Today I am excited to introduce you to Michele of Mimiware.  Michele and I have a mutual friend – her aunt is a friend of mine from church.  Karen suggested I check out Michele’s etsy shop.  I loved what I found!

Remember my pretty rule?

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” William Morris

Michele’s creations are  both useful and beautiful!  She creates beautiful hand painted items for your kitchen.

Michele has graciously donated one of her pretty hand painted 12″ high pepper grinders to be given away here at Your Homebased Mom.

I don’t know about you but I could sure use a pretty pepper grinder.  My plain wooden one has gotten too close to the gas burner a few too many times!!

Michele has so many pretty things in her shop – here is one of my personal favorites!

To enter the giveaway leave a comment below.  You can receive a second entry by sharing the giveaway on Facebook, Twitter or your blog.  Just leave a separate comment each time!

I’d love to introduce Michele of Mimiware to you:

“I have always loved crafting. My mom was very talented and encouraged us all to be creative. She and I started painting about 17 years ago after my 2nd baby.  We would paint any piece of furniture we could get our hands on and opened a business called Whimsy together.

6 years and 2 more babies later I needed to cut back so I started my own business, Mimiware.(My dad calls me Mimi). I painted glassware. I loved it, but soon found out that glass and boys do not mix well together. I decided to paint for fun only…no business.

My mom passed away 8 years ago after the birth of my 5th child.  I had a very hard time painting for a while.  She was my inspiration and
muse.  It took me almost 4 years before I could really paint again. But she had instilled a love of art in me.When my baby went to
kindergarten I  had alot of time on my hands and that meant that I could paint again!  Yeah!!!

I love to come up with new designs and things to paint.I am inspired by everything and anything around me. From outdoors to music to my
kids I am always finding inspiration and beauty around me.”

Please pay a visit to Michele’s etsy shop and leave a comment below for a chance to win her pretty pepper grinder!  The giveaway will remain open until Friday, March 12 at 12:00 a.m. PST

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Usually I just ignore St. Patrick’s Day.  Maybe it’s my lack of Irish blood.

So I was planning to just let it slip by again this year until during an email exchange with a blog reader we came up with the idea for some Lucky Leprechaun Cookie Bark!

I really thought I was done with cookie bark.

First there was Candy Corn Cookie Bark.

Then there was Reindeer Corn Cookie Bark

and at course at Valentine’s there was Cupid Corn Cookie Bar.

But now there is Lucky Leprechaun Cookie Bark

Look what you started Lori!!

We decided those yummy Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies would be a perfect addition to some cookie bark along with milk chocolate and pretzels. If you don’t know any Girl Scouts those mint Oreos would work great too and the green filling would be a nice added touch.

Since I haven’t seen any St. Patrick’s Day candy corn around I used green M & M’s instead.  I had picked up one of those packages of all green “love” M & M’s they have out at Valentine’s but you could use a regular bag and just pick out the green and brown ones.

I also picked up a bottle of Shamrock sprinkles at the craft store.

Combine all those ingredients together and you get Lucky Leprechaun Cookie Bark!!

So share the luck of the Irish with someone and make them a batch of Lucky Leprechaun Cookie Bark this St. Patrick’s Day!!

Guess what!?  My neighbor just called and she found Easter Candy Corn at the store!!!  I may have one more cookie bark left in me!  Check back at Easter time!

Lucky Leprechaun Cookie Bark

Just follow the directions here for Candy Corn Bark!

You will substitute milk chocolate for white chocolate,  green M & M’s for candy corn and thin mints for Oreos.

This is my Friday post.  Yes, I know it is Saturday.  And if I wait just a little longer it could be a Sunday post!

I have finally figured out why I have had such a hard time getting this post done, beside the fact that is ”Show Week” around here which involves a lot of hair braiding, picture taking and musical theater watching.

For the last two weeks I have been trying to cut sugar and carbs out of my diet – it has been hard.  I am a self proclaimed sugar addict.  Today’s recipe would  not have been allowed on my diet the last two weeks. 

The very thought of today’s recipe makes my mouth water.  I am drooling on the key board as I type!

