Sunday Funday 12/8/13

Holy cow I feel like if been neglecting this little corner of the web. All apologies. I missed last weeks Sunday post and haven't gotten my Thanksgiving Apple Pie recipe up yet. Hopefully this month will go a little more smoothly. Fingers crossed, right?

1. Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope everyone ate enough food to maybe feel slightly embarrassed. Anyone do any cooking or baking? I made an amazing French Apple Cheesecake Pie that I'll be sharing hopefully soon.  It was to die for. Pie and stuffing are my favorite things about Thanksgiving. 

2. I'm in full swing for Christmas baking. On the menu: pretty sugar cookies (this time I used a Katrina's kitchen recipe), cherry almond blooms, peppermint shortbread, either hot chocolate cookies or caramel stuffed fudge crinkles, peanut butter brownie cups for a cookie exchange, and a completely from-scratch (and I mean completely because I'm a little crazy) chocolate peppermint poke cake for a treat day at school. 

3. We had a snow day on Friday. Winter Storm Dion (since when did we start naming winter storms?) trashed Cincinnati with freezing rain and 4" of snow. It's the best winter storm I've seen since moving out of the Snow Belt and all the fluffy white snow made me so happy. 

4. Christmas a only a little over 2 weeks away and I've hardly done any shopping. To be honest, I really hate going out in the crowds, fighting for parking, and never finding what I'm looking for. So maybe I'll procrastinate a little longer. 

5. Last weekend the Buckeyes beat _ichigan. We had an impromptu party and I whipped up cheddar sausage puffs and homemade salsa.  The Buckeyes had the current longest running winning streak on college football (24 straight games!).  But last night they took on Michigan State for the Big 10 title and lost.  So no National Championship game for us, but another bowl game awaits.

Delicious bookmarks:

1. Blueberry and Angel Cake Trifle by Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

This dessert looks heavenly! It's layers of fluffy angel food cake, delicate cream, and fresh blueberry sauce.  Since angel food cake is fat free and this dessert has blueberries, it's practically healthy....right?

2. French Onion Pastry Puffs by Joy the Baker.

I love caramelized onions.  For me, they are absolutely worth slaving over the stove for.  When done right, they taste sweet and basically melt in your mouth.  Joy the Baker took all that decadence and put it inside a puff pastry with a schmear of Dijon mustard and shredded Gruyere cheese.  I die.

3. Oreo Peppermint Bark by A Southern Fairy Tale.

Nothing fancy or schmancy but definitely a tasty looking addition to any cookie tray this holiday season.  It looks pretty easy, too: Melted milk chocolate is spread on a tray, topped with crushed chocolate wafer sandwich cookies, which is then schmeared with melted white chocolate and garnished with crushed candy canes.

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Source

Sunday Funday 10-27-13

Another week, another Sunday Funday!

1. I'm almost finished with Weeds on Netflix...the show went crazy for a few seasons in the middle but I'm liking where it's ending up.  Any suggestions on new series to start?

2.  Ohio State defeated Penn State and did an amazing half time show you have to watch.  It's Movie Classics and features Superman holding up a building, a dinosaur from Jurassic Park eating someone, and other really awesome things.  Seriously, go check it out.

3.  I've made bread for the third time in three weeks and I'm really loving it! It fills the whole house with that warm, bready smell.  The bread itself tastes so much better than store bought.  And it's cheaper than buying it.  I'll definitely dedicate a post to it sometime soon.

4.  On Friday, we had friends over our house carve pumpkins and I scored on pumpkin seeds - 13 cups!  A big thanks to my friend Mollie for helping me sort through all the pumpkin goo to get all those tasty seeds, I'll definitely give you a container full for your effort.

5.  The husband and I did a late celebration of our anniversary (three years already!) on Saturday and saw Swan Lake at the Aronoff.  The performance was amazing....every time I see a ballet I wish I could dance on pointe, so pretty!  But then I remember that I can't find a beat and don't have enough coordination, lol.

Here are some of the awesome recipes I bookmarked this week:

1. Dark Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bars by Half Baked Harvest
I love the combination of oats and chocolate.  We can almost pretend its healthy, almost.  Enough for me.  And I love cookie bars, all the deliciousness of a cookie and the ease of a bar.  Awesome.

2. Double Vanilla Sugar Cookies by Baking Bites.
I was browsing around the web for a vanilla cookie recipe that really highlights the vanilla flavor.  I want to compare the two varieties of vanilla I made: Madagascar versus Tahitian. This recipe really seems like it will really let the vanilla flavor shine, and I can't wait to try it out.

