Hostess inspired cake balls

There is something magical about a Hostess cupcake. I mean, how can you beat a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting AND a cream filling? Oh heavens.... tasty.

With that being said I was really excited when I stumbled on Sugar Derby's blog and found her creation for "Hostess inspired cake balls". Cream filling and all!!! 

I thought I'd give it a try and take a batch over to the fire station for Deke and the boys to try. After all, who would make better judges than 7 hungry firemen? 

Welllll... it was also an excuse to visit my on-duty husband - win-win for everyone! ;)

I believe Tyler likes them :) 

We have a future missionary on our hands...

This past weekend Tyler's father took him to church on Sunday. This morning I received a picture text with the message that Tyler had doodled the following picture while in sacrament. It absolutely melts my heart to see that Tyler has developed such a strong testimony of the church at such a young age.

Tyler encourages Deke and I to have family scripture study every night before bed and always begs to read just a few more verses before passing the book.

Last night Tyler found Deke's old missionary training booklet (which has princess stickers on the cover) and Tyler said, "One day I will have a missionary training book too, but mine will NOT have princess stickers on it."

I am so grateful to have a son that provides such a good example to me and invites the spirit into our home on a daily basis. I have already witnessed him trying to teach his non-member friends about the gospel and I can't wait to see him as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.



Bacon wrapped eggs

I LOVE breakfast foods, all of them. I love pancakes, French toast, bagels, English muffins, burritos, sausage, bacon, eggs, etc.... but I love it even more when you can combine two fantastic breakfast foods into one dish. Here is a fabulous recipe for eggs wrapped in bacon. It made for a wonderful Sunday brunch dish! 

Step 1: Fry the bacon in a pan for a few minutes but not too long because you still want it to be flexible. 

Step 2: Wrap the bacon in a greased muffin pan.

Step 3: Make a bowl of scrambled eggs (1 egg per tin) with all your desired ingredients. For this one I used green onions, milk, salt, and pepper. 

Step 4: Pour the eggs into the tin, evenly dispersing them between each tin. 

Step 5: Bake on 350 degrees for appropriately 15-20 minutes or until the eggs are firm. 

Several minutes before the eggs finished I placed some cheese on top and allow it to melt. 

Step 6: Enjoy your fabulous meal! 

Thief in the night....

We went to New York a few years ago and while we were there I had picked up a little Statue of Liberty clock to place on my bookshelf. Looking at it today it looks a little different. Do you see what I mean? 

Lets take a closer look.... 

My son... the little stink... made a photocopy of it and placed it back on my shelf hoping I wouldn't notice! And where do I find the actual clock???? Hmm... I wonder.... 

On HIS bookshelf!!! 

I guess I should of gotten one for him too.

Ahhh... back where it belongs. At least for now until my little thief in the night returns! 

A quarter of a century old!

On March 4th my hubby Deke turned 25 years old! He loves to make fun of the fact that I am older than him and the first thing he says to me on his birthday is, "I'm finally to the age you were when we met!". G-thanks babe! 

Tyler was at his dads house this weekend so we decided to throw Deke a tiny little surprise party for the 3 of us on Thursday night when Deke returned home from school... 

Here is our mini-surprise party ♥

I know that looks like a red blob but it is indeed a heart on his cake.

When I asked Tyler what he wanted to get Deke for his birthday he immediately said a Barbie. Apparently they think its funny to make fun of each other for "liking" girl things. So I took him to the dollar store and he picked out a fairy doll and a princess card. He then went over to the balloons and grabbed the first pink one he saw. I told him that it was a baby shower balloon and read "its a girl" on it... his response: "PERFECT!" LOL when Deke opened his girly present he declared war on Tyler and told him to just wait for his birthday! 

