Valentine's Day {Sugar Cookies}

Approaching Valentines day, I was anticipating making red velvet cupcakes for dessert. However upon seeing the adorable Valentines day sprinkles at Target, I decided to make sugar cookies and decorate them with pink, red and white icing. I only wish i was able to find X's and O's cookie cutters, but i didn't see any at the stores i visited, so if you know where they're selling them, please please, do tell! Personally I think my mom has one of the best sugar cookie recipes, but thats just me! they're fun to decorate with a bunch of girlfriends, and the possibilities are endless!

SUGAR COOKIES

~ 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

~ 1/2 teaspoon salt

~ 1 teaspoon baking powder

~ 1 cup butter

~ 2 cups sugar

~ 2 large eggs

~ 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, and zest of two lemons

*****

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. set aside.

2. Use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs

3. Add flour mixture, and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in lemon juice and zest. Wrap dough in plastic; chill for about 30 minutes. 

4. Preheat oven to 325. On a floured surface, roll dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shaped. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Let cool and decorate with Icing.

For the icing I put about 2- 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar in a bowl and add milk in very small amounts. Stir and add enough milk until sugar is completely dissolved and movable, but still thick. I add small amounts of gel paste food coloring (can be bought @Michaels- $1.99, and they have EVERY color). Paint cookies and ENJOY!

and just to add to the business of the week, I gave my baby bunny a bath on Tuesday night. There is nothing quite as adorable as giving a bunny a bath. She's so sweet! :)

Happy Valentines Day!

XO

B

In The Name Of {Love}

I usually don't admit this in public, but Valentines Day is my favorite holiday (Christmas doesn't count, or else it would be a no-brainer; Mariah Carey isn't allowed to audition for American Idol, you know.)  Even since I was little, I've always loved all the decorations, cards, candies, flowers, songs, and movies that come with this special day. I would spend hours, literally, preparing my valentines to take to school. Just the other day i spend an hour and a half wandering around the Valentine's section in Target, soaking it all up(The Proposal was only $10). Obviously I've only had one actual real-life "valentine" but that was last year, and its safe to say the tradition will not be continuing this year, but I digress.

I think its so cool how all the candy companies go all out with the repackaging of their candies.  Seriously, my favorite candy, York peppermint patties, are heart shaped this year, with pink filling. When i saw this, my heart was definitely bursting with joy. I think Valentines day obviously is mostly geared for couples in love, but I've always used it to just remind those around me I love, that i love them! 

My mom and I  always gets each other something cute, sometimes having to do with Valentines day, and other times not. I remember one year I bought her two pink mugs from Starbucks that have coasters with hearts on them :). We usually give my dad and brother candy...because they aren't pink's biggest fans. 

The only thing i dislike about Valentines day is that there is lots of cute candy sitting on our counter, which I often eat. Instead of eating it I took a picture, thats at the top of the post. Definitely not as satisfying. 

Well if you're stumped for what movies to watch on Valentines day, I got you covered, with my top ten favorite romance movies, in this post here :). Since that post, other movies have come out, and I would add "Letter to Juliet" to the list.

And if you're into making mixed C.D.'s here is the link to my favorite love song. EVER. Smother Me- by The Used.

Another creative idea for this day is something I discovered when I was about ten, and I love doing it. Make a heart shaped fried egg for your "sweetheart" (I did this while making my parents breakfast ;). Simply pull out a heart shaped cookie cutter. Heat the skillet with butter. Place the cookie cutter on the skillet and crack the egg inside. Cook until done and simply remove the cookie cutter and place the egg on the plate (with bacon of course) and enjoy! It wont damage a metal cookie cutter, but please don't use plastic, thats just a sad mess waiting to happen :( 

I will hopefully post a red velvet recipe before next Monday, which is my favorite V-day dessert, or anytime dessert actually. :)

xoxo

B

 "Love is patient andkind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

{Thankfulness}

You know that saying "count your blessings?" Well, honestly I don't think I can count that high!!! The past few weeks I have come to realize so much more, just how incredibly blessed I am, and how much I have to be thankful for!! Before this summer when I got saved, Thanksgiving was just a day to look at all the things I had that helped me, and eat lots of food. But this year the true meaning of Thanksgiving has been made clear to me!!! It shouldn't just be the one day of the year we say 'thank you,' but should really be a picture of our attitude and lifestyle; one of gratitude and thankfulness. Grace and blessings definitely do abound in my life, and here are just a few of the things I and especially thankful for :)

I. My Family:

I am so glad to have a family who loves me and cares for me. I definitely don't deserve them, and no matter how hard things get, the Lord provided them for me, because he cares for me!!! WOW.