3. Chewy Butterfinger Cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction.
Chewy cookies that have just a few common ingredients that come together in 15 minutes?? YES! And they're loaded with Butterfingers, so they are a great way to use up Halloween candy.  I bet they'd also be good substituted with any other candy bar like Snickers, Milky Way, Reeses...

Have a fantastic week!

Source

Sunday Funday 10-20-13

Another week has flown by! October is more than halfway over, Halloween is right around the corner, and soon it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas...whoa, I don't think I'm ready for all that, yet.

1.  Happy birthday to my brother, Michael!

2.  I made white bread again this weekend - this time I made a regular loaf of bread and I made one pepperoni roll.  I decreased the amount of sugar called for in the recipe from 2/3 cup to 1/4 cup and definitely like the flavor better.  The higher amount of sugar would be great for making sweet rolls or cinnamon bread.

3.  The Ohio State Buckeyes were victorious over Iowa.  Although the defense wasn't that great and we didn't really show up to play until the second half, it was still a good game.  Next week, bring on Penn State!

4.  My friend Courtney sells amazing resources for elementary and intervention in her Teachers Pay Teachers store and she has really inspired me to start selling some of my own materials as well.  So far, I've made a few games for articulation - specifically two vocalic /r/ games and one game for /s/ blend sounds ("st").  You can check out my store here.


5.  This week should be a fairly busy one for me - lots of baking, visiting a friend with a new baby, working out, and high school football/cheerleading.  We're also having friends over this coming weekend to carve pumpkins but I've got to tell you I'm way more excited to pilfer everyone's seeds to roast.

Bookmarks:

1. Puppy Chow Popcorn from People Magazine.
All the peanut buttery and chocolatey goodness of traditional puppy chow carried via popcorn instead of Chex cereal.  Genius.

2. Toasted Marshmallow Cookie Bars by Annie's Eats.
Home made marshmallows get toasted and folded into sugar cookie dough, pressed into a bar, and baked.  I love home made marshmallows and this seems like such a great way to utilize any leftovers.  Although I'm sure marshmallows from a bag would make an equally delicious treat.

3. Copycat Cane's Sauce by Domestic Superhero.
Aka: Zax Sauce.  There's this chicken finger place right off Ohio State's campus right on High Street called Raising Cane's.  This place only sells chicken fingers.  Of course you get side items, like slaw, texas toast, and fries, but chicken fingers is it.  They are so good, and they are served with this incredible sauce, "Cane's Sauce."  It's so good you dip everything into it: chicken, bread, fries, everything.  You can even buy a whole cup of it to take home (and dip with pizza, hot ham and cheese sandwiches, phillies, wings, etc).  The husband is so excited we found a recipe for this beloved sauce.

Have an incredible week!

Source

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.

Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest: Sweet Your Heart Out

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

Source

Sunday Funday 10-6-13

What's up!? It's Sunday again.

 1. What an amazing football weekend! My school had their homecoming and actually won.  We almost botched it in the 4th, but an amazing interception kept us in the lead.  I made really cute sugar cookies for the cheerleaders and they loved them.  When I made these, I used all vanilla extract instead of orange and/or almond extract - and I definitely loved the vanilla flavor they had. Next time I make a batch, I think I will reduce or omit the baking powder, because my cookies rose and spread just a little bit.

2.  Speaking of football, OSU had an amazing game against Northwestern.  What an exciting game - I love when my Buckeyes can pull off a win and keep the game interesting!

3.  I'm so excited it's October and all the great things that can be baked with pumpkin.  Seeds, breads, muffins, pancakes, the list is endless.  What are your favorite pumpkin recipes?

4. We had an awesome Saturday hanging out at our friends farm! Another couple was there and brought a bow and arrow, so we spent a good bit of time shooting arrows at some stacked hay bales with a spray painted target on it.  Turns out, I'm not too accurate with a bow and arrow, so in case of zombie apocalypse, I'm gonna need a better weapon of choice.  Still, lots of fun hanging out :)

5. Next weekend is my husband's rugby team's breast cancer fundraiser.  It's a cause that is near and dear to the team, as one of the woman players passed away from the disease.  My friend Amy and I are baking some amazing treats to sell as bake sale items.  I'm making beer marshmallows and some sort of cupcake.  For the cupcake, I'm stuck in a three way tie: chocolate cupcakes with a cookies and cream frosting (pretty standard), brown sugar cupcakes with maple buttercream and candied bacon, or salted popcorn cupcakes (complete with popcorn flour and popcorn scented milk) with salted caramel buttercream and caramel corn topping.  What do you think? Feel free to vote in the comment section below!

