Chocolate Basil Cupcakes

This time of year my basil crop is always out of control and unmanageable. Fresh pasta sauces is usually my go-to to help cull the herb... but the other day I came across the most wonderful of ideas. Chocolate Basil cake. That's right, combine it with the sugary, chocolatey goodness and it's sure to be a delight. I've become rather smitten with baked goods that incorporate unconventional herbs as in these Blueberry Rosemary Scones.

But this time... I can't say I'm nearly as delighted. The cake turned out a bit... chewy, more like brownies and I'm not sure I'm completely sold on the additional basil flavor. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I tried it out, I'm just not sure it will become a go-to recipe in my house. Those precious summer basil leaves may be better saved for a delicious pesto.

Chocolate Basil Buttercream Cake Recipe
I made a double-batch, which produced 30 cupcakes. I only used 1 cup of packed basil leaves, which I felt was sufficient.

Basil Buttercream Frosting
I was going to use this recipe, but when I saw that it required boiling the basil leaves in milk and then throwing them out, I decided that sounded completely unnecessary, highfalutin, and time-consuming. I went the lazy route and made up this recipe for a bit more basil-punch:

1/2 c butter
1/2 c margarine
4 c powdered sugar
2 Tbsp Almond milk
1/8 c fresh basil leaves

Cream butter and basil in a food processor until basil is thoroughly chopped. Add remaining ingredients slowly.

Fun Fact: Basil, like any other unprocessed, plant-based foods have a high amounts of minerals and nutrients. Throwing away and cooking the basil leaves takes out much of those nutrients. I would say this option is much healthier (ha!).

The Gender Reveal - New Summer Arrivals!

We have a couple new arrivals to the Etsy shop, just in time for summer parties!

I had fun breaking out the watercolors for the quintessentially summer popsicle invite. The second features the most popular reveal method: the cupcake. Both are themed with The Sweetest Surprise.

The Sweetest Surprise Gender Reveal Party Printable Digital Invitation - Popsicle

Gender Reveal Party Printable Digital Invitation - Cupcake Surprise

Head on over to the official Gender Reveal shop to see all of the invitations we offer. Or find more sweetest surprise celebration inspiration at the most obsessive and rewarding site, Pinterest!

Floating

I'm floating on cloud 9 right now... it's only fitting that when we my friend and I pulled into the parking lot after our bike ride tonight that they were blowing up a hot air balloon. It was a beautiful evening for a ride, on the ground or in the air.

Love this floating feeling!

 

Photos by Stephanie Hertel via Instagram

Unwanted Dinner Guests

Friends, I have some unfortunate news to share: I think I may have to abandon my compost bin.

This breaks my heart because I'm betting I produce more than your average amount of fruit and vegetable scraps than your standard single American. For the past three years I've been composting, I would keep a little bucket of vegetable scraps on my counter and take all of the delicious remnants to the bin on my patio when it was full. Now, one would imagine that this would be a smelly, bug-attracting routine, but that hadn't been my experience at all. That is until this weekend.

Not once, but twice this weekend I have come home to a kitchen ridden with hundreds of ants (and I'm known for keeping a very tidy space and kitchen). For the life of me, I couldn't find where they were entering my tiny home. But they were there, oh, were they there. I started with vinegar and tried to wipe everything down with the pungent deterrent to no avail. I tried leaving drops of honey to attract the unwanted guests and then drown them in it's sugary goodness, but letmetellya, these are the dumbest ants I've ever seen. They would walk in circles and circles going nowhere and were not in the slightest bit attracted to my sweet traps. Not even one.

Then, I read online about how ants leave scent trails for each other and when you kill one another scent trail is left, continuing to attract more and more ants. The online article's solution? Window cleaner. I swear I went through half a bottle of Windex this weekend alone, but it did the trick. Along with more vinegar, furious cleaning and vacuuming every single nook and cranny, I haven't spotted the same crowd since.

Anyway, back to the compost bin. I want to compost, it's such a great way to reduce the amount of trash I'm putting in the landfill, get rid of receipts and other printed financial statements to halt identity thieves, and of course, provide rich and intense nutrition for my container garden. I've found composting results in the most rich, wonderful-smelling earth that you can imagine. But this year, with the extremely mild winter it also means bugs and spiders. Lots and lots and lots of bugs and spiders. I don't mind sharing the bounty as long as it's an outdoor dinner party. But these bugs just don't know their manners and have been inviting themselves into my home. So, what's a girl to do? Keep composting? Take the summer off?

