Right now our family has a small kitchen table. We bought it last year right after we got married and we love it. It’s dark wood with comfy padded leather chairs. It’s perfect for our small family of two {three when sister-roommate is home} or when Micah and I have another couple over for dinner. However, one day, we will outgrow this table. It’s already a little too small if we have more than four people over. Thankfully our new house has a huge bar around the counter with stools, so we can seat six more people there, but someday it will be time for a new table. I really like big tables that are not rectangular in shape. Square and round tables seem much more conducive to conversation. I love big square or round tables that seat eight people comfortably. I also don’t really like formal dining rooms, and I think a square or round table works perfectly for more of a great room set up, like I hope to have someday. So here are some of my favorite table inspirations. I’ll call them eight-seaters… {Urban Home} {Urban Home} {Urban Home} {Pottery Barn} {Williams Sonoma} xoxo,Jen ... Read more
Recipe: Peanut Butter Fudge Cake
{First of all, I am sharing my thoughts on Valentine's Day over at Jordy-Liz Blogs today. I'll admit it; I used to be a hater... read all about it here!} Last week, we threw a big, crazy birthday party for my sister in law, and I was put in charge of cakes. Although I don’t like to bake very often, I have been known to whip up a pretty decent layer cake from time to time… For Kayla’s party, I made not one, but two, cakes a few hours before the party. We had about thirty guests coming and I wanted to appease everyone’s taste buds, so I did one chocolate cake and one non-chocolate cake. Today I am going to share with you a very delicious peanut butter fudge cake and in a few days I will share with you my strawberry cake recipe. Ready, set, go. What you need:One box devil’s food cake mix1 cup buttermilk½ cup and 2 tablespoons oil {basically slightly over 1/2 cup but not quite all the way to 2/3}3 eggs12 oz. bag of Reece’s Mini PB Cups chopped {use about two cups in cake and save the rest for garnish}8 oz. of dark chocolate {a giant Hershey’s bar works perfectly}1 cup heavy cream1/2 cup creamy peanut butter *If you don’t like a dark chocolate taste, you can use regular chocolate cake mix instead of Devil’s Food and a milk chocolate bar instead of dark chocolate.* What you do... Preheat oven to 350. Grease two round cake pans and line with wax paper if you are a wax paper convert like me. Chop up your Reeces Peanut Butter cups into small pieces... In a large bowl, beat cake mix, buttermilk, oil, and eggs on medium for about two minutes or until smooth. Stir in PB cup crumbles {but remember to leave about a 1/2 cup aside for garnish}. Pour cake batter into pans and bake for 30-34 minutes. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean. Let cake layers cool completely on a wire rack. Chop up dark chocolate bar and place in a medium bowl. Bring heavy cream just to a boil and pour over chocolate. Whisk until all the chocolate melts. Add peanut butter and whisk until smooth. Now it's time to build your cake. Place one layer on a flat sheet or tray. I put mine on the cake stand and just wiped up the frosting drips afterward. The frosting is very thin and will harden onto the cake once it cools. Pour the frosting on the bottom layer until it is just about to drip over the sides. Add the top layer of cake and pour the frosting over again until it is just starting to drip over the sides. Use a spatula to spread frosting evenly around the whole cake. Garnish with the additional chopped Reeces! Enjoy! xoxo,Jen Linking up with Five Days, Five Ways and Tater Tots and Jello! ... Read more
Lovely little things {good news/bad news}
Work… The good news is that subbing has become a great way to bring in a little extra money for the fam, interact with high school students {my favorite age group} and get some study time in on the job. The bad news is that sometimes the classrooms I teach in are really awkward. This particular one had a really tall chair at the teacher’s desk and I didn't fit on it properly. I had to sit on the tall chair and put my feet on a shorter chair all day long. It looked super unprofessional, but I had no other options… Dining out… We got to try a fairly new Phoenix restaurant called Cibo for Kayla’s birthday. The good news is that the pizza was delicious. The bad news is that we stuffed ourselves so full that we didn’t have room to try their renowned Nutella-banana crepes for desert. Sounds like a girls’ night is in order to remedy this problem… Dining in… I made homemade chicken noodle soup this week. The good news is that it smelled delicious and was fairly cheap and easy to make. The bad news is that I waited to eat until Micah came home. He got distracted by playing basketball at the gym and got home two hours late for dinner. The noodles got all soggy and gross. This recipe definitely needs to be re-made and eaten promptly though! Mmmm… The weather… The good news is that we had GORGEOUS weather in Phoenix this past week. Like absolutely stunning. There is no bad news about this…. xoxo,Jen Linking up with Hello Hue and Life Rearranged... ... Read more
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 241
- 242
- 243
- 244
- 245
- …
- 310
- Next Page »