Baby Update: We're Almost there!

We're counting down the days until we get to meet our little one... there are only a couple of weeks left until we get to see his sweet little face! I can't even begin to tell you how excited we are! Now that Stephen has gone back to school and I've finished working, it's really all I can think about! Luckily the baby's room is done, our bags are packed for the hospital and the house is clean... now we wait!

Baby Update

I'm almost to 30 weeks! Things have been going pretty well so far and I can't say I have much to complain about. Our baby boy is healthy, active and is growing perfectly, we couldn't ask for more! It's been fun to have strangers and people that come into work ask about the baby and how I'm doing. They're always surprised to hear that I feel great. I've had a few minor bumps in the road but for the most part I've been able to do everything that I was doing pre-pregnancy. As you can probably tell the posts have dwindled down to two per week, but right now between baby prep, work, vacations, and doctor visits, I don't have quite as much time to blog- and that's ok with me. I'm sure it will take me a while to get the hang of things and find some kind of balance once the baby comes, but if you'll just bare with me, I think you're going to like some of the recipes that I've got planned! Stay tuned!!!

P.S. Thanks for all of your love and support, I appreciate your sweet comments :)

January & February, according to instagram

It's been a while since I've done an update about the two of us. We're still alive... barely.

 Stephen has been swamped with school and church callings and I've been working 24/7 and fighting off one thing after another. Currently it's a sinus infection that's been keeping me in bed and out of the kitchen. Sad, I know! Thankfully I was still able to attend the Build Your Blog Conference with my sister-in-law Emily. We had such a fun time meeting new people and learning some great tips for our blogs. The highlight of the conference (at least for me) was getting to meet Maria from Two Peas & Their Pod and Amanda from Kevin & Amanda- you can see our picture with them here. Anyway, I thought I'd share some snapshots of what we did during January and what we've been up to this February.

January started off with freezing temperatures and a lot of snow // It piled up in a matter of hours!

I made one of my favorite kinds of pot stickers- gyoza // I also rolled out some fresh tomato fettuccine 

The tree in our front yard was perfectly flocked with fresh powder // Piles of snow at the grocery store

Stephen's friends from Florida came to visit/ski and James brought everyone t-shirts of himself :)

Out playing in 10+ inches of snow // We had icicles growing outside of our kitchen window

Stephen found a friend at Scheels // We made a Krispy Kreme run... love those glazed blueberry ones!

Being crazy with Mandy at the My Recipe Magic launch party // Date night with Stephen

Baking with Blondie // Making French macarons with Mandy at work (Sur La Table)

I just wanted to thank you for being so patient when things have been slow. Hopefully within the next few days I will start feeling better and things will get back on track- fingers crossed!

Sweet Honey Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting and Caramelized Figs

It's been a while. Again. I've been sick for what seems like a month. And just when I start feeling better it seems like I've got something else. Then there's the work thing... and the holidays. Yep, I'm pretty much maxed out. I wish there were more hours in the day, that I could sleep a little more and that I didn't have so much to do. We're in Florida now visiting Stephen's family, and that has seemed to help ease the stress of things, but somehow I just haven't managed to find time to blog (until now). And you know what? I'm ok with that. When I first started taking blogging seriously I was set on a 3 post week. I was really good at sticking to that. Now, well, you can tell that I've been slacking off. Not really, because like you, I do have a life. There are more important things than blogging for me to do during the day. The events of last Friday have really put that in perspective for me. I want to spend the little time I do have with my family and enjoy Christmas. There are so many wonderful things to do and see- I'd much rather be out there than on here. Do you know what I mean? With that said, I'm sharing this cupcake recipe with you today. It's one that I made back in October for a contest and people really seemed to love it- I hope you will too! The mild flavors of the cake and the frosting are really appealing to me. The natural sweetness of the honey paired with the mascarpone cheese is absolutely divine! Since figs are usually easy to find during fall and winter, I thought they'd be perfect to caramelize and place on top of these cupcakes. If you're not a fan of figs, try pear slices or even apples, I think they'd be just as tasty! I hope you don't mind that I'm "double-dipping," but this was a quick and easy recipe for me to share with you all- enjoy!

Honey Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 ¼ c. cake flour

½ c. all-purpose flour

½ c. honey

½ c. unsalted butter, room temperature

1/3  c. sour cream

2/3 c. whole milk

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

For the mascarpone frosting:

1 (8 oz.) container mascarpone cheese

½ c. heavy whipping cream

2 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the caramelized figs:

¼ c. granulated sugar

8 ripe and sweet figs (mission or turkey), cut in half 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cupcake tins with 16 liners, set aside.
2. In a medium size mixing bowl whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add honey, butter, sour cream, vanilla extract and vanilla bean. Mix for 1 minute.
4. Add one egg at a time, mixing after each addition. With mixing speed on low, alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the milk. Beat until just combined.
5. Divide batter and fill cupcake liners ⅔ of the way full.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (note: they will not turn golden brown, so do not over bake).
7. Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool in tins for 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Meanwhile, to make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine mascarpone cheese, heavy whipping cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.

