Cupcake Tasting

Yesterday, I went Cupcake Tasting with my daughters!!
We went to Crumbs Bakery! I'am on a quest to find to
the best Cupcakes! On my quest, I will let you know
my humble opinion!! Hehe. Here are the flavors we had.

Half Baked
Cotton Candy
The Big Apple
Cookie Dough
Red Velvet
Coffee Toffee

The Verdict.....Much to my surprise I enjoyed the Cotton
Candy the best. Followed by Red Velvet.

Plates

Have you been to Target lately? If not, you must go!
They have all of their Fall goodies out now! I bought
these super cute plates for $2.99 each.

Buffalo Chicken French Bread Pizza

I enjoy making Pizza on French Bread or on Pita's.

I don't always have time to make my own pizza crust and

this way is just as good. I made extra Buffalo Chicken

so I could make Buffalo Chicken Salad for lunch. MMM.

Buffalo Chicken French Bread Pizza

1 or 2 pounds chicken breast, cut into chunks

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup franks hot sauce

french bread, cut in half and then across

3 celery ribs, chopped

half red onion, diced,

1 cup monterey jack cheese

1/2 cup blue cheese

salt and pepper.

1)Saute onion and celery in pan and set aside while you cook chicken.

2)Heat oil in pan and season chicken with salt and pepper.

3)Cook the chicken in the oil until golden,

4)Reduce heat and add the butter and hot sauce, cook 3 to 4 min.

5)Grill bread and assemble, chicken, onions, celery, cheeses.

Weekend Re-Cap

I truly heart weekends. It's time to be with your

loved ones and enjoy life. We ate so much great

food and enjoyed our days out in the sun.

* We found a great Mexican restaurant called Cisco's

in Westlake. I think it's our new favorite, already.

I had Carnita's and it was divine. Fried Ice Cream

was so good and I love the cup that let's you know

L.A recycles.

* Fell in love with some potted plants.

* Went out for brunch at Marmalade in Calabasas and

had Eggs Benedict that was the best I ever had.

* Got to get a pedicure with one of my favorite girls.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut Butter Cups, what more can you say? YUM. It

is the number one Candy Bar in my family. These are

out of this world good.

Peanut Butter Cups

1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided

4 1/4 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

4 milk chocolate candy bars (1.55 ounce each) chopped

1) In a small bowl, combine half cup peanut butter, confectioner's

sugar,and salt until smooth, set aside.

2) In a microwave, melt chocolate chips, candy bars and remaining

peanut butter, stir until smooth.

3)Drop teaspoon fulls of chocolate mixture into paper lined miniature

muffin cups. Top each with a scant teaspoonful of peanut butter

mixture. Refrigerate until set. Store in airtight container.

Admitting You Have A Problem!!!

Admitting is the first step to recovery with my love affair

with make up. So today is the day that I came to terms with an

addiction, I love so much. When I walk into a mall and see

a Bare Escentuals store it's like a light is above it and it's just

guiding me in. Buy me, You need me, You want me. Yes, I get

very weak and cave. I guess it would not be that bad if I only

had this addiction, But...I'm addicted to shoes and bags. The

list goes on. I will post my other Love's soon. What is your

guilty pleasure?

Cherry Rice Pilaf And Roasted Pork

I'm a lover of all things Cherry. It's true, I can never
get enough. I can't wait for you to try this. The Cherry
sauce over the pork loin was so perfect and the Pilaf
speaks for it's self. Double Delicious.

Cherry Rice Pilaf
2 tablespoons of butter
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup dried cherries ( I added more)
1/2 cup glazed walnuts
1 teaspoon thyme
3 cups of cooked rice (white or brown)
salt and pepper

In a medium pan, melt butter over medium heat. Saute
red onion, celery, cherries, walnuts and thyme until tender
about 8 min. Combine with cooked rice, add salt and pepper.

