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With Love,
Katie M.

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Brighten your Morning:

If you didn't know, next weekend we "spring forward". While I love longer days and the idea that summer is right around the corner, waking up an hour earlier just doesn't seem fun. So, I decided to make my morning a little tastier and a little brighter with skinny banana chocolate muffins, and a cute coffee cozy! 

The coffee cozy has been one of my recent sewing endeavors. I learned how to sew a button and how to adjust a pattern. I am clearly not an expert, but I am learning more and more with each project I try. I found a great tutorial on the blog "Love 2 create" (Here); this blog has a great step by step tutorial with pictures if you would like to create your own coffee cozy!

 

I think I had the most fun picking out the materials. Don't you love the surprise zebra print inside?!

I did have some difficulty finding the right size. The first one I made, I traced a Starbuck's coffee sleeve to create a pattern, however it was a little too small for the big travel cup I normally take to work.  After a little trial and error I adjusted the original pattern to fit my bigger cup! 

Now that you know about the coffee cozy, I bet you really want to know about those skinny banana chocolate muffins! Did I mention they were SKINNY? Oh, and absolutely delicious! I will share the recipe with you tomorrow, so check back! 

For now, enjoy your last week of "sleeping-in" before the time changes next Sunday! 

With Love, 

Katie M. 

Love is Sweet

Valentine's Day is the perfect day to tell the ones you love how sweet they are and you can do it with these sweet sugar cookies! 

I have watched my Mom makes these cookies my whole life and for every occasion; we literally have cookie cutters in every shape imaginable. But since it is Valentine's it only seemed appropriate to make these sweet delicacies in the shape of a heart. Only one problem... I didn't have any cookie cutters! After searching all of Tallahassee, we finally found 1 heart shape cookie cutter. Who would have ever thought it would have been so hard? My husband decided people just eat "break-and-bake" cookies too much. Sad. There is just something wonderful about goodies made from scratch and decorated by hand that Pillsbury just can't capture, especially when made for those you love!

Side Note: For Valentine's day Cupid brought me a new camera! Cupid did a great job and even came a little early, so while I was baking I decided to play with my new camera and document all the steps. 

The kitchen-aid is one of my favorite wedding gifts! It  makes you feel like a pro baking cookies! 

After your dough has chilled, the real fun begins! This next step will blow your mind. After going through a few "University of Cookies" tutorials, I found this tip: Rather than adding a ton of flour on your dough or having dough stick to the rolling pin, just put a wax paper on top and roll! Simply peel away when your dough in the thickness you desire. Great tip! 

I used parchment paper on the bottom and the wax paper on top. You can't cook with wax paper so don't use it on the bottom! Parchment paper replaces the need to use cookie spray and makes it easier to transfer your cut cookies to the baking sheet:

All you have to do is cut around your shapes and place them on your pan. The shapes will remain perfectly formed and there will be no sticking to the pan. 

These were perfectly cooked. I admit I had to do a little taste testing to make sure they were done ;)

The next step will be to decorate your cookies. I use Wilton's meringue powder to make my icing and simply follow the instructions included. I also add a little vanilla to enhance the flavor of the icing. Add your color and fill a piping bag and you are ready to decorate. 

And that is all! It is as simple as it looks. And even if your icing isn't perfect I promise they will still taste delicious. 

Hope you have a Valentine's day full of love & sweets! Enjoy.

XOXO,

Katie M. 

Fat Tuesday!

If I had to pick one thing I love about the South it would be how we celebrate. The parties are grande, the food is delicious, and the decorations are divine! Mardi Gras definitely is no exception! 

Mardi Gras (french for Fat Tuesday) is the last night before the season of Lent.  On Fat Tuesday it is tradition to eat rich foods and sweet deserts before Christians observe Lent (a time of self-denial, which through prayer and patience prepares one for Easter Sunday!).  

To celebrate Fat Tuesday our menu was filled with rich southern classics. On the menu: cajun jambalaya with sausage, sweet cornbread muffins, and fresh fruit.

 

For Dessert? A King Cake of course, no Mardi Gras celebration would be complete without one!

Here is an up close of the colorful icing:

I found this recipe (here) and it was simple, tasted great, and semi-healthy (at least for Fat Tuesday)! I halved the recipe as follows:

Cake: 
1 (8-ounce) cans reduced-fat crescent rolls
2 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1 (maybe a little extra!) tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar (didn't half this..opps!)
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven 350°F. Coat 10-inch round pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Separate crescent rolls at perforations, into 8 slices.
3. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Spread on dough.
4. In another small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over cream cheese. Fold dough points over filling, and arrange to form a circular roll like a king cake.
5. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly, drizzle with colored Mardi Gras Icing.