Here is the cake I made for his family party 

The awful thing about Deke having his birthday in March is that he will always have a nasty mustache for that entire month. Its a Cal Fire ritual to grow mustaches that month! Yuck!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART! I'm glad your brain has finally fully developed! ;D 

Crab cakes with a savory chipotle sauce

Deke worked at the Cal Fire crab feed last Saturday and ended up brining home a HUGE bag of leftover dungeness crab. I've never been a huge seafood fan but I didn't want all that food going to waste either. So I made some delicious Paula Deen inspired crab cakes with a savory chipotle sauce. 

I say "inspired" because I took her ingredients but decided my own portions. Her recipe looked too mild and I needed a bold flavor to hide the fish taste that I hate. I was very pleased with my results!

I even convinced Tyler to try one... I only had to tell him they were Crabby-Patties and I had gotten the recipe from Sponge-Bob himself. hehe....  ;)

For dessert we had some strawberry Italian sodas :) 

Recipe with MY portions:
1 1/2 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells 
2 cup crushed crackers (recommended: Ritz), I used 1 cup for mixture and 1 cup for outside layer
5 green onions, finely chopped 
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper 
1/4 cup mayonnaise 
1 egg 
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 
1 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard 
1 lemon, juiced 
1 teaspoon garlic powder 
1 teaspoon salt 
Several dashes cayenne pepper
Approximately 1/4 cup of flour (not for mixture) 


Directions: In large bowl mix all ingredients except the oil and 1 cup of Ritz crumbs. Once mixed, make medium sized patties and coat with Ritz crumbs and flour. Fry in pan on medium heat for 4 minutes on each side.  Once slightly cooled add chipotle dollop and enjoy! 


Chipotle Sauce: 
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise 
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp finely chopped cilantro 
2 tsp of finely chopped chipotle peppers 
several dashes of cayenne pepper

The King and I

This weekend Tyler performed in our stakes Best of Broadway series. He participated in "The King and I" and was one of the little students to teacher "Anna". He had such a fun time with this play and did such a good job too! Anyone who knows Tyler know he's quite the little actor and loves being on stage!

I tried to upload the video but for some reason it wouldn't allow it :( 

"Why Mothers Need Their Sleep"

This video makes me laugh. I've watched it at least a dozen times and every time I get a good chuckle. When I showed it to my husband, Deke, he agreed that I "turn to murder" if I am sleep deprived. I'm not so sure that's completely true but I will admit I get cranky without my precious shut-eye. Any other mothers relate to this video's description? 


"By the way, I killed the cats." LOL!!!



*Be sure to mute the blog music before starting the video*

A Birthday in San Francisco

 Yesterday was my 27th birthday and I don't care who knows it! lol 
We thought it'd be fun to take a little day trip to San Francisco. I really wanted to go to the Exploratorium since I hadn't been there since we moved to Northern California back in 1993 and Deke and Tyler had never been. This was actually Tyler's first time to San Francisco and he was beyond excited to go there. While we were driving over the Bay Bridge he said - "this is a dream come true!!!". Apparently its been a life long desire to cross over a bridge. You should of seen his face when he laid eyes on the Golden Gate for the first time! 

Here are a few of the things we did at the Explratorium:

 Tyler LOVED playing the drums! 

 FINALLY... a chair that is "Deke-sized!" lol 

Deke drew a picture of me through a scope. 

Tyler is making electricity here and if you look really close you can see it. 

Rain drop photography 

After the Exploratorium we walked around the Palace of Fine Arts 

For dinner we went to Johnny Rockets where I had the most amazing peanut butter chocolate milkshake. I must recreate it. 

And you thought the milkshake was my dessert, HA! We had lots of time left on the meter so we decided to check out this cute little cupcake shop down the street, Kara's Cupcakes.

On the way out we decided to burn some of those calories and walked down the bridge... well we walked, Tyler ran. 

Bye-bye San Francisco, we shall meet again real soon! 

This was too cute not to share - This is how I found the boys after coming back to the car from getting gas. I guess our day trip wore them out!