Pork Loin With Cherry Glaze
1 (14 Ounce) jar of cherry jam
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons of honey
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
salt and pepper
3 pounds boneless pork loin

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2) In a small saucepan, combine cherry jam, red wine vinegar,
honey, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir and bring to a boil,
reduce the heat, and simmer 2 minutes.
3)Sprinkle pork loin with salt and pepper, place fat side up on a
rack in shallow roasting pan. Brush with cherry glaze and bake
uncovered until cooked through. After resting 10 to 15 minutes,
Slice and pour remaining sauce over and serve.

Martha Paint, It's A Good Thing!!!

We painted our closet this weekend. Have you seen the

Martha Stewart paint collection at Home Depot? The

most beautiful colors. It was so hard for me to pick just

one color. We chose a blue called Sunken Pool. I will give

you a closet reveal later this week. "Swoon"

Pasta Salad

This is hands down my most requested dish! When there

are parties this is what I'm asked to make 90 percent

of the time. I tend not to like most pasta salad's because

I'm not a fan of bottled dressings. The dressing is what makes

this. It's so good. You can add turkey instead of pepperoni.

Pasta Salad

1 box rotini pasta

6 ounces pepperoni, diced

6 ounces provolone cheese, diced

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 of a English cucumber, thinly sliced

1/2 of a green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 of a red bell pepper, chopped

black olives, "optional"

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan

Dressing

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of red wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard seed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1) Cook pasta and drain. Rinse with cold water, set aside.

2) In a large bowl, mix the cooled pasta with all the salad

ingredients.

3) Mix the dressing well and pour over pasta salad and mix.

4) Cover and chill for 6 hours.

Anthropologie Love

I love cute and useful things in the kitchen. Yesterday

I went to Anthropologie and was giddy like a school girl

when I saw the most charming measuring spoons and

cups. I have always wanted a glass egg holder and I saw

this one in my favorite color! So Happy! Go get yourself

some pretties!!

Hawaii 5-O Quesadilla's

Last night I whipped up these awesome tasting quesadillas.
The flavors were just amazing together!! This is all you need
to make these.

BBQ pulled pork ( I bought mine at Trader Joes)
1 Onion, carmalized
Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
Pineapple Chunks
Tortilla's
Just assemble and cook and you have a very easy week night
meal. Serve with sour cream and green onions. Enjoy

Laguna

I hope your weekend was wonderful. We had a great

and very busy weekend. If you have never been to

Laguna, it should be on your go to list. It is beyond

beautiful and full of great things to do.

* We enjoyed the incredible scenery.

* I ate a Caprese Salad for lunch.

* Drank the best Margarita's, EVER.

* Pool time.

* Drooled over the most fantastic home's.

Packed

Happy Friday Everyone!! We are beach bound for the
weekend!! Pics soon.

Banana Muffins With Cream Cheese Frosting

Banana Muffins With Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 banana's, mashed

3/4 cups white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 teaspoon nutmeg

1)Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease muffin pan or use liner's.

2)In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking

powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together banana's, sugar, egg

melted butter, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir the banana mixture

into the flour just until moistened. Spoon in muffin pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package cream cheese frosting, room temperature

1 stick of butter, room temperature

2 - 3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla.

Beat until smooth.

Cute Cupcake Liners

I went to Michael's today "love that place" and
bought the cutest cupcake liners. They have tons
of them with fabulous colors and designs!! It's the
the little things that bring me great joy......

Happenings.....

Happy August 1st everyone!! Where has the summer gone?

I love spending long days outside on the weekends. Makes

me happy. The photo's are the happenings of our weekend

so far!

* Took some time to stop and smell the roses, literally.

* Had lots of Strawberry Shortcake time.

* Watched beautiful Koi fish swim.

* Pomegranate Sangria in the sunshine.

* Had a yummy, Tri Tip French Dip, mini's for lunch. Say that 3 time's fast.

* A little helper helped me in the flower garden.