercream again. For those of you who don't know, her the BCB graces the caramel apple cupcakes from Halloween.

So...I am not going to lie, I don't know how they taste because I haven't eaten one. But I am taking them to work tomorrow, and I'll be sure to get a review then.

Oh and be sure to check out Martha online - at www.marthastewart.com. A site that I waste serious amounts of time browsing. More specifically check out the cookie of the day. I would like to issue a challenge to someone to make each one of those cookies every day. It won't be me, but I hope somebody somewhere participates. 

Happy Happy Birthday to Me!

For those of you who don't know....I am now 25! My birthday was December 20th and we celebrated all weekend long! In fact that is why, 3 weeks later, I am finally writing about it. It took me that long to recover from all the partying. 

This was my cake, made by me! It's a red velvet pound cake. Now if you are concerned with the vibrant red color, consider the fact that the cake itself does not have cocoa in it, like tradition red velvet cakes. And yes that is cream cheese frosting drizzled all over the top.

We fit 25 candles on that baby.

There are always little hands ready to help!

Andrew decorated our basement with purple decorations! For the record purple is now officially my favorite color. For the last 6 years its been green, so I figured it was time for a change! 

RBBC

What is RBBC? Why Root Beer Bundt Cake of course! Courtesy of my new cookbook:

It was my first recipe from the book and I am more than willing to try out another one in the near future. The cake had 2 cups of root beer and the frosting another 1/4 cup. So the root beer flavor wasn't overwhelming, but it was more of a subtle background flavor in the dense chocolate cake. According to the bakers, this cake just screams for ice cream. And really what goes better with root beer than ice cream?

Mandi - This one's for you!

My friend Becky is amazing (Steph is also amazing, and congrats on her engagement). I've known Becky since freshman year in Chipman hall, and she has just started a new blog, a blog about cupcakes and Utah. Two things, I know everyone enjoys. This new blog is in addition to her already delightful Project Domestication blog, which I have never put a link to before, but I look at pretty much every day, it is an important source for someone looking in to becoming domestic. So if you like all things cupcakes and Utah check out this blog. And if you love domesticating check out her project here. Good job Becks! And keep up the good work. 

27 things...

Tag you're it! Thanks for the tag Mandi H. 

27 things for which I am thankful. 

1. Andrew

2. Mom and Dad Law

3. Mom and Dad Law's cozy basement 

4. Mama K and Daddy Del, for letting us come home and eat all of the food

5. Being able to go home

6. Siblings 

5. Neices and Nephews, who are made so that I can spoil them 

6. My place of employment

7. Co-workers at said place of employment

8. Being able to get an education at my own pace

9. Chewie dogs

10. Music

11. Most dogs in general

12. Space heaters 

13. Photographs

14. Corrective lenses

15. Homemade baked goods 

16. The ability to exercise

17. Google images

18. Living within walking distance of a church

19. Public transportation

20. Vacations

21. Warm shoes

22. Good health 

23. Books

24. Holidays

25. America

26. Breakfast cereal

27. Andrew, again. 

I feel like tagging, Kara and Mindy.  Show you thankfulness girls. 

This Year's Soundtrack to the Season

Yes, I started listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. Why? Because I felt like it. And now I can finally stop pretending. Thanksgiving is officially over (thank  goodness) and now we can move on to the important holiday: Christmas. Just kidding, I like Thanksgiving. In fact I wrote a paper discussing the preparation of Thanksgiving dinner and what it means to the American cultural identity. Just let me know and I will e-mail you a copy. 

Now, I would like to share with you a few selections from My "Happy Christmas" playlist this year:

Celtic Women 

What can I say? I like anything and everything celtic, even the basketball team, and tatoos. More specifically, I like when Celtic Women sing Carol of the Bells. 

Barenaked Ladies 

I love them even more because they are Canadian, not to mention the fact that they are cool enough to include Hanukkah songs. It makes me wish I had a little dreidel.  

Josh Groban 

Ahhh...Josh, what more can I say? Other than I waited years for this album, and I am just so very thankful that you decided to grace Christmas with the voice.  Check out The Little Drummer Boy and of course listen and see what Josh does for O Holy Night. It is AMAZING. 

Michael Bolton

It's a little known fact that I am a closet Michael Bolton fan. Both of these CDs are great. I prefer the Michael with long hair, but that's just me. I think my love for MB stems from listening to a lot of MIX 103 while growing up. Thanks Lee's! For providing all of the Magic Valley with great soft-rock hits.  

Mariah Carey 

I really enjoy M.C and therefore why wouldn't I enjoy a Christmas CD? Year after year "All I want for Christmas is you" is probably one of my most listened to holiday songs. It makes me want to tap dance. First, I would have to learn, but it doesn't look too hard, and then I would choreography a dance to this  song, that is what I think about every time I hear the song. 

Neil Diamond 

A lady I work with recently introduced to the majesty that is Neil Diamond Christmas. And I must say that I am enjoying it immensely. Neil Diamond is a new fav, and it makes me ill to think about all of the holiday seasons that I've had to suffer through without him. I could have been enjoying him all these years. I will just have to make up for lost time. Welcome Neil. 

Neil Diamond to this? Yes. Those Lachey brothers really know how to do a Christmas album right. Best songs? Too many to name. Swallow your pride and give it a listen. You won't be disappointed. Well...you might be, but just get over it. It's a classic from when boy bands reined supreme.  And that era should never be forgotten. 

Nightmare Before Christmas

???What??? Yes, that's right. It's a Christmas CD. It says so in the title. The thing I love most about this movie, is that it is quite possibly the only movie that fully encompasses 2, count em 2 holidays.  2 of my favorite holidays, mind you. So yes I listen to the soundtrack from Halloween to Christmas. In fact there is a song specifically titled "Making Christmas" What could be more festive. 

Honorable mention to Elton John's "Stepping into Christmas" for being the only Christmas song I run to year round. Congrats. Also I would like to thank Pandora for giving those of us with music ADD (Andrew) a little bit of everything. Like a holiday smorgasbord. Eat up! 

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Our tree has been up for 2 weeks, after a quick trip to the Home De-pot, I finally got rid of the 5 foot $16 Walmart tree that has haunted the past 3 Christmas Seasons. This one is 7 feet tall, with a wide "girth" and most importantly it is pre-lit. And quite honestly I think its lovely.

It's stuffed with goodies.  Every branch on that tree has something hanging from it, and while some people may miss the scent of fresh pine when converting to a fake tree, my spruceberry candle more than makes up for it. That candle smells better than any real tree ever could.