I haven't abandoned you... I'm just a poor multi-tasker

So I haven't abandoned my blog here... I just haven't written in a long time. I have like, 6 projects (not an exact figure) going all at once right now, so obviously... none are completed ;). And who really wants to see a half-finished project?  Granted, there are about 4 (off the top of my head) posts I COULD do, but 2 require taking pictures... of me... which means I'd have to get myself looking decent. Which is why they aren't up already. I'll get to them... I swear... once all my half-finished projects are done.

I can share TWO little things with you though today!

(that brings my "top of the head post" count down to 2 though... sorry)

1) remember that old post about how I fell in love with raspberry snapple and just want to drink it ALL THE TIME, and so I made some??!? OK, well... I said I'd try making it again, and I haven't. When I want a snapple... I want a snapple NOW - not tomorrow like if you make the "real stuff". BUT, yesterday I had a hankering, and found THIS easy fix for my Snapple craving:

1 package Decaffinated (because that's just better for me) Crystal Light Iced Tea Lemon (made per directions) + 2 tbsp Raspberry Sauce = decent imitation that got me through last night.

(like my awful "pictures copied into paint" equation? fabulous... right?)

OK, so it's closer to Diet Snapple...  but that's just cause I couldn't find real sugar syrup when I found the Raspberry at the store, and Crystal Light is the go-to beverage cabinet for I'm not sure what reason.

There's fun thing #1

Fun thing #2 is that I have been addicted to Pinterest lately... and saw this cute little onesie that had embroidered flowers on it. And I thought to myself "I have no idea how to embroider... but I can do that!!" So I played with a onesie last night, and Embroidered 5 little flowers on it... and it's super cute. Here's a photo (from my phone, cause I'm doin REAL good with the "nice photos" today - can you tell?). It wasn't that hard either. The pink flowers are "lazy Daisy's", the blue are "stem stitch" in spirals, the orange one is... I'm sure there's a "name" for that stitch... but I have no idea what it would be. I found this cool website with all sorts of VIDEO's on how to sew stitches... which is what got me going. It probably took me about 2 hours to embroider it, and it could have been neater (and I could have put some tear-away or wash-away interfacing on the back... but I didn't).

So that was my most recent "quick project" so I could feel like I actually accomplished something :-P Now... off to do steps 7, 3, 5, 2 and 8 of my ongoing projects ;)

-Betsy

Food Friday - Snapple

So since being preggers, I've found I can't make it all the way through the grocery store without something to eat and drink... and of all places, the grocery store seems the oddest to "bring your own food". SO, I've been treating myself with those little-kid individual boxes of goldfish (if a Toddler can eat it, a pregnant woman can in my mind) and a Raspberry Snapple. The thing is, as soon as I finish a Snapple, I want MORE... so I decided I should see if I could make something similar at home (as I could PROBABLY drink it by the gallon).

SO, here is what I made today, although I may make additional tweaks in the future.

Ingredients:
8 Cups Water
1 Green Tea teabag
1 Black Tea teabag
2tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Sugar
1 tbsp Raspberry sauce (like for coffee - often in the coffee isle even)

Directions: boil 8 cups water, then remove from heat and put in 2 teabags (1 green tea and 1 black tea). Let sit for at least 2 hours. It can sit as long as you want though, no worries. I let mine sit overnight.

Take the teabags out (don't squeeze them!) and add the sugar. It'll take a bit to mix if the liquid isn't hot still, but it WILL mix. Then add 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp raspberry sauce, stir and cool.

Personally, I found it a little weak and a little sweet, so next time I'll  use 2 teabags of each and keep everything else the same... if it's still too sweet, I'll reduce my sugar, BUT, it might just need to be colder as colder things don't taste AS sweet as room temp or warm things. Interesting tidbit, yea?

