Jensen Beach

 

I took this photo around 8:30 am.

Restoration Hardware has stolen my heart, AGAIN!!!

We currently own Restoration Hardware's Camden style bed and really wanted a paint color for our bedroom that would make the room feel warm, so we decided on Restoration Hardware's Flax paint color. Can't wait!!

Queen Bee Wanna Be Baker!!!

Alrighty! I can not believe how long it has been. Blame it all on FarmVille (a game on Facebook) and a new book I am reading. I will talk more about the book in a sec, but let's get down to the good stuff.

I have been talking about baking some cupcakes for the longest. Tada! Here they are!!!






Here is the recipe I used:


Billy's Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes

A double-dose of vanilla extract -- in the cake and in the buttercream frosting -- gives these cupcakes from famed baker Billy Reece of Billy's Bakery in New York City great vanilla taste that's just the right amount of sweetness -- and more than irresistible.

Ingredients
Makes about 30 cupcakes.

1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Billy's Vanilla Buttercream
Colored Sprinkles, for decorating, optional
Alternate frosting: Billy's Chocolate Buttercream
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
2.In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.
3.Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
4.Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
Makes enough for 30 cupcakes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
1.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency.





Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Queen Bee Baker !!!!

Let me tell ya'll, I lost 5 pounds or so the scale says. I just came back from spinning class and the entire time I was thinking of how hard I had to work on that darn stationary bike so that I would be able to enjoy one or two cupcakes.

Tomorrow is the day! Queen bee baker as I have now titled myself will finally delve into the world of baking cupcakes. "They are pretty, oh so pretty"................

Here is the recipe I will be using. Stay tuned for pics!!!
XOXOXOXOXO

Makes about 30 cupcakes
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Billy's Vanilla Buttercream
Colored Sprinkles, for decorating, optional
Alternate frosting: Billy's Chocolate Buttercream
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
2.In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.
3.Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
4.Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Frosting
Makes enough for 30 cupcakes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
1.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency.

Martha Says...............

Six Things to Do Every Day

Get into the habit of completing these basic tasks daily. With just a few minutes’
work, you’ll easily be able to keep chaos at bay.
□ Make the Bed
Tidiness begets tidiness. A crisply made bed makes the whole room seem more orderly, which
makes it less likely that you’ll let other things -- such as clothes and papers -- pile up around it.
□ Manage Clutter
Whenever you leave a room, take a quick look around for anything that isn’t where it should be. Pick it up and put it where it belongs. Insist that everyone in the household do the same.
□ Sort the Mail
Take a few minutes to open, read, and sort mail as soon as you bring it inside. Keep a trash bin near your sorting area for junk mail. Drop other mail into one of four in-boxes: personal correspondence, bills, catalogs, and filing.
□ Clean as You Cook
Instead of filling the sink with pots and dishes, wash them or put them in the dishwasher as you prepare a meal.
□ Wipe Up Spills While They’re Fresh
Whether it’s tomato sauce on the cooktop or makeup on the bathroom counter, almost anything is faster and easier to remove if you attend to it immediately.
□ Sweep the Kitchen Floor
Every evening, once you’ve finished washing up after dinner, sweep the floor. This will
keep tough-to-clean dirt and grime from building up, which will make the weekly mopping
much quicker. ............................................................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................

Martha, thank you!!!

Barefoot in Paris

Erik and I spent the afternoon at Barnes and Noble on Saturday. We mostly snooped around in the cookbook isle. I could not resist! I wanted so many of the books. It almost seemed as though they were all calling my name, well except for the Mexican cookbooks. I am not a fan of Mexican food. I will get into my dislike of Mexican food at a later date. :)

So, I had to make a decision and bought the book that called my name the loudest!

As you may or may not know, I have never, ever baked before. I dove into Ina's recipe for a Lemon Meringue Tart . It was flavorful. Would make again since it was a hit with my family. Here are some picture..

Simply keep in mind that this is my FIRST tart ever!

Enjoy!

Shelves..... Part 2

At this point this is where I am with these shelves... I am not in love. In fact they are starting to feel a bit cluttered. Now what? OMG! I think I still need some baskets, more books and more bottles of some sort. The glassware and the pears are new.


This was my idea for these shelves, but I am starting to wonder.....

Shelf test run

I have filled the shelves and I think they look O.K. as in okay. I am not sure as to what I can do to really make then POP. I think I may want additional bottles of San Pellegrino, some storage baskets, maybe more cookbooks.. I simply do not know anymore!

My virtual mentor

I simply adore Marta Stewart! She is the ultimate domestic goddess! In a way I think of her as my virtual mentor. The girl can cook, sew, bake, garden, decorate and entertain just to name a few, but most importantly she makes little girls like me want to be just like her when they grow up.

Here is a bit of info on her early years before becoming the ultimate Domestic Goddess:
Martha Stewart's image as the personification of gracious living may lead some to imagine that she grew up in the sort of rural luxury pictured in her books and magazine. In fact, she was born in the industrial city of Jersey City, New Jersey, a location known more for heavy industry than for rustic charm. Her parents, Martha and Edward Kostyra, were a schoolteacher and a pharmaceuticals salesman, respectively. When Martha was three, the family moved to Nutley, New Jersey, where she grew up with four brothers and sisters in a close-knit Polish-American family defined by the father's intense ambition for his children. Edward Kostyra taught his daughter gardening when she was only three; her mother taught her cooking and baking and sewing; she learned still more about baking pies and cakes from an elderly couple -- retired bakers -- who lived next door.






Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes
You will likely make these cupcakes again and again, varying the frosting (say, dark chocolate, page 302) and sprinkles (sparkly, multicolored, or otherwise) to suit your whim or fancy. Two types of flour contribute to the cupcakes’ singular texture: Cake flour makes for a delicate crumb, while all-purpose flour keeps them from being too tender. makes 36

3 cups cake flour (not -self--rising)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (21/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Fluffy Vanilla Frosting (page 302)
Round candy sprinkles (nonpareils), for decorating (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium. Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add yolks, and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each. Beat in vanilla.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
4. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature and, if desired, decorate with sprinkles before serving.

Frosting Instructions:

Ingredients

Makes about 4 cups
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions

With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.
Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
























Pure Love!!!!!!

Oh my!! More love!

Pink, pink, pink

This is the wall color in the kitchen and family room. It is "Paris Pink" by Valspar.