Sunday Funday 10-13-13

This was a pretty busy week for me, baking and otherwise.  I have a new frosting recipe I wanted to get out to you before today, but I got a little distracted.  I'm sure you'll forgive me when I post it in the next day or two, right? Awesome, you're cool.

1. My cousin who lives in Texas had a baby and was in Ohio visiting.  I had an awesome afternoon hanging out with her and my other cousins and meeting her new little guy.  He is so cute and looks just like our grandpa, but with Asian eyes.  She is the first of the cousins to have a kid and she seems to have gotten pretty lucky with her awesome baby.

2.  My husbands rugby team had their 10th annual breast cancer fundraiser and it was a huge success!  The event is held at a bar, they have bottomless beers, a split-the-pot raffle, baskets for raffle, food, and a bake sale. I donated beer marshmallows and they were amazing! For this batch, I used Guinness and drizzled chocolate over the marshmallows instead of dipping them.

3. I made bread this week!  I usually stray away from yeast breads, but this one got great reviews and seemed fairly easy.  This is the recipe I used.  Next time I make it (and I definitely will) I will use less sugar per some comments.  Per another reviewer's suggestion, I found it really helpful to turn on my oven for 20-30 seconds, then turn it off, and use it to help my dough rise.  I used my homemade white dough to make two loaves of pepperoni bread that I can grab for quick lunches or pair with soups for dinners.

4. My mom and I split an order of Ugandan vanilla beans from Beanilla and I'm so excited to to say that they arrived in the mail! I can't wait to drop these fragrant beans into a bottle of vodka and get a new batch of vanilla extract started!

5. Ohio State football had a by-week but next week the Buckeyes will take on Iowa...bring it on!  My high school played and lost to a pretty good private school in Cincinnati.  Bummer we lost but I was so impressed with the other schools facilities - their sports complex was really nice, they had a latte cart with their concessions (really, who has a latte cart), and when their team entered the field they had purple smoke!..crazy!

Bookmarks:

1. Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake by Pin Cookie.
A chocolate cookie crust, a layer of ganache, an espresso cheesecake, and a silky creamy topping make this cheesecake something that needs to be in my life.

2. Creme Brulee Cookies by Oh Bite It.
Oh Bite It! takes a genius approach to creme brulee by turning it into a handheld treat.  Premade sugar cookie dough gets baked, dented and filled with vanilla pudding, sprinkled with sugar, and toasted to a crunchy perfection.

3. White Chocolate Lemon Bread by Lil' Luna.
I love lemon loaves! Anytime I go to Starbucks I have to exercise an absurd amount of will power to not by an overpriced slice of their lemon bread.  This lemon loaf by Lil' Luna seems like an easy treat to through together since it utilizes a lemon cake mix and (dry) white chocolate pudding.  What a tasty combination!  I would be interested in figuring out how to completely home-make it but there's nothing wrong with using a box to get things started.

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  I can't remember if I've already shared this one...

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