• Red Velvet Cupcakes

    I’ve been struggling with this post since I started this blog.  Why, you may ask?  This is just a basic red velvet cupcake, no?  No.  This cupcake is special. You see, a little over two years ago, my very tight-knit extended family lost one of our own.  My dear cousin Molly passed away suddenly.  She was a year younger than me,  a triplet, an aunt, a sister and a daughter.  And smart.  Beautiful.  Young, kind, and soft-spoken.  Molly collapsed immediately after finishing a half-marathon and didn’t…

  • Lemon Sunshine Cupcakes

    If you follow along on my Facebook page, you now know that I am not a big fan of storms.  In fact, that might be the understatement of the century.  If I have a phobia, storms are it.  Not just thunderstorms, I’m talking about full-on, hail and wind – tornadic storms. Growing up smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley, I’ve spent most of my life keenly aware of impending bad weather during the spring months.  When I was a kid and before the Weather…

  • Robin’s Egg Cupcakes

    Now that Easter is just a few days away and our menu for Easter dinner is complete, I’m already making plans and to-do lists for next Easter.  There are just so many cute ideas out there that I can’t possibly squeeze them all into one year.  And, although this blog allows me the excuse to experiment and bake lots of goodies all of the time, I’m always faced with the difficult decision of crossing off recipes, crafts and plans and saving them for next time.…

  • Amazing Brownies

    I’m sure that I’ve mentioned my Mom’s cooking habits on this blog before.  (Sorry, Mom, but I have to go here.  It’s the only way they’ll understand me.)  So, let me paint a picture of my Mom for you.  First of all, she’s tiny.  She’s stubborn.  She is not afraid of anyone, she and my Dad raised five (awesome) kids while working full time, and this woman does what she wants.  Period. She also ends a lot of her sentences with “period.” She also happens…

  • Lemon Pudding Cake

     Now that St. Patrick’s Day is behind us, I feel like spring is in full swing.  The warmer-than-normal winter has our yard turning green, our daffodils blooming and our trees budding a few weeks ahead of schedule.  This time of year I want to be outside with my hands in the dirt – planing, pruning and trying my best to remove all signs of winter.  And while I spent a good part of my weekend outside, I think you all know me well enough by…

  • White Chocolate & Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

    I just looked over the top of my laptop at my husband, who’s sitting on the couch next to me, and said “I don’t have any wittiness for my blog post.”  He just looked at me funny. You guys don’t care about wittiness, do you?  You care about cupcakes.  I knew it.  You’re just using me. See?  No wittiness.  I’m not even sure I’m spelling that right.  Wittiness?  Witty-ness?  Wittyness?  My spell checker likes wittiness, so we’ll go with it. Have you ever said a…

  • Marshmallow Filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting

    Look at the frosting on these cupcakes.  Look at it.  See how smooth and creamy it looks?  I’m here to tell you that it tastes about ten times smoother and creamier.  Rosie over at Sweetapolita aptly named this frosting Nutella Cloud Frosting, and I’m not sure there has been a more fitting name in the history of the universe.  If you were to eat a chocolate cloud, I’m pretty positive this is exactly what it would taste like.  Maybe better. It’s been a while since…

  • Irish Whiskey Cake in a Jar

      {Feel like you’ve seen this already?  You may have!  This was originally posted on culinarychat.net last week.  I’ll be contributing to their fabulous site once a month in the dessert category.  I’ll be re-posting the articles here on the blog as well, just in case you miss them.  For links and other fun Lemon Sugar information, be sure to like my Facebook page!} About this time every year, I start planning our annual St. Patrick’s Day dinner.  It’s become a tradition in our little…

  • Skillet Apple Pie

    There is just something about good apple pie that makes me happy.  Obviously, it’s delicious, but there’s a lot of nostalgia that comes with it, too.  The smells of baking apples, cinnamon and buttery pie crust take me back to my childhood and for a moment, I’m back in my Mom’s kitchen, or in one of my Grandma’s.  My Grandma used to sprinkle the leftover pie crust with butter, sugar and cinnamon and bake it – I can remember fighting over those little bites of…

  • Champagne Cupcakes

    There’s something wrong with this picture.  Right now, I’m hanging out in my living room while my kids are napping.  For some reason, the movie Twister is playing on my television.  I’m wearing my oldest, most comfortable yoga pants and my hair is in a ponytail.  There’s a basket of freshly laundered kitchen towels staring at me, begging to be folded before they become a wrinkly mess. And I’m writing about champagne cupcakes.  Such is my life, I suppose. Here’s the thing, though.  These look fancy,…

  • Irish Beer & Whiskey Cupcakes

    If you’re like me, you might find yourself avoiding the plethora of “boozy” cupcake recipes that circulate the web.  Since I’m more of a wine girl, recipes cooked with beer, whiskey and other liqueurs didn’t ever really call to me. Yes, some recipes call to me.  And they don’t shut-up until I make them.  It’s a problem. I’m not sure why I finally broke down and made these.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I’ve come to really love St. Patrick’s Day. …

  • Toasted Coconut Cupcakes

    I am definitely a chocolate person. Except for the occasional carrot cake, I will almost always choose chocolate over any other cake flavor.  Vanilla cakes are just so…vanilla. I am trying, though.  I am trying to like vanilla-based cakes.  I’ve made several of them for this blog, in fact.  Yet, I’m still on a mission to find the perfect “white” cake…one that will make me change my mind – the one that will end my love affair with chocolate.  My wedding cake is, so far,…