Graduation Day!

It's GRADUATION DAY!!!  Graduation is finally here after 13 months of long, hard, crazy, days!  I'll post pics later!

(Thank God it's inside!)

Better than Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes

Here's another awesome cupcake recipe that I tried out a few weeks ago for Father's day.  I've been on a cupcake kick recently and decided to try a new recipe for my dad.  He loves bananas and banana cream pie so I thought I would try making them into cupcakes to celebrate Father's Day!  I found a recipe called "Better than Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes" from Delish that I altered slightly.  If you like bananas and/or Banana Cream Pie, then you will love this recipe!

Mmmmmmm!

Better Than Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 2 1/2 cup(s) flour
• 1 tablespoon(s) baking soda
• 1 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/2 cup(s) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup(s) packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 4  very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup(s) plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup(s) chopped walnuts (optional)

Filling:

• 1 package(s) instant banana pudding
• 2 cup(s) milk
• 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

Frosting:

• 1 package(s) instant vanilla pudding
• 1 cup(s) milk
• 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1 container(s) (8-ounce ) extra-creamy whipped topping
• 1/4 cup(s) confectioners’ sugar

Garnish:

• 2 cup(s) crushed cinnamon graham crackers
• Banana slices (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, with electric mixer, cream butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar until light. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with -bananas and yogurt, mixing on low speed just until moistened. Batter will be lumpy; do not overmix. If using, gently fold in chopped walnuts.

Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in pan, then remove cupcakes to wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare filling and frosting. Mix banana pudding with milk according to package directions, adding vanilla. Chill for at least 30 minutes. For frosting, mix vanilla pudding with milk and vanilla; fold in whipped topping and confectioners’ sugar until frosting is creamy. Chill for at least 30 minutes to set.

Once cupcakes are cool, insert a paring knife into top of each cupcake, making a small hole in the center.  Cut in a circular pattern, making a cone shape and scoop out of the cupcake, leaving a hole. Spoon filling mixture into a zip-top plastic bag. Snip off a small corner of the bottom. Squeeze about 1 tablespoon filling into the hole in the top of each cupcake. Swirl frosting on top of each cupcake; sprinkle with graham-cracker crumbs. Top each with banana slices as desired. Keep chilled.

As you can see in the pictures, I opted not to put the banana slice on top simply because the cupcakes had to ride in the car for an hour before being eaten so I thought the bananas would get a little mushy by then.  I just topped them with the graham cracker crumbs.  Hope you enjoy!!

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, I tried out these Raspberry Cupcakes I found on Pinterest!  I made half the recipe for our bible study and everyone agreed that they were delicious!  The pin pointed me to this great blog, Six Sisters Stuff for the recipe!  I tweaked it a bit and used a different icing recipe.

(Sorry they're in a cup...I had already put them in there to take to other people before I realized I hadn't gotten a picture!)

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

1 package white cake mix
1 small package vanilla instant pudding
3 Tbsp sweetened raspberry lemonade drink mix (like Country Time Lemonade- pink lemonade mix works too)
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp lemon zest
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup oil
4 whites eggs

1 cup fresh raspberries

Icing

1 box of powdered sugar

1 stick of butter, softened

1 t vanilla extract

1 can of frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 lemon

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk cake mix, pudding mix, and drink mix together.

2.  Add sour cream, lemon zest, water, oil, and egg whites to the dry mix.  Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes.

3.  Fold in raspberries and mix gently to incorporate.

4. Scoop batter into 24 lined muffin tins.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in one comes out clean.

5.  Allow to cool completely before frosting the cupcakes.

Frosting Directions

6.  Prepare the frosting by creaming the butter and powdered sugar together.  Add vanilla and mix together.  Add zest from one lemon and the lemon juice from squeezing one half of the lemon.
7. Add in a SMALL amount of the thawed raspberry lemonade concentrate and mix well.  If too stiff, add a little more raspberry lemonade concentrate and mix.  If too runny, add more powdered sugar.  Keep mixing until reached desired consistency.

