domingo, 30 de septiembre de 2012

Halloween Treats!

Halloween is right around the corner! Here are some fun and tasty recipes for Halloween themed treats:

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
  • 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dulce de leche (igourmet.com)

Directions

  1. Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder. Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg, yolk, chocolate, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 1 hour.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 36 rounds with a 2-inch cutter, and space 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Using an aspic cutter set, cut a triangle, point side up, in the center of half the cookies, and then use the half-moon cutter to make one "wing" on each side of the triangle. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 375. Bake until set, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool. Top each uncut cookie with 1 teaspoon dulce de leche and a cutout cookie.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus more, room temperature, for pan
  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 1/4 cup each orange, yellow, and brown candy-coated chocolates (from a 12.6-ounce bag)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush an 8-inch square baking pan with butter; line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; stir just until moistened. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top. Arrange candies in 12 rows (2 rows per color, repeating once) on top of dough.
  3. Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Set pan on a wire rack and let cool completely. Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and transfer to a cutting board; cut into 16 squares.
 

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned and leveled)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • Orange nonpareils or sanding sugar, for decoration

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat until smooth. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and applesauce, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix just until smooth (do not overmix).
  3. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto two baking sheets. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cookie comes out clean, 10 to 14 minutes. With a thin metal spatula, immediately transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool completely.
  4. Meanwhile, make filling: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat vanilla and remaining 1/2 cup butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners sugar, beating until smooth.
  5. Spread bottom of half the cookies with 1 tablespoon filling each; sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing gently so filling oozes out slightly. Sprinkle exposed filling with nonpareils. Let rest 15 minutes to set.
 
 
 

sábado, 29 de septiembre de 2012

1 0 0 0 !

Thank you so much everybody for supporting our very young Blog!
Tomorrow we are turning 2 months!
YEY!


It's been so much Fun we are so Glad to have reached in such a short time period our 1000 Blog views! Hope we get to a MILLION one day!

Have and awesome weekend people and lovely followers! And of course ..

KEEP READING!



and 





viernes, 28 de septiembre de 2012

Halloween Spirit!

This is what I found today when opening my browser to Pic Monkey
Halloween ALL OVER!


Here are some cool ideas for Family and Couple costumes I found on ..
Guess what?
Pinterest!


Pictures speak for themselves! What will you wear on Halloween!


miércoles, 26 de septiembre de 2012

A little but very BIG update!

So this is what went on last week! Full but managing! Updating you on the latest things that have been going on in my life! ♥ will try to Blog more frequently!

Friday (Sept.21) Apple party with my Castillito (Little Castle) Kiddos! Thank you for an amazing 1st week little Apples of mine 



Saturday (Sept.22) Nai's Birthday Dinner @Parrillada Familiar with the whole FAM! The people at the Restaurant had to put like 5 or 6 tables together!


Sunday (Sept.23) "Patricia's Baby Shower & Father in-laws Birthday" So this day I got dressed and like a little kid was the First to arrive at the cutest event ever to find out Patricia was giving birth! Samantha wanted to come out! God Bless my dear friend and her family!


WELCOME HOME SAMANTHA!


After the Baby Shower we went to Fala's (In law) Birthday! We had a yummy cake with a Coffee theme! (He loves Coffee)


Monday (Sept.24) - 35 Months dating My husband (eternal Boyfriend) Javi ♥ He made me a very awesome picnic Dinner (un our rug)!! Most romantic thing ever! I LOVE YOU!
Thank you Babe .. You always make me feel special!


To sum up these very Busy days I want to THANK GOD .. Because he makes me feel Blessed every single day! I am so so so grateful for my Family, Friends, work, and even school! I'm blessed all around! I want to invite you to enjoy life and BE HAPPY .. It's a choice!


viernes, 21 de septiembre de 2012

Dog Costumes!

Ok, let me start this off by saying that I would die of joy if I could dress Becky up! Unfortunately, even though she is the cutest dog in the world, she is full of evil! She is nice one moment and mean the next...so it's impossible. Those pictures below are the closest I'll ever get to putting her in a 'costume', Minnie Mouse ears and a bandana from Petsmart.


 
But below you'll see some pictures of cute dogs who do allow their owners to dress them up!
 

