Blueberry Zucchini Cupcakes...

I was scrolling thru Facebook and I came across a recipe for Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting from iambaker.net.   I immediately began drooling.  It looked so yummy! 

photo courtesy of  iambaker.net

 Luckily for me I happened to have some blueberries in my freezer and zucchini fresh from our garden.  So Sous Chef Addi and I got to work.  We decided to make them as cupcakes instead, because cupcakes are so much funner.  (Plus you can put more frosting on them).

Blueberry Zucchini Cakes with Lemon Buttercream frosting

iambaker.net

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups white sugar

2 cups finely shredded and drained zucchini

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 pint fresh blueberries (you can reserve a few for garnish if so desired)

Lemon Buttercream

1 cup butter, room temperature

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 lemon, juice and zest of (about 2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 8-inch round cake pans.
2. Grate a large zucchini (or two small zucchini) and place in a clean dish towel. Squeeze until most of the liquid comes out. You will want to have 2 total cups of shredded zucchini after it has been drained. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini.
4. Slowly add in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Gently fold in the blueberries. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans.
5. Bake 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Lemon Buttercream
6. Combine butter, sugar and salt and beat till well combined.
7. Add lemon juice and vanilla and continue to beat for another 3 to 5 minute or until creamy.
8. Fold in zest*.
9. *If you are piping this buttercream, I recommend leaving out the zest.

I tweaked the cooking time for cupcakes to 20-22 minutes.  I also adjusted the frosting.  I didn't have any lemons so I used Gasp! bottled lemon juice (3 TBSP).  Not my first choice, but it worked.  The frosting tasted divine!  Addi wanted yellow frosting so we added a few drops of yellow food coloring.  I pipe my frosting with a gallon size ziploc bag.  This made 24 cupcakes and 16 mini cupcakes.

We also made mini cupcakes.  They're just as tasty!

The cupcakes didn't last long at our house.  Hope you enjoy them too!

Art day

Grandma came over to play with the kiddos today.  Everyone had different ideas of fun, but the only thing they could agree on was painting.  My kids love to paint!  They can spend hours painting.   Grandma even joined in on the fun.  

I love displaying their artwork.  But what to do with these finished masterpieces?  I'm not a fan of putting them on the fridge.  Last year I came up with a display board in my kitchen as part of my collage wall.  It's one of my favorite creations. 

It was super super easy to make.  I cut a 6" x 10' pine board into thirds, slapped on some paint and glaze.  I secured them together in the back with a brace and put on a wire to hang it.   Add two drawer knobs, jute string, and some clothes pins.  There you have it -  a picture board.
 

Today's finished artwork

We use it to display our paintings, drawings, awesome school work, pictures, etc.  We have also put banners on for special occasions and holidays.  The kids get so excited to see their creations up there.

Josh's baptism banner

Before I hang the artwork, I take a picture so that we can always have it.   I'm hoping to make a kid's art photo book one day.  When we're done displaying, it either goes in the garbage or some lucky pieces make it to their memory boxes (I'll have to post on those later. ). 

When I grow up...

As a child I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.  It was never a question of what, just when.  As a little girl, I would dream of the day when I could be a wife and a mother.  I wanted everything that came along with the job.  I wanted to take care of my babies and hubby, cook, clean, set up house, etc.  I was fortunate to have a great example - my own mom!  She made the job look like it was the most important job in the world (and it truly is!). 
 

me and my mom - don't you just love the 70's!

Fast forward many, many years, I am fortunate to have my dream come true.  I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful children.  I get to spend my days taking care of them, cooking, cleaning, decorating, organizing, crafting and occasionally finding time to rest a bit.   I am doing all that I envisioned and then some.  I'm learning and growing along the way.  It's not always glorious, but it is worth every minute!  This is my journey to make our house a home...