My weekend in pictures 10/7/2011-10/9/2011

I am kind of light on the amount of pictures I took this weekend, but the few that I do have are amazing.  I am starting to think of more and more things that I can blog about (I'd love to hear your ideas!) and I am really excited to have 7 followers.  I'm not sure who 2 of you are, but I am so glad you're living this amazing life right along with me.  (:

Here's my weekend in pictures!

I went to watch a play on Saturday night with my family (Mom, Sister, Aunt) and during intermission we found this amazing backdrop and had a little photoshoot!  I am going to start pricing new cameras, though.  The camera I found randomly on the sidewalk one day isn't cutting it anymore.  Above is Lindsey and myself.  Her blog is here.

 Lindsey taught Robin how to pose with her arm at an angle so that way her arm looks thin.  It actually works.  I am pretty sure Bop picked this up from Hannah Antonacci.  (Who's blog is here.)

 The most adorable little ginger boy took this picture of all 4 of us.  Can I just say that I truly was with 3 of the most beautiful women in the room!  Look at them all doing the arm pose and me sucking my gut in!  (:

 Lindsey, myself, Mom.  (Who may be doing a guest post soon!)

 We were hiding in the jungle.  Haha.  Lindsey his too well because Mom had to take this picture several times.  "Lindsey I can't see you!"

 I made some butterscotch walnut cookies, but during the mixing I broke my favorite red heat proof rubber scraper.  Sad day.  I am on the market for a new one!  (The handle is clear so it's hard to see.)

I packaged most of the cookies up and passed them out.  These are for my friends Josh and Taylor who I saw on Sunday evening.  I had a blast with them and some other people swinging in the park.  I hope to see them again very soon!

That's all for this week.  I promise to take more pictures next week!

Blog love to you and yours,

Logan

My weekend in pictures 9/30/2011-10/2/2011

Here's my weekend in pictures!

 This picture was technically taken on Thursday, but it's here because it seems like this weekend got start on Thursday for me, and not Friday.  My Mom had her 34th (ha!) Birthday on 9.29 and the above picture shows my sister and I with the birthday gift we gave Mom.  If I do say so myself, she made out like a bandit.  I think she had a really great birthday, even though she hates birthdays.  (:

 This was really beautiful and I wanted to document it.  It's supposed to be Wild Berry Lemonade but our waiter kept spilling it so it was pretty much sugar water.  It was still good though! 

 On Friday afternoon after work I helped my Grandpa paint this rusted out old trailer.  This is LD's first appearence in the blog world, although he is all over Facebook.  The trailor turned out nice... it's shiny and looks brand new. 

 Friday evening was my HS's Homecoming Football game and I went back to my old glory and worked the concession stand.  I used to work there ALL the time in my HS glory days, and it was fun to do it again.  This is a picture Lindsey took of our shopping cart when she was searching for the calculator button on my phone.  The story is that we had to leave the game before it even started to go buy hot chocolate, coffee and hot dog buns at WalMart.  It was an epic adventure.

 We formulated plans on the drive to WalMart and were ready to attack once inside the store.  We literally took every container of hot chocolate, every container of coffee and every bag of hot dog buns off of the shelf.  It was intense.

 Look at how long that receipt is! 

After the game with my Mom.  We survived it.  Barely.

I bought these mums at some point this weekend.  Aren't they beautiful?  I love mums. 

 On Sunday afternoon I went with my Aunt Robin and her friend to search for a man who has been missing for several days from our community.  It was my first jaunt as a member of a search party.  Don't I look the part?  I was ready for just about anything.  We're still hoping that the man is found soon and he comes back to his family who miss him so much.

 Between the searching and insane amount of homework I did this weekend I needed to relieve some stress.  Baking seemed like a perfect option!  Now you see the coffee cake muffins right out of the oven.  But wait... scroll down...

 They got a lot more sassy with the glaze on top, don't you think?

 Bugsy.  Isn't she adorable?

Mom and I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Sunday evening and they had these large elaborate booths that were painted with different scenes.  Ours had an elephant!  So great.

Finally, to wrap up this wonderful weekend, I was able to color code my closet.  (:

I hope you had a great weekend as well.  Thanks for reading!

Logan


PS- I didn't mention the care package I got from the Antonacci family in this post.  You can watch the video I made of the opening here.   (Thanks again!)

My weekend in pictures 9/23/2011-9/25/2011

It's been a fantastic week, and this weekend was no exception!  I was happy with the way my 1st day of classes went last Wednesday, and I am really excited about this new opportunity in my life. 

Here's my weekend in pictures:

 I ordered this silver elephant ring from Etsy.  It came in the mail on Friday, and I was excited.  I love it, but I don't know if I can pull it off.  It feels so strange to me to have a ring on my finger.  I don't know which finger it belongs on?  And I don't know it it makes me look like I'm flaming.  In the background you can see my computer screen.  I've been reading all weekend for class on Monday, and I feel like I have a solid grasp on the information.  I also did all of the quizzes for the quarter for my online class in one sitting, which is great.  I like being able to tick that off of my to-do list. 

 Saturday dinner: pizza bread and dinosaur nuggets with honey mustard.  I'm a kid.

 Dinner with the family.  We all wore purple.  How weird!

(Check out Lindsey's blog at: http://www.lindseyoates.com/)

 Crab Rangoon.  They're okay, but not as good as Thanh Linh in Peoria

 It's like my dinner at the Japanese Steakhouse kept expanding.  Leftovers?  Yes!

