Wow, these are good.

Banana Cupcakes

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt


Pre-heat oven to 350. Cream shortening and sugars together. Add eggs, extracts and banana and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, powder, soda and salt. Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk and add to sugar mixture. Bake in lined cupcake pan for 15 - 20 min. Yield: 18 cupcakes.


Dark Chocolate Butter Cream

½ cup butter (room temperature)
3 tablespoon butter flavor shortening
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons Hershey's Special Dark coco powder
4 cups powdered sugar
1 - 2 tablespoons of milk (as needed for texture)


Whip butter and shortening until fluffy. Add exact and coco, mix well. Add powdered sugar a little at a time, mixing in between each addition. Add milk as needed to achieve a fluffy whipped texture.

Ice cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

I hit up Michael's today and found these glass jar wedding favors on sale for $14.99 (regularly $19.99)for 18. Instantly I thought of my spice drawer. As much as I like cook, my counter top spice rack just does not cut it, so I have a spice drawer for overflow purposes and it has been needing a little attention.

 These jars did just the trick! They are the prefect size, they are glass and they seal nicely. I made some labels by printed the spice names out on label paper and cutting them out with a circle punch. I heart labeling! !

Shrimp Creole - Another winner from one of my favorite recipe blogs: Gina's Skinny Taste. If you are looking food that is heathy and delish, look no further.

Here is the recipe for this cajun classic cooked with tomatoes, onions, peppers and celery, and be sure to check out the blog for a prinable version and more fantastic healthy meals.

Shrimp Creole

Adapted from Deep South Dish Gina's

Skinny Recipes Calories: 211.9 • Fat: 4.6 g • Carb: 17.6 g • Fiber: 4.2 g • Sugar: 7.8 g • Protein: 25.8 g 2 tsp olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp Cajun Seasoning such as Slap Your Mama (more or less to taste) (i used McCormic)
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp of all purpose flour (leave out for gluten-free)
2 tbsp water
1 lb of large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used frozen)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp hot sauce, to taste
1 medium scallion, sliced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
salt to taste

In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, green bell pepper, garlic and celery and saute until tender. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce, cayenne pepper, cajun spice, bay leaf and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer 20-30 minutes. Make a slurry of the flour and water and stir into the tomato mixture. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Lightly season the shrimp with the Cajun seasoning and add immediately to the tomato mixture. Add Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce; stir together. Cook for another 5 to 6 minutes, or until shrimp is opaque and cooked through, adjust salt if needed. Add chopped green onion and parsley and serve.

There really are no words to describe how yummy these guys are. Mocha cake + Espresso Butter Cream Icing = The Mochaccino Cupcake. This is a delightful combination of cupcake and coffee and quite possibly the world's most perfect dessert. Enjoy!



Mocha Cupcakes

1-1/3 all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼cup whole milk
¾ cup espresso (about 1 ½ shots - set the other ½ shot aside for the icing)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature


Combine espresso and milk; set aside to cool to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat the butter, vanilla, and both sugars together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture, alternating with the coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 liners. Baking for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting cupcakes.

Espresso Butter Cream Icing

½cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ c butter flavor Crisco
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 teaspoons espresso (cooled to room temperature)
1 tablespoon of whole milk

Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter and crisco on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar a little at a time, waiting until it is mostly incorporated before adding more. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy, about a minute or two. Add the espresso, vanilla and milk. Continue to mix at medium-high until it is completely incorporated, scraping the sides as necessary.

I've been on a mad ravioli kick lately. This has been my first go at making homemade pasta and I must say, I've even impressed myself. Making homemade ravioli, though a little time consuming, is a cakewalk. And each turn makes so much, that before you know it, you have enough delicious ravioli for several hearty meals. And the best part: Once the rolling and the filling is done, these little babies go into the freezer, and can be ready to eat any night of the week in 8 minutes flat. What is not to love about that?

For the dough you will need the following plus wax or parchment paper, a pastry brush, a rolling pin, extra flower for rolling, and I highly recommend a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Although hand kneading is certainly possible, it would just add a bit more time to the overall process.

3 c of flour

5 egg yolks + one whole egg

½ tsp salt

½ to 1 cup of water (Enough water to make a smooth dough)

Set the eggs out and let them reach room temperature. Separate 5 of them and set the whites aside (these and the leftover cheese from the filling are great in a follow-up meal of soufflé). Add all the ingredients to your mixing bowl, save the water, and kneed with the dough hook attachment until incorporated. Add water slowly as needed until a smooth sticky dough forms and kneed with the stand mixer for 10 additional minutes. 

Before rolling, let the dough rest for 20 minutes, covered with a clean damp paper towel to avoid drying. Once the dough has rested, use the extra flour and a rolling pin to roll the dough super thin. I kept rolling until I the dough was translucent and I could see my hand through it. The dough should be stretchy and fairly easy to work with. Don't be afraid to use a lot of flower to keep it from sticking. Turn it over often as you roll. And keep on rolling, you will be glad you did later. 

