Coconut Layer cake with 7-minute frosting and Peeps.  It didn’t fetch all that much at last nights auction, but my girlfriend and I bought it back for a little over $20.  After the auction we went home together and let the kids feast on the marshmallow-y goodness.  It was really good and the cake was very moist.  Here is my recipe if you are interested.

Coconut Cake
2c all purpose flour
2t baking powder
1/2c butter
1c sugar
3 eggs
3/4c coconut milk
1t vanilla
1/4c sweetened flaked coconut

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating for a FULL minute before adding the next egg.  Add flour and coconut milk to batter alternatively a small amount at a time.  Add vanilla and beat on med-high for 2-3 minutes, slowly adding coconut.

Bake at 350 for 50 min in two 8″ (or 9″) round pans- that have been greased and floured.

For frosting I used this recipe for Seven-Minute frosting, it is more than enough for the tops and sides of both layers.  To form the peaks on top of the cake I used a chopstick.  I swirled it in the frosting and then quickly pulled it straight up- forming the peak.  Place Peeps on the side of the cake, and you’re done!

While perusing Pinterest I came across this yummy looking Orange Chicken. I repinned it because my husband loves Orange Chicken & being the thoughtful wife that I am, I thought I’d make it for him.

Well, tonight was the night & oh my was it good!  So good that I am sharing it with all of you.  It was very easy to make too and I had almost all ingredients on hand.  However, if you are health conscious, you should know that it calls for a WHOLE CUP of brown SUGAR.  When I make it again I’m going to try it with only 1/2c of sugar…as it was pretty sweet (not bad, just that I think it would still be good with less sugar).

So, there you go.  If you are looking for dinner tonight, I totally recommend this one!

I love the weather here in March!

dinner was Baked Lemon Pasta, second time I’ve made it and the WHOLE family likes it (but the husband keeps suggesting I add chicken to it).

It was a BEAUTIFUL rainy day here in the Valley of the Sun, I couldn’t have been more pleased!  I was able to take the girls on a 3 mile bike ride this morning (thanks to our new bike trailer!) before the rain began.  Had a special (and very enjoyable) lunch date with my son; and I spent some time on the couch with a needle and thread.

It was a perfect day.  We ended it with a big ‘ol pot of homemade chicken noodle soup.  YUM!

1 onion diced
3 carrots cut into discs
2T olive oil
6 cups water
7t chicken bullion
1/4c dry wild rice
1c mini farfalle (bow tie)
1c chopped up cooked chicken
1/2t dried Italian herbs
chopped green onions for garnish (optional)

Saute onions & carrots in oil on med heat for about 7min.  Add water and bullion & bring to a boil.  Add rice and simmer, covered, for 10 min.  Add pasta, chicken & herbs and simmer for another 10 min.  Serve with green onions as garnish.  Goes great with crusty bread & a Caesar salad!

Let’s see,

• Baby girl is practicing her walking skills, it made my day today to watch how pleased she was with herself.  You can see the video clip I uploaded on flickr if you are interested.

• During nap time today I baked up a dozen cupcakes to use up the left over frosting from last nights German chocolate cake.  (we celebrated my husbands birthday and his brothers birthday last night).  I then boxed them up and delivered them to some of my girl friends…who says Valentine’s Day is just for lovers?!  Phooey! (I posted links to the recipes on flickr, so just click the image)

• While flipping through Targets slick ad yesterday I came across these shoes, which are not too far off from the JCrew beauties (below) that I adore.  And, at a much more budget friendly price!  I think Friday will find me sportin’ a new pair of wedges!

Hope your “day of love” turned out as you hoped!

I had a party at my house; 8 adults and 4 kids.

We had cake, because is it really a party without cake?!  I made the bunting myself, but didn’t have wooden skewers and had to improvise with chop sticks.

We had a really good time, and somehow- I ended up arm wrestling my mother in law!!!  I’m not sure how it happened.  Much to my amazement I didn’t loose as badly as I thought I would.  It was more of a stale mate (did I mention she works out about 5 days a week, and I work out about 3 times a year).

It felt nice to have our small house warm, bright and full.  I always stress about the cooking and cleaning, but I really enjoy entertaining family & friends.

I hope your weekends were just as warm and bright!

My son likes lights.  We first noticed it when he was about 2 months old while walking around Babies R Us, he kept focusing on the huge florescent overhead lights.  Then there was the time we drove home from UT when he was 5 months old and from Flagstaff to Phoenix the only way I could keep him from crying was to hit the button on this silly light up toy phone.  Over and over I hit that button in the dark for over 2 hours and he never tired of watching the blinking colored light combination.  Fast forward to now, he’s 8 and his fascination hasn’t waned much.  I took this photo Wednesday night of his room…he even has them set on a timer.  He is so proud of this creation.

I made a little of my own holiday sparkle today as well.  I finally made it out to ABC (man oh man, they have everything and then some for food decoration!) for Disco Dust.  Disco Dust is basically edible glitter that you can add to frosting, use as sprinkles or well…anything else you can think of.

I agreed to bake some cookies for a cookie exchange (this always seems like a good idea until I get the final count of how many cookies I need to bake and then I want to lie on the floor and die), which is a huge step for me…considering what happened last time I attempted a cookie exchange.

I went with one of my favorite holiday cookies (did I mention it is super easy too?), Mexican Wedding Cookies.  I’ve heard other people call them Snowballs or Russian Tea Cookies- who cares what you call them as long as they are coated in powdered sugar!  They are basically a shortbread cookie rolled in powdered sugar.

Seeing as I can’t leave well enough alone (or I like to add stress to my life) I decided that such a simple cookie wouldn’t be enough, it needed something more….enter disco dust.  I mixed gold disco dust into the powdered sugar before I rolled the cookies in it.  They turned out nice and sparkly, but still subtle.  Disco dust is available in many colors, but I thought gold would be appropriate…but of course pink would have looked great too!

Here is my family recipe:

1c butter (the real stuff, no margarine)

1/4c Powered Sugar (and more for rolling)

1t vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

2c cake flour

Cream butter and sugar, then mix in remaining ingredients.  Roll into 2″ circles and bake for 10-12 min at 375.  While warm roll in powdered sugar.  Eat & Share!

the day that nearly killed me with exhaustion. We made these to share with friends; friends with animals and friends with a new babe.

Then we visited with said friends with animals, and scattered chicken feed.

Have you ever taken 3 kids to the grocery store…without a written list?  Let’s just say I had to make THREE trips, because I was so distracted that I could not remember what I needed to buy to make this.

Quinoa & Black Bean Burritos.

After the baby was born, Jenny brought this dinner to us.  It was so good.  I decided to make it for another friend today, who had a baby.  Here’s how I did it.

1c quinoa
2c. chicken stock (can substitute with vegetable)
1 diced small onion
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1c frozen corn
1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped up

sauté the onion in a tablespoon or so of olive oil for about 5 min on high heat.  Then add quinoa and chicken stock, bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 15min or until quinoa is tender.  Add beans, corn and cilantro.  Serve on tortilla and top with sour cream, cheese (I like jack), lettuce and tomato.

Taking a quick break from work, I wanted to share with you this AWESOME chili recipe I found.  We’ve had it twice and it is the BEST.  Be sure you top it with lots of cheese, sour cream and avocados!

Sunday night, after savory mac n cheese casserole (with chicken and Parmesan).  Yellow cake with pink lemon flavored butter cream frosting.  Yummy, and beautiful!  Polka dot oil cloth I picked up a few months ago at SAS.