Strawberry Snowflake Cupcakes

Red and white for Valentines Day. Strawberries and snow! These light and fluffy cupcakes are very simple to make. I started with a cake mix to make them even simpler. Don't be intimidated by the meringue icing. If you have a stand mixer, it's a breeze. A hand mixer would also work.

Strawberry Snowflake Cupcakes

18.25 ox box of white cake mix
1 can lemon lime soda
2 cups chopped strawberries (divided)
1 1/2 cups seedless strawberry jelly

Frosting:
5 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350. line 2, 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and soda. Mix until just combined. Fold in one cup of chopped strawberries.

Bake cupcakes for 25-30 minutes until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

When cupcakes are cool, fill a pastry bag with a tip withe the strawberry jelly. Using a paring knife, cut a small hole in the cucake. Press the pastry tip into the cupcake and squeeze in a small amount of jelly. Note - If you don’t want to do this step, you can wait until after you frost the cupcakes. Make a small indentation in the frosting, and put a tsp or so of jelly under the chopped strawberry garnish.

To make the frosting -Put afew inches of water in a saucepan the right size to hold the bowl of your electric mixer slightly above the water. Bring the water to a boil. Combine the frosting ingredients in the mixer bowl and set it over the boiling water. Whisk it constantly until the sugar is totally dissolved, mixture is smooth and it feels hot to the touch. About 2-3 minutes.

Transfer to the standing mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, and beat on medium high speed until the meringue is shiny and will hold stiff peaks. About 5-7 minutes.

Spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a spoon or spatula. Use the back of the spoon to make it “spiky”. Garnish with remaining chopped strawberries.

Mini Strawberry Cannoli Cream Puffs

Mini Strawberry Cannoli Creampuffs

Puffs:
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. butter
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 c. flour
2 eggs

Combine water and butter in saucepan, bring to a boil. Add the salt and flour at the same time, stir until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat, beat in 1 egg at a time, beating well until mixture is smooth. Refrigerate for one hour. Place in teaspoon size balls on lightly greased cookie sheet.. Bake 400 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes until brown (they will sound hollow when you tap them with a spoon). Cool, cut off tops, fill with filling, then replace tops. Dust with powdered sugar


Filling:
1/2 cup powdered sugar (plus 1/4 cup for garnish)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup diced strawberries

The Late Spring Garden

Late spring is one of the best times in my flower garden. Irises and peonies, my favorites. I went to the plant nursery this morning to buy vegetable plants for the vegetable garden. Picked up afew perennials, then came home and weeded the flower gardens all morning. Very therapeutic.

Rhododendrons


Red Rhododendron. Very pretty flowers, but this plant has never grown very large.


Spiderwort. Just planted this today


White iris


Variegated Weigela


The first peonies


Lavender Iris

Pineapple Confetti Cake

I enjoy making cakes from scratch, but every once in awhile I need to make something faster, or I feel lazy, and a box comes in handy. This cake is a lazy example. I could have shaved the top layer to make it flatter, but that would have been far too much effort!

Pineapple Confetti Cake

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp butter
8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained (press into strainer and retain juice)
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg

Cake:
1 box white cake mix
1 cup water
retained pineapple juice
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup colored sprinkles

1 can white frosting (or 2 cups homemade buttercream frosting)
1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes


Preheat oven to 350. Combine all filling ingredients in medium saucepan. Simmer and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens and no longer looks cloudy (about 5 minutes). Set aside to cool.
Spray 2 9” round baking pans with baking spray. Combine cake ingredients in mixer (or by hand) and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined. Pour equal amounts batter into pans, smooth out with a spatula. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and pick inserted comes out clean.
Let cool, remove from pans. If desired, trim layers to make them more flat and even. Spread thin layer of frosting on top of first layer. Spread pineapple filling on frosting. Place second cake layer on top.
Frost cake and sprinkle with coconut flakes.

Blue

Blue is one of my favorites, but it's rather difficult to find true blue in nature, other than in birds. Most things that are "blue" seem to be more purple than truly blue.

Obviously, there is the blue sky


I want a peacock. One of these days I may get one, although I know that they are extremely noisy and tend to be unfriendly!


Our blue point Ragdoll cat Iris has beautiful blue eyes.


After the ice storm. I wish that the camera would have captured how beautiful everything looked when the sun came out after this ice storm. It looked as if the trees had been sprayed with liquid diamonds.


I have mixed feelings towards large marine mammals in captivity. They should NEVER be taken from the wild unless it is to rehabilitate them from an injury. However, I also see an educational value in keeping some captive born/can't return to the wild marine mammals in situations (non performing situations in which they can be properly cared for) where the public can view them. Seeing an animal up close does raise awareness, and can spur more donations to charities that help wild populations to survive.

Yellow

Yellow

I have to admit that yellow isn’t normally one of my favorite colors. I painted my laundry room yellow and ever since then I’ve been trying to figure out what color would work better for me in that room. However, I do like yellow outdoors, especially in the spring and fall. It’s nice to see that first pop of yellow daffodils after months of snow.

Still life in yellow


I’m not sure what this plant is. Looks like a cactus, but this photo was taken on Assateague Island in June.


Sunflowers are fun. Easy to grow, and a big statement in the garden for very little expended effort


The humble dandelion. I find dandelions to be very pretty. When we lived in town, I’m sure the neighbors cringed because we had dandelions in the yard every spring. The rest of the street doused their lawns in chemicals. Living in the country, nobody cares about dandelions


Sunshine on a fall day

Mediterranean Garden Spaghetti

With summer quickly approaching, it's time to come up with some lighter meals. Between kid activities like 4H getting into full swing and summer maintenance on the farm, quick meals are also a priority. This meatless dish is both light and easy!

1 lb spaghetti, cooked al dente per package instructions
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 cups halved grape tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 avocado, peeled and flaked
1 cup feta cheese

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in large skillet. Sautee garlic, scallions, basil and tomatoes over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Put spaghetti in large serving bowl. Pour sauteed tomato mixture over spaghetti, add remaining olive oil, salt, pepper, avocado and feta cheese and toss together.