• Instant Party with BACARDI® Mixers pt 2

    This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BACARDI® Mixers for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine. You guys, we had so much fun at our #instantparty last weekend!  Because there is ALWAYS a reason to celebrate, it wasn’t hard to determine that a housewarming was the perfect excuse. My reason to party?  My dear friend Dawn has a beautiful new home and a lovely pool! Girls night slash pool party! I came armed with a cooler, chock-full of BACARDI® Mixers.  Using the Strawberry…

  • Turtle Cupcakes

    So, first things first, what do you think of the new look here at Lemon Sugar?  I’ve been working tirelessly with Cory at Zesty Blog Consulting for months now, trying to make my ideas come to life.  I have to say that Cory has done a great job, and I would highly recommend his work to any of you working on a blog or website.  He’s patient, quick and can make just about anything happen! There are a few changes to the blog as you can…

  • Share-It Saturday: Week 4

    Hi everyone!  Welcome back for another Share-It Saturday on Lemon Sugar!  Before we get started, make sure you like Lemon Sugar on Facebook, and don’t miss my latest post – you can enter to win a Better Zester.  You’ve got to try one to see what all the fuss is about.  You’ll be zesting just for fun. Or is that just me? Don’t answer that.  Let’s move on to the party. Welcome, welcome!  That was my best Hunger Games voice.  Geez, I’m just oozing coolness…

  • Blueberry Breakfast Cake

    This blueberry breakfast cake is reminiscent of a shortcake, slightly sweet and bursting with fresh blueberries and undertones of crisp lemon.  The crunch from the turbinado sugar lends a satisfying crackle, and reminds you that breakfast is meant to be delicious. Hi everyone!  I’m back!  Not that I was really gone, but I took a bit of a self-prescribed break from the blog last week.  My kids were sick, I was sick, my kids were sick again – it was just a really crummy week.…

  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bundt Cake

    Can someone please make summer stick around for a few more months?  While you’re at it, let’s just go ahead and do two months of spring, seven months of summer, two months of fall and one month of winter with lots of snow. Kthanks. I’m having weather feelings because today we bought school shoes and backpacks for the girls – they go back to school in less than two weeks.  That. Is. Not. OK. Even though I love me some fall weather, I am so not…

  • Creamy Skillet Mac & Cheese

    My oldest daughter is learning a hard lesson this week.  She’s found her independence a bit, and has used her new-found “power” to voice her opinions rather loudly and forcefully to her Dad and me. In other words, she’s a back-talking fool. We’ve noticed it more lately, the back-talking with a twinge of sassy-attitude, and it’s just gotten worse.  She’s particularly offended by chores it seems, and when her Dad told her to go “pick up the office a little bit before lunch,” she did…

  • #MyHomeTownGuide – Five of My Favorite Eats in Kansas City

    It’s that time of year in Kansas City.  Winter is slipping away, and spring is just.  about.  here.  Suddenly 45 degrees feels balmy, and we are looking for any reason we can think of to get out of the house.  Fortunately for us, KC is full, and I mean full, of fantastic restaurants and foodie hot-spots to keep our mind off of Mother Nature’s indecisiveness. Kansas City is primarily known as a barbecue town, and there’s good reason for that.  In fact, two of my…

  • M&M Cupcakes

    Sometimes, the hardest part of this blog is deciding what to write about.  Lately, my life has become pretty routine – I follow the same schedule and do the same things, week after week.  It’s hard to write about interesting things when you aren’t DOING interesting things.  {Well, blog-worthy interesting things, that is!} I just mentioned that fact to my husband.  He told me that I needed to start doing something interesting, then. I glared at him and told him that I was going to…

  • Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes

    Last weekend, a friend of mine asked me to make cupcakes for her son’s 2nd birthday party.  The party was a nautical theme, and she did a fantastic job with her dessert table! It was the perfect theme for a hot summer day, and what two-year-old wouldn’t want to dive into all of this yumminess?  I loved her use of bold colors and patterns paired with the whimsical decorations that pulled it all together.  Her kids are going to have such fun memories of their…

  • Mini Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

    Well, today I have a second grader.  And today, I am torn between being sad and being proud, wanting time to slow down and the eagerness to watch my baby girl grow up. Last night we took her supplies up to the school and met her teacher, and I let her show me around “her” school, introduce me to the librarian, show me her music classroom, her computer lab, the nurse’s office – I waited patiently as she stopped to visit with friends in the…

  • No-fail Homemade Hamburger Buns

    On Mother’s Day, back in May, we also celebrated my Dad’s birthday at the same time.  My family all gathered at my parent’s house, and we had a lovely cookout, complete with hamburgers, hot dogs, brats and lots of yummy sides (which is my favorite part).  My brother stopped and bought hamburger and hot dog buns (that was his “job”) and we enjoyed the day. Now, fast-forward almost a month.  Last week, we found ourselves rushed for dinner so my husband just threw some hamburgers…

  • Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

    I’ve grown up around a lot of amazing cooks.  Both of my Grandmothers rocked the kitchen, my mom and my mother-in-law are both awesome, and even my husband knows what he’s doing in there.  In fact, two of my most treasured posessions are recipe books full of my Grandmothers recipes.  My mom is practically famous for her chocolate chip cookies, and she made them all the time when we were growing up.  You’d think that I would’ve watched her make them, but honestly – I didn’t…