Oreo Cookie Pop Bouquet

I have seen some pics of Oreo cookie pops and thought...."Hey, that looks easy!!"
and what a great idea to make a bouquet of these cookie pops for my friend Joni, since the kids ate all of her cupcakes :)

In the process of making the cookie pops I learned some valuable lessons.....

Lesson #1....if you want to make something, do a little research on what worked for others

(had to disassemble cookie to put stick in....dipped stick in melted chocolate)

Lesson #2....if I had done the researching I may have found out that double stuffed Oreos are probably easier to make pops with.

(let the chocolate inside harden before you dip the cookie)

Lesson #3....when trying to reassemble the cookie....don't use any pressure or you will crack the cookie...

(again, I wouldn't have had to disassemble the cookie if I'd done my research!)

(I used a foam block to stand my pops up until the chocolate dried)

Lesson#4....have kids handy to eat broken cookies

Lesson #5....Good friends don't care if your project didn't turn out perfectly!!

Voila!! 

Happy (Belated) Birthday Joni :)

And remember guys, try double stuffed Oreos, or see what has worked for others because I still haven't done my research :)

XOXO

Bronwyn

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have been busy studying..and studying.... and studying....but yesterday when I took a break from studying I decided to try a new recipe.  My original plan was to take a few of these cupcakes to my good friend Joni because I know she loves red velvet cake....and because her birthday was last month and I haven't given her anything special for her special day yet...

note to Joni....they didn't last long enough....I'm so sorry....I will make it up to you :)

Both of the recipes for the cake and the icing were found on Cakecentral.com.....I love this site by the way....you can get tons of great ideas!


You take some butter and sugar and vanilla and eggs and mix it all together and that sounds yummy already....oh and add the sour cream too....

Then add the red food coloring....I added about half of the bottle...I guess I should have added more but was a little worried about adding that much extra liquid...

I added the milk and the flour/cocoa and baking soda alternately

And then I put some of the batter into cupcake tins and some into an 8x8 inch cake pan....I think this recipe will make about 48 cupcakes because I made 24 cupcakes plus the little cake.

And then when the cupcakes were cool I whipped up some cream cheese icing.... YUM

And the kids came running :)

Here are the links for the recipes.....enjoy

Red Velvet Recipe

Decorator Cream Cheese Icing

XO,
Bronwyn

Homemade Pancakes

In the past I've always made pancakes from a box mix....the easier the better.

But I found this recipe for homemade pancakes in my moms recipe box and I've been making these for the last few months.

They are fairly easy to make....

Some flour, egg, oil, sugar, baking powder and  a little bit of salt

then I add some vanilla to add extra yum

Mix it all up until moist....will still have some lumps and thats fine

Now I was suprised at how thick the batter is but it turns out fine..

So heat the frying pans and I usually keep the flame on medium

I melt some butter in the frying pans and then add the butter but if you want to lighten it up you can spray the pan with cooking spray.

They cook up really fluffy and yummy :)

Then of course you have to top it off with some maple syrup or whichever kind you like....and the options are endless....can add some chocolate chips, or blueberries, or small apple chunks to the batter....as I said, the options are endless.

So here's the recipe I batch yeilds about 6 pancakes (depending on how big you make them) so you can print it if you'd like

Homemade Pancakes

1 cup flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 egg

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup of milk

1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Enjoy and XOXO

Bronwyn

Yummy Yummy in my Tummy

Can you say..."Cheese Steak Baked Potato"   YUM
I was first introduced to this wonderful meal about a year ago but this is the first time I've prepared it for my family.

I bought these steaks at Costco...not your steakum I can tell you that!!

and then I baked some potatoes....

made the steak with some onion :)

Makes my eyes tear just looking at it.....

put it on the potatoes AND added some cheese :)
I love cheese....

And to make it most delicious I added some sour cream... HEAVEN!!!!

It turned out just as I expected and I don't think I will ever eat a plain baked potato again :)
(The picture doesn't do it justice but you will have to trust me!!!)

XO
Bronwyn

Orioles Baseball Fanfest

Today I took the youngest two kids to Fanfest.  Its  function which takes place every year before spring training begins.  The fans get to meet some of the Orioles players, take pictures and get autographs.

There was a lot of fun things for the kids to do.
They tried to throw strikes.

Hit home runs.

Meet mascots.

Get their faces painted....Jake didn't want his painted but Gabe was all for it.

We hung out with Casey a little bit over at the WBAL booth

 and I got to meet Brady Anderson.....AGAIN!!!  EEEKKK  :)

I know its love :)


We had a great time and even got to walk through some snow!....although there is none in the pictures....just thought I'd mention the snow that we had in the morning....which is still on my lawn...but not on these sidewalks :)

Jake and Brianna

Hope you all have a great week and while I wore my Orange and Black today...

it's all Purple passion tonight and tomorrow!!  GO RAVENS!!!

XO
Bronwyn

Antietam in Winter

During the Christmas break we took a little day trip to Antietam.  This time I followed the Map of the battlefield and toured the stops on the Auto tour in order. 

We really had an enjoyable, educational day and if you want more information about the battle at Antietam click on this link.

I also found out that on the first Saturday in December they have an illumination memorial where they light a candle for each casualty of that day!  I will definitely be marking my calendar to go this year!!

I just wanted to share a few pictures of our day there....most are of the scenery and I added a little watermark to the pictures...just my name but let me know what you think.

This is the Maryland Monument which pays tribute to both Union and Confederate soldiers from Maryland

This tree was by the Clara Barton Memorial

I believe this is the Miller Farm

Tree in the Mumma Farm Cemetery

The Sunken Road...also known as the Bloody Trail

Burnside Bridge...I could stay and take pictures of this bridge all day!



Antietam National Cemetery



Antietam National Cemetery with "Old Simon" in the background.
The monument text says "Not for themselves but for their country"

 

Bloody Trail

We had a really nice day and even saw a few snowflakes.  I am really excited for the next school break so I we can go exploring some more.
Thanks for looking and I love feedback!

XO
Bronwyn

Happy New Year

Hard to believe its been a month since my last post.  Time certainly flies!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. 

On Christams we finally met Casey's brother Gene (whom we had no idea even existed until the day before Thanksgiving.)

The story is that a young man in the Air Force in the 1960's

was in France and met a young lady.....one thing led to another and a little boy was born..... there's not much known about the time between then and now except that Gene had been looking for his father for many years.....

He found us almost a month after Mr. Milton died.  And while the timing stinks we have made the best of it!!

Gene came to visit us for a few days and fell into the chaos here as if he's always belonged. We went to a concert, a Raven's game (woohoo)

And toured Fort McHenry

We had a wonderful time getting to know Gene!!

On another happy note......Its's Playoff Time Baby!!!!    Happy Festivus!!!! 

Go Ravens!!!!  :)

XO
Bronwyn