I knew it would be hard to look at the photos so I have been avoiding writing this post but I have finally gotten my courage up and will withstand the temptation to go downstairs and stuff my little face with some wonderful, delicious carbohydrate!!  Oh, how I miss carbs and sugar! 

Pioneer Women’s Olive Cheese Bread was part of our Valentine Dinner and can I just say YUM!!!

I love bread.  I also love any bread that is covered in warm, gooey, melted cheese.  Throw in some olives, green onions and butter and who can resist!!  PW added in pimentos also but I knew no one would eat it at my house if I did so they were omitted!

This is going to be a short post, my willpower is getting weaker!  Just know – you want to make this bread. 

Olive Cheese Bread

Pioneer Women

1 loaf French Bread

6 ounces,  Pimiento-stuffed Green Olives

6 ounces,  Black Olives ( I used one small can of sliced olives)

2 stalks Green Onions (scallions)

1 stick Butter, Room Temperature

½ C Mayonnaise

¾ pounds Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated

Roughly chop both black olives and pimiento-stuffed green olives. Slice green onions into thin pieces.

Combine butter, mayonnaise, cheese, olives and green onions in a mixing bowl. Stir together until thoroughly combined. Spread mixture onto French bread that has been sliced lengthwise. Bake at 325ºF for 25 to 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and browning.

Mixture can also be refrigerated

I guess you could call me a cake snob.  I love cake but it has to be really good cake for it to be worth the calories. Let me just say that the vanilla cake I enjoyed at The Chocolate in Provo  this last weekend was definitely worth the calories!

Even though I love cake I rarely bake cakes, except for birthdays although many times my children request something else other than a cake for their birthday treat.

But I must admit there is nothing quite like a yummy, made from scratch cake!

Last week some friends of ours were moving into a new home.  They were going to be homeless for one night until the official papers were signed on the new house so I invited them to stay with us.  We do have two empty bedrooms now!

It just so happened that the night they would be spending with us was their son, Master O’s fifth birthday.  (My English grandmother would always address her cards, letters and packages to my brother as Master Richard – I loved that.  I guess untill a young man turns 13 he is considered a Master and then he becomes a Mister!)

Since they would be busy all day packing and unpacking I knew they wouldn’t have time to really celebrate. So when they arrived at our house, later in the evening I had a birthday cake surprise waiting for Master O!

Now you must know I am not a great cake decorator, in fact this particular cake was a little lopsided and the decorating left a little to be desired but it did taste good!  And the best part is Master O loved it!
 

I had found the recipe for this Simply Delicious Yellow Cake over at Suzi’s Blog

The cake makes 2 9×2″ round cakes but my cake pans were not 2 inches deep so I ended up using 3 cake pans and made it a 3 layer cake!  I used my standard buttercream frosting recipe.

Miss A, the birthday boy’s sister, enjoyed the cake too!
 

In fact I thought she was so darling poking her finger into the frosting and licking it off I just let her keep doing it!!  I never would have let my own kids do that when they were little – I guess I am preparing for that grandmother phase when you let them get away with things you never would have let your own kids do!!  Besides, the frosting is the best part of a cake!
 

The cake was enjoyed by all and Master O had a fun time blowing out his number five candle – over and over again!

Please excuse the bad lighting in the photos and the not so pretty cake but it tasted yummy and was worth the calories!

Simply Delicious Yellow Cake

3 C Unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted (Yes, I did sift the flour!)

1 Tbsp and 1 tsp Baking powder

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 1/4 C + 3 Tbsp milk

2 tsp Vanilla extract

1 1/4 C  + 2 Tbsp Unsalted butter, slightly softened

2 3/4 C + 2 tsp sugar

5 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease the cake pans. Line the bottoms with rounds of baking parchment then dust them lightly with flour. Shake out the excess. Or use baking spray that contains both oil and flour, so you don’t have to flour the pan. With baking spray, put the parchment liner in after you spray the pan.

In a large bowl, combine the fl our, baking powder, and salt and whisk them gently for even distribution. In a separate bowl combine the milk and vanilla.

Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until it is light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs gradually, mixing well after each addition, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl often.

