The $555.75 Cupcake

Cupcakes 

You see them everywhere..

Who knew when I was a young mom whipping up cupcakes that one day there would  be little shops that just sell cupcakes?

Dang another one of those missed Oprah 'AH HA' moments

WHY OH WHY didn't I think of that? 

This morning while checking my emails my favorite store in the whole mall ,

 Williams Sonoma sent me an invite to look around there Internet Cupcake Shop. 

(Ok I'm sure most of you received one, but can a girl feel special if only for a moment.)

While still laying in bed drinking my second cup of coffee,

 (SHH..that's my nasty little secret to hitting the floor running in the morning. Hubby brings me coffee in bed. LOL)

I decided to take up their invite and look at their little shop.

I got an idea.... my daughter is getting ready to buy a house.

What better gift than to get her what she needs to make her own fabulous cupcakes...

HUM...

Anyway... I started adding up the basic things in their shop that she would need to be a successful cupcake princess.

HOLY MOLY

Eyes are open and it ain't the coffee...

To start she needs the mix    14.95

No need to add I'll have you a total at the end of this post...

The mixer... Blue, my favorite color...

Ok, you caught me,  the mixer would be for me and I would give her my white one. I always wanted a blue one. LOL

$399.95

The pan...yes if you have never made cupcakes before, you HAVE to have one of these.



$24.00

Silicups...Honestly never used these before, due to the fact I make far less cupcakes now and can not justify the cost.

(paper ones are about $2.00)

I am sure she has thousands of cupcakes in her future, so might be worth it for her to use those.

$24.95

Cooling rack..ok this is really not necessary, but heck if you are going to look like a successful cupcake princess you might as well throw one in the cart.

Beside she will need one, every southern girl makes peite fours. 

 $13.00

 Everyone wants their creations to be as pretty as the picture.

 She will have to show them off!  This stand to highlight the little beauties is only

$79.00

 $555.75...this does not include tax.. or the bowls, spoons, or heck I forgot the sprinkles and everyone know a cupcake is not a cupcake without the colorful sprinkles...

The local cupcake shop has a dozen for $34.00.

She could get 16.3235 dozen for $555.00.

Will she be making cupcakes in her new house you ask?

Sure...I will do what any wonderful mom will do,

 offer to loan her all my stuff. 

 But knowing her like I do, she will just come to my house, use my stuff and leave the mess.  

 But I would not have it any other way!

 Don't worry William Sonoma, I still want that BLUE MIXER!

Antipasto Kabobs

Antipasto Kabobs

With just a few simple ingredients you can

have a fabulous appetizer.

1 9 oz package of Three Cheese Tortellini ,(I used Buitoni )cooked to package directions

 Calamata Black Olives (pitted)

Grape Tomatoes

 Mozzarella balls

 Salami, cut in half

 Pepperoni

1 cup Paul Newman Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

 Skewers 

(Of course you can anything you like to these,

ex. green olives or different cheese.)

Place the cooked tortellini in a bowl or large freezer bag. Pour the salad dressing over the top and marinade in the fridge for a few hours.
Drain the pasta.
Place one of each item onto the skewer.
Can be made a few hours in advance.
Just cover tightly and place in the ice box.

So easy...the hardest part is boiling the tortellini.

ENJOY!

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Spring Alive and Well In The South

Spring is alive and well at our Little House in the Big Woods.

I wanted to share with you a few of my latest snapshots.

I love the colors of pink and green together.

This little guy was so busy at work, he did not even notice me.

When we had a girls weekend (checkout Susie's post on that) we saw this wild iris with dark purple buds. 

 Well this weekend when I went back to see if it had opened...

It was white!   So beautiful. I thought about digging it up. 

But, I think that I will just leave it there and enjoy it's beauty in the woods every spring.

I am working on a few projects this weekend.

Hope everyone has a wonderful spring weekend.

Do You Have A Love ~ Hate Relationship?

Do you have any Love ~  Hate relationships?  Ok...be nice.

I thought if I love something, how in the world can I hate it?

See this shopping bag?  Cute huh?

I LOVE IT...because

It means that Jo Ann's has finally opened in Baton Rouge.

HATE IT...because

I spent at least $25 to get it FREE.

I LOVE IT...because

I got a bag full of stuff...some I had to have

like the Sulky (I was completely out).

It was 50% off and I had a coupon for an additional 25% off

YEAH BABY!  that was my deal of the year so far.

I HATE IT...because

Look at all that fabric..it was calling my name!

Listen closely...

"BUY ME...You have to make something out of me and I am on super sale!"

Seriously... I am so flippin happy to have Jo Ann's, it gives the Hancock's in town a little competition.
Had to laugh.. I stopped in Hancock's first. I thought they closed at 6 p.m.  The clerk was complaining that now since Jo Ann's opened they have to now stay opened till 9. 

OK...you get the idea.

Do you have a LOVE ~ HATE  relationship?    Do tell...

Ruffle Tote DIY

Ruffles, Ruffles, Ruffles

We see them everywhere.

This tote is no exception.

There are so many versions. 

 I'm not a big fan of hot glue and decided to sew mine.

Takes a little more time, but I think it will hold up a little bit longer.

Start out with a canvas tote bag.

They can be found in about any craft department.

Other supplies included fabric, ruler, rotary cutter

 and pinking shears.

With the ruler, mark where you want to place your ruffles...this helps when pinning and sewing to get them straight.