BTW, I spared you from a picture of my unwanted guests because I didn't want you to have the same creepy, crawly dreams I have the past two nights.

Summa, Summa, Summertime

Summer is here! Let me count the way:
1. I've spotted my two favorite summer weeds flowers popping up in ditches! (You have no idea how excited this makes me!)

2. I've had my first Peppermint Bon Bon ice cream in a waffle cone (although, sadly, not from Twiins Shoppe in J-town)

3. I've got some awesome tan burn lines.

4. We finally turned on our air conditioner Sunday night (although it's been ridiculously beautiful in KC, I'm still not sure it's actually needed...)

5. The smell of fresh cut grass is all around. Mmmmm.

6. Playing every night after work, like a teenager in the summer. Last night? Swinging in the park.

Still haven't been to the pool, but hopefully that will happen very soon! Life couldn't be any better!

'Tis the (zucchini) season

If you're like my roommate and I, we've had zucchini a plenty the past 3+ weeks. Everyday it seems as if we have friends or family pushing more zucchini from their garden on us (I'm not complaining). So, I've made several zucchini dishes, the typical sauté and chocolate cake... but this year I've stumbled across two amazing new recipes (both of which are boyfriend approved).

The first (and my fav) is Zucchini Strand Spaghetti from Smitten Kitchen. Mmmm. My mouth waters just thinking about it... it requires a mandoline to julienne the veggie into spaghetti-like strips, so I can only make it when I visit the 'rents. Served with fresh-from-the-garden basil, goat cheese, and even some shrimp and you're in for the perfect summertime pasta.

Photo from DabblingDiva

The next delectable recipe is the perfect duet of peak summer produce, Blueberry Zucchini Bread. Mouthwatering.

Domesticity: Canning

I'm a huge fan of this Domestic Revival or Rural revival, whatever you want to call it, the sudden interest in the art of domesticity. Cooking, baking, sewing, crafting, etc. It's suddenly "cool" to be a little bit more domestic. Lately I've been going through domestic-inspired stages, where I am obsessed with one thing for a short period of time. About a month ago it was vacuuming. The past couple of weeks it's been bread baking. Now? Canning.

I come from very industrious families with farm backgrounds, so it's no surprise that both of my grandmother's canned their own produce. I loved to go deep into their basements where they stored their home-grown treasurers in jars of all colors. Tomatoes, beets, strawberries, cherries, peaches, pickles, corn, apples, it was all there. And it was decadent. I can only recall my mom canning produce a couple of times when I was growing up, when we'd had a very successful tomato crop or being roped into by her sisters. I would be delighted at Christmas when we would get a jar or two of my aunt's dill pickles or jam, knowing it was sure to be a treat. So, in the past three weeks I've come down with canning fever (these things just can't be ignored, you know?). Recently, I opened my Google Reader to find a posts on the posh jams, as well as logging into facebook and seeing a friend proudly displaying her home-grown produce and canning party, and opening one of my favorite magazines and saw an entire article on canning and making jams.


This past weekend, I was able to squeeze in some time to can some stewed tomatoes with my mom. And the weekend before we made an excellent Jalapeno Jam. Sounds blissful, doesn't it? Like a couple of perfect summer weekends.

Summer

I fell in love four summers ago. In love with Queen Anne's Lace and Chicory when I was living in Kansas for the first time... or at least this was the first time that I truly appreciated their beauty. Every morning as I drove into work I was greeted by a sea of beautiful blue blooms (the chicory, it usually blooms in the morning). And every evening the delicate white blossoms of Queen Anne's lace were welcoming me on an evening walk. Every morning and every evening it put a smile on my face.

These flowers are the icons of my summer.

btw, as I did a little research I found out that Queen Anne's Lace can benefit other garden vegetables, like boosting tomato production and pest control. You can bet that it will be added to my garden wish list.

Happy (belated) 4th of July!

I hope everyone's weekend was as pleasant and relaxing as mine. I enjoyed bike rides, working on some freelance projects, crafts, and delicious summer foods!

Yummy Fresh CSA

For the past two years I've watched my friend, Megan, my roommate, and other fellow co-workers come home with delicious foods from a CSA that delivers to our office weekly. Originally, I was nervous about being able to keep up with a balcony garden and fresh produce from a CSA, but this year I decided to give it a try and split the shares with my roommate.