Do YOU have a favorite flavor of iced tea? In looking stuff up, it appears that all snapple is made of the same base, and flavor is just added... so make your ::insert flavor here:: tea the same way, but replace the raspberry with a different flavored sauce!

Don't forget the lemon juice though ;)

-Betsy

Mmmmmmm... beer cupcakes with alcohol frosting....

So I'm made cupcakes today. I had to ask a GROOM for help with his fiance's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette... and he would only comply with the promise of "Car Bomb Cupcakes" being delivered. I needed the guest-list help that bad! I love them both, but haven't quite been part of the "local watering hole" for the past... 4 years, so I was stuck. Car Bomb Cupcake Bribe to the rescue!

They smell delicious coming from the oven with hints of Guinness. The delectable taste of bailey's in the buttercreme... I'd recommend halving the batch unless you have lots of people to share with, as these are RICH, but YUMMY. And definitely get the special icing tip for filling cupcakes... I can't imagine doing it any other way - just make sure that you stop if you start to "pop" the cupcake, lol.  And make 1.5 times the icing recipe... maybe even double. Unless you want just a dollop on top, which might be a good idea when it's filled with ganache, but I went with "go big or go home" :-P

Photos first... then link to recipe.

The recipe is here: at Annie's Eats.

-Betsy

What's for Dinner? Margaritas :-P or in my case... rumiritas...

Alright people... it's hot out. I'm pretty sure it's hot EVERYWHERE, so I'm putting up my "I can keep all this in my house easily and not feel bad about it" recipe for margaritas. (P.S. I don't do tequila, so TECHNICALLY mine are "Lime Daiquiri's" but I like calling them rum-a-ritas instead. :)

This picture (and all of them today) are SO not mine.

For a pitcher:
1 container limeade concentrate
1/4 container of OJ (yes, orange juice)
1 container of tequila - these WILL knock you on your butt, but I was told they were delicious (I didn't have any, cause, duh? I used tequila)
LOTS AND LOTS of ice.
Blend till smooth.
oh, these are obviously blended margaritas... If you like them on-the-rocks, definitely add some water in there.

For a glass (when you're a rum-a-rita lover in a margarita world)
(this I did on the rocks - the blender was taken)
And as always, I OBVIOUSLY measured everything SUPER accurately.

In a large glass (16 ouncer was my choice) fill 1/2 with ice
Add water till the glass is 3/4 full.
Add 2 tbsp of lime juice (aka, an ounce, aka, a shot-ish)
Add 1 tbsp of SUGAR (we've got lime JUICE here, not limeADE)
Splash of OJ (yup, the orange juice again)
And then add clear rum - a shot or two, depending on how hard you want to hit the floor :-P
Mix well - like, really well, and you may have to let it sit for a bit in between mixings so the sugar can settle before you mix it again. Option 2: use superfine sugar or a simple syrup. Or just mix a lot like I did.

Simple Syrup:
Can be useful when trying to sweeten cold beverages. It's super easy to make, and if you need to sweeten cold beverages often, time saving. It's just 1 part sugar to 1 part water, cooked until all the sugar has dissolved. Many people use those ketchup squirters you see at diners and stuff to save it in and use at-will. I don't use that much sweetener, so I don't do this - or own one of the squirters, but I can see its usefulness if I did. Or just put it in a creamer container on the counter. Hopefully your creamer has a lid...

Superfine Sugar:
Also fairly easy to make, even if it's SUPER expensive to buy. This I DO have a stash of in my cabinet, but I never remember when it would be useful. Just take regular sugar, and process it in your food processor (I used my mini-chopper, cause it's all I got - you could try it in a blender... I don't know if it would work though) Process until it starts to "smoke."  More than that, and you could end up with powdered sugar. The smaller bits of sugar dissolve easier in the cold water, but will measure "less" too. You probably shouldn't use superfine sugar where a recipe calls for "sugar" but it's great for sweetening drinks and in the occasional crazy gourmet recipe that wants the superfine :)

Enjoy!