Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Wii Fit seems to be working!
Well, since we got our Wii Fit I have lost 5 lbs! And, apparantly my balance has improved as well. As you may recall, the first time I Wii Fitted, the damn thing told me I was 54 in Wii Fit years. Since then, I have been doing much better! While I still have not reached my actual age, I am now right round 33. I can live with that :)
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Spooktacular Cupcakes
So I have been on a bit of a baking kick lately. I think its because we have been sampling wedding cake and it made me want more :) I have been hunting online for some good recipes and landed on these today. With Halloween coming up, I decided to make my cupcakes Halloween themed.
I found the cupcake recipie at Amber's Delectable Delights.
White Cupcakes
Source: A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes By Dede Wilson
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
12 paper liners
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Place paper liners in all wells of one 12-cup cupcake tin.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl to aerate and combine; set aside.
3. Whisk egg whites and milk together in a small bowl to combine; set aside.
4. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Beat in vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternately with the egg white-milk mixture. Begin and end with the flour mixture, and beat briefly until smooth on low-medium speed after each addition.
5. Divide batter evenly among cupcake wells. Bake or about 20 minutes, or until edges turn light golden brown; a toothpick inserted in the center will show a few moist crumbs.
6. Cool pan on rack for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes: This is a simple, moist white cake that can be varied endlessly. The cupcakes will keep for 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container or for 1 week frozen in an airtight container.
Amber had a buttercream frosting recipe that went with this one, but I had seen an interesting looking recipe for frosting earlier this week on allrecipes.com and had been wanting to try it out.
Grocery Store Frosting
Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons water
Directions:
In a heavy duty mixer combine the shortening, butter or margarine, vanilla and water. Add the sugar and salt, beat until well mixed. Add a tablespoon or two more of water if needed. Turn mixer to the highest speed and beat for 15 minutes.
This frosting was ridiculously easy to make. Only bad thing was that I ran out of clean spatulas to use because I kept licking them! I even let Ariel (she was supervising my progress) have a little lick. She loved it too :)
And the result?!?
I'm pretty proud of myself. These are probably the prettiest (and tastiest) cupcakes I have ever made! I bought a Wilton cupcake decorator kit today at Michaels. Basically was just a set of decorator tips and some bags with some simple instructions. Used my 40% off coupon from today's paper so it only cost like $5. After the wedding some friends and I are talking about taking a cake decorating class... I thought this would be a good way to see if I am any good or not. So far, looks like I don't suck at it. More to come :)
I found the cupcake recipie at Amber's Delectable Delights.
White Cupcakes
Source: A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes By Dede Wilson
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
12 paper liners
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Place paper liners in all wells of one 12-cup cupcake tin.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl to aerate and combine; set aside.
3. Whisk egg whites and milk together in a small bowl to combine; set aside.
4. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Beat in vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternately with the egg white-milk mixture. Begin and end with the flour mixture, and beat briefly until smooth on low-medium speed after each addition.
5. Divide batter evenly among cupcake wells. Bake or about 20 minutes, or until edges turn light golden brown; a toothpick inserted in the center will show a few moist crumbs.
6. Cool pan on rack for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes: This is a simple, moist white cake that can be varied endlessly. The cupcakes will keep for 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container or for 1 week frozen in an airtight container.
Amber had a buttercream frosting recipe that went with this one, but I had seen an interesting looking recipe for frosting earlier this week on allrecipes.com and had been wanting to try it out.
Grocery Store Frosting
Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons water
Directions:
In a heavy duty mixer combine the shortening, butter or margarine, vanilla and water. Add the sugar and salt, beat until well mixed. Add a tablespoon or two more of water if needed. Turn mixer to the highest speed and beat for 15 minutes.
This frosting was ridiculously easy to make. Only bad thing was that I ran out of clean spatulas to use because I kept licking them! I even let Ariel (she was supervising my progress) have a little lick. She loved it too :)
And the result?!?
