girls,girls,girls.

i have had blog block this week. nothing to talk about. ill come back to you, i promise.

thi week has been filled with girls nights! and i have another one tonight! :)

kristin's birthday...


group shot.


me & leah


ashley and kristin


ashley, kristin, & myself


even pepper had a girls night...

snickers cupcakes.

are the bomb.com.

seriously. you are in for a great surprise (but not now since im about to ruin it) when you bite into this yummy chocolate cuppie...CARAMEL on the inside! what?! i know, right...amazing.

we had them at the girls night on monday. take a peek:



Chocolate Cupcakes

What you need:
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

What you do:

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared cupcake pans.

line cupcake pan with baking cups. Fill 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22-25 minutes at 350° F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans about five minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

When completely cool, use a paring knife to cut a small cone shape out of the top of each cupcake. Add caramel sauce (i just get the caramel sauce that is the icecream topping) as desired. Add what the part that you coned out back to the cupcake. So, it's like a taking a small piece out of the center and then filling with caramel & a small piece of snickers and putting it back on. Just make sure you cut up the snickers to really small pieces so it all fits!

Caramel Buttercream

what you need:

1 cup unsalted butter, cold
1/4 cup caramel sauce
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb powdered sugar
mini Snickers bar for garnish

What you do:

*I use the kitchen aid paddle attachment!*

Beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. Add caramel sauce, heavy cream and vanilla and mix to incorporate. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating on low speed until incorporated to reach the right consistency. Increase speed to medium-high and whip about one minute until light and fluffy. Frost as desired.

Coarsely chop candy bars and sprinkle over the top of cupcakes.

these are GRRRRRRRREAT!

mexican night

our neighbors and good friends, jennifer & elise, have decided that one night a week we would cook for each other. this week was my turn, next week is their turn. i decided to do a cute mexican night. the food was delish!

i used lesie's guacamole. which is so so amazing. i also used leslie's homemade tortilla chips. im pretty much in love with her blog at the moment.

GUACAMOLE:

2 ripe avocados

1/4 onion, finely minced

1/2 large ripe tomato, diced into small pieces

a handful of cilantro, chopped

the juice of half a lime

a pinch of salt

Place the meat of the avocados in a medium bowl and roughly mash with a fork.

Add in the onion, tomato, cilantro, lime and salt. Mix together.

HOMEMADE TORTILLA CHIPS:

Tortillas

cooking spray

salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tortilla in strips or pie shapes (whichever you prefer) Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and lay the tortilla strips down on it. Spray the tops with cooking spray too and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until starting to turn golden. Eat warm.


for the adorable taco bowls, i found this cute idea on annie's blog.

TACO BOWLS:

place a warmed, lightly oiled tortilla in between the cups of an overturned muffin tin. Bake at 425˚ F for 8-10 minutes. fill it with taco stuff after! :)

and i just used fresh shredded cheese, lettuce, onion, and tomato!

it was super fun and pretty cute!