michelle my belle

Never Enough Dessert!

new painting. to be in our etsy shop soon.

some people don't have an issue with sweets.
i wish i was one of them.

Pretty Acorn Cupcakes

I've been pondering what to do for my fall cupcakes this year.
These have been my creations for the past two years here and here.

Katy let me borrow her much treasured Hello, Cupcake book for some inspiration.
My girls and I decided to go with the acorns, they were so cute!

The book offered a great tutorial and as it turned out, not difficult at all.
Just heat 4-5 caramels in the microwave for 5 or so seconds.
While warm and pliable, form into the shape of an egg.

Dip the tops in melted chocolate and then into the jimmies.

SO CUTE! But I can't take credit. My kids made all of them.

Then we took turns adding dollops of
White Cake Mix with blue food coloring and Devils Food Cake Mix.
I'm sure there was a much cleaner way to do this!

Look how pretty they turned out!
Can tell by my daughters blue teeth that she's been licking the finished utensils?

White Frosting with more blue food coloring.
Spooned into a large Ziploc bag with the tip cut off.

Makes for easy clean up that way!

A last detail of Chocolate Frosting added to the acorn tops to act as stems.

Don't you think things taste better when they're colorful!

Dinner Club

About a year ago we got invited to be part of a small dinner club.
Three couples getting together, on average, once every other month.
We rotate houses.
Whosever house it is, chooses the theme.
It was at our house this time.
We went with Asian.

Gave me a good reason to cross of #3 on my LIST.
I had these umbrellas that I had bought from a local business that closed.
I thought they would help make up for my lack of decor.
My husband even helped me hang them and put HOLES in the ceiling!
I did promise to patch them...someday!

The menu:
Thai Lettuce Wraps
Pad Thai
Eggplant
Steamed Rolls in sweet sauce
Jasmine Rice
Miso Soup
Green Tea and Red Bean Ice cream
and Piña Colada's!

Yum, Yum and so much fun.

A Dinner Club may be in your future?

The Best Salsa for Canning!

Our garden didn't supply us enough tomatoes for canning like I'd imagined it would.
I'll have to find a more sunny spot next year.
Thankfully, my good friend Tammy had an abundance and gifted me with a passel.
I still ended up buying quite a few from our local produce stand.
BUT... IT WAS WORTH IT!!!

My aunt and uncle shared their prized recipe with me.
And they don't mind if I share it with you!

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I was in a hurry, starting this project at about 9:00PM, so I used my food processor and lightly chopped all the ingredients except for the cilantro.

Recipe for Canned Salsa

8 lbs peeled chopped drained tomatoes
1-2 cups chopped mild peppers (such as aneheims)
2 cups chopped onion (i used a mix of yellow and red)
1/2 cup hot peppers (with or without seeds-medium to hot)
2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup garlic cloves minced
3/4 cup vinegar (white or cider)
1 cup lightly chopped cilantro

bring all ingredients to a boil
simmer 30 minutes

follow canning directions
i processed for 15 minutes

makes about 7 pints

#23 on my List-check!

Food, Food and more Food

I'm not even sure what this is? 

Yesterday we went somewhere around Xinhai for lunch. We drove 1.5 hours in a car where the air conditioning could only get us down to 88º with no breeze. FOR LUNCH mind you! The 3 hour round trip was bad enough (thankful for a good book!) but adding the "drenched in sweat" part topped it off.

I'm not really complaining. Okay maybe just a wee bit.

 

As you can see, this is an open air market where you walk along and point to which creatures you prefer. They bag it up, you walk across the street to a huge row of restaurants waiting to cook it up for you.

These dishes pretty much speak for themselves. And yes, we ate the pretty creature pictured above. This meal came in at a price of about $130 US dollar.

It was so sweet of the factory to want to take me here. It was quite special and despite the discomfort I'm glad for the experience and their kindness.

Anyone tempted to join me on my next trip :)

Peach'd Out and Salsa Recipes?...

My first time canning!

Very stressful to start but then got the hang of it.

Can't wait to can tomatoes/salsa.

Anyone have a good salsa recipe for canning???

Made several Peach Crisps.

On one, adding a few raspberries. 

D-lish. Careful not to add too many without adding extra sugar cause they're quick to tart it up.

It almost gave it that cherished rhubarb taste. yum!

Okay, I promise... NO MORE PEACHES! I'm plum peach'd out!

Gonna Eat me a lot of Peaches

I thought this cute song was mighty appropriate for this post.

I don't know what's gotten into me.

I've gotten a wild hair trying to be like Pioneer Woman or something crazy like that. It's not that I have all this extra time or anything. I'm just ignoring other responsibilities. which i'm sure will haunt me later

The other day some friends and I took our kids over to Sauvie Island Farms to "pick us some peaches". What did I do but load myself up with 50lbs!! of these lovelies. 

This must be some sort of "disorder"? haha

 

Taking a break to enjoy our bounty. We also picked raspberries and MORE blueberries.

 

The farm is located in a beautiful area just outside Portland, OR. They even have a blog!

Rarely do I sit down and watch movies or television. Last night I grabbed my laptop and was going to sit with my girls and return emails. Well, I ended up getting sucked into the movie Coco Chanel till 2AM. It was an amazing movie, I loved it! Full of the entrepreneur and feminine spirit.

I better get a move on... I've got about 20 more LBS. to get canned, a cobbler to make and a few more emails to return. Oh, and maybe a swim or run! Why is exercise always last on the list!!!

Best Blueberry Buckle Ever!

In case you were wondering what we could be doing with all those blueberries...

 

For one, I've made muffins galore. 

And secondly, Meg told me that we must try her Blueberry Buckle Recipe. Oh boy, am I glad we did!!! It is the best thing Blueberry Buckle EVER!

I also loved how cute her recipe prints out.

Thanks Meg!

Spring Brings...

Light Fare meals which I love! 

And GARAGE SALES, which I have a severe weakness for! This is my loot from today.

All this (handmade Mexican terra cotta dishes, tin, fabric, old pattern, 2 lace pillow cases) for $12!

I think I'm addicted!

Almost a Garden!

I would never have thought that I'd be the type to want to grow a vegetable garden to be honest with you. Too much work and still recovering from my mom making me weed ours as a kid.

I think I have my friend Stacey to thank for this new obsession. Last year she gifted us with a couple loads of fresh tomatoes from her garden that were so good and TASTED like... TOMATOES. Buying them from the grocery store I had forgotten what God originally intended them to taste like!

So, much to my husband's reluctance, he began making me some garden beds. Thank you honey!!

I'm really hoping that this spot gets enough sun and that I have somewhat of a green thumb after all of this work!

I'll post the finished beds... when they're finished! :)

I'm so excited, I bought my first rhubarb plant today! Do you know what kind of seeds are good? There are so many brands my head started spinning so I just didn't get any.