I'm pretty proud of myself. These are probably the prettiest (and tastiest) cupcakes I have ever made! I bought a Wilton cupcake decorator kit today at Michaels. Basically was just a set of decorator tips and some bags with some simple instructions. Used my 40% off coupon from today's paper so it only cost like $5. After the wedding some friends and I are talking about taking a cake decorating class... I thought this would be a good way to see if I am any good or not. So far, looks like I don't suck at it. More to come :)
Honeymoon- Airline Tix and Rental Car
Well, we finally bit the bullet last night and booked our airline tickets and rental car for Hawaii. I had been hoping that if we waited a bit, prices might go down, but to no avail. Also, thanks to the advice from the ladies on the honeymoon board on the knot, I learned that the price we got was actually pretty good considering we got a flight from Fort Wayne to Maui direct vs. getting a flight to Honolulu and then having to take an interisland flight. Since our trip is already pretty short (for Hawaii anyway) I really didn't want to screw around with island hopping and wasting more time in airports and such.
We also went ahead and rented a convertable for our week there. Its the most expensive option as far as rental cars go, but I figured what the hell. How many times are we going to be in Maui!
We booked all of it through priceline, which had the best prices. We also had an opportunity to book a snorkel tour and dinner cruise at the same time. We are pretty excited. Now we just have to decide what other activites we want to do while we are down there.
So YAY. Exactly 9 months from right now I will be in Maui, baby. Will probably be asleep in our condo with the lanai doors open, with the sound of the ocean in the background. Can't wait!
We also went ahead and rented a convertable for our week there. Its the most expensive option as far as rental cars go, but I figured what the hell. How many times are we going to be in Maui!
We booked all of it through priceline, which had the best prices. We also had an opportunity to book a snorkel tour and dinner cruise at the same time. We are pretty excited. Now we just have to decide what other activites we want to do while we are down there.
So YAY. Exactly 9 months from right now I will be in Maui, baby. Will probably be asleep in our condo with the lanai doors open, with the sound of the ocean in the background. Can't wait!
Friday, October 3, 2008
I think I need an Idiots Guide...
... to Blogging!
I keep trying to make my blog pretty, but none of the formats I find online work when I try to use them. WHAT am I doning wrong?!? Someone help please!
I keep trying to make my blog pretty, but none of the formats I find online work when I try to use them. WHAT am I doning wrong?!? Someone help please!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wii Fit
So, we got a Wii about a month ago and last night finally got a Wii. Its really fun- we messed around with the one my brother has this weekend. We decided we liked it, so went to 3 different Walmart's last night in search of one. Finally found one at the last Walmart in between here and my parents place. YAY.
So anyway, when you first WiiFit, you do this body test thing. Basically it weighs you and then makes you do some balance tests and then presents you with your Wii age. Any takers on my Wii age?!? 54! WTF?!? 54?!? Ok. So, I have zero balance and even less coordination. Thats why it is so high. But whatever. My new personal goal is to kick WiiFit's ass and make it tell me my real age. On the plus side, I did some Yoga with it and it is actually pretty cool. Told me that I have excellent flexibility and am a Yoga Master. At least its something!
So anyway, when you first WiiFit, you do this body test thing. Basically it weighs you and then makes you do some balance tests and then presents you with your Wii age. Any takers on my Wii age?!? 54! WTF?!? 54?!? Ok. So, I have zero balance and even less coordination. Thats why it is so high. But whatever. My new personal goal is to kick WiiFit's ass and make it tell me my real age. On the plus side, I did some Yoga with it and it is actually pretty cool. Told me that I have excellent flexibility and am a Yoga Master. At least its something!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
YAY Honeymoon Booked!
Well, sort of!
We found a fantastic condo we reserved for our honeymoon next year. I just called the owner and reserved it for our week. We will be going to Maui, and will be staying on Kaanapali Beach just outside of Lahaina. I am very excited for this trip! We wanted to find a place that neither of us had been before and did some research and landed on this place. It looks like heaven! This is the view that we will wake up to every morning. Yay!
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