While my dough was resting, I made my filling (see suggestions further down in the post)

Once the dough is nice and thin, use a cookie or biscuit cutter to cut it into small rounds or squares. I used a 2 in round cookie cutter, but most anything will work. You could even make special occasion ravioli shaped like hearts or flowers if you'd like

Lightly beat the remaining egg to use as a wash. Apply the egg wash with your pastry brush to one dough round. Place a small amount of filling in the center of the round-I used about a teaspoon. Top with another dough round and press the edges firmly with your finger. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or wax paper and freeze for about 10 minutes or until firm.

Once frozen, the ravioli can be stored for up to 6 months in an air tight container in the freezer.

Now on to the filling. Oh the pasta-bilities! (sorry I couldn't stop myself). You can fill your ravioli with most anything. So far I have made lobster and mascarpone ravioli and three cheese ravioli. Both were delicious!

For the Lobster Mascarpone:

1 8 oz containter of pre-cooked lobster (I found mine at )

1 8 oz container of mascarpone cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them up.

For the Three Cheese:

1 8 oz container of part skim ricotta

¼ c shredded mozerella cheese

4 oz shredded fontina cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them up.

See! Easy-peasy! Here are some other ideas:

Chicken Marsala Ravioli

Hazelnut & Butternut Squash Ravioli

Spinach and Mushroom Ravioli

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I can't wait to make ALL of these.

And for serving suggestions, of course a traditional pasta sauce is delicious, but for something different, try a a simple browned butter sauce tossed with some wilted spinach. So easy and so gourmet! Enjoy!

I surprised myself the other night by whipping up a cheese soufflé for dinner. It was delicious and very fancy looking, but was surprisingly easy to make. I had always thought of soufflé as a challenging and temperamental dish, but I'm here to tell you, they are quite simple and taste much more savory than even the ingredient list would lead you to believe. I looked up several recipes and settled on this one: Alton Brown's recipe from the Food Network.

• Butter, room temperature, for greasing the souffle
• 2 tablespoons grated  Parmesan
• 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1 1/3 cups milk, hot
• 4 large egg yolks (2 1/2 ounces by weight)
• 6 ounces sharp  Cheddar
• 5 egg whites plus 1 tablespoon water (5 1/2 ounces by weight plus 1/2 ounce water)
• 1/2 teaspoon  cream of tartar

The main thing to remember in this dish, as well as in much of French cooking is technique. Set the eggs out and let them warm to room temerature. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, don't brown it. Add the flour and stir, forming a roux. Stir until the roux is completely smooth-no lumps. Add the milk. This will make the mixture lumpy again. Stir until there are no lumps at all and the mixture is completely smooth. Add the spices (I skipped the cream of tartar simply because I didn't have any on hand) and the cheese (I substituted Fontina for cheddar, because that is what I had on hand) and again your mixture will be lumpy. Again stir it until it is completely smooth. Remove from the heat and let it come to room temperature. Then add the egg yolks-making the mixture lumpy. Then, you guessed it, stir until it is smooth.

Set the mixture aside and whip your egg whites in an electric mixer until they form stiff peaks. Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the cheesy mixture and fold in. This will lighten the mixture so that you are able to fold in the rest of the egg whites and keep some of their volume. Add the rest of the egg whites and carefully fold in. Don't over mix. It's ok if you can still see some streaks of egg white in the mixture. Transfer the mixture to a buttered ceramic soufflé pan (or deep cera

mic mixing bowl as I did). Bake at 375 for 35 min and serve IMMEDATELY (it will start to deflate a bit after just a few moments out of the oven).

The result is delicious and quite impressive looking.

Ok, the Steelers lost, I know. And my official mourning period is over now, but with my wounds still feeling fresh from the curb stomping handed out by the Pack, I will share with you the details of my Super Bowl Sunday party. Although the game was NOT super, the party certainly was.



The menu included mini burgers served on down and distance marker skewers. To make the skewers, I used orange cardstock paper cut into triangles, white card stock paper cut into circles with a 1 ½" round paper punch, a black marker, all purpose craft glue and medium length bamboo skewers.



I wrote numbers 1-4 on the white paper rounds with the black marker and glued the white and orange paper to the skewer to make them look like the down and distance markers on the sideline of any football game.



I also created serving suggestions for the mini burgers, Pittsburgh style, and set out all the fixings to let party goers create their own mini masterpieces.



Also on the menu were French fries with cheese and gravy, hot wings, coleslaw, veggies and dip, Hanover pretzels and doughnuts (what is a tailgate party without doughnuts!)-many of which were contributed by my guests (thanks guys!). And of course, we had Iron City Beer.



For desert, I served Steeler helmet sugar cookie cut outs with royal icing and football shaped brownies.

I wish the score would have been different, but regardless, the party was a blast-complete with stadium-style seating in the living room and a very enthusiastic peanut gallery!

A great way to minimize coffee table clutter is with a tray for remote controls. I recently gave ours a facelift using some leftover paint from my dresser redo and some pretty green patterned paper I had in the craft room. I gave the tray a fresh coat of white paint, painted the inside silver, decoupaged the paper in the center, and coated the whole thing with polyurethane. It makes a pretty place to keep remotes, coasters and my table topics questions close at hand.   