9. With mixing speed on low, begin to beat the mixture. Gradually turn the speed up until it reaches a medium-high speed. Beat mixture for 2-3 minutes until soft peaks begin to form (keep an eye on it while it is beating, you do not want the mixture to curdle). Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.
10. To prepare figs, dip the cut side of each fig into the granulated sugar. Place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Using a kitchen torch, caramelize each fig (this will take approximately 1 minute). Place a cut fig on the top of each cupcake.
Stephen + Natalie | Makes 16 standard size cupcakes

Life according to instagram

A week or so ago we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and got a huge slice of Oreo cheesecake for dessert. The Oreo on top was the size of a hockey puck... I was one happy camper! // I've finally started a semi-normal work schedule doing classes at Sur La Table. // This usually means my apron looks like a Jackson Pollock by the time we're through. // It ends up in that lovely pile of laundry that seems to be never ending. Seriously, how do we always have so much? // This past Thursday was my birthday and Stephen surprised me with a lot of really fun stuff including a giant Julius ({Paul Frank)! I case you don't know, I'm kind of obsessed with sock monkeys. // Saturday we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon to the Alta Ski Resort. The canyon is just starting to turn red and orange... it's absolutely beautiful this time of year! We decided to hike up to Cecret Lake- what a view! I love being outdoors and now that the weather is starting to cool off, hiking will most definitely become our new weekend thing! 

Our week, according to instagram

Happy Friday! Here are a few things we've been up to this week:

wednesday night at Scouts ● soda bottle rockets

favorite sandals ever ● so not happy about the gum on our shoes

stormy sky ● free bloomin' onion

stocked up on oliver + s patterns ● sewing companion

first hair cut since donating in september ● old school GPS

love that color and that guy ● more hair

avengers in 3D ● theater

he always makes the perfect cone @ Jason's Deli ● 1st year done

Yes. That's right. Stephen is out for the summer!

An upgrade of sorts

The past couple of months have been full of long runs and tired feet. Stephen and I have been training for the Gate River Run 15k which will be in March, here in Jacksonville. A couple of weeks ago I began to notice how the cushioning in my shoes was less than cushy- of course, that is to be expected when you've been wearing them for the past year or so. Finally I caved and bought a new pair in hopes of breaking them in before the big race (Gel Kayano-18's... I'm so glad Asics makes a new and improved version of them... and that they were in stock at a local running store). So far, so good. I did a 4.25 mile run yesterday and it felt like I was running on clouds.

Love that feeling. Seriously. I'm one happy runner.

Yesterday, according to my phone

babysat the Rudder kids (Will's favorite monkey)

colored + played + painted toenails

flowers from Katie

went grocery shopping then running... 

reminded myself how much I need new shoes

finally found a spot to display the cake stands I've collected + made a 1/2 

batch of PW's restaurant-style salsa to go with our tacos for dinner. 

I was a little skeptical when I was making it, but it was soooo good! (go here for the recipe)

Simplicity

Sometimes I just love the simplicity of a mini pot pie and a salad for dinner. 

I'm pretty sure I could eat this every night. But that would just be silly, right?

Rice is another thing I'm kind of obsessed with. Stephen thinks I'm a little crazy when I go on about how good it is- he just doesn't get it. You could give it to me any way and I'd love it. And then there's peanut butter. He sighs anytime I tell him I'm fine with just eating a pb&j sandwich for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. Luckily I'm a sweetheart and will usually cave and make something "real," like an actual meal- his words, not mine. 

Are there things that you could eat all day, every day?
Do they drive you're loved ones crazy?  ;)

This past week

This past week was a rough one for me. Since last Sunday I've been feeling pretty horrible... ok, really horrible. It started with a bad sore throat and then eventually turned into a viral infection that will take another 6+ days to get over. Sigh. Despite the symptoms and lack of sleep, I was actually able to get a few things done. Since Stephen's birthday was Saturday, I spent most of the week preparing for that (which included tackling a pile of laundry we had been playing Jenga with for more than a few days... seriously it was huge/growing up our closet wall) as well as getting a lesson done for my Cub Scouts, cleaning, getting the house ready for friends to stay with us, errand running and present wrapping. While I was grocery shopping, I found those pretty flowers below and some cool pumpkins. How much did they cost me? $12! Thank you Publix! During one of my energy spurts (about 30 minutes after taking medication) I made Wisconsin cauliflower soup and paninis. You can find the recipe for the soup via the link below. Now that I think about it, that probably wasn't the best move ever, especially after thinking about those 15 minutes of Stephen telling me to relax and that he'd go pick us up something to eat. But thankfully it's Monday and that week is over. I realize that I probably should have gone to the doctor sooner and I probably should have taken it easier (but thank you Stephen for putting up with me, I'm stubborn I know, but I really appreciate you always being there for me). Hopefully this week will be different. I'll keep you posted.

{soup} Note: I pureed the mixture in a blender for 2 minutes on a medium speed to make it smooth and creamy.

Hip Hip Hooray, TODAY I'm 23!

"We turn not older with years, but newer every day."
~ Emily Dickinson

1. Rosie's beautiful cakes over at Sweetapolita

2. Paul Ferney's Let Them Eat Cake prints

3. Birthday cake in a jar via The Family Kitchen

4. Here's to Clean Air by Masha D'yans

(for the American Cancer Society's More Birthdays Contest)

Lucky

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you are having a lovely day

and that you didn't forget to wear green :)

Can I just say that I feel extremely lucky & glad that I've made it to this point in the semester?! I just finished a 6 hour midterm and sat through class until 8:30pm yesterday evening. Today is a more relaxed day (thankfully)... a trip to the gym, class, work and home by 5:00pm. Hooray for short days! I can't believe we've only got about 20 days of school left. Where did the time go? There's a lot of things I need to do before graduation, but I'm looking forward to all of the festivities, adventures and R&R that summer will bring. 

Pumpkins

Stephen picked up a dremel the other day at Home Depot and has since been hard at work making pumpkins.

More pictures to come...