Lower the mixing speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture to the butter in 3 parts, alternating with 2 parts of the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix just until it is evenly incorporated. This is a thick, fluffy batter, resembling whipped cream. There should not be any lumps or dry pockets of flour remaining. If the batter has a curdled appearance it has not been mixed enough. Increase the speed to medium and mix for another minute or until it is thick and fluffy.

Divide the batter equally between the 2 prepared cake pans. Weighing the batter into the pans is the most accurate way to do this. This ensures that both layers are uniform in size, and finish baking at the same time. You’ll have approximately 930 g/32.8 oz. of batter per pan. The pans should be about ⅔ full. Smooth the batter so it fills the pans evenly. Place the pans on the center rack in the preheated oven. Bake them for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is almost ready to pull away from the side of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Rotate the layers carefully from front to back after 20 minutes, for even baking.

Cool the pans on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack that has been sprayed with cooking spray and lift off the pans. To prevent cracking, carefully right each layer so the top side is up and the parchment-lined bottom is down. Cool them on the rack completely. Before frosting, be sure to remove the parchment from the bottom of each layer. While the layers are cooling, prepare the frosting. To assemble the cake:

Place one layer, top side down, on a flat serving plate. Cut several 4-inch-wide strips of parchment or waxed paper to slide under the edge of the layer, to keep the plate clean. Using a thin metal spatula, spread the top of this cake round with a ½-inch thick layer of frosting, leaving a ¼-inch unfrosted border around the edge. Place the second layer top side up on the first, aligning the layers evenly. Spread a generous layer of frosting around the sides of the cake, rotating the plate as you work so you’re not reaching around the cake to frost the other side. Try not to let any loose crumbs get caught in the frosting. Let the frosting extend about ¼ inch above the top of the cake.

Starting in the center of the cake, cover the top with a generous layer of frosting, taking it all the way to the edge and merging it with the frosting on the sides. Try to use a forward-moving, circular motion, not a back-and forth motion to avoid lifting the top skin of the cake. Rotate the plate as necessary. Use the spatula or a spoon to make decorative swirls. Slide the pieces of paper out from under the edge of the cake and discard them. Store the cake at room temperature, preferably under a cake dome, for up to 3 days.

Note:  This post is mainly for my Provo, Utah Valley friends and readers but you may all enjoy taking a look at all the good eating I did this weekend!

I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend this past week with these three pretty amazing people!  Thanks to Wynn and Emily for letting me stay with them.

I miss those faces so much!!  I flew to Provo so that I could attend Cali’s dance performance.  She was in the Faculty Choreography Show. 

My kids love it when mom comes to town (don’t you kids!?)  My suitcase is usually full of treats for them – this time it was Girl Scout cookies, some favorite things from Trader Joes and their tax forms to sign!!  This also allows me to fill my suitcase with treats from Tai Pan on the way home!!

There is also a lot of good eating that goes along with my visits!

This trip started out with my regular trip to Cafe Rio.  Logan picked me up Thursday evening and we stopped for dinner.

Friday brought lunch at Magleby’s Fresh – another favorite spot we hit every trip.  Breakfast at Magleby’s is a favorite too because they have that amazing buttermilk syrup.  For lunch I had a wonderful BBQ chicken salad that came with one of their yummy rolls that I love to make at home.

For dinner we tried a new restaurant called Rooster.  If you live in Provo or Utah Valley area I recommend you give it a try.  Rooster is located at 163 N. University in Provo.  It is a dumpling and noodle bar with Thai and Asian Fusion flavor.

I loved the feel of the restaurant and the taste of it too!

A beautiful large, communal type table runs along one side of the wall with fun Asian graphic prints

The art work invites you to sit, enjoy and share!
 

The dumplings were yummy!  So yummy, we had to order more after we finished the first round!

Of course when you go out to dinner with college students there is always a bit of this going on!

My next new discovery in Provo was the Cocoa  Bean Cupcake Cafe   located at 774 N. University in Brigham’s Landing.  If you live in or near Rexburg,Idaho there is one there too. 

You know I can never pass up a cupcake!

