A Blog Called Wanda

Yummmmmy Valentine Cupcakes!

Hello friends! Happy Weekend! We've been told to batten down the hatches here in California today, so we are going to be staying snug inside, and watching church online. Supposed to be a big big storm coming through. Lots of coffee and maybe some naps too for us today! Hope you're having a great weekend where you are! Today I have a sweet treat to share with you! I love to make cupcakes and decorate them for holidays and birthdays... It's one of my favorite things actually! I used to love bringing them into the office when I worked in an office. Cupcakes just simply make everything better. And, they're easy to make! I haven't made any for a while, so I thought, well, let's make some pretty Valentine Cupcakes! This was a fun project and I decorated them with all kinds of candies, and Valentine goodies. They were (were) delicious too! 

HERE are some winter cupcakes I made a long time ago.... And HERE are some summer/tropical cupcakes I made.... 

Sometimes I make both the cake and the frosting from scratch. Sometimes I make the frosting from scratch, or just the cake. It really all depends on my mood. For this batch, I used boxed cake mix and ready made frosting and added my special touches. The cake is triple chocolate fudge and the icing is buttercream, died pink of course! All my supplies and details are listed HERE or at the bottom of my post via the supply graphic/link! 

 

I used red foil cupcake liners to be EXTRA fun! I added sprinkles, and lips, and hearts and straws.... See, just like with my cards - more is MORE! MORE fun that is! Those big red lips crack me up. The frosting is also sprayed with edible shimmer, but it's very hard to photograph. I used a big star frosting tip and gel food coloring for the frosting. Love me some big frosting swirls, for sure!!

 

One of my tips always is to keep everything cold. It's so much easier to work with the frosting if it's cold, and the cold also keeps the cake extra moist and fresh. As soon as my cupcakes are cooled from the oven, I cover them and pop them right into the refrigerator until they get frosted. Once they're frosted, they go back into the refrigerator until we gobble them up! The straws are just regular drinking straws that I cut in half. There is no limit to how to decorate!

 

 

 

 

 

I found the most adorable plates and napkins!

 

The muffin tin in the photo is a favorite find from our local antique mall. I love decorating with vintage things!

 

This one has a chocolate heart stuck into the frosting! The paper wrapper is from my stash - a very very old die that is no longer available. I use it all the time to match the theme. I did link to another wrapper that looks very close to this one!

 

 

 

 

In this picture you can kind of see the shimmer.... It's so pretty in person!

 

 

 

 

Okay have I made you hungry for some sweets!? Maybe I need to make some more! LOL. There's still plenty of time to plan a Galentine's Event!! I hope I've encouraged you to whip up a batch and decorate them in your favorite color, or theme, or just because. Because cupcakes make life better!

Here's a quick pic of Lucky in my craft room the other day. The bestest, cutest boy. He takes his job as craft room manager very seriously!!

 

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see all the supplies for everything today! (Affiliate Links Used)!

 

A quick post with a refreshing Peppermint treat!

Hi friends! A very quick post today to share a fun Peppermint treat that we enjoy at our house! In Fall I am ALLLLL about the Pumpkin Spice Life.... But in Winter I am VERY much about the Peppermint Life! Ha! I love anything peppermint - candy, cake, coffee, and ice cream! (I sound like Buddy the Elf! Ha!) I am not really a sweets person most of the year, but of course at Christmas, I become a sweets person!! Have you ever had one of the Peppermint Chocolate Milkshakes at Chik-fil-a? If you haven't tried one, you need to! We love them. So, I have recreated that delectable treat at home using Peppermint Chocolate Ice Cream!! (we like the ice cream from Acme Valley) If you can't find Peppermint Chocolate ice cream, use Peppermint Ice Cream, and blend in some chocolate chips!! To make these you simply blend the ice cream and a little milk in the blender, and voila - a yummy milkshake! Top with some whipped cream (If you're lucky you can find Peppermint whipped cream at Target) and candy cane pieces, and add a cute straw - and enjoy! I made us shakes the other day, and decided to take some pretty pictures! Cheers! Enjoy your weekend! XO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watermelon Fries - A tasty summer treat from Pinterest!