Bookmarks:
1. Chocolate Filled Pizzelles by Dolce Pizzelle Cookie Company.
Not an actually recipe, but definitely an inspiration.  I imagine making your favorite pizzelle recipe and while they are still warm off the press wrapping them in half around a dowel or chopstick, letting them cool, filling them with ganache or any other delicious filling, and dipping in chocolate to seal closed.

2.  Ham and Cheese Waffles by Epicurious.
Definitely a more savory recipe.  Seems like it would be a good and interesting twist on a classic sandwich.  This might be good dipped in a sweet barbeque or honey mustard sauce.  Yum!

3. Chevron Cake Roll by And Cute.
What a cute way to give a peak to what kind of flavor is hiding in a cake roll! And Cute made pink zigzags and filled her cake roll with a strawberry and whipped cream filling.  I've never made a cake roll before, but when I do I definitely like the idea of decorating the outside - chevron, stripes, polka dots.... the options are endless!

Don't forget to follow me and Sweet Your Heart Out on Pinterest

Have a fantastic week, ya'll!

Source

Sunday Funday 9-29-13

1. It's still September, but in my classroom I've already changed my calendar over to October.  And I'm already thinking about what I want to dress up as for Halloween.  Being warm is a must for any costume for me....Halloween in Ohio can be anywhere between upper 50's and perfect fall weather to 30's with sleet and rain.  I found a picture on Pinterest of a girl with "Grumpy Cat" make up which would be an awesome, funny, and warm costume.  I love getting dressed up and carving pumpkins...let the countdown to Halloween begin!

2.  This was an awesome football weekend for me....my school won their high school football game (our first - and probably only - all season), our cheerleaders brought their A game, and Ohio State defeated Wisconsin in an entertaining game of football.

3. I just place an order for Ugandan vanilla beans from Beanilla and I'm really excited to get a new batch a vanilla extract started. Ugandan beans have an aroma of earthy notes and tones of milk chocolate. I usually make vanilla extract with Madagascar bourbon beans that I get off of Amazon and recently just finished a batch with Tahitian beans. The Tahitian beans have a chocolate cherry aroma with a fragrance that is to die for.  Needless to say, I need to start experimenting with recipes to determine which bean to use in what.  Stay tuned for some soft and chewy vanilla sugar cookies with vanilla icing.

4.Cleveland Indians scored a wild card spot in the playoffs. It's their first wild card spot in the history of the team and our first playoff appearance since 2007.  Not a bad year to be a tribe fan, I'd say. However, since living in Cincinnati, I've started to root for the Reds, too, but given the option I always root for Cleveland.  What can I say...I'm a Cleveland girl at heart :)

5.  Our church had their annual Oktoberfest this weekend and my husband and I volunteered all evening.  He manned the grill cooking up tasty brats and mets while I fried up 100 pounds of homemade potato pancakes on the flat top.  I managed to sneak away from my post to snag some spaetzles for dinner and an apple turnover for dessert. It was a superfun and low-key way to spend the evening.


Bookmarks

1. Beer and Pretzel Cookies by Cookies and Cups.
These cookies remind me of the beer marshmallows I get so many requests for.  Only they seem like they'd be a little bit easier to throw together - although they do require a decent amount of chill time to firm up the dough.  Perfect for tailgates, Super Bowl parties, or the beer-lover in your life.

2.  Soft and Gooey Loaded Smore Bars by Averie Cooks.
I can't get enough of smores.  All day, everyday.  I've even added a "smore kit" to my treasure box at schools for students to select as a prize.  These bars start out as a basic blondie, but the addition of graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows take it to a gooey new level.  I can't wait to make these.

3.  Blueberry Lemon Glazed Donuts by Country Cleaver.
These donuts are baked and loaded with blueberries, so they're practically healthy, right?  And they're topped with a lemon glaze, so that's even more fruit.  I love the combo of blueberries and lemon so I know this recipe is going to be a winner.

Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest:
Sweet Your Heart Out

Source

Sunday Funday 9-22-13

Oh my gawsh I can't believe how fast this past week went.  Here's another Sunday Funday for you!