Their selection changes daily.  They serve a large, beautiful, yummy cupcake as well as a mean cup of cocoa.  I personally gave the red velvet with a big, beautiful chocolate dipped strawberry on top a try!

Chocolate and marshmellow – yum!
 

I made another amazing dessert discovery while in Provo.  Unfortunately I don’t have photos of this one as sometimes my kids get a little tired of me constantly pulling out my camera to take pictures of food.

If you are looking for a fun, quaint, cozy and yummy place for dessert in Provo be sure and visit The Chocolate.  Located in an old, brick pioneer home The Chocolate knows how to bake a cake! 

I couldn’t find a website for them to give you an address but they are located on State Street on the left hand side going out towards Orem, just past the mall!

I shared a slice of an amazing vanilla cake that used Madacasgar Vanilla with Cali- so good.  My boys had a “cazookie,” a large, warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream.  A  perfect place to go after a movie or other event to enjoy something sweet!

Now, the main reason for my trip to Provo, besides the opportunity to explore and enjoy lots of new tastes was to see this pretty girl in her dance performance.  She was beautiful and graceful and so fun to watch!  Love you Cali!!

If you live in or around the Provo/Salt Lake area and have some great places to explore please let me know so I can check them out on my next trip there!

Note: We are having our first giveaway over at our new site – Find Your Sock Yarn and guess who is sponsoring it? Your Homebased Mom Etsy Shop!! If you’d like a chance to win one of my handmade by me reusable grocery bags head on over and leave a comment. We’d love for you to subscribe via email or rss reader too for an extra entry! You can also blog about it or share it on Facebook for even more chances to win!!

Today’s Pioneer Women recipe is a yummy one and definitely one I’ll be making again.  I served them nice and warm right out of the oven on Valentine Day morning.  Tessa even got them delivered to her bed!

If you are ready to make them right now but think you can’t because you don’t have any marmalade – no worries!  The recipe doesn’t even call for marmalade just lots of yummy orange juice and zest , so all you need is 2 oranges.

I made them in mini muffin pans, as called for, but I am sure they would be great full size too but I loved just being able to pop that yummy little muffin right into my mouth.

You pour the orange juice, zest and brown sugar mixture over the muffins right after you pull them out of the oven, while they are still in the pan. They must be warm!

Don’t mix up the brown sugar too much – you want little lumps of brown sugar goodness to soak into those warm muffins.

Look, there’s one missing!  I wonder who ate that one???

Be sure and coat each muffin entirely as you pour the glaze over them.

Remove them to a cooling rack but don’t let them cool for too long or don’t even let them cool at all! Just pop them in your mouth!!

Not only are they yummy but they are just so cute!

Serve them for breakfast, brunch or they would be wonderful for a tea party too!   They taste great after they are cooled too but I like them best warm! EnJOY!

Marmalade Muffins

Pioneer Women

2 oranges

2 sticks or cubes of butter, softened

1 C sugar

2 large eggs

2 C all-purpose flour

1 C buttermilk

1 tsp baking soda

1 C firmly packed brown sugar

Grate the zest from both oranges.

Mix the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until creamy.

Crack in the eggs and mix until well combined.

Sift and add your flour into the bowl and stir together using as few strokes as possible so the muffins aren’t tough.

In a small cup or bowl, combine the buttermilk and baking soda.

Add the buttermilk mixture to the muffin batter and mix until just combined.

Add the zest and mix until combined.

Grease 24 mini muffin tins (or 12 regular muffin tins) and fill 2/3’s full with muffin batter.

Make for 12 to 17 minutes until golden brown.

While muffins are baking, prepare the glaze. Juice the 2 oranges and add to the brown sugar in a medium bowl. Stir until combined but don’t worry about dissolving the sugar completely so that it will give it a grainy texture.

Drizzle the glaze over the muffins as soon as they’re done.

Note:  Don’t forget to enter the great giveaway I have going this week – go here!

I have a  fun, quick post for you today (we’re running a little crazy around here right now!)

Last week blog reader Bridee emailed me about a sugar cookie tasting contest she had – what a fun idea!

She baked up 4 batches of different types of sugar cookies. She had collected a bunch of sugar cookie recipes from different blogs and wanted to pick a favorite.

