Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice!

Mini Raspberry Cobblers

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:53:23 +0000

This is a recipe I got from my friend, Anne Flanagan, (a/k/a Raleigh Cake Pops). I follow her on Instagram and she usually is posting wonderful pics of all different types of cakepops, but this week she posted a complete eye catcher for me. These little treats not only LOOK delish… they. are. It was so kind of her to share the recipe, so I will share it here as well! I hope you all enjoy as much as I did!

Mini Raspberry Cobblers

Ingredients:

1 c. Sugar

1 c. Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder

Dash of Salt (omit when using salted butter)

3/4 c. Milk

1 stick Butter, melted

Whole Raspberries (you can use your fruit of choice, but this was mine)

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon for dusting (or just plain white sugar)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a cupcake pan with parchment liners or paper cupcake liners.
I made my own liners by cutting 5-inch squares out of parchment paper and then wrap/mold around a glass.

Whisk dry/first four ingredients in a bowl

Slowly add milk and mix by hand until combined

Melt butter (microwave or stovetop)
Add 1 teaspoon of melted butter in each cupcake liner

Next, add 2 tablespoons of batter, on top of the butter

Now add 1 tablespoon of fruit on top of the batter
Sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon/sugar

Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool completely before removing from pan.

Serve with fruit or icecream! They are such a tasty treat! Thanks again, Anne!

Exploration Sunday: Woodmill Winery, Vale NC

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Tue, 28 May 2013 02:41:14 +0000

Woodmill Winery is a locally owned business in our town. I have been meaning to get out there for a while to check it out (it’s only taken about 7 years) and finally this past Sunday, I did. Sadly, they were closed… BUT, I did still look around the place and snap a few shots. It is a LOVELY venue for a wedding, in case anyone is interested. It’s also great for a little photoshoot. (which is how we used it)

Some upcoming events are:

The Woodmill Grape Stomp, August 24-25, 2013

The Woodmill Winery Bridal Show, Fall 2013

You can find more info on their website, here.

Thanks for checking out my post and hopefully “Exploration Sunday” will continue next week!

Easy Old Fashioned Strawberry Pie

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:46:21 +0000

This is a recipe that I got from my mom, who got it from her mom, who has been using it for years. It is delicious and a MUST TRY for strawberry pie lovers. Super easy too, which is even better.

Easy Old Fashioned Strawberry Pie

(printable version)

Ingredients:

4 c. washed and hulled strawberries

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. flour

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. butter

9″ pie crust

rolled pie crust

Directions:

Heat oven to 425. Mix sugar with flour and salt.

Toss lightly with strawberries.

Fill pie crust with strawberry mixture and dot with butter.

Top with rolled out pastry. I switch my designs up from time to time. You can top your pie how you choose. Make sure to flute the edges (take a fork and press around the edges) and cut gashes in pastry to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 25 minutes or until crust is browned. I also serve mine with vanilla icecream and it is delish!

Enjoy!

Tagged: Dessert, hulled strawberries, strawberry pie

The Cash Photoshoot

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:35 +0000

Henry’s first trip to Tweetsie!

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:07:25 +0000

This year for Christmas we got season passes to Tweetsie! Here are some pics from Henry’s first trip!

The first thing he wanted to do was sit on the horses.

Then we shopped around for a little while…

And FINALLY the train came along!

Aboard the train

We may have misbehaved a little and they put us in Tweetsie Jail!

Needless to say, Henry loved it and I’m sure we will be going back very soon!

(To get your season passes, visit this site!)

For a change, a photoshoot of… ME!

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:40:09 +0000

My lovely friend Cate Evanson is a photographer and she showed me some love by taking me out on a photoshoot with her! It was SO much fun and she is incredibly talented.. Here are some pics from the shoot.

Didn’t she do an awesome job? I love her photography style! You can also follow her on Instagram here!

Runnin’ runnin’ and runnin’ runnin’

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:27:48 +0000

(Yes, I named this post after a Black Eyed Peas song)

Since December of last year, I have participated in 4 races. I kind of got into this kick in November when I decided that I wanted to start running. It’s always been a nice “thought”, but I’ve never really made myself do it. I am the type of person who loves to exercise, and now that I am staying at home, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me to give it a try. Once I got past my first week of it… I was hooked. I no longer had to force myself to go run. I WANTED to. I hated missing a day! I decided to sign up for a 5k. I know a lot of people don’t understand this new obsession (i.e. my family: “Why don’t you just give me $25 and you can go run around the house 20 times”) but I’ve always been a competitive person and doing something I loved AND something that I can compete in sounded awesome! So for the Frosty 5k, my sister, Cara, and my friend, Sengla, ran as well.

It was a little chilly!

That run was great. My very first 5k that I had run about a year and a half earlier, I had finished in 34 some minutes. This time, I finished 2nd in my age division with a time of 27:42! I was ecstatic!

Also note this is where I cracked my first iPhone. (cough) Cara (cough cough)

The next 2 races, I entered without really paying attention to what days they were on. BAD IDEA. Yes, they were scheduled for the very same day, thank GOD not at the exact same time. The first was the S. Ray Lowder Spring Spirit 5k. It was that morning and I was ready to go!

I ended up finishing that one 1st in my age group with a time of 25:24!

I was pretty psyched, to say the least.