Mardi Gras Icing:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1-2 tablespoons skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. In small bowl, combine all ingredients, except food color. Divide mixture into three bowls.
2. In first bowl, add a few drops of yellow food coloring. In second bowl, add a few drops of green food coloring. In third bowl, add equal amounts of drops of blue food coloring and recoloring (makes purple!)
3. Drizzle over baked cake.

Side note: When mixing the icing I had to go back to kindergarden and remember how to mix my colors! Let's just say I needed a little refreshing. ha ha ha. In the end it worked out and all the colors were just right. 

I hope your Mardi Gras/ Fat Tuesday Celebration has been fun and exciting:) Tomorrow starts the time of Lent! Are you giving up anything ? 

With Love, 

Katie M.

Revive: Craft Room

Confession: the craft room is the one room in our house I just don't love. While our house is far from finished, other rooms have progressed much faster than the craft room. I think it might be the fact that it is our catch-all room, while I do call this my "craft room", it is also a guest room, extra storage, and an all-around hobby room. While my sewing machine holds a permeant spot in the room, the closet is also filled with my husbands hunting clothes and random sporting goods. Hence the "hobby" room. 

The walls haven't been painted and the room has quite the assortment of furniture, including an old dresser, a lovely parson desk, and storage cubes.  We also have a futon, while a very nice futon, futons just don't have the character of a comfy couch, or nicely made bed. So, what does this all come down to? A great project! I am so thankful to have a space I can fill with crafts and not have to worry about putting away a project that is not yet finished, but the room needs some love! Here are a few inspirations I am drawing from for this project: 

I love all of the storage and shelving ideas. It seems to be a common thread throughout my inspiration. 

I also love the combination of whites and neutrals with pops of green. My craft room right now is currently heading that way, it just hasn't come together! We have a clean lined desk and storage cubes, with green pillows on the futon. We also have a great navy blue patterned rug. My ideal wall color would be crisp white or clean green, but we will see when I pick it out! I will post some pictures of the room now later, just to mark the progress that is to come!

 

 

With Love,

Katie M.

 

PS- My mom is in the same process so it should be fun to see how they both turn out! I will keep you updated!

 

Game Night!

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? What about a game night with friends? It might have been a while since you have played board games or cards, but it is something everyone loves to do. Whether its "adults only" or a family affair, game nights are a fun way to get competitive or just have a good time with friends. 

A few of our favorite games are Cranium, Settlers of Catan, and Giant Jenga (some might say we are obsessed with Jenga). We are even known to carry it in our car...you know, just in case! 

If you have a big group and want just want to have some fun Giant Jenga is for you. You can play with as many people as you want and everyone will be entertained. Goal: just don't lose. 

The highest we have ever stacked the game is around 35 rows. It was over 5 feet tall! But be careful you may want to wear a helmet! JENNNNNGGGAAA. 

Next, is Settlers of Catan. This is our "nerd" game. It can only be played with 4 people and there are a ton of rules, but I promise it is fun. The best way I can describe it is a fast monopoly, except there are a lot of alliances formed and sneaky trading involved! 

Last, is the game of Cranium. One day this will be a classic game along with Scrabble and Clue. It is honestly the craziest, silliest, smartest game you will play. It is set up to "challenge" each part of your brain with topics like Creative Cat, Word Worm, Data Head, and Star Performer. The challenges range from humming a song (Star Performer) to spelling words backwards while alternating letters with your teammates (Word Worm).  It really is a show and a board game, throughly entertaining. 

We also LOVE Banana Grams! Check it out. But fair warning, once you start hosting game nights, regular dinners might seem boring. 

With Love, 

Katie 

You can find the all of our favorite games here:

Giant Jenga 

Settlers of Catan

Cranium

Bananagrams  

A Wonderful Wednesday

My wonderful Wednesday night includes... 

Trying a new recipe,

The winter edition of "Celebrate" magazine,

and 

Cupcakes! 

 Peanut Butter Fudge Cupcake and a Boston Cream Pie Cupcake

But before we get to dessert, dinner first:

The recipe I tried tonight was Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken. My Mother sent it to me about a week ago and said it was great! Even better, my Dad said it was good, which is a huge accomplishment. Since we are always looking for new meal ideas, this recipes was greatly appreciated (especially because it was so simple).

If you like honey mustard you will really enjoy this recipe. The key is in the sauce! Make sure you save that reserve dip for the end (step 4). And make sure to set it aside before you dip the raw chicken.  

Some would say my qualification of "wonderful" means I am offically old, but I will choose to disagree! And if you have ever read "Celebrate", I am sure you would too! 

With Love, 

Katie M.