Her husband, 5 kids, babysitter and her parents were the judges.

I am proud to announce that the winner of her sugar cookie tasting contest was a recipe she found here at Your Homebased Mom. In fact it is my all time favorite sugar cookie. It is the one I found when I went on a quest to find the perfect sugar cookie!

My friend Melanie over at My Kitchen Cafe sent me the recipe when she heard I was looking for a good sugar cookie recipe.  I owe Melanie!

Bridee served hers without frosting for the taste testing but of course everything is even better with frosting!

Go here for the recipe.

Thanks for sharing Bridee!!!

Be sure and check out what’s new at my other blogs:

Your Homebased Parties

A Fun Family Olympic Dinner Party Idea!

Homebased Portland
Find out where we went to lunch this week!

Homebased Scrapbooker

How long will your digital Storybooks last – find out here!

I am excited to share with you another great giveaway today.

You know how I feel about pretty. If you need to use something it might as well be pretty – right? Well, today I am excited to share with you this pretty organizing utility tote. Who wouldn’t want to clean if they could carry around this pretty little tote!?

Today’s giveaway is sponsored by Celeste who is a Senior Consultant with a company called Thirty-One.

For a chance to win this pretty little tote which will be personalized with your name/initials just leave a comment below letting us know what name you want on the tote. It would make a perfect gift too. Share this giveaway on your Facebook page or blog for extras entires – just leave an additional comment for each entry.

The giveaway will be open until Thursday, Feb. 25 at midnight PST.

Value: $28.00

If you aren’t familiar with Thirty-One you will definitely want to check out their online catalog. Thirty One features all kinds of great products that are functional, stylish and affordable and the best part is they can all be personalized which I love!

Let Celeste introduce you to Thirty One:

Thirty-One is one of America’s fastest-growing Direct Selling companies. We are successful because our products are designed to complement your life, and are a perfect marriage of style and function. From uniquely styled handbags and purses to handy storage totes, baskets, stationery and more, there is truly something for everyone. With our extensive selection of embroidery colors and stylized lettering, clients can add their own personal flair to their Thirty-One purchases. I invite you to turn the pages of our catalogs and create your own style statement!

Thirty-One believes in Celebrating, Encouraging, and Rewarding Women.

I’d love to introduce Celeste to you too!

Greetings from Alabama! My name is Celeste Holbrook and I am a Senior Consultant with Thirty-One Gifts. I started my business in April of 2009 when my baby girl was just three months old. I was 39 and a first time mom. After leaving a career in the IT field to become a full-time mommy, I felt the need to have a little something of my own. I decided a career in direct sales was a perfect fit in my life as a devoted military wife and stay-at-home mom. I researched many direct sells companies; when I found Thirty-One I knew I was meant to be their representative! Ten exciting months later, I have a sales team of 16 fabulous women, and the position of Director is within my reach.

If you’d like more information on Thirty-One of their products you can contact Celeste through her website.  Celeste’s goal is to have a recruit in every state so if you are interested in the business opportunity, please do not hesitate to contact her.

Check out what is going on over at my other blogs this week:

Your Homebased Parties

How to make an amazingly cute Diaper Cake!

Homebased Portland

Find out where we went to lunch this week!

Homebased Scrapbooker

Watch a great video for some great tips on taking better photos!

To enter the giveaway for the darling Thirty One Organizing Tote just click here.

This Giveaway page has been moved. If you have entered a comment on this page for the giveaway no worries. They will be added to the entries on the new page so no need to enter again.

Thanks and please click on over to see the great giveaway!!!

Note:  I am loving reading your comments and seeing what your Word of the Year is!  So many wonderful words.  There is still time to enter the giveaway for a beautiful necklace from the Rusted Chain so click here to enter!

Today you are getting double your money’s worth – two recipes.

If I do say so myself, I outdid myself on Valentine’s Day!  At least that is what my husband says.  It’s amazing what happens when you cook a man a great steak!

Because I was starting a Reset (helping my body not crave those carbohydrates so much and drop a few pounds) this week I went crazy with cooking and carbohydrates this weekend!!