 



miércoles, 19 de septiembre de 2012

Let's Chalk the Talk

Hello fellow Bloggers, Blog readers and Bloggettes! Today I have a very Fun post! Brought to you of course by Pinterest the most amazing site ever! EVER! So I've been obsessing on anything involving CHALK! It's just so much Fun here's my Top 10 Chalk crafts from pinterest:


1. Stair Case Steps
2. Easter Eggs with Chalk paint for Kids to decorate with Chalk
3. Plate turned into a Message Board
4. Framed Chalkboard for Birthday Sign
5. Portraits turned into Message Board for Classroom
6. Chalkboard Calendar
7. Chalk paint Wine Bottles
8. Chalkboard for Tracking pregnancy and even baby after Birth!
9. Mini wood tag packs into Chalk Gift Tags
10. Dresser with Chalkboard doors

I really Love all of these crafts and I wish I’d have the time to create all of them! But since I don’t I’m sharing them .. Maybe they might interest you!

These are some more ROMANTIC ideas for Chalk and Chalk paint usage anything from wooden hearts to thinking clouds painted to leave messages! And with Chalkboard contact paper you can even cut out shapes and stick them on to almost anything like empty jars or even Shelf doors!
  

I have most definitely added these 3 to my Crafty wishlist:


Hope you like this POST .. maybe these images will inspire you and you can come up with Ideas of your own!  As a Tip I would recommend any crafter to use pinterest! I know you that you will turn into a Pin-aholic like me!




martes, 18 de septiembre de 2012

Fun and Easy Recipe!

Here's a fun and easy recipe to make Beijinhos - kisses in Portuguese -
 
Ingredients
  • 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tablespoon butter, plus more for pan
  • 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
  • sweetened flaked coconut for decorating
  • whole cloves for decorating

 Directions

  1. Bring milk and butter to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the milk has reduced to half and thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the 1/4 cup coconut, and allow to cool a bit before pouring into a buttered bowl. Chill in the refrigerator until cold, about 2 hours.
  2. With buttered or oiled hands, form milk mixture into tablespoon-sized balls, and roll in coconut flakes. Stick a clove into each beijinho as decoration.          
                  
 

Enjoy!!!
 

domingo, 16 de septiembre de 2012

Miss S' Classroom!

So this week I've been very Busy but actually got a lot done! On Monday (Sept.17) tomorrow School begins and my Apple Themed Classroom is all ready for the most special and Welcoming 1st day of School! I Know appled themed Classrooms are very Cliche but I think I did an awesome job making something as common as Apples DIFFERENT!

Here's How my Classroom was Last School year (2011-2012) the Theme was "Sweet Bugs": (And just in case you don't notice ITS PRETTY OBVIOUS I Love Trees) I had a pink tree last year with multicolored leaves!!




And this is this year .. (I change it every year) I had an Apple Tree .. Brown with Yellow, Red, Neon Green and Apple Green leaves:



Here are some Crafting that Happened during this week:


This is a Favorite .. My Window wall sorrounding Apple Tree .. Oh yeah! I have a couch in the classroom which I think is super practical and extremely useful too!
Inspirations: Basic Tree and White and Green Tree


This is the Frame Filled wall .. I spray painted the yellow frames. The green and red ones are covered with fake tinted leather I found in the fabric store! Super Fun!


Here are 2 very cute Crafts some 1st day of School favors (on the left) made with painted Toilet paper rolls (How cool is that?) and Our classrooms' Felt Photobooth (on the right) in Spanish of course "My first day of Class" (Makes more since in Español)
Inspirations for Favors: Dotted Toilet Roll Box and Kids Playroom wall and for the Class' Photo-booth 1st day of School Booth and Carnival Photo Box


And last but not least one of my most recent obsessions a wreath .. Apple Themed of course!


And here's Miss S! (Me, lol) Just 1 day away from what I know will be an amazing and very FUN school year! By the way I adore this PURPLE maxi dress my cousin Angelica got for me from her trip to Panama!


Hope you liked this Post .. I was pretty excited to blog about my Classroom and had been holding it up for this day! Enjoy the few hours left of the weekend and Have an amazing rest of the week! Can't believe how fast Time Flies!!

sábado, 15 de septiembre de 2012

Crafty Ideas

So it's no secret that I'm not the most creative person out there but I loved this blog, The 36th Avenue, the moment I stumbled upon it! It's such a fun blog full of crafty ideas for any occasion.
Here is the link for the blog but more specifically for: '25 Handmade Gifts'.
 
