Happy New Year!

We survived the apocalypse, we hope you did too. I haven't been doing much the last couple of weeks. We had Christmas Eve at my parents house, and celebrated Christmas morning at our house. Growing up, we always opened presents on Xmas Eve. Santa would come at some random point in the days before Xmas, and sneak the presents under the tree. Now that I have kids, I want to do it right. I always pictured my kids running into the living room and tearing into the presents under the tree. They had so much fun on Christmas morning. They ran into the living room, just like I had imagined, and my son (3) says "where is santa?" Then they ripped into their presents and played until noon, when we went to my moms for Christmas Lunch. It was a great day, surrounded by family, stuffed with food.
Oh... We took the kids to the "Holiday Train" this year. It is a train that goes through Canada, and certain parts of the U.S. We are lucky enough to live in a town where this train stops. Everyone lines up along the railroad crossing arms and the train, decked front to back with lights, stops. Santa gets out and hands train whistles to the kids. A train car opens up and a band plays all sorts of Christmas music, and they give a check to the Mayor. It is a lot of fun, and puts everyone in the Xmas spirit. Unfortunately this year it was 5 degrees F outside, so we only stayed for a couple of songs before our feet were frozen. The kids loved it and cried when we had to go.
I hope you all have had a GREAT 2012 and are looking forward to my posts in 2013 :)
As always, thanks for reading!!! Happy New Year ALL!!!!!

Figuring out how to make my son more independent

My son is now 3 years old, and he is quite the character. We have been trying to potty training since he turned 2, but he gets his stubbornness from me. For the last month or so, the only accidents he has is when he is sleeping, or when he needs to poop. He will not poop in his potty. Usually in the mornings he has already pooped before he starts making enough noise to the house up. Ive caught him before actually pooping and put him on the toilet, and he won't go. He will cry and whine, until he has to start getting ready for daycare. I bribe, I cheer, I read, sing songs, beg and plead, but he will not do it. Then he goes to daycare and I remind him to poop on "Kathys potty". He holds it all day, until he can come home, and poop in his pull up. Peeing isn't a problem, although sometimes he gets too busy playing and ends up forgetting. When he does go to the potty, he always asks for help to take off his pants and pullu up and to help him get on the potty. I know he does these things on his own at daycare, but not at home. I also know he can put his shoes on and off on his own, but when he is around me, he wants me to do it. I try to tell him to do it, but he has a fit and as were running out of time to get somewhere, I just end up doing it. I miss the fact that he isn't a baby, and I want him to know that he can come to me for anything, but when he won't do the things that I know he can do, it is very frustrating. I have put him in just underwear, and he doesn't care. He poops in them. For right now I am just taking it a day at a time, and trying not to lose my sanity.

Happy Holidays everyone! I love this time of year. Its the time for soups and snowmen, presents and pies... My family and a few friends are doing a cookie exchange. I made Dark Chocolate Cashew Brittle cookies. First off I had to make cashew brittle. I have never made any type of brittle before so I followed trusty Betty Crocker and made her recipe. The first batch burnt, so I had to make it again. It turned out buttery and yummy.. Here is the brittle before being added to the cookies, and after. Everyone gets a plate of 6 cookies and a bonus of cashew brittle for them to snack on.

Please excuse the blurry picture, it is from my phone. The cookies are chewy and chocolatey and delicious. If you want the recipe, let me know...

Charlie Brown Birthday Party

My Niece Isabel turned 1 on the 3rd and my Nephew Easton turned 1 on the 7th. If you are doing the math, they were born 4 days apart. That was a crazy week at the hospital. Isabel had a minnie mouse themed party and her daddy made her smash cake. Smash cakes are my favorite to make. It gives me the opportunity to be silly and creative in a smaller size. Easton had a Charlie Brown themed party (he looks like Charlie Brown), and my sister let me make his smash cake. Here it is...

My sister and I also made him cupcakes. My sister baked them, and I helped to decorate. Here they are...

I bought the figurines from Ebay. Made a boxed (gasp) cake mix. Stacked 2 round cakes and cut them into the house shape. Covered in canned (double gasp) icing.
Hey, no judging. We were out until 10:30pm, the night before the party, cheering on my brothers basketball team. I was up until 2am making and fretting over this cake, even though I cheated on it. My nephew loved it, as you can see...

French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream and CANDIED BACON!!!

Ive gone vegetarian before, for months on end, and the thing that always brings me back to meat is bacon. Darn you, you delicious slice of pork heaven! I took my daughter to the local cookie shop here and they had these cupcakes. It was a french toast cupcake with maple icing and candied bacon on top. I about fell out of my chair when I tried it! My first thought was that they were going to be gross, but believe me when I say that this is as close to heaven as you will get here on earth. I haven't had tried to re-create them until tonight. I WON!!!

These mini bites of heaven are like an orgasm in your mouth.
First thing you need to do is to candy the bacon. It sounds difficult but it is super easy. Don't Panic.
Things you will need:
Bacon (duh) I don't use the maple bacon, but its up to you
brown sugar
cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350
place your uncooked bacon strips on the cookie sheet. Be sure it isn't touching.
Spoon some brown sugar on top of each slice and spread it thin with the back of a spoon.
Put your bacon in the oven for 10-12 minutes
take it out and flip each slice. Again make sure its not touching
put it back in for another 10-12 minutes. WATCH IT CLOSE OR IT WILL BURN!!!
take it out of the oven and move to a cooling rack with paper towels underneath. As it cools it will harden enough for you to cut it into pieces with a knife.

For the cupcakes
What you will need:
2 C flour
1Tbsp baking powder
1tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1/3C applesauce
1 1/3C white sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2/3C milk

Preheat oven to 350. line your mini cupcake pan with cute little cupcake wrappers. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl beat applesauce, sugar, and vanilla until well mixed. Add eggs one at a time, beating for at least 1 minute after each egg. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for around 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center, comes out clean.

Icing
What you will need:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 tsp salt
4-6 tsp maple syrup
1Tbsp vanilla extract
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Beat the butter until is is mixed. Add vanilla and salt, mix lightly. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and mix on low until it is incorporated and mixed well. If you put your mixer on high, the powdered sugar will fly everywhere! Not like I experienced this first hand or anything.... After it is mixed well, add your syrup and let the mixer go on high until it is nice and fluffy. If your mixture is too thin, add more powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it is thick enough to hold its shape.

Now for the fun part. Ice your cupcakes, I like doing it with a piping bag. Top with the crumbled candy bacon. Enjoy.