Happy Birthday

Today my dad turned 71 years old! Happy Birthday Daddy!

On the 27th, my middle child turned 16 years old! Happy 16th Birthday Dylan!

I'm happy

- chai tea makes me happy

- my children make me happy

- baking makes me happy - even the fat calories

- finding old friends on facebook makes me happy

- time to myself - which hardly ever happens - makes me happy

What five things make you happy?

Daily 5 - 7

- up at 6:47am - took Dylan to summer school

- made malted milk ball cupcakes for Dylan's birthday

- was disappointed in the lack of bacon found in the fridge for my BLT (who eats 39 slices of pre cooked bacon?) I'm not bitter

- upon delivery of said cupcakes - I noticed the frosting on one looked smeared - with the other part smeard on my boob!

- spent several hours sitting at the oasis enjoying the view of the almost nonexistent lake travis

Excited about blogging from my phone!!

Daily 5 - 6

- watched Tori and Dean - Home Sweet Hollywood

- woke up at 4:45am because someone left the alarm set when he went out of town - not bitter

- made chicken salad with grapes and almonds - it was yummy

- finally caught up watching - Army Wives

- working out again

Taste Tester

Well, hey ya’ll, I’ve been kinda busy in the kitchen. I made Malted Milk Ball Cupcakes the other day for my middle boy. He’s birthday is next Monday and he’ll be 16! He loves malted milk balls. I wanted to do something special for him. I did a quick search, ok, so it wasn’t so quick – but, I did a search for malted milk balls on google… a couple of recipes popped up and I looked at both – seems that everyone has their favorite between the two. Well, one just jumped out at me and I knew this would be the one that Dylan would love. So, I made my list and ran to the store and did a test run.

I was really excited, however, being the first time they took me a little while. I’m going to tell ya straight up – I followed the recipe word for word – and let them sit over night before I pounced on one. Did you hear me? I let them SIT.OVER.NIGHT! You do not have to wait till the next day, eat one now! I totally waited till lunch to taste one – they melt in your mouth! I hope you all enjoy them as much as my family did – I’ll be making them again on Monday for Dylan and his friends.

Malted Milk Ball Cupcakes
Recipe courtesy of Cupcakes!

24 cupcake liners
1 package (18.25 oz) plain yellow cake mix
1 box (3.8 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Malted Milk Buttercream (see recipe below)
40 malted milk balls, coarsely crushed, for garnish

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.

Place cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, water, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with mixer on low speed for 30 seconds until the ingredients are well blended, then stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look smooth and thickened. Fold in the chocolate chips, making sure they are well distributed throughout the batter. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (You will get between 22-24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans in the oven.

Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18-20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners. Lift the cupcakes from the bottoms of the cups using the end of a knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. (I left mine in their cups). Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.

Meanwhile, prepare the Malted Milk Buttercream. Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread it out with a short metal spatula or a spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Garnish with crushed malted milk balls.

Malted Milk Buttercream
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons malted milk powder (I used Ovaltine)
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioner’s sugar, malted milk powder, milk and vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more.

Daily 5 - 5

- late breakfast early lunch at Kerby Lane Cafe
- bought another Tassimo today
- someone other than me cooked tonight
- someone other than me burnt popcorn
- i nearly died from the smell

Daily 5 - 4

- is irritated beyond belief
- made pulled pork in the crock pot this week
- mopped the kitchen floor
- attended sub training
- forgot to soak the pinto beans for tomorrow - oh well

Daily 5 - 3

- I’m in a total mood – I know why but there is nothing – not one thing I can do about it – but suffer – and bring you along for the ride! HA!
- We didn’t “chalk” paint the driveway yet – this week!
- I made peanut butter and jelly muffins today
- I also made pumpkin chicken enchiladas for dinner yesterday and Spanish rice
- Everyone enjoyed the dinner - yeah, they did!

Summer Fun

Today - we made chalk paint

Tomorrow - we will paint the driveway and scare the neighbors

PS - I've updated my iphone to the newER operating system - wonder how long before another newER one comes out.

Daily 5 - 2

- I finally finished reading that blog –
- I’m still in a funk -
- My house is a pit and I don’t care –
- I’m watching the Michael Jackson Memorial –
- I’m tired of being _____ - (fill in the blank)

Daily 5 - 1

- I made a gooey butter cake yesterday. I ate three tiny pieces.
- I also made mac and cheese - new recipe.
- I also think I found the issue to my allergic reaction - goodbye lotion from Bath and Body. I'm sorry - I will miss you - I <3 you!
- I also got a new phone cover. It's a bright orange cover with Julius (Paul Frank) wearing headphones.
- I made royal icing (Tiffany blue with white sprinkles) tonight for sugar cookies (that were not homemade) Yes - I cheat sometimes.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July! Hope everyone had a safe and healthy holiday.

Garlic Butter for Bread

While looking through my stats, I actually found a search for “garlic butter for bread”… To make garlic butter for bread – all I do is melt some butter (not completely) and add crushed garlic (as much as you like). Then I toast it in the oven…with a thick spread of garlic butter – nothing fancy about it…trust me – I’m no chef.

Reading Log - Do I get points for reading?

Look – have you ever needed to reboot your laptop but just couldn’t because you found a new blog to read and you’re in the middle of it and its like years and years of reading and you just can’t – JUST CAN’T reboot just yet? I found that blog! I’m in the middle of 2008 and I need to reboot my laptop, but I can’t! I refuse to reboot until I am finished reading, soaking in every morsel of her blog. It is very entertaining and yes, I have added her to my daily read. I’m also heading to the grocery store because she posted a recipe for making chalk! Guess what I’m doing soon?

Yep - I know, I still owe a photo of the cupcakes. Yes, we did make them - but my family decided against the homemade chocolate frosting - the total horror! They are not my family!