II. My Friends

I am SO overly thankful for these girls in my life. The Lord has graciously places many other brothers and sisters in Christ into my life that are a blessing to me. They love the Lord and pursue him, AND encourage me to do so as well. Again, I don't deserve them at all, but still grace abounds. 

III. My Salvation

Last, but definitely the most important thing on this list is Jesus Christ, and our relationship! He looked upon my sinful, sad condition and extended his great love to ME. Because he sent his Son to die on the cross, and bear the punishment for my sin, I can be made alive in Christ, and am no longer enslaved to sin. I can not begin to explain how thankful I am for this. No words can describe. I love my Savior, and his blood has washed me clean. Thats all that matters. 

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." ~ Ephesians 2: 4-10

This year for Thanksgiving my family and I are going to Arizona for 5 days. I am very excited to get out of California, give thanks to the Lord, see my uncle, visit with friends, and eat TURKEY! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family or friends!! See you when i get back :)

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." 

Psalm 100:4

xo

B

Homemade {Caramel Apples}

My mom and I have always loved caramel apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. They are in one word: divine.  A couple weeks ago with Thanksgiving and Christmas fast approaching I wanted to try to make my own, so i wouldn't have to shell out $8 if i had a caramel apple craving. Making them seemed simple enough, so i decided to do some research. All the recipes I found online involved melting pre made caramels.  I turned to a friend's mother, Mrs. Harasick (who's blog you can find here, she is a cooking genius), who led me in the direction of a recipe involving heavy cream and sugar.  

After four batches of caramel, 2 pints of heavy cream, and 9 cups of sugar, I got it right! The first recipe was bitter and more of a sauce than something to dip apples in. I didn't heat the second recipe hot enough. I got the third one the right temp. and color, but it was bitter again. Finally on the last batch I added vanilla to the final product, and ta da! The sharp edge was replaced by  creamy, gooey, caramel perfection. This recipe is definitely easy to make, and only costs about $8 for 6 apples. Not bad for a gourmet desert :)

INGREDIENTS:

6 granny smith apples

1/2 cup water

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

6 popsicle sticks

DIRECTIONS:

~ Wash and dry apples. Insert popsicle sticks 1-inch in the top of each apple.

~ Pour water into a medium saucepan. Then carefully pour sugar into pan, and without touching the side of the pot, press the sugar under the water.

~ Place saucepan over high heat and bring sugar to a complete boil.

~ Reduce heat to medium-high heat and let sugar simmer, undisturbed until golden brown (8 minutes, and mixture will be between 300-350 degrees)

~ Remove from heat and add cream. Mixture will sputter. Add vanilla and stir.

~ Pour mixture from saucepan into a small ceramic bowl, and cool 5 minutes.

~ Dip and swirl apples until mostly covered. Place apples on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 

~ Place cookie sheet in fridge for 10 minutes. Remove and let apples sit at room temp. until set. 

~ Remove from cookie sheet and store in an air tight container.

I dipped my set caramel apples in dark, semi sweet chocolate and then rolled them in pecans.

Or you can just do plain chocolate!

tips&&tricks;

    -Be very very very VERY careful when working with caramel. Its about 3x's hotter than boiling water.

    - When you pour the caramel from the saucepan to the ceramic bowl, IMMEDIATELY wash the bowl with hot water. Caramel turns into super glue, and you might have to toss the pan if your'e not careful!   

enjoy.

xo

B

a Fireworks and Food Filled Fourth of July!