 This is my friend Brody.  We met at the Japanese Steakhouse and instantly hit it off.  The thing is that Brody and I have the same likes in food, and I knew we we're going to eat the same things before I even sat down.  I really enjoyed talking with Brody and his Mom during dinner.  He's a fantastic young man and I can tell that his Mom raised him with manners and respect.  At one point he said "I can't just say no, I have to say no thank you."  Manners like that, instilled at an early age, will go a long way in a child's life.  I remember my Mom teaching me those things, and I think that is what has made me into the kind, compassionate man I am today. 

Brody (5), myself, and Caiden (4) at the Japanese Steakhouse after dinner.  At one point Brody told me that he wanted to be just like me when he grows up.  I didn't know really how to react, so I said that he needed to go to college, and go to school everyday.  In hind sight I should have told that young man to build a solid relationship with his mother and family, because that is the best thing a person can ever have.  I want to thank Brody and Caiden's mom Rachel for allowing me to post these pictures.  If you ever need a babysitter out there in New Holland, let me know!  

It's been a low-key weekend.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Logan

Homemade Hostess Cupcakes!

I am so happy to report that these turned out WAY better than anticipated.  I have been dying to make these for ages now, and when I finally came across an excellent tutorial, I followed the steps and made my own. 

 I started with a Pillsbury store bought Devils Food cake mix.  I know it's cheating, but I refuse to make cake from scratch when I know that the dough boy has got me covered for $1 at WalMart.  It's just not worth my time and hassle to use anything else.  So, start with the mix and bake according to the package instruction.  I got 40 cupcakes.  One thing to note is that you want to fill each cup with 2 tablespoons of battered so that way they are perfectly tall enough for the goodness that comes next. 

 Homemade cream filling.  It's SO good.  When I read the tutorial I thought she was being a little over zealous of her praise for the cream filling, but it is so good, and really easy!  Follow the link above for the full tutorial, and you're good to go.  I wouldn't chill my cream filling when I do this again, though because it was really hard to pipe into the cupcakes.  I'm a wimp I guess.

 Butter, chocolate chips, corn syrup, vanilla.  It just looks heavenly, doesn't it?  This is the ganache for the top of the cupcakes.  I microwaved mine and got a perfect consistency.  You DO want this to cool before you dunk your cupcakes.  Just watch it to get the right consistency.

 I have a piping tip that is made to fill cupcakes, and the tutorial has many other suggestions.  I found it pretty easy.  I'm going to start filling cupcakes more often! 

 I was practicing my swirls while the chocolate chilled...

 But that cream filling is too good to waste, so I smeared it off with my finger and ate it.  (:

 These are my homemade version's classy cousins from the city.  Each one has 7 perfect swirls.

 I had to take a big bite so you guys could see the inside...

 Next, you dip the filled cupcakes into the melted chocolate mixture. 

 Swirl the cupcake as you come up and you will get a perfectly smooth consistency.  Chill before you add the swirls on top.

 Imposters!

Again, I want to encourage you to follow this tutorial to get the full recipe and step-by-step instructions.  It does seem like a lot of work, but it really isn't that hard, and these cupcakes are SO good. 

Lovin' from my oven,
Logan

My weekend in pictures 9/16/2011-9/18/2011

I am really getting into this blogging thing.  I can't wait to show you my weekend in pictures!  This weekend, upon looking through my pictures, is really food-centric.  I am okay with that, though!  I love food and it plays an important role in my life.  So... here it goes!

My weekend in pictures:

I didn't take any pictures of mine and Mel's trip to OSU on Friday, but I do want to say that we had a good time and spent a lot of money (gross, books and parking passes) but I did find a pair of Levi's at UO for $10!  (:

 I discovered last week that I much prefer to add text under each picture rather than click on the "add a caption" box because it stretches the frame around the picture out.  I don't like that at all!  Anyway, on Friday I found these delicious pillows at WalMart on clearance for $5!  Happy Dance! 

 Friday night I went to the Go Kart races, and when I went to get the blazer to drive back to KC Raceway I saw that my Grandpa had left $10 (to pay my way in) and the keys in the cup holder.  He knows I almost never have cash.  Isn't that sweet?!

 The Go Kart races were cold, and my lovely Aunt Robin made hot chocolate-coffee-ish stuff.  It was SO good.  I also had some candy corn, which I did not share.  I also ate Oreos and Nachos while at the races.  Yum!

 Let's talk about trough urinals for a minute, because they are NOT okay.  I avoid urinals at all costs anyway, but these are just weird on so many levels.  No privacy, environmentally unfriendly, and just plain icky. 

 The only bright side to the Go Kart track bathrooms was that they had hand dryers, which I used to warm up my (almost) frozen fingers.  It was great.  I bought Nachos after this and shared with Mel, but I didn't tell her that I didn't actually wash my hands until after she had eaten several chips.  Oops!

 This exhaust thingy on my brothers kart get's really hot, so I kept my hands warm on it while we were waiting on him to race.  It comes in 2nd to the hand dryer.

 I really wanted to bake something this weekend, and my first attempt on Saturday night failed miserably.  The house STILL smells like burnt graham crackers.

 So I got up on Sunday, had some toast, and I decided to try again!

 They're called Caramel Heavenlies (or Graham Crackers Parts) and the link to the recipe is here.  I used parchment paper instead on foil to fine the pan, and it worked perfectly.  Cook the caramel for 1 minute exactly after the butter has melted.  I added dark chocolate chips to mine as well.

 I also made these "Fauxstess" chocolate cream filled cupcakes.  Check my next post for more details!

To wrap up the weekend I watched the Antiques Roadshow and 2 hours of Hoarders with my Grandpa.  I love that man!

I hope you had a great weekend as well,

Logan