1. I've mentioned before that I do some weight lifting at a gym my friend owns.  He is an amazing trainer and has been working with me to build strength and I must say that it is working - this past week, I dead lifted 175 pounds! I know it's no world record, but I'm pretty proud of myself.

2.  I'm happy to have discovered Wonder Years on Netflix.  Needless to say, that's been eating up a decent amount of time!  It's kinda like the pre- Boy Meets World for me.  Speaking of Boy Meets World, who else is excited for Girl Meets World?

3.  Buckeyes demolished Florida A&M this weekend, 76-0.  Not a great game to watch, but I'll take the win.  I'm excited for next weekends game against Wisconsin, which should actually prove to be a game worth watching.  This past Saturday, the marching band did an awesome Beatles Tribute - you can check it out here.

4. I made double cookie dough ice cream this weekend.  Flavor-wise, it's excellent, but the texture was not as creamy as I was hoping for.  I used cream and whole milk, so I'm not really sure where I went wrong.  Either way, I have 4 pints of it in my freezer which I'll definitely eat. 

5. Grey's Anatomy starts this Thursday with a two hour season premiere! Who else is excited about this?

Bookmarks
1. Oreo Doodles by Gimme Some Oven.
These delicious looking chocolate cookies seem kinda like a fudge crinkle cookies, except instead of getting rolled in powdered sugar, they got rolled in Oreo dust.  Not too shabby if you as me!

2. Reese's Overload Cake at Key Ingredient.
Two layers of peanut butter cake sandwiching a chocolate cheesecake with chocolate icing and peanut butter icing.  This cake looks so rich and decadent and I'm dying for an occasion to make it.  Who has a birthday coming up?

3. Deluxe Chocolate Marshmallow Bars at Taste of Home.
It starts off as a basic brownie, then gets smothered by a layer of melted marshmallows and topped with a crunchy chocolate-peanut butter-rice crispy top.  I. Die.

Have an awesome week!

Source

Sunday Funday 9-15-13

Time for another Sunday Funday here at SYHO!  Hope everyone had a great week and an awesome weekend!

1. You may have noticed a new design for my blog - I'm playing around with colors and design things and am not sure if I'm straight up loving the new look.  I felt I was definitely in need for a change, but haven't fully decided if this is it.  Stay tuned for future updates :)

2. Fall weather came in full force this weekend. We celebrated a wedding and a friends birthday this weekend and I'm happy for a lazy Sunday cozied up in my favorite sweats, a blanket my grandma knitted me, and a marathon of Breaking Bad. I'm sure here in Ohio well have a few more hot days, but its officially football and campfire season in my book.

3. Buckeyes beat Cal Berkley last night, 52-34. And Michigan almost lost to U. Akron. Perfect football Saturday if you ask me.

4. Even though the weather has turned chilly, I still really want to break out my ice cream maker for a new batch of ice cream...I'm thinking cookie dough flavored ice cream with cookie dough bits.

5. Has anyone heard of Stitch Fix? It's an online service where you fill out your style profile and for $20 a stylist sends you 5 items to try. If you choose to buy something, your $20 styling fee is applied to the total purchase. Anything you don't want can be sent back in a prepaid envelope. If you've tried it, do you like it? I'm thinking of giving it a shot.


Bookmarks:
1. Creamy Tomato Tortillini Soup by Key Ingredient.
This soup looks delicious, like an adult version of Spaghetti O's and way tastier.  This will definitely be on the menu in my home very soon.

2. Cookies and Cream Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Sally's Baking Addiction.
Moist vanilla cupcakes speckled with Oreo pieces and topped with a silky chocolate frosting...what's to love.  These remind me of Bakerellas Oreo Truffles - so tasty!!

3. Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Sandwich Cookies by Bakers Royale.
It's like a fluffer-nutter sandwich! I'm kicking myself for never thinking this up on my own.  The husband loves fluffer-nutters and I know he will go crazy when I make these.

Sweet Your Heart Out
 
Have a great week everyone! Don't forget to follow SYHO or subscribe to my posts through email!

Source

Sunday Funday 9/8/13

Happy Sunday, y'all!

Here's whats been on my mind this past week!

1. Buckeyes beat San Diego State yesterday. It's just another NBD game, but I sure do love football season.

2. On top of football, men's rugby has started. That means in addition to watching college football, I get to also spend Saturdays outside watching my husband's team play. It's a great way to be out in the sunshine and hang out with friends.