My family doesn't have very many holiday traditions. I guess we just kind of do whatever the moment calls for at holidays.  However the fourth of July is an exception to this unspoken rule.  For the past 19 years we've gone to our friends, The Crumb's, independence day party. They live in an enormous five-story house right on the marina of Marina del Rey. Its so absolutely relaxing and beautiful! You can sit on one of their four decks and look out into the sunset, and see the glassy water down below. I guess the only way to describe it is serene. So this year, in keeping with 'tradition' we all got dressed and headed on down to their house. I brought my sweet friend KAT with me this year. It was SO fun. 

we got ready for the night (:

leaving!!! (:

on the way!! (: 

After we got there we had an amazing dinner. All the food is put out buffet style. The menu included: homemade crab cakes, ribs, tacos, shrimp, smoked salmon, Caesar salad, apple pie, and fresh fruit. And thats to name half of it. Bliss, right?? 

Then we put our legs in the heated pool....

then we gave in, put our suits on, and hopped in! There was about 9 little girls in the pool with us. It was so fun to talk to them and play around with them. Although we tried to avoid the splashing, we got nailed a couple times... (: We also watched the spectacular fireworks show from the pool. 

 

on our way home! (:

It was such a fun night. One of the most interesting things was seeing how much everyone had changed over the past two years. Last year the family that hosts the party went to Hawaii so there was no party. But their grandson was about 5'9" the last time i saw him. And when he walked in yesterday....he was 6'4". CRAZINESS!!!! 

But as the rest of the country celebrates Americas freedom from England, we can not help but remember OUR freedom from sin, provided in salvation through Christ's death and resurrection! 

"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin." 

Romans 6:6-7

Happy New Year!!

Well, i cannot believe that it is finally 2010. I remember 4 years ago at my first freshman class meeting how our principal was talking about us graduating in 2010. It seemed FOREVER away, and almost unreachable, but here we are, 2010, and it seems like just yesterday that i was a freshman in high school. 2009 was such a great year for me. The Lord has blessed me WAY beyond anything i deserve, and has shown so much about my own sin, and his perfect holiness this past year. He blessed me with meeting some of my best friends this past year, and having some of the funnest times ever. But at the end of the year, as i was reflecting on the past year i see how many ways i have to grow!!! My goal for 2010 is to live out 2 Peter 1: 3-11 which states; " His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
I chose these verse because it lays out all the steps to leading a godly life: knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. It talks about us being separate from the world, and not continuing to flirt with our sin, or the desires of our flesh. As i begin a new chapter in my life, with graduating high school, and beginning college, more than anything i want my life to be marked by godliness and love. So this year i resolve, with the Lords help, to get to know the Lord as much as i can, and become as close as i can to him in all situations. I desire to become so much more loving toward those around me, and to purposefully pursue godliness in every facet of my life, using everything i have, to bring glory to the Lord my Savior. I'm so thankful for everything He has given me, because i don't deserve it, and sadly i take all the blessing i have for granted. But the start of a new year is such a good opportunity to reflect on all the wonderful things i have been given, and all the grace Ive been shown, and to look ahead and set goals for the upcoming year, and to get fully back on track and remember our purpose on this earth!!! God sent his Son to die for MY sin, and everyone's sin, and this year i desire to share his love with everyone, and keep the cross in the forefront of my mind. Its truly going to be a great year and i look forward to all the things the Lord has planned for my life, and yours!
Happy 2010!!!!!!! <3

{Christmas Eve}

Merry Christmas Eve!!!! The day before Christmas is always super busy with cooking, baking and cleaning, and this year was no exception! My mom made coffee cakes, egg nog pie, and many other delicious goodies(: Every year we do something different on Christmas eve, and this year we decided to keep it simple: have dinner and watch the Christmas movie Elf.If you haven't seen Elf, its a hilarious movie about Buddy the Elf who gets stranded in New York City during Christmas time. I defiantly recommend it (: anyways! im about to go sit by the fire and enjoy a movie with my family and a cup of egg nog!(:

Remember the true reason for the season! Jesus Christ the Son of God!
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus." Matthew 1:18-25