Two weeks in and it's been splendid. Gorgeous brown-flecked fresh eggs each week, local milk, local ground beef and roast beef, leaf lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, new potatoes, strawberries, etc. I'm looking forward to more unique vegetables in the weeks to come for a culinary challenge! Kohlrabi would be delightful!

School's out!

That's right, I had my last grad class of the semester and I'm not taking classes this summer! Woohoo! Party on! If the weather was warmer, you could catch me by the pool sipping some delicious sangria...

ATC: Summer

Wednesday we traded ATC (artist trading cards) for the Hallmark trade, the theme was "summer." After thinking of several concepts, I finally landed on a county fair theme, specifically focusing on bucket calves. I had bucket calves when I was younger and I am missing them this year more than ever. I named each one of the calves on my cards after my own calves. I had really original names: Daisy, Susie, Betsy, Clover 1, Clover 2, Red, and Met Life (our insurance calf).

I used a combination of computer illustration and hand-drawing for these cards, some being more abstract than others.

Fresh Peach Pie

I had friends over for some swimming, grilling, and summer foods. I thought I'd share the recipe to my favorite summer dessert, Fresh Peach Pie, it might even be my all-time favorite dessert!

Fresh Peach Pie
Crust:
1 ½ cups flour

½ cup oil
2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp milk
½ tsp salt

Mix all ingredients until oily and press into 9" pie pan with fingers. Bake at 400 degrees until golden, about 12 - 18 minutes.

Glaze:
½ cup sugar

3 tbsp cornstarch

1 cup water
2 tbsp white corn syrup

4 tbsp jello mix (peach or apricot)

6 sliced peaches (peeling is optional)

Mix cornstarch with sugar in saucepan. Add water and corn syrup. Cook & stir until thick and clear. Remove from burner and add dry gelatin and fresh fruit. Put filling in pie crust and refrigerate 4 - 6 hours.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers

Summer's here and that means it's time for some delicious fresh summer foods. One of my all-time favorite summer dishes are stuffed peppers. It's a pretty easy recipe and freezes very well, which is great for a single person! This is a recipe that my mom made when we were growing up that I've (of course) made some modifications to. Below is the general recipe that I use, but I usually make adaptations to work with what I have on hand.
Ingredients:
5 large green peppers
1 lb ground turkey (ground beef or pork works great too, but turkey is healthier and cheaper!)

1 red onion, chopped

1 cup brown rice (or white, whatever you prefer)

10 oz. can stewed tomatoes and peppers

16 oz. can tomato sauce (any combination of tomato sauce, paste, stewed tomatoes, or tomato juice will work, as long as you achieve your desired consistency)

3/4 cup frozen corn, optional

16 oz. can black beans, optional

2 cups swiss cheese, shredded (swiss is my fav for this recipe, but I've also used cheddar & mozzarella)

1 tsp cumin, optional

2 tsp dried cilantro, optional

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Cook rice according to package instructions. Brown ground turkey, add chopped onion.

Cut the tops of the peppers off and clean out the insides. You can stuff the entire pepper, or for a smaller serving cut the pepper in half (serving size & nutritional information based on smaller portion)

Combine turkey and onion with the cooked rice, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, seasonings and approximately 1-1 1/2 cups cheese; reserving some cheese for the tops of the peppers.

Spoon the rice mixture into the peppers, top with the reserved cheese. Cook peppers in a covered, shallow baking dish with a small amount of water in the bottom to steam the peppers. Cook in the microwave for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and the peppers are tender. Or cook in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

10 servings

It's summer time!

I went on a bike ride tonight around the quiet streets of North Kansas City and it immediately took me back to my summers in J-town, where my bike was my main form a transportation.

I rode my bike everywhere. Across town to our acreage with warm bottles of milk riding safely in my backpack while hungry bottle calves were waiting. To riding to swim team practice in the crisp morning air, with dew on the grass. To riding as fast as I could in the rain for fear of being late for my summer school classes and crashing head-first into a telephone pole and cracking my helmet in the process (and that's why we wear helmets, kids). To considering the last block of my route the "speedway" where I would go as fast as I absolutely could to finish strong. And having my mom put a zip-tie on the right side of my bike, so I knew what side of the road to ride on. I still have problems with the right-left thing, but thankfully I don't need a zip-tie in my car!

Oh, the good ol' days!

oops... I missed Wallpaper Wednesday...