Orange Crush Cupcakes

Happy almost Halloween, everybody!

If your a busy person and pintrest seems a little to demanding (serious there are some great ideas there but I am often cooking or crafting with a wee helper hanging onto me and I need to do things cute but fast) and you still need a last minute treat may I suggest these cupcakes.  While this batch ended up decorated as pumpkins I heartily endorse you doing whatever you have the time and talent for.

Ingredients:
1 boxed cake mix (I used a Duncan Hein's yellow cake mix but feel free to use a white cake, or funfetti,  Duncan Hein's was on sale this week)
eggs and oil that the boxed recipe call for
1 cup room temperature orange Crush soda (or any soda really I bet you could get some interesting results using Jones)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the cake mix according to box directions substituting soda for the water. DO NOT add soda and water. Scoop batter into lined cupcake tins  ( I find that an ice-cream scoop works really well for ensuring even sized cupcakes but if your ok with no conformist cupcakes they all taste the same). Bake cupcakes for 18-21 minutes or however long your box instructs. Personally our cupcakes were done at the 15 minute mark. I would be really careful to not over bake. Cool, frost and decorate.

Our decorations where achieved by using a can of vanilla frosting that was tinted with red and yellow food coloring to desired orange shade. Assorted jelly belly beans (please keep reading for my disclaimer at end of blog before you add me to the list of people to boycott) where used as the pumpkin stems.

Cake has a delicious moderately orange flavor. I'm sure it could be enhanced with extract or zest. However I was again baking with a small person aka Mini attached to me. I generally don't improvise either on the first try with a recipe. Next batch I shall tinker and see what I can do to get a little extra flavor oomph.

Now the handy dandy disclosure. This blog is not sponsored by anyone. If someone wants to be a sponsor or have me endorse a product send me an email and we can talk. Until that time all products are paid for by me and preference is given to items I either all ready own or are on sale. The JellyBelly disclosure I  all ready had them. In light of their current stance on gay/trans issues I will not be buying their products for  consumption again. While I respect their right to do what they want with their profits I chose to support equality regardless of race, religion, or sexuality. So to sum it up, my blog my opinion, hate bad, and while I won't purchase products from companies that I don't agree with but  I won't throw out unconsumed things that haven't expired.

Happy Halloween everybody, be safe out there.
Moe

The Halloween candy quandry

It's almost that time of year so like a good neighbor it's time for me to go buy the candy for the few trick or treaters we do get. So the questioning begins of what to buy? Do I :

1. Buy what I, the hubs, and the bigs like?
2.  purchase a multitude of options bearing in mind allergies, parental preferences, and a million other what ifs?
3.  go to #TFAW and buy their bundle of comics and call that more than awesome enough and risk children not enjoying awesome literacy?
4.  I just ignore the door bell and knocks and pretend we aren't home?

If you know me the truth is number 4 isn't a real option especially as the only trick or treaters we usually get are children that are awesome and preplan to come see us. I would hate to disappoint them. What I will most likely do is be prepared with the old bushel basket stuffed with an assortment of full sized candy bars I've been hording. For craft projects like the candy boards I made last week. I generally do keep a decent assortment on hand either for crafting or being prepared on short notice for birthday presents. A few kabob sticks, a bit of profanity, and assorted crafty items and viola you can head off to little Jim Bob Susie's birthday without me looking like mommy who forgot.

The truth is it is hard to be prepared especially living in Portland and it's competitive. While I can appreciate the parents who are offering dye, gluten, and sugar free options I don't necessarily want to be part of their club.  It's not that I don't respect their lifestyle its that its not the lifestyle we've chosen to live. Maybe I should grab a few bags of pretzels or Sun chips to throw into the mix but I doubt I actually will. That means I've caved too and lost the true spirit of Halloween enough candy to last until Easter.

How do you pick what to hand out? Has anyone else eaten the first bag of Halloween candy? I'm going with I haven't eaten the whole bag because there is a sad pile of unconsumed Crunch bars still laying in the bottom of the basket.

Happy 6 days till Halloween!

Why I'm embracing Sweetest Day

Yes this Saturday, October 19th is Sweetest Day! A complete holiday created by corporations to get you to spend money but it does have a valid purpose. How often do we take that extra moment to say thank  you and I appreciate what you do to people? This last year has also been full of a lot of changes for us with the arrival of Mini and my altering my work schedule. It's meant that the bigs no longer have their dedicated dad time on the weekends because he is also needs to parent Mini and there is a significant age and needs difference. I felt it was very important for them to know that even though we don't say it constantly we do recognize that is has been a big change and we do appreciate how they help.  I find it wonderful how attentive the girls are with their baby brother he can barely move with out them being ready to find out where he wants to wander to. Big brother has changed diapers with out being asked. (if you need a moment to pick yourself up off the floor after reading that I understand, I did too when he told me he had changed a diaper without saying anything). There are so many things that they do that they don't have to and aren't expected too that I had to say we do notice and we are grateful.