Hello and howdy from my kitchen today! I made a snack, so naturally I had to make it pretty and take pictures of it! LOL. I love it when I finally make the recipes I have saved on Pinterest! I have so many good recipes and ideas saved and I need to be better at actually making all of the things! Do you do that too? In the Summer I loooooooove to eat all the fresh fruit and vegetables. I practically turn into a vegetarian in the Summer months (I was raised vegetarian) and I can make an entire meal from corn, salad and fruit! It's my favorite thing about Summer. Everything is so pretty and delicious. We have many great farmers markets where we live and there's no shortage of food coming right from the farms in the central valley of California. Truly one of the blessings about living here. It's been hot hot hot and I needed a cool cool cool snack so I made watermelon fries. Thought I'd share!

FULL CREDIT for the idea and recipe are from Abbey's Kitchen website!

Basically....you cut up a watermelon into fries or sticks for dipping, and make the delicious dipping sauce! Splash on a bit of Tajin Seasoning and that's it! Good, healthy, super foods ready to go.

 

I mean, who doesn't love limes and watermelon?? Do you think this is why pink and green is such a perfect color combination possibly??

 

 

MMMMMMMM. Once the watermelon is plated (or bowled LOL) put the Tajin on at the last minute so it doesn't soak all the way in before you eat it.

 

Here in California, Tajin is A THING. It's everywhere. It's a combination of chilis, limes and salt. It's spicy but not too spicy. It's great on fruit or in cocktails for a little kick. It's amazing on Mango.

 

The dipping sauce is coconut yogurt (I used Skyr brand), lime juice and lime zest. The recipe calls for coconut sugar, but I left that out.

 

If you don't have Tajin, or don't like it, you can just leave it off! Easy.

 

It lasted about 3.5 minutes. Y U M M M M M. I'll be making this again fo sho! I bought a small watermelon, but once I cut it up, it was SO MUCH watermelon! It's just two of us at our house. I'm going to blend the rest in the Vitamix and make some kind of slushee later. Good way to get in your water for the day, amiright?

Okee dokee, that's it for today. I'll be back Friday with fun cards and a big sale over at Jaded Blossom. Can't wait to share with you! XOXO

 

One of my favorite treats to make and eat - Peppermint Bark!

Hi there crafty friends! Today's project is kind of a recipe, kind of a photo shoot, kind of a treat idea... One of my favorite treats at Christmas time is Peppermint Bark! As much as I love everything Pumpkin Spice in the Fall, I love everything Peppermint in the Winter! And, chocolate and peppermint is the best combination!! I usually make at least one batch of homemade Peppermint Bark each season. It's easy to share, and it lasts a while too! I just got this pretty new marble cake stand, and that called for a photo shoot! I've been really down lately and crying lots of tears. Being creative and getting lost in my creative process helps me feel better. Lots of photos in this post!

It's super easy to make Peppermint Bark! You only need four ingredients! I use Semi Sweet and White Chocolate Ghirardelli Chocolate morsels (from Target), Candy Canes, and Peppermint Extract. That's it! 

Melt the semi sweet chocolate morsels in the microwave.... Pour the melted semi sweet chocolate onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Stick it in the freezer for about ten minutes to set up. Melt the white chocolate morsels in the microwave and mix in 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract.... Pour the melted white chocolate on top of the frozen semi sweet chocolate. MMMMM. Next get a ziploc bag and crush up 5-6 candy canes into small pieces. Sprinkle the candy cane pieces on top of the white chocolate. That's it! Put the batch in the fridge for an hour or so to get nice and hard. Then use a big knife to cut the candy into wedges. So fast and easy! 

Here are some of the pix from my photo shoot!

 

I love how pretty this is with the candy cane pieces! And it smelllllsssssss so good!

 

I like to cut the pieces into wedges, or triangles. Just seems easier to eat that way than a square.

 

 

 

Here's the melted chocolate! I put it in the microwave for one minute, stir, do one more minute, stir... Then 20 second intervals until it's melted through.

 

Here's the whole pan full! This picture came out weird - from my phone!

 

 

 

I love to package treats in glassine bags. There's something old fashioned about it - like an old candy store or something! I used a hole punch to punch two holes at the top of this bag, and then tied some twine through it. Ready for gifting without too much trouble!

 

 

 

 

Okay! Thanks for indulging all my photos today!! I hope you felt the cool breeze of peppermint when reading this post. Hope I've inspired you to try and make this too! What is your favorite treat to make at Christmas time? Let me know in the comments! Enjoy the rest of your Christmas week! XOXO