Put A Bird On It

I'm giving a presentation on watercolor tonight, so I whipped up this little piece of artwork this morning. (Nothing like a little last-minute prep.) I was a little worried about the colors blending, but the white crayon did a nice job of acting as a barrier. I might even hang this in my house when I get back home tomorrow.

Semi-Homemade Gluten-Free Cupcakes

I like to focus on what I can do well...and do it really well.  What I can't be an expert in, I like to minimize. So, when it came time for me to whip up some desserts for Kalli's baby shower this past weekend, I took to the shelves in the g-free aisle at HyVee for some help.  I made two dozen vanilla cupcakes using Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Mix.  When they were done baking, I let them cool.  Then, I cut out the center of the cupcakes and filled them with a raspberry filling using some frozen strawberries from my mother-in-law's garden last year.  (Side note:  the filling recipe could have been reduced to make only 1/4 of the recipe and I still would have excess.)  To make them look fancy, I piped some lovely store-bought Vanilla Pillsbury Frosting.  Then, I sprinkled them with some Wilton pink sparkles.  Basically, it was a Sandra-Lee-style g-free baking experience.  But, the cupcakes turned out perfectly and they were tasty.  So, win-win!

KBIS Is Around The Corner

In three weeks, I'll be ditching Des Moines to hang out in NOLA for KBIS 2013.  It'll be amazing, I have no doubts.  In an effort to get me pumped for this marvelous occasion, Kristina sent me this fabulous link about fun things to do in NOLA (which, I just learned is NOLA and not NoLa - it's the little details that matter!).  Louisiana is unchartered territory for me, but I look forward to trying new things while I'm there checking out new kitchen and bath trends.  Let's hope it lives up the the wonderfulness that was KBIS 2012 [read more about it here, here, and here].

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