This week Mini and I took a walk to Enchante here in Milwaukie. They specialize is sweets and make wonderful chocolates. I wasn't expecting to find horse shaped chocolate but I did which is phenomenal because our PonyGirl sure does love the horses. I wasn't able to find anything as specific for the other two but I hope its the thought that counts. Mini and I also wrote a little note to each of his siblings that says thank you and I love you and I appreciate how you help care for me. By we wrote I of course mean that I as mom did some creative interpreting and helped him sign his name in crayon. Not something that cost a lot of money but I it is a way to place a little extra emphasize on what they do and that we do notice and appreciate.

I went the crafty route and Dad gets to help take the credit. He is the on that introduced me to making candy boards when he sweetly made one for my birthday years ago. It was one of the best and silliest presents I have ever received. If your not familiar what you do is spell out a message on poster board and work  candy bars in to your sentence. Here is one of the ones I made.

It reads Happy Sweetest Day. Today is a day to say thank you and appreciate loved ones. We know it can feel like a zoo. That's why its a lifesaver when you rally and help. Hopefully you didn't snicker at what nerds we are for this corny note. Again not a lot of money spent and pretty silly. Which I think is just what we needed.

What do you think is there a place for "Hallmark" holidays?

Our house is fueled on goldfish

Oh crunchy cheesy fishy crackers how I used to loathe you. Now though I accept  you, my baby loves you, the bigs love you and so does our cat. Its funny the things that you accept once you have childern and how you adapt.

 At one time in my life I would of said it wouldn't be an issue if Costco didn't have the family sized box on the shelves. These days its a grocery emergency when the box is empty and there is no back up in the house and you don't have a coupon for the big box store. For the fishes we will pay shelf price and no you simply can't just buy the generics or the all natural according my highly trained munchers they taste funny it has to be the fishes. 

So we make sure that we don't run out and all to often I am picking up fishes from the floor or the sofa or an empty plastic fish container from the van. Its ok because they make them happy and there are worst things.

I should add this post was in NO way sponsored by goldfish. It was brought about by catching the cat eating Mini's abandoned container of  goldfish the other night and finding the box of goldfish in the living room last night after work because the bigs and Mini were sharing a snack while I was at work.  I wonder if there are any left I feel peckish.

Your baby is 46 weeks, this week mommy should

When I first became a mom signed up for several websites that send you the weekly email about baby's  growth and development. Which I love its great to be able to compare mile stones and see where Mini is versus the curve. Sometimes there are bonus articles and ideas that I can use too. However there is also the section of what you should do for mommy. I am a great big heap of I have not scheduled a lunch with friends (unless eating at desk at work counts), I have not booked a spa day (there are two boxes of hair dye in my bathroom that I have opened to read the instructions),  and forget date night without baby. Would I like to do those things? Honestly yes but they just aren't priorities.

Every time I get the email I dread reading that section until I think of the positives. Mini has never been left with  sitter so I could go grab lunch with friends and I have the friends that if Until than I may steal one of the hubs beanies. I have roots big deal and I need an eyebrow wax. I'm not at Bert and Ernie stage yet.  Date nights well that would first require both the hubs and I to be off work at the same time. I think we have that scheduled for Halloween but even that priorities will not on us having a romantic interlude but the kids and chores that we need to do.

So yes my baby is 46 weeks old and I still haven't completed a single one of their recommendations for mommy. Do I look a bit hobo like yes...maybe. Am I writing a blog post while still in pjs ...indeed. Does that make a failure no it just means I have different priorities.

The rain is here

It's official the fall/winter rains have started here in Oregon. Which means a real change to how we do things. As much as I adore fresh air it means our walks and outings are going to have to be timed carefully to avoid the downpours and more layers are going to need to go on. I have always loved the rainy seasons until now. Now with baby I have to say I kind of loathe the pitter patter of rain drops on the windows. I'm sure my feelings will change again when he is big enough for rain boots, puddle jumping and other outdoor shenanigans.  It has and is giving me more time to think about things that we can do inside. I'm also making a lot of head way on craft projects about the house but this is the first year I don't find myself embracing the fall here in Oregon.

I meant to put together a longer funnier blog post this morning but we don't have a lot of funny going on right now. The hubs is working crazy hours again. Mini has been teething and battling the seasonal change congestion. I never thought I would pick someone else's nose willing but you do what you have to do as a mom. The heat has gone on in the morning's to take off the chill and damp and the house reeks of baby Vick's.  I am still trying to figure out this whole work/home/mommy balance and baby is 10 months old. I can't say that I thought it would be easy but I will say I had hoped for less turbulence.
 
That's all I have at the moment folks. Rain bad but necessary, the baby has the sniffles, the hubs is working a lot and I'm still here.