3. I tried making macarons again yesterday. I've switched from the French method to the Italian method and I'm finally starting to get better results. The bottoms are still slightly sticky but they no longer have an air bubble. Anyone have any luck getting perfect macs?

4. Have you seen this definition of "literally" on Urban Dictionary? I'm guilty of misusing the word occasionally, but this entry made me laugh.

5. And have you seen this video: British Animal Voiceovers? My school placement superviser first showed me this video 3 years ago and I still get such a kick outta watching it.

Bookmarks:
1. Lemon Meringue Pie Dip by Something Swanky.  I love homemade lemon curd and this dip recipe by Something Swanky seems like a quick way to enjoy the dessert.

2. Apple Cider Maple Spice Cupcakes by Lady Behind the Curtain.  I'm so ready for fall.  The warm but not hot weather, campfires, and fresh apple cider all make me so happy.  So obviously this recipe fits the bill.

3. Chocolate Blackout Cake by Heat Oven to 350.  Chocolate cake. Chocolate Pudding.  Crumbled cake crumbs. I mean, come. On. Now I just need an excuse to bake this amazing chocolate heaven cake.  Might even be good with a layer of crumbled chocolate wafer cookies covered in Magic Shell like I did for my birthday cake last year.


Don't forget to follow SYHO or subscribe to my posts through email!
Follow me on Pinterest

Source: The Meta Picture

 

Sunday Funday 9/1/13

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!  I hope you are enjoying some nice weather and relaxing activities with the long weekend.  Here in Cincinnati, we had what I can only describe as a small hurricane come through on Saturday, and then it just rained all day.  Good for flowers, bad for cookout in the park.

On my mind:

1. College football season has officially started! The Buckeyes played Buffalo and won. I know it's just an out of conference game, but I love watching college football and there are some high expectations with Urban Meyer this season.

2. I less love my double oven. Don't get me wrong, I still love having the double, but I went to bake cookies this week and my normal baking sheet didn't fit in it - long or short ways. Luckily I had a couple older pans that were small enough to fit, so cookie crisis averted.  Now I (and my mom) are on a quest to find small but good quality baking pans.

3.  The AC was out at school all week and it was the hottest week of summer here in Cinci with temperatures in the 90s -  it felt like we were melting. I know that other schools don't have AC, but those schools are usually equipped with fans and windows that open (ours open out like an awning so you can't really get a breeze). I was finally fixed by Friday though and I know we're all happy to have it back. #Firstworldproblems, I know.

4. It's Labor Day weekend! What kinds of fun things did you do? We watched football, went to a cookout (I brought cheesecake stuffed strawberries - coming soon), relaxed, and bought a washer and a dryer for the house. I also started a new book, Reconstructing Amelia, which is about a teenage girl in a NYC prep school who dies, and her mother who's trying to figure out what happened and who her daughter really was.

5. Miley Cyrus on the VMAs. What. Was. She. Thinking?  Must've been all that Molly. My eyes can never unsee.

Bookmarks:
1. Cupcake Puppy Chow by Sally's Baking Addiction.  The unique thing about this recipe is that it doesn't use cake mix, like a lot of other cupcake puppy chow recipes.

2. Hot Chocolate Donuts by Love From the Oven. I love all things hot chocolate, and last year I even made hot chocolate cookies for a cookie exchange party.  When the weather turns cold, I will definitely whip up a batch of these.

3. Caramel Toffee Dip by I Heart Nap Time. Looks like it would be excellent to dip with apples, graham crackers, or vanilla wafers.

Things I love:
1.  Netflix and Orange is the New Black.  The Hubbo and I watched the entire first season in one week.

2.  This chocolate chip cookie recipe. I know I've posted about it on other occasions, but this time I chunked my own chocolate from a block I bought at Cincinnati Cake and Candy, used homemade Tahitian vanilla extract which has a slight cherry-chocolate aroma, topped them off with a light sprinkling of espresso brava sea salt, which has a coffee essence.

3. This pineapple peeler-corer-slicer. I meant to mention it last week when I talked about how good the fresh pineapple seems to be lately, but I forgot.  It makes slicing a pineapple a cinch - all you do is chop off the top and the bottom then use the slicer like you would if you had an apple slicer.  It peels the skin off, cores out the middle, and leaves you with two halves of core-free and skin-free pineapple.