So you know how I said I signed up for 2 races? Well not only was this next one just another “race”, it was an 8k. Yes, believe me, I know. I am an IDIOT.

I was super exhausted from running that morning, but I still went to the race (The Leprechaun Loop hosted by Summit Coffee in Davidson, NC). Note, the race was called “Leprechaun Loop” because it was run on St. Patricks day. You know what this girl wore? A bright PINK shirt. (bangs head on wall) I stood out like a sore thumb. EVERYONE there had on green shirts. I literally mean everyone. Set aside that embarrassment, I psyched myself up for the race and was ready to set out on a 5 mile run.

That one I finished with a hearty 47:24 time. Not that I wasn’t excited about it, but I did wish the races had been on separate days.

Here is a pic from crossing the finish line. That race literally felt like the longest race EVERRRRR, but I was oh so happy to cross the line!

My last race was this past Saturday. It was a half marathon. (Talk about stepping it up) The longest distance I had ever ran beforehand was 8 miles. A half = 13.1. I was determined though. And isn’t that all you need? A little determination?

So that morning I set out at 5:00 A.M. for this little endeavor. Anyone that knows me would tell you it was a feat in itself for me to get out of the bed at 5:00 A.M. But with all of the nerves and excitement, it wasn’t as hard as I was expecting. The race was to start at 7:30 and it was in Charlotte, so I needed a little time. After a peanut butter sandwich was downed, I was ready to roll.

I got there, got signed in and the rest was just a waiting game. I did down a GU Gel before the race and took one along with me (which I ended up using around mile 7). Those things REALLY helped out. I totally recommend them.

I honestly didn’t start wearing out until mile 9. The rest was pure determination to finish. I had set an “out loud” goal of finishing in 2:20. My “inside” goal was actually 2:10. And I DID IT! I finished with a time of 2:10:27! I came in 848th out of 1297 people, so that was good enough for me! I do intend on improving that time, but I first just had to tackle the THOUGHT of running 13 miles!

Needless to say, hearing about the bombings at the Boston Marathon yesterday really hit home. Why would anyone want to attack people doing something so innocent and harmless? Do people not have any sense of humanity these days? All I can say is, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones and the injured.

Tagged: healthy-living, running, training

From Junkroom to Playroom

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:57:40 +0000

So our house layout is kind of strange. We have a living room, but right beside the living room, we have this “study” which we put to use as a “junk room”. Henry had been getting so many toys for Christmas, and birthdays and well, just any regular ol’ day. Where did all these toys end up? Junk room. He wasn’t getting any use out of them. Soooo, I decided to do a transformation. Playroom for the kiddo… coming right up!

Here are some pics of beforehand:

Pretty junky, aye? I was sick of it. So for Henry’s birthday from mommy, I decided to go to Lowe’s and buy a gallon of paint. Lucky little kid, ain’t he?

This was my first “paint job”. That is my disclaimer.

Henry got a playtable, chalk board, coat rack, and storage cabinet for his birthday from family and friends (possibly because mommy requested such things) and they all look FANTASTIC in his new room! All it is lacking is a giant world map that I want to hang on the wall! …still looking for one of those, so recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Here’s the finished product!

Tagged: diy, home, junk room

Another Catering Event…

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:41:11 +0000

This was my 2nd time getting asked by our hospital in town to cater an event they were hosting! I was super excited to say the least. This type of thing is totally down my alley.

On the menu:

100 cakepops; 25 red velvet, 25 yellow, 25 chocolate, 25 confetti

Lime punch

Mixed nuts

Easy schmeezy. I got this.

Everything was made, setup complete, looked as though things were going off without a hitch… then came time to open the punch. Punch. The devil in disguise, in case you didn’t know. Be warned.

As I was cutting open the last jug of punch… the bloody knife (pun intended) slipped right off that plastic bottle and sliced my hand wide open. I might have let a few choice words fly, thankfully only my friend Caitlin was near. Since I was luckily at a hospital, we got a nurse to look at it and they said I would survive. So that was a good thing. Bloody hand story over.

The rest of the night went great! I was able to hand out some business cards and everyone was so nice with their compliments! Here are a few pics from the event!

The setup

I loved my cute little place cards made by my friend Erin! Aren’t they adorable?

With all that being said.. Go local and use Pixie Cakes for your next event!

An Afternoon Tea…

Sugar -N- Spice Makes Everything Nice — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:41:41 +0000

For my sisters 18th birthday party, we wanted to do something fun and different… something you don’t see very often. So we thought, what would be better than a cute little tea party??! It would fit Jenna to a T, so why not? It turned out better than we had planned. All of the girls LOVED the idea and we just can’t wait to throw another one. (Even if just for a fun Saturday afternoon get together!) The only catch… there was a lot of old furniture in the yard, so make sure there is absolutely NO chance of afternoon showers! Here are some pics…

The food setup

Yes, lots of furniture in my back yard! (My neighbors probably thought we were crazy)

Of course I had to buy some new flowers.

The birthday girl!

Jenna and I

My adorable sisters!

Sengla enjoying her afternoon tea

We may or may not have gotten her a puppy for her birthday…

It was a lovely day for the party. Oh, and there was one more pic… I thought it looked like it could be used for a Pretty Little Liars cover! Ha! Toodle loo! Top of the mornin’ to ya!

Tagged: 18th birthday ideas, afternoon tea, tea party