Valentine’s Day menu included Pioneer Women’s Rib Eye Steak with Whiskey Cream Sauce and Creamy Mashed Potatoes.

I wish you all could have been here to hear and see the look on my family’s faces when they sat down to dinner and saw that I, their wife and mother, had made mashed potatoes!

I need to explain a little.

Many of you know I married an Idaho boy so potatoes are very important.

But that Idaho boy married a girl who doesn’t like potatoes, especially mashed potatoes!  He married a girl with texture issues.

Today I am making a confession.  I don’t make mashed potatoes.  My family loves mashed potatoes but I don’t make them.  If we have mashed potatoes at our house someone else makes them, usually my husband.

So when they sat down to dinner and saw a dish of mashed potatoes you can imagine their reaction! I think my husband had no doubts at that moment that I do love him!  Tessa was excited too!

Steak and mashed potatoes just go together.  When I decided to make PW’s Rib Eye Steaks I knew I had to make mashed potatoes too!  Fortunately PW had a recipe to help me along.

PW mashed potatoes aren’t just potatoes -they are full of butter and cream cheese, now that part I like!!

I cooked the steak in my cast iron skillet.  The sauce does use whiskey but you can easily just substitute that amount with more beef broth.  It does affect the flavor a bit but it’s still yummy!

Even though I didn’t like peeling the potatoes the great thing about PW’s potato recipe is it can be made ahead of time and then popped in the oven to heat up before serving.

The steak and potatoes were a huge hit!

I didn’t get a great picture of the steak but you can see it here in the background behind that yummy roasted asparagus!

Rib Eye Steak with Whiskey Cream Sauce

Pioneer Women

5 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp diced onion

1/4 C whiskey or beef broth

1/4 C beef stock or broth

dash of salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 C light cream

2 rib-eye steaks

Melt 2 Tbsp butter over medium heat in a skillet. Add onion and cook until brown, about 4 minutes.  When brown, turn off the burner temporarily and pour in the whiskey or 1/4 C beef broth.  As soon as the whiskey evaporates, turn the burner on medium and pour in the remaining 1/4 C beef broth.  Add salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Whisk in another tablespoon of butter.  Allow the mixture to bubble for 30 seconds, then reduce the heat to low.  Over low heat, pour in the cream.  Whisk, adding more cream if the mixture looks too brothy.  Allow to simmer on very low heat while you prepare the steaks.  Stir occasionally.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Generously salt and pepper the steak on both sides, then add it to the hot skillet.

For medium rare, cook for 2 mintues on each side of a thin steak or 3-4 mintues on each side of a thick steak (We like our meat a little more well done so I cooked mine longer.)  Place the steak on a plate and keep warm.  Repeat with the other steak.  You can cook both steaks at the same time if you prefer and your skillet is large enough.

Spoon the sauce over the steak!  EnJOY!

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Pioneer Women

5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes

¾ C  Butter

1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened

½ to 3/4 C Half-and-Half

½ tsp to 1 tsp  Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

½ tsp to 1 tsp Black Pepper

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.

Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.

Note: When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

I think they liked it!

What did you have for Valentine’s dinner?

Coming up next – Valentine Breakfast and Dessert!

Please check out my other blogs:

Your Homebased Parties:

CandyBar Cakes

Homebased Portland:

The Daily Cafe

Today I am excited to introduce you to a new Etsy shop and sponsor of Your Homebased Mom. You know how I love Etsy, in fact I love it so much I opened my own Etsy shop!

When Beki of the Rusted Chain contacted me about sponsoring a giveaway here on the blog and being a sponsor I was so excited.  Beki makes beautiful personalized jewelry and I knew she would be the perfect one to make my Word of the Year necklace!

As you may remember, my word of the year is really not a word but rather a prefix – Re.  I was a little worried about how strange it may look on a necklace but when it arrived, wrapped up so pretty from The Rusted Chain, I loved it!

I didn’t realize how many freckles I had until I saw this photo!  Freckles and all the necklace is beautiful!!

Here’s a necklace with Beki’s word of the year – Soar.  What a great word.

Wouldn’t you love a pretty necklace with your word of the year engraved on it?!