8.  Ice cupcakes and add a fresh raspberry on top.  Enjoy!

Father's Day

Happy (belated) Father's Day to our amazing fathers and grandfathers!  Ben, Riley, and I went to my parents' house on Saturday to hang out with Dad and then we went to the races where we got to see my grandfather as well!  It was nice to go to the races again since we don't get to go as often as I used to go.  I made cupcakes (recipes to follow) and they were a hit!  Since we didn't get back from the races till midnight, we stayed at my parents' house and then had breakfast with them.  It was great to spend time with my dad, especially on Father's Day.

After a brief stop at Dunkin' Donuts, we headed back to Columbia to see Ben's dad for Father's Day.  We had an AMAZING brunch at a restaurant near their house (where we dined next to Brenda Frese, the UMD Women's basketball coach, and her family) and then we went to the nearby driving range to hit some golf balls!  Kim, Chessie, and I decided we needed some golf lessons!  It was fun and after the range, we went mini-golfing!  Brian got FIVE hole-in-ones!!!  I've never seen someone get so many in one game!

Overall, it was a great Father's Day weekend and we enjoyed spending time with both dads to let them know how awesome and amazing fathers they are!  It was also great getting to see my grandfather too.  We love you all!

My grandfather's sweet Schwinn bike!  It's from the 50's!

The racecar!

My grandfather talking to my dad.

Produce from my aunt and uncle's garden!

Gigantic zucchini!

Blurry pics of the track

Me and my Daddy

At the driving rance!!

Ben and his dad

Kevin was quite good at running and hitting the golf ball like Happy Gilmore!

Exit 0...Cape May, NJ

This past weekend, I went to Cape May, NJ with two of my best friends, Kayla and Hannah.  We had planned our girls weekend over a month ago and we decided to visit Kayla's parents house in Cape May. This weekend was especially meaningful because Hannah is about to move to Dallas, TX for her and her husband's new job so it was especially fun being with her and Kayla.

We had a great time!  We got there about midnight Friday night and then hung out on the beach allll day Saturday!  It was wonderful!  The weather was gorgeous and the water wasn't even terribly cold!  You could go in and get refreshed from the sun!  I also got to start (and finished on Sunday) the first book in the Hunger Games!!!  I had been waiting until school was over before starting since I knew I wouldn't be able to put it down.  And what better way to start then to have hours to lay on the beach and read!  That night we made dinner at the house and then went to Cape May's mall which is filled with all sorts of cute stores and shops.  One of the cool things about Cape May is that there are hardly any chain stores there so many things are unique!  After hitting the mall,  we went home, changed into our pjs and watched a movie.

Another thing about Cape May is that many of the houses are these old victorian houses from the 1800's.  The house that Kayla's parents have was built in 1854!  While we were there, we kept hearing noises, like things falling down or doors shutting but could never find anything that had fallen!  Kayla is convinced the house is haunted!  Hannah and I might've spent Saturday night together instead of separate rooms!

Sunday was great as well.  We went out to breakfast and then hit the craft fair on the boardwalk after.  We had scoped it out the day before and picked up a few things.  I got a Russian Nesting Doll for my collection and we all got these pendants from a jewelry lady.  They are silver discs with Cape May stamped in the top of it and our first initials at the bottom with a charm in the middle.  Mine is a starfish and I am going to put mine on my charm bracelet to remember our weekend!  After the craft fair, we hit the beach again and it was another gorgeous day!  We stayed out all day and I ended up getting sunburned even after applying many rounds of sunscreen!  I think my sunscreen had stopped working.

That evening, we cleaned and packed up and then went to a nice Italian dinner at a place called Godmothers.  The food was really yummy!  Then we chilled for awhile before heading home.  It was a great weekend and I can't wait to do it again!  Here are some pictures from my girls weekend in Cape May!

The rules

One of the many gorgeous Victorian houses in Cape May!

Panorama of the beach

The craft fair

Kayla is modeling one of the finger puppets that the crafters were selling

The beautiful table that Kayla's mom put together

The chef!

Tried to get a shot of us but the sun got in the way

Hill Walk!

The mall

We had too much fun with this!

Cape May has a Stewart's rootbeer store

"Is it blue? Or is it white?"

Our prom picture

Cape May's lighthouse

Us with the (teeny tiny) lighthouse in the background!

My addition to the signature wall

The cute (and possibly haunted) house!

Rocking out on the way home!

Really, we were leaving NJ.