4. The Bearded Iris. I've followed Leslie's blog for awhile after I stumbled upon a post about her son's speech impediments and a hilarious IEP meeting.  Leslie is a humorist and her blog is hilarious, vulgar, and real. Her posts are a nice break from the day and I suggest checking it out.

5. Benefit High Beam cream. Now part of my make up routine, this cream has an easy to use, nail polish-like applicator. I apply it to my cheek bones, dab a bit on the inner corners of my eyes, and use it to highlight my brow bone. It's kinda pricey for make up (but hey, I'm pretty frugal) but I can't find a generic I like as much.

Don't forget to follow SYHO or subscribe to my posts through email, or follow me on Pinterest

from SomeECards

Sunday Funday 8/25/13

As a new addition to Sweet Your Heart Out, I'm starting Sunday Funday. Hopefully I'll post every Sunday...that's the goal at least. In these posts, I'll update you on the latest happenings on the blog, like any important changes or new features, I'll share some things I've bookmarked during the week, definitely sweet and maybe some savory, and I'll probably ramble about current things going on in general, like things I currently love, etc.

So here's the first Sunday Funday post // 8-25-13

On My Mind:

1. School started this past week, I've officially rejoined the working world in my third year as a speech-language pathologist.  I love my job and I'm excited to see what the year ahead holds. However, I don't like waking up before 9, so 6:30  comes far to early. I'm trying to get a hair/make up routine to 7 minutes, but so far I'm still clocking in at 10 minutes.  Last year I hardly wore make up to school, so this year I'm making more of an effort to be put together.

2. SYHO is on Pinterest. You can follow me here.  You'll see recipes posted from here and from around the internet.  You might also catch an occasional speech therapy resource, something house or baby related (no, I don't have kids, nor am I pregz), or humorous images.

3.  The Hubbo and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary on Wednesday, and we've been together now for 7 1/2 years. - since I was a college freshman at Ohio State.  For each anniversary, we get each other small gifts, then go out and do something nice together, like dinner at a really nice restaurant followed by a night at the ballet. This year, I got some gourmet, high quality chocolate like Scharffenberger and Lindt from Jungle Jims. Hubbo got some craft beers and a bottle of ginger syrup as a nod to his summer spent in Poland where beer was commonly splashed with ginger syrup.

4. Pineapples seem to finally be in season. All summer long I scope out the selection of pineapples in the produce department and for the longest time I could not find any worth spending money on.  That finally changed this week and I think I ate a whole pineapple in 3 days.  The key to selecting a good pineapple is by smelling the fruit where the stem attaches - it should be sweet and fragrant.

Bookmarks:

1.  Crispy Ravioli by Once Upon a Plate.  With fall and football season right around the corner, I'm sure we will have friends over to watch the Buckeyes dominate the Big 10 or head out to friend's houses for other autumn occasions, and these treats seem like an easy and tasty twist on a favorite.


2.  Butterfinger Cupcakes by Make Bake Celebrate.  I'm all about Butterfingers.  I love the how the chocolate melts into an almost toffee like peanut butter middle that just sticks to your teeth and makes your dentist hate you.  Now in a cupcake format, I'm sold.


3.  Smore's Dipped Strawberries by Craft Quickies.  With Fall quickly approaching, I know I will be into lots of smore related things.  I've been known to sit by a campfire on a Friday night with friends and say "I want to eat so many smores that I throw up like I've been drinking" (not that you should do either....ya know, drink or smore irresponsibly).  But but add strawberries, and suddenly it's healthy, right? Right.



Things I love:

1. My double oven. Now I can cook multiple batches of cookies, make dinner and a side, etc, all at the same time. And even better, they heat true to their settings.

2. My new ice cream maker and the book Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream at Home.

3. The autobiography The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort. The movie version is coming to theaters this November and the cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, and Jonah Hill, to name a few so you know it's gonna be great

4. Netflix and Hulu Plus. Since moving into our new house, we cut cable. Except that I still enjoy watching tv and having it present as background noise. What do you like better?

5. This sock bun maker. It works so much better than a cut up sock and it really helps pull off a polished look with minimal time. My hair is really long and I've had a hard time rolling my hair in the bun. I solved this problem by only pulling my hair halfway through the donut (so its looped at the end), splitting the top in two, and rolling down. I've had to play with exactly how much hair to double, but I can usually get a good roll on the first or second try.


Have a great week everyone!  Don't forget to follow SYHO or subscribe to my posts through email (at the bottom of the page)!

Source

Just some humor for ya :)