Happy Birthday Ho-Down!

Lucia's very first birthday!

My sister "T" threw a beautiful party!

The Birthday Girl!

We had pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, cornbread, fresh biscuits with honey butter, hot dogs, potato salad... it was a feast!!!

T is the oldest of all of us kids, and this candle was used for her own first birthday. So special to put it on Lucia's first birthday cake!

'Til next time!

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Muffins... and the Train Park.

This delicious recipe for "Morning Glory Muffins" came from King Arthur Flour.

They have carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, almonds, granny smith apples, and golden raisins. I also exchanged a portion of the white flour for wheat flour. Basically everything but the kitchen sink!!

I used 5in squares of parchment paper for the wrappers. If you tied little bows around them they would make a sweet little gift : )

And if you want to indulge, add a sweet cream cheese spread... it's like a glorified carrot cake!

And this is McCormick Railroad Park in Scottsdale. It is such a wonderful place full of history and lots of fun! It has an old presidential train, and 100 year old train depots that are now cute little shops and restaurants. They have kept the prices very reasonable, and I think we are so lucky to have something like this in our city!

So long for now!

Morning Glory Muffins- King Arthur Flour
( I exchanged 3/4 cup of white flour with wheat flour, and added pineapple )

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) raisins
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) white flour
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces)  white or brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (7 ounces) carrots, peeled and grated
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped walnuts
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sunflower seeds or wheat germ, optional
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (4 5/8 ounces) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.

To make the muffins: In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ, if using. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange juice. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened. Drain the raisins and stir them in. Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan (they'll be full almost to the top; that's OK).

To bake the muffins: Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling

The Big Four!

Bella's favorite thing to do, in the world, is color.

So for her birthday I made her a gigantic pink crayon!

I thought these candles were soooo cute.

Birthday Buddies once again!

Happy Birthday Bella!

Halloween 2011!

There were some especially great costumes this year!

We had ties in both 2nd and 3rd place.

Congratulations "Red Solos Cups" for winning first place!!!

  

So we had Dorothy and the Scarecrow...

Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera...

Which couple is the real one?!

Boy Wonder!

 A missionary...   ; )

Kelly Kapowski, from Saved By The Bell...

Zach and his huge cell phone were also at the party  : )

The Farmer and his Wife.

A baker...

Starbucks employee and customer...

And games!

Every year my dad ends up around the "Left, Right, Center" table with messy hair, half a costume, and a really dirty face!

The Big Winner!

Here's to another year of great memories!!!

This is a new favorite recipe that we had at the party. I didn't bake it as long as the recipe instructed so that it would be a little chewy. I also bought kettle corn at Sprouts to start. It is basically covered in butter and sugar, how could you go wrong?!

Caramel Corn Recipe - ( Paula Deen, no wonder there is so much butter in it! )

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Over medium heat, combine first 4 ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Stir well. Pour over 8 quarts popped corn. Stir to coat well. Bake in large roaster or pan for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper to dry.