As much as I adore my mirrored bedside tables, the pièce de résistance of our brighter bedroom design, is definitely the dresser. Being a DYI novice, I did not take a before photo ( I KNOW! Can you believe it? I was so excited to get started that I got the first coat of paint on and then---hand smacks forehead-DOH!) Oh well. Suffice to say, it needed some updating. We purchased it for $60 on Craig's List. It had great bones-no particle board, cool Danish modern styling-but, needed some serious love---original (read: dingy) brass hardware, pealing veneer---you get the picture.

In keeping with the 'light' theme of the room, I decided to paint it a nice crisp white and, to coordinate with the bedside tables, I wanted to add a reflective element. I considered getting a mirror cut to fit the top, but then I saw the dining room wall in my friend Rachael's house and nearly passed out.

Isn't it GLORIOUS!!?! Rachael is my DYI spiritual advisor and runs the amazing blog Lovely.Crafty.Home (may have mentioned it on here at some point…not sure). She created this positively stunning effect with a stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils and the photo does not begin to do it justice---it's beyond words. Anyway, I got to thinking that she has this ultra fabulous stencil laying around, so perhaps I could barrow it and make my dresser extra amazing for a fraction of the cost of a boring old custom cut mirror top. Being the dear that she is, Rachael agreed to not only allow me to barrow the stencil, but totally come over and help me redo the whole darn dresser---how lucky am I to have a friend like that?!?

The stencil was SO EASY to use. This is not your mom's stencil and is not like the flimsy ones that you may have used for craft projects in the past, there is no paint bleeding under the cut-out or any such nonsense. Simply apply the stencil to the surface you want to paint. Roll on your choice of raft paint with a sponge roller (I used Folk Art Enamels 4034 Metallic Silver Sterling), let dry and repeat until the surface is covered.

1. Apply Stencil

2. Apply Paint with a Sponge Roller

3. Let your first pass dry and then position the stencil to fill in any empty spots

4. Tad-Da!

I am so pleased with the results! The pattern is modern and funky, the paint is very reflective and complements the mirror/sliver accents in the room well and it could not have been easier.

For a final detail, I replaced the old brass knobs with some brushed nickel knobs. And, I was able to salvage the one detail of the old hardware that I liked. The little elipses behind the knobs are orginal to the dresser and, of course, used to be brass. I hit them with some sand paper and some of the grass green spray paint left over from the lamps I painted for the room and---ta da!---a fresh new take on retro styling.  *LOVE*

I could not be happier with the result and cannot thank Rachael enough for her help and guidance. To see more of her delicious dining room wall stencil, and all the other amazing things on her blog, head on over to Lovely.Crafty.Home.

Hello, dear readers. I am back after a brief blog lull and ready to show you a fun bedroom redecorating project that I just completed. You may remember that I recently added some drop cloth curtains to the bedroom. I loved the curtains, but the room seemed kind of heavy and a little too dark for my liking after I hung them. The added privacy they offered was necessary, so, well, you know how one thing leads to another…I decided to brighten up some of the bedroom accessories to give an added lightness and brightness to the room.

So, here is the before:

I liked the overall look of our bedroom, but I felt like the black lamps, bed skirt, dark headboard, dark wood side tables and black picture frames were just a little, well, dark. The rest of the room, drapes, walls and bedding, were a wash of various neutrals and though the space was clean a tailored looking it was just missing a bit of sparkle.

And After:

Bright and spring-y!

The purchases I made for this room redo were mirrored side tables that I found on sale at Target (I love them) and new sheets, bed skirt, shams and accent pillow from TJ Maxx Homegoods. I got everything on the cheap, especially the side tables. I noticed a small chip on the corner of one that landed me an additional 20% off the pair after speaking to a store manager. Did I mention that I love them? Like truly, madly deeply? We are talking real side table love here people!

A can of grass green spray paint and some new oblong lamp shades (also on sale at Target) brightened up the formerly black lamps. These guys were originally a steel, at $10 each, from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. If you have not already found the ReStore nearest you, stop reading this IMMEDATELY and RUN to your neighborhood location. I'm serious. It's an emergency!

I swapped out the black and white prints in black frames for colorful prints in silver frames (it's really nice having a talented photographer for my husband!) and added some mosaic glass hurricane votive holders as accents. I have actually had these for more than 5 years and originally bought them for a dollar each from the Dollar Tree as table decorations for our wedding!

Another element is a mirror on the wall opposite the bed by the closet. This mirror was actually just chilling next to the washing machine in our place and must belong to our landlady. I cleaned it up and now it not only is functional for helping to choose the perfect outfit, but also reflects the light from the windows on the opposite side of the room.

Lastly, our Danish modern style dresser ($60 from Craig's list) got a mad facelift thanks to some paint, hardware, and the help of my amazing friend Rachael from Lovely.Crafty.Home.

I'll have all the details on this beauty tomorrow so, stay tuned. But, in the mean time, here are a few more shots of our much sunnier and brighter bedroom.