Make ruffles...
I cut mine with pinking shears instead of hemming.

Pin in place.

Sew ruffles to tote, making sure not to catch

the handles of the tote under the needle.

I attached four ruffles...this is where you can make it your own.

You can choose your fabric and the width of your ruffles to make your tote personally yours.

Here's is the fun part...I dug through my ribbon stash.

I did a running stitch and gathered ribbon into a circle.

Then I made a fabric rosette out of the same fabic as the ruffles.

Hand sewed rosette to my new ruffle canvas tote.

 

There ya have it ... one ruffled tote made from a canvas bag...

DIY Ruffle Totes can be found everywhere..

For more ruffle inspiration visit these blogs

susie harris,

glazed from the heart,

 &  the ribbon retreat

Crawfish 101 ~ Boiling

Crawfish 101 ~ Boiling

A crawfish boil on the first warm day in spring is a must, just like

having that first steaming bowl of gumbo when the temps get below 70 in the late fall.

Crawfish boils bring southerners together for that

 company picnic, spring birthday bash, Lenten season,

 and my favorite day in spring Mother's Day.

This is a basic crawfish lesson.



Get your pot add burner ready.

 If it's windy you will need a shield to protect the flame.

   Make sure to keep the sack that the crawfish comes in.

You will want to boil your potatoes and corn in it.

To see where the crawfish came from click HERE.

Dump the crawfish into a wash tub and rinse. 

You will want to remove any that may have died in transport. 

Fill the pot with water and a little vegetable oil.

(the veggie oil is supposed to make them peel easier)

Add seasoning along with the potatoes and corn.  

We had a few lemons, so we threw them in.

Bring seasoned water and the sack of potatoes and corn to a boil...

While waiting on the water to boil, put the crawfish into the basket.

There you can re rinse the crawfish if they need it.  

 Lower basket into boiling water. 

Bring back to a rolling boil for 3 - 3 1/2  minutes depending on the size of crawfish.

Turn off heat and at this point add any thing you would like.

Let crawfish soak for 20 - 25 minutes with the lid on.

We throw all kinds of things into the pot...

including but not limited to

hot dogs or sausage,whole sweet onions, mushrooms, artichokes.  You get the idea...

Drain and then pour crawfish out onto a table layered with newspaper.

Let cool, if you can wait

and

ENJOY

 Why the men love to cook crawfish?

because...

Where can you cook the main meal and all the sides in one pot.

Dump the food on a table outside for the wife & kids and

no dishes when everyones done...

Crawfish Season 101

Crawfish Season 101

Come along with me on a little journey just about ten miles from my house. 

We are going to visit a crawfish farm.

Let me fill you in real quick on what crawfish are and what they are 'not'.

 Crawfish have been apart of Louisiana history dating back to the native Americans and the early European settlers.

Crawfish are little freshwater crustaceans, but we like to think of them as Louisiana's  "Mini Lobsters".

Contrary to belief we do not eat crawfish from the ditch.

They do not eat mud and their diet is actually one of grass.

We eat crawfish every spring that we purchase from the local seafood market.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to actually

 visit a crawfish farm.

  This is the 14 acre pond that is having fresh water pumped into it.

The ponds are not really that deep.  

Pond farming started in the 1960's.  Man made ponds make it much easier to control the water levels and farmers are then able to yield a much larger crop.

1,600 farmers produce crawfish on some 111,000 acres of ponds and more than 800 commerical

fisherman harvest from the natural wet lands, primarily the Atchafalaya Basin.

   The traps are baited with pieces of fish.

The tall pipe to the right is used to drain the pond at the end of the season.

How cool is this Mr. Tommy (the farmer) walks in the ponds pulling this little boat that he modified. The silver box in the back holds his bait.  The metal box in the front with the shoot is where he empties the crawfish from the traps and they slide into the tub.

Yes, that is a gun sticking out behind the white bucket.

I asked him what in the world would he need a gun for?

 I should have known, DUH!  The snakes.  

Ok,  I will NOT,  repeat  will NOT,

be asking to help check the traps. 

 Dang It !  and I am about 50 pounds to heavy to ask him to pull me around in the little boat!

On further inspection of his way to cool boat, he has a white bucket with turtles.

Those were in the traps so he takes them to be released in a bayou behind his house.

 The black thing at the top right of the bucket is an eel..YUCK.  Sorry, but I did not ask him what he does with those.

Mr. Tommy is unloading the crawfish into a container that allows him to sack them.



The life of a crawfish farmer is very hard physical work. 

Mr. Tommy works a full time job and then comes home to work his ponds in the evenings and on the weekends.

  He walks his 14 acre pond for hours in the morning sun.

 ( It was in the upper 70's yesterday morning.) 

Then he unloads his catch and sacks them up.

The green containier holds about 140 pounds of crawfish that he dumps into the sacker...gotta have some muscles for that!

 

In Louisiana the combined annual yield of pond and wild harvested crawfish range from 75 million to 105 million pounds.

Mr. Tommy sacking up our crawfish.

You can not get any fresher or cleaner crawfish that going straight to the source.

Thank you to Mr. Tommy and Shari for allowing me to visit your farm. What a wonderful experience to see the hard work that goes into getting crawfish from their pond to my patio!

 I hope you enjoyed our journey out to the crawfish ponds.

Next ~ Cooking our "Little Crustaceans"

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