This picture below shows what you can do with spare earrings, make them into cute bookmarks! There's always that one earring that you can't find resulting in a broken pair and you don't know what to do...throw the surviving earring away or keep it? and you always tend to keep it. Now you know what you can do with that lonely earring.



Another great example is the one you'll find below. I love candles, so I thought this idea was great. I really like when candles have prints or phrases on them because it gives them a unique and personalized look.

 

 
 Hopefully you guys will get creative, I'll definitely try to do so. :)

jueves, 13 de septiembre de 2012

The big "B" ..

I will begin with this ..


This week has been hectic for these two Bloggers .. Luci has been so Full with school work and I have been packed as well with HOMEWORK BOMBING (There's no other name for this madness) and since school starts in a Few days I've also been getting (or at least trying to get) my classroom done (You will get a post this weekend on all the Fun crafting that has been going on in Mrs.S classroom)! On top of having my hands-full with well .. LIFE, I just can't seem to get the big "B" word out of my Head! These last months have been probably filled with MILLIONS and millions of Baby thoughts! I though that once I  got started school and work I wouldn't have time for these THOUGHTS! Don't get me wrong I LOVE THE IDEA OF HAVING A BABY .. But it's so scary to me, because it has become such a huge CRAVING TO ME it worries me! I guess what I'm saying is that letting it out is relieving and comforting .. God's plans are PERFECT and I'm sure that many of you can understand me when I say I'M STILL A HUMAN and on top of that I'm a women! I've been very sentimental and can't seem to get this out of my Head .. SO I WILL ADMIT THIS: I WANT TO BE A MOTHER, I WANT TO HAVE A BABY! I believe that God is involved in everything even in your thoughts .. So I'm sure I'll get this resolved .. in the mean time my plans are to enjoy life! I feel so rich! I have and amazing Family, husband, work, home everything .. And I will NOT ALLOW anything to overshadow how amazing God has been to me! I'm in LOVE with Life, MY LIFE! I'm Blessed! So my point is that 'til I get that miracle I wont let myself worry or be sad about it anymore! I WILL JUST enjoy! I Hope that when you read this it makes you feel as well as it made me feel while writing it!

God Bless & Good night!


lunes, 10 de septiembre de 2012

Color Palettes!

One of the funnest aspects of planning a wedding is picking out your color palette! The color palette pretty much defines how your wedding is going to look, the theme, centerpieces, bridesmaids' dresses, and more.

You can have fun with your colors because there are so many options. You can go from bright colors like turquoise to a light delicate lavender.

In my wedding there was lots of lilac, rose, and ivory.

-My dress was ivory
-Bridesmaids' dresses were lavender
-Maid of Honor dress was a pale lavender
-Roses in lilac, rose, and ivory filled the room





Meanwhile...in Sirane's wedding:

Was filled with white roses, damask print, black and teal!

-Her dress was ivory
-Maid of Honor and Bridesmaids' dresses were teal
-Flower girl dress was  black with a teal Bow
-White Roses filled the Garden site (Her favorite flower)


I'll leave you with a web site that is dedicated to wedding color palettes, enjoy!

sábado, 8 de septiembre de 2012

Greetings From the White House and Star Trek

Happy Saturday Everybody! Recently I found out through Kristen from Make the Best of everything that you can get mail back from the WHITE HOUSE, like special congratulations and/or greeting cards signed by the one and only President of the United States! How cool is that? Here's a Link that Explains the process its Fairly Easy to do! I'd Love to do this for a keepsake when I have a Baby! (: And since today we are all about getting mail from special people I'd like to add that you can also receive mail from Disney! How cute is that?


For the White House the address is:

White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500. 

* For faster service, requests can also be faxed to 202-456-2461.

And for Disney:


Mickey and Minnie Mouse

Walt Disney World
1675 N Buena Vista Dr
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830


or


Mickey and Minnie Mouse

The Walt Disney Company

500 South Buena Vista Street

Burbank, California 91521 



Disney's addresses from Kristen's post. Read on her super fun mailing experiences! (Click here)


P.S: Once you go to Walt Disney World Resort hotels you can also receive a Voicemail from the Mousy pair! Here's the Link

On another absolutely non-related subject today is Star Trek's 46th Anniversary (Found out through google) .. LOL! This is a little nerdy but me and Javi (My husband) love THE BIG BANG THEORY (Awesome TV series) and its really hard not to know these things .. So congrats to them! (Click here for the official article on Googles Star Trek-themed doodle)