King Cake Cupcakes

King Cake Cupcakes

Mardi Gras season is right around the corner...

 let's get this party started.

Mix up a  Classic Yellow cake mix according to

the package directions. 

 Since the basic king cake starts off with cinnamon,

 I added two teaspoons of cinnamon to the batter.

It makes 24 cupcakes.

I used purple, green and gold papers.

Although you will see the purple looks red in the picture.

While mixing ... I realized that I have had my mixer for

close to 26 years. (Gosh! I am getting old)

I have a big fancy mixer... but rather just pull this out to mix small things. 

Do you ever do that?  I have all these gadgets, but always just use the old tried and true things.

King cakes have the most wonderful fillings... 

 I just had to add a filling to these cupcakes.

You will need to make a little hole for the filling.

I used a veggie peeler... hey in the south we make do.

I know they probably have some thingy magig made just for this...but my little peeler worked out ok.

I filled them with homemade strawberry jelly.

No king cake is complete without the cream cheese... 

 I made a cream cheese icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar.

I tinted half the icing purple and left the rest white and added green sprinkles to the top.

I have never made a cupcake with filling, so the family was pleasantly surprised to find strawberry in the middle. 

 These were such a hit, I just might make some for Easter with a pudding type filling.

Join me today at Katherines Corner for her Linky party ,
 &
 Taste This Thursday Party

what a great way to find wonderful blog friends.

Linking this morning to Kim over at WoW Us Wednesdays .

Shoppin New Orleans Style

Today I am going to wrap up our trip to New Orleans with a little shopping.

You just can not go to New Orleans with out stepping into a few little shops. 

How cute is this shop! 

Love the curtains in the windows...

 Royal Street is full of little shops like this one.

Camo Man loves the outdoors,

but refused to let me get this chair. 

Not sure why? Could it be the color?  LOL

I have been following a shop on FB and finally got to visit ...Fleurty Girl. 

 She has the largest and cutest selection of t's

Lots of feathers in New Orleans...

Love these Saints  headbands...Go Saints!

I just had to share this last photo with you...while there the Red Hat Society was having their international convention.  WoW it was nothing but red and purple on the streets of New Orleans.

This sweet lady from California let me take a picture of her bling bra purse... Someone made it for her out of ribbon and a bra!

Hope you survived the holiday weekend,

WELCOME TO THE FRENCH QUARTER

Welcome to the French Quarter...

 pretty quite for a late Friday afternoon.

Unlike its portrayal...not all of the streets in the Quarters are wild & crazy.

Although, I would not recommend

 bringing young children. 

 There are so many child friendly things to do,

the Audubon Zoo,  a wonderful aquarium where you can explore in the comfort of air conditioning.

 Want to know how to snag a balcony view?

Most bars are two story, so they will let patrons go out on the balconies.

Yup, snagged us a balcony seat...

 some bars do not require you to buy a drink.

But if you come in the hot summer months, you will want to be sippin on something. 

They do offer nice souvenir drink cups...or guess you could say Fleur De Li's cups

The French Quarter offers lots of little bars with no cover charge...there you can get a

 cold one usually '3 for 1', and if you are lucky a little band is playing for you to do a little dance.

This is a video I made on my phone...Camo man and his mom dancing the 'Gonzales Jitter~Bug' to

the song Mustang Sally...

                                         

   
Now you do not want to stay in the
French Quarter too long...there is a point
that if you do not go home you
may end up like the fellow below...

(I have protected his identity in case he has family looking for him)

Tomorrow, some fabulous places to eat down

in the 'Big Easy',  so come hungry...

Weekend Trip to New Orleans...Where to Stay

I guess you could say that I have done a little traveling this summer...

Vegas Baby

17 day Road Trip to Washington State

 that included 9 different states

Navarre Beach, FL

Mississippi

When traveling people always ask, after finding

out I am from Louisianana

 "How is New Orleans?"

Well... of course my reply is....

"New Orleans is 'GREAT' and you should

come for a visit!"

Of course we encourage everyone to come and visit. 

I will be highlighting a few fabulous places to stay and visit while in the 'BIG EASY'.

This weekend we stayed at Harrahs located on Poydras Street. 

 We are greeted by a wonderful staff

in the beautiful lobby ...  

The room was large... Some hotel rooms in the New Orleans area are small due to the fact that they are in buildings dating back to the 1800's.

Loved having the television and

 refrigerator built-in.

I have stayed in some hotels were you have very little

room to get around the armoire. 

The room also included a sofa, two chairs,

coffee table and a work desk.

I love staying in a hotel that reflects the location. 

The room was adorened with very large black and white photos of New Orleans.

(In image below is a picture of Jackson Square)

I am very picky about the bathrooms where I stay.

 I rate the bathroom more than the actual room. 

This one gets a gold star!

It was super duper clean with plenty of towels.

Love having a towel bar located just below the sink. 

Another built-in,  love having all the space to put on my makeup and not having to 

move my stuff around the coffee pot. 

  The next house I build, I want a built-in located like the one above. The granite were the coffee pot is located makes clean up from spills easy.

This was our view, if you request they also offer rooms with a view of the Mississippi River. 

We did not require room service, (too many great places to eat & drink)  but the rest of the hotel staff was very attentive to our needs.

Join me tomorrow for a trip to the historic
 French Quarter.

Welcome

 Oh my gosh I am so glad you found me or followed me to my new blog,
I have had sleepless nights thinking just how in the world I was going to WELCOME you to my new blog.
Well here in the south everything and I mean everything revolves around food.
Yes, I know what you are thinking,
I could just come over and whip you up a great southern dish...Well, I don't think that's gonna happen.
Although...I do love to travel.
I can however send ya a box of great southern products for you to try.



This is just a little 'taste' of what's to come.



This is going to be very simple.

 Just follow me here and you will be entered.

Yep...that's it.

 Join me Feb. 14th when I will announce the winner.