Just leave a quick comment below letting us know what your word is and you’ll be entered.  If you’d like a second chance to win share this giveaway on your blog and then come back and leave a second comment with a link to your blog.  Share the giveaway on Facebook, leave a third comment and you have 3 chances to win!!

I am excited to introduce you to Beki today and to welcome here as a sponsor of Your Homebased Mom.  Please check out her cute little button on my home page.  You can click on through to her Etsy shop from there!

Please welcome Beki of The Rusted Chain to Your Homebased Mom!

Beki Hastings began making custom jewelry in 2003. Since that time, her products have been featured in various parenting magazines, Pediped shoe advertisements, Law and Order Criminal Intent, and are sold in local upscale boutiques and internationally.

Her designs feature the best of timeless elegance and trendy looks, with the end result being quality jewelry that will look as new and fresh years from now as it does today. Each piece is custom made using sterling silver, natural stones, and the finest components. Her products include hand stamped jewelry, earrings, brooches, and hair accessories.

Beki is also a photographer and blogger. She lives in Kansas with her husband, and her three children, a daughter, aged 9, and two sons ages 8 and 3. A former flight attendant, Beki is truly enjoying being home with her children. Being a designer is, she says, the best way for her to remain home with her family and still have a creative outlet.

Be sure and leave your comment and let us know your word of the year!!

This giveaway will be open through Friday, Feb. 19th at midnight PST.

I love sugar cookies.

In fact, if you remember, I went on a hunt for the perfect sugar cookie a while ago.  I think I found it but I am always open to a new sugar cookie recipe.

As much as I love sugar cookies I do not love rolling out sugar cookie dough and cutting out shaped cookies.  I will do it at Christmas but that’s about it!

 So when I saw Pioneer Woman’s Angel Sugar Cookie recipe, sugar cookies that are just dropped onto the cookie sheet, I was excited!

Since Valentine’s Day and sugar cookies go hand in hand I decided that this week was the perfect time to give PW’s recipe a try.

I am also a fan of thinner, crisper sugar cookies.  I am usually not a fan of the thicker, heavier sugar cookies you find in the stores.

I was a little worried about PW’s version as they looked rather thick in the photo.   But as PW promised the cookies were light, crisp and melt in your mouth!

Now as yummy as they were “naked”….

…there is just something about a sugar cookie that says “frosting”.  A sugar cookie without frosting is just a little too naked!

So using the frosting recipe from my favorite sugar cookie I decided to dress up the cookies just a bit.  I love the dash of almond flavoring in this recipe but you could also use vanilla or even lemon.

Because these cookies are so light and crisp you need to be careful when frosting them.  Lay them flat on the counter  and press gently(do not hold them in your hand) when you frost so they don’t crumble under the pressure!  Because they crumble easily they will not travel well so you will just have to eat them all at home!!

As I was low on time I didn’t do anything fancy – just a layer of frosting and a few sprinkles!

It made a yummy sugar cookie even yummier!

I wanted to share the love and the cookies with my neighbors so I wrapped up a combination of frosted and unfrosted cookies for each of them!
 

This dough does require an hour of refrigeration so plan ahead!

So commenting has been a bit light here on the old blog lately and I can tell from my stat count report that there are lots of you out there so how about showing me a little love today and leaving a comment?  I love comments!

Let me know what your favorite way to eat a sugar cookie is or just say hi!

Angel Sugar Cookies

Pioneer Woman

2 large eggs

1 C canola oil

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 C sugar, plus extra for the tops of the cookies

1 C powdered sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or could use almond)

4 C plus 2 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350

To make the dough, use a large mixing bowl and cream together the eggs, oil, butter, sugars and vanilla.

Add the rest of ingredients and mix well.  Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

Using a cookie scoop or spoon drop the balls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Smear a dab of butter on the bottom of a glass, then dip it in the granulated sugar.

Use the glass to flatten the balls of dough, dipping again into the sugar each time.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the cookies are just barely turning brown around the edges.  Do not overcook and let cook before eating and/or frosting.
Please check out what is featured on my other blogs today!

