Friday Favorites

Friday's here, and next comes the weekend!  I have a habit of planning a ton of things to accomplish, and usually end up actually doing one or two of those things.  So here's to a productive, yet, relaxing, weekend :)

And, just because, here's some of my favorite things from this past week.

 - I'm loving a new-to-me blog, Sweetapolita.  This girl makes so many beautiful cakes and other treats, and her entire blog is eye candy.  I think I'm going to attempt her Strawberry Cake this weekend.

 - I'm loving this post by Kristen, a Maryland-based photographer, about her recent engagement.  I've been reading her blog for several years, and this has to be one of the sweetest engagement stories ever!

 - I'm loving the fact that spring keeps trying to come through, despite the snow we're getting today.  Spring colors are my fave!

 - I'm loving this OPI Moisturing Cream.  My hands were so dry and the skin on my knuckles was cracking (gross, I know) like it does every winter, but they've healed so well now after putting a ton of this stuff on for the last couple of days.

 - I'm loving the verses in my Bible reading this week, especially these two:

    The LORD has appeared to me of old, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn You." ~ Jeremiah 31:3

    "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh.  Is there anything too hard for Me?" ~ Jeremiah 32:37

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!

Chocolate Snack Cake

This is one of our family's favorite cake recipes, and it is so easy!  It's one of the most moist chocolate cakes ever.

Here's the ingredients you'll need:

Chocolate Snack Cake

1 yellow or chocolate cake mix (I prefer to use a chocolate mix - it makes the cake more chocolate-y, and Duncan Hines is the most moist cake mix out there)
1 3.4 oz box chocolate pudding mix
1 c. sour cream
3/4 c. oil
3/4 c. water
3 eggs
1 c. chocolate chips

Blend together the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, water and eggs in a large bowl.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Pour the batter into a well-greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake in a pre-heated 350F degree oven for 45 - 50 min. or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.  Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar and enjoy!

We've made several variations on this cake - a lemon cake with a lemon cake and pudding mix, a pistachio cake with a yellow cake mix and pistachio pudding mix, and the list could go on. 

I've also made this cake as a layer cake, and it is the BEST chocolate layer cake ever!  I doubled the recipe to get this three-layer cake.

Pinterest Weekend

I've been writing this post all week.  This should show you how long it takes me to write a blog post.  I didn't want to re-write the whole post, so I just left it alone.

So this past Saturday I was able to put four Pinterest Pins to use.  The first was painting my nails in a color from Essie's new Spring 2012 line, which I first saw on Pinterest - Ole Caliente, now a new favorite.  I don't know if it's in stores yet (it should be), but I got mine on Amazon.

My new favorite color, Essie's Ole Caliente.

We had guests over for dinner that night, and I made four desserts.  Yes, I know, sugar overload.  I got three of the recipes from Pinterest, and all of them were delicious!

{Pinterest Link}

The first recipe I made was Strawberry Heart Oreos.  The recipe only made 12 - 15 oreo cookies and I had several people to feed, so instead of making them oreos I simply frosted each individual cookie.  They were absolutely delicious.

The second project was Gooey Neopolitan Cake Bars.  These came out delicious, but not pretty, which was completely my fault.

{Pinterest Link}

These were delicious, but they didn't come out looking very good.  The main reason was that the aluminum foil I lined the pan with didn't reach all the up the sides of the pan, and the sweetened condensed milk that gets poured over the top trickled down the sides and got stuck to the sides of the pan.  When I was trying to lift the cake out of the pan with the foil it stuck and the cake cracked and broke in several places.  Again, this was totally my fault - if I make this recipe again (and I would) I would use two layers of foil and make sure they came up the sides of the pan.

The third recipe I made were Pecan Pie Bars.  These were so good, and I'll definately make them again!

{Pinterest Link}

Unlike Pecan Pie, these bars use brown sugar and honey as their sweetener.  My Dad actually said they don't really taste anything like Pecan Pie, but they were still delicious :)  The bottom is shortbread-like and the top is made on the stove. 



The fourth recipe I made was one of our family's favorite recipes, which I'll share next time.  Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!



A Sweet Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  I had a very relaxing, fun 3-1/2 day weekend with my family.  I did a lot of baking, which is pretty much the only thing I took pictures of this weekend.

My Dad's favorite, Pecan Balls.

Chocolate Mint Dreams and Sugar Cookies.

Cheesecake!

Also, a word of advice: if you are going to the movie theather soon, do yourself a favor and watch Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.  I think it's one of the best movies made this year.