My New Blog Button ~

Happy Independence Day! ~

Borrowed this greeting from the ladies at eighteen25. Go on over and check out their blog if you haven't yet. They are hosting a raffle and have lots of other fun stuff to look at!!

Flowers in my Food!

When I was younger and living at home my mother brewed tea on top of the stove. We had a pan that I remember to be THE tea pan. Maybe she made other stuff in it but when it was time to make tea, there was no question about what to use. So anyways, one day my mother brewed the tea, poured it up in a glass, and brought it to me in the living room. I took one drink of that tea and I was as confused as a cow on astro turf! Without even thinking I called out, "This tea tastes like flowers!" That was back in the day when tea was supposed to taste like tea. We never added peaches or blueberries or hibiscus back then. Well, maybe they did but we didn't know about it. About the only thing added to a good glass of tea in the South was sugar. Turns out, my mother had boiled some potpourri in the tea pan and the taste of it just didn't come out when it was washed. We still laugh about that today, I'm sure the look on my face was priceless!

Well, for a few months now I've been wanting to try some cupcakes with flowers in them. Lavender is all the rage right now - they even put it in tea!! So I scrounged around on the Internet looking for some recipes. I came up with a few and sort of put them all together to fit my needs. I started out with this recipe from another blog. However, I hardly ever use self-rising flower. Then I checked out this one but noticed it had no leavening in it - nothing to make it fluffy! So I finally just used the first one but tweaked it just a bit. 

First of all, I made my own lavender sugar. About 3 weeks ago I combined about 1/3 cup of lavender flowers with 2 cups of sugar. You can't just go pick your own lavender or go to the flower shop. You have to get lavender that does not have any pesticides on it. I got mine at Central Market in the bulk foods section. It was only about 63 cents for what I got. So I put the lavender and the sugar in this big Mason jar and left it for 3 weeks, although 2 is long enough.

After 2 or 3 weeks has gone by, the lavender sugar is ready to use. Just sift the sugar to get the flowers back out. I sifted mine twice and there were still some flowers that managed to sneak in. That's ok because you are going to put a few of the flowers in the batter anyway. Don't flip out trying to separate them!  So here are all the ingredients you will need, minus the salt, which you can add or not. I did.

Lavender Cupcakes

1 cup flour
1/2 cup very soft butter
1/2 c. lavender sugar, sifted

1 ½ t. baking powder

1/8   t. salt
1/4 t. lavender flowers

2 eggs
3 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350. 

Sift lavender sugar to get the flowers out. One of the original recipes said to put part of the sugar in a food processor with ¼ t. lavender flowers and blend. I tried that and it didn't work so I just threw the flowers in there whole. I know, it was a big chance to take but I had no other choice.

Mix together the butter and sugar until smooth, then add the eggs one at a time, until completely blended. Add the flour and mix gently. Add the milk. Original recipe said  to use 1 -2 tablespoons but I used 3 tablespoons. I did taste the batter and it tasted suspiciously like the sugar cookie dough I made a week ago. Hmmmm...

Line a muffin pan with 10-12 paper liners and distribute the batter equally. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until done (mine took 17 minutes and I made 10). 

When the muffins are cool, decorate with pale lavender colored frosting and sprinkle with lavender petals (or whatever blows your dress up). I used white dragees but they would have been pretty with nothing but frosting.

As for how they tasted, the lavender was so faint that you might think you were eating just a vanilla cupcake. However, I did taste it and it gave these cupcakes a little hint of something special. Also, I have not had much luck in the past with just plain vanilla cupcakes. They were either too dry or too something. I think these would make for a perfect vanilla cupcake if you leave out the flowers and add a teaspoon of vanilla. So there you have it, the long awaited lavender cupcake. Not bad having flowers in my food!


*This recipe will be linked to the following parties:

About Me ~

This is me.  

My name is Jennifer. I also go by Jenn (friends), Esmeralda (mother), Darlin' (brother), JennyKay (father), Jenny (rest of my family), JD (friend), and a few others.

 I live in Cowtown, Texas. That's Fort Worth to those who are are wondering where the heck Cowtown is.

I don't wear boots but many in my family do, we try to carry on the redneck legacy ;)

I love to make things, whether it is something edible, wearable, or just plain cute. However, I haven't spent a lot of time displaying that part of me because, honestly, I've been too busy with other stuff. Well, now it's time to shift gears.

I work full-time in the admissions department at a huge hospital. I've done most all of it - ER, surgery, physical therapy, and now I am settled in outpatient radiology. I have gotten to know some of my patients on a first-name basis and some of them just stop by to see me when they happen to be in the area. No kidding!

I am also going to school to be a nurse. Yeah, I just can't get enough of the hospital!!

I also work part-time for a business consultant - filing, reconciling accounts, and whatever else he asks.

And ALSO, (I know, what else could there possibly be?) I make custom cakes. My next project is to set up a website to display them. You will probably see some of them here too, especially if they are unique enough.

I am very generous, I love to give to other, help people out, share my time.

I love to write, whether it is an email or a short story, which is probably why I have this blog and another one called Daughter of the King.

I have a snarky little Boston Terrier named Tug. Here he is. I don't normally put clothes on him but he was having some private issues >.<

Last but not least, I am waiting on the right man to come along and sweep me off my feet so I can start this post over with, "I am a wife and mom of 2 beautiful children."

Ribbon Rosettes

This is my first attempt at a ribbon rosette. Or any rosette for that matter! I don't even know what I will do with it yet but I'm thinking it will make a great refrigerator magnet. What do you think? I guess the possibilities are endless. Necklaces, bracelets, headbands, etc. Well, here it is! The ribbon I used was turquoise on one side and brown on the other side so it turned out really pretty...