Your Homebased Parties:

CandyBar Cakes

 Homebased Portland:

Gravy

Note:  I am totally in love with the idea I shared over at Your Homebased Parties  today – be sure and check it out.  It would make a perfect Valentine’s Day gift too!!!

It’s been a while since I shared a cupcake recipe with you – I was starting to get the shakes!

You are probably seeing a lot of Red Velvet around the blogosphere this week in honor of Valentine’s Day.  Can you think of a more perfect cake/cupcake to celebrate the holiday of love?!

I actually made these cupcakes months ago.  I was asked to teach a cupcake class for some of the young women at church and when I asked them what kind of cupcake they would like to make the vote was for red velvet.  I had actually never made red velvet cake/cupcakes before so it was a first for me too!

I didn’t realize that red velvet is actually just chocolate with a whole lot of red food coloring mixed in – and I mean a lot!

Being the history buff I am I had to do a little research on where red velvet cake originated.  Here’s what I found out according to Wikipedia.

A red velvet cake was a signature dessert at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City during the 1920s. According to a common urban legend a woman once asked for the recipe for the cake, and was billed a large amount. Indignant, she spread the recipe in a chain letter.

In Canada the cake was a well-known dessert in the restaurants and bakeries of the Eaton’s department store chain in the 1940s and 1950s. Promoted as an “exclusive” Eaton’s recipe, with employees who knew the recipe sworn to silence, many mistakenly believed the cake to be the invention of the department store matriarch, Lady Eaton.

A resurgence in the popularity of this cake is partly attributed to the 1989 film Steel Magnolias in which the groom’s cake (another southern tradition) is a red velvet cake made in the shape of an armadillo.

There you have it – the history of red velvet cake.

The girls had a great time learning all about cupcakes and mixing up their own batch.

As part of the class I provided the girl’s with some cupcake making tips and even a cupcake cookbook of their very own.  A collection of many of my favorite cupcake recipes I have shared here on the blog.

I gave them some cupcake baking tips including using a cookie scoop to evenly measure out your cupcake batter.

And also some frosting tips like being sure to hold the decorating bag straight up and to release your pressure on the bag before you lift up!

I went to the dollar store to buy the food coloring because you need almost 3 of the small bottles that come in the combo pack of four colors!  And that’s a lot of food coloring.

The red velvet cake has a nice light chocolate flavor which I really liked, I am not a dense, heavy chocolate fan so the lightness was just perfect for me.

And here is what the inside looks like – yes it is red!

I don’t know where I got this recipe from, it has been in my file for a while. I’m glad I finally had an opportunity to try it out.  We’ll definitely making them again – maybe even for Valentine’s Day this weekend!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 Cs  cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 oz. red food coloring (2-3 bottles depending on size)

1/2 C butter, softened

1 1/2 C sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 C buttermilk, at room temperature

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

Mix together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.

In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Watch it fizz! Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter (they should be 2/3 – 3/4 full). It will make about 20 cupcakes. Place muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don’t overbake!

Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting. Frost cupcakes with cream cheese icing (recipe below)ormy favorite buttercream.

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Cream Cheese Frosting

1 sticks (1/2 cup) butter, slightly softened

8 oz cream cheese

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

 In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until everything is combined. Add the vanilla. Ice the cooled cupcakes and enjoy

Please check out what is featured on my other blogs today!

Your Homebased Parties:

CandyBar Cakes

Homebased Portland

Moonstruck Chocolates

I am excited to announce the grand opening of Your Homebased Mom Etsy Shop!!

I love shopping on etsy as well as promoting and supporting etsy shops so I am now proud to be part of this amazing community.  A community of people who support the buying and selling of all things handmade!

Due to popular demand I have stocked my shop with some of those pretty reuseable grocery bags I shared with you a few weeks ago.    I’d love for you to go over and take a peek and let me know what you think. 

If I do say so myself I think they are pretty darn cute!

There are only  a certain number of bags available in each fabric selection so if you see one you like you will want to grab it because once it is gone – it’s gone.  I will be adding lots of other pretty fabric selections later this week.

Each bag has been lovingly made by me – Your Homebased Mom!

Stay tuned for other lovely, pretty items that will be added in the future!!

Happy shopping!!