36: September 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Today, I'm helping my friend, Ang over at Juggling Act Mama, celebrate her birthday! A bunch of bloggers made cupcakes for her special day. With it being Fall, I deviated a little from the pumpkin route - although I did briefly consider it - and went with a Snickerdoodle Cupcake.
Snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies - I love the cinnamon-y goodness. I thought it would be fun to make a cupcake with the same cinnamon flavor to help Ang celebrate. Plus, with such a fun name, what's not to love? It kinda sounds like a party, right?

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
Printable recipe
Yield: 24 cupcakes

For the cake:

1 pkg. (18.25 oz) plain white cake mix

1 cup milk

8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, melted

3 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the frosting:

8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

3¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted

3-4 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin baking pan with 24 paper liners and set aside.

Place the cake mix, milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer until well combined. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 more minutes more, scraping the sides down again, if needed. The batter should look well combined. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Place the pans in the oven side by side.

Bake the cupcakes until they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, about 15-20 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove them to wire racks to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the frosting by placing the butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the powdered sugar, 3 tbsp. milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Blend with the mixer on low until the sugar is incorporated, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1 tbsp. milk if the frosting seems stiff.

Spread or pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes. Store the cupcakes, uncovered, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, about 20 minutes.

These cupcakes can be kept, covered in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week.

A birthday party needs cake - and what's more fun cupcakes?

Link up your favorite cupcake posts here:

Let's Party!

Snickerdoodles

Cinnamon Banana Cake

.... and one last look at those Snickerdoodle Cupcakes - MmmmmMmmm!

I hope you enjoy! Shared at thesefun parties!
Featured at My Sweet Mission, I Should Be Mopping the Floor and Duck 'n a Row

Don't forget to share and comment ♥Copyright © Love Bakes Good Cakes 2012-2013 All Rights Reserved

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Happy Birthday Juggling Act Mama and a Kindle Fire HD 7" Giveaway

Hi friends! I'm helping Ang from Juggling Act Mama celebrate her birthday this week! Cake is a must for birthday's in my opinion (there's a cupcake party tomorrow yay!!) - Of course, the only thing better than a big ole piece of cake on your birthday and celebrating with friends, is presents, right? Who doesn't love presents? Well, for Juggling Act Mama's birthday, she's giving away a Kindle Fire HD 7" to one lucky reader! It might even be you!

The party doesn't end here - be sure to visit Juggling Act Mama every day this week for more great birthday fun - including a Cupcake Link Party on Tuesday, and Fall Favorites Link Party on Friday and maybe even a flash giveaway!

Good Luck y'all!a Rafflecopter giveaway

Copyright © Love Bakes Good Cakes 2012-2013 All Rights Reserved

Update - Mexican Pinto Bean Casserole

Another day and another update for y'all! This time, I've updated the picture of my Mexican Pinto Bean Casserole. I think beans have to be one of the hardest things to take pictures of ...... they just don't help themselves in pictures, ya know? I also hate taking pictures of rice ...... they never look "right" to me.

Mexican Pinto Bean Casserole before and after Collage

Needless to say, this was another case where I thought the original picture needed some help. I won't even tell you what I think the first picture looks like to me - let's just say it rhymes with "comet." I think that original picture didn't do this dish justice at all. It really is a tasty and easy meatless dish - and it's very economical - the picture just left a lot to be desired! I can't imagine anyone looking at that first plate and saying, "I want some of that" ..... and for anyone who looked beyond the picture and pinned it or tried it based off the ingredients, I appreciate it! :)

I have actually posed that question - how important are pictures when determining whether to try a recipe or not - to my readers. I would say there was about a 60/40 split - with 60% of my readers saying that pictures are indeed important ..... the other 40% mostly based their opinion on the ingredients list or ease of preparation.

I'm hoping that by revamping the picture for this dish, it will bring it some new interest - maybe the 60% who may not have given this dish a second thought with that horrible picture, will look at this one and at least give it a second chance! ;) If you'd like to get the recipe, you can find the original post HERE.

I hope you enjoy! Shared at thesefun parties!

Don't forget to share and comment ♥Copyright © Love Bakes Good Cakes 2012-2013 All Rights Reserved

Let's Get Social Sunday #40

Just a reminder - Lets Get Social Sunday will be on 9 different blogs every week! That means maximum exposure for you :)

Welcome to Let's Get Social Sunday!

This party is for bloggers who wish to make new friends and gain new followers. It is also an opportunity to link up all your social media sites to gain more followers for blogging opportunities and it increases traffic to all your sites. Have you noticed our new feature, "Last But Not Least" blogger? ... That's right, you don't have to get to our party early to have a great time and meet other bloggers! This feature will be for whoever the last link-up is when the party closes on Wednesday night! As a bonus, we'll share your blog the following week - just to show you that being late doesn't mean you can't have fun! As an added bonus, we'll even link-up your blog and social media for you the week that you are featured! (Remember, this feature is for bloggers only and not businesses!)

Please:)

(1) Follow your hosts and co-hosts in as many ways as possible. We are the first 9 link-ups in each category.

Hosts:

and meet our co-hosts this week:

Allen from Funny Baby Videos

and

Jenny from In The Kitchen With Jenny

and

our "Last But Not Least"

Featured Blogger:

Treat N Trick

(2) Grab our button and share it on your blog

(3) Let us know if you followed in the comments, so we can return the follows!

(4) Find some new blogs to follow and let 'em know you found them from the Let's Get Social Sunday party.

*Just a note - If you would like to co-host, we are accepting spots in the future for co-hosts. Please, email us at letsgetsocialsunday@gmail.com and we will send you the information on scheduling. :)

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.lovebakesgoodcakes.com/" title="Let's Get Social Sunday" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s368/lovebakesgoodcakes/LBGC%20-%20reoccuring/LBCG%20Buttons%20and%20Banners/letsgetsocial2button.jpg" alt="Let's Get Social Sunday" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Not a requirement, but we appreciate the love - If you enjoy this party, would you mind hitting the tweet button to help spread the word? Or share on your favorite social media! Thanks y'all :)

Blog:
Facebook:
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Pinterest:
Google+:
BlogLovin':
Instagram:

Don't forget to share and comment ♥

Saturday, September 28, 2013

It's Fall Y'all {9-28-13}

Welcome to It's Fall Y'all - the BIGGEST & BEST Fall party! This year, we have 10 fun hosts - meaning your link-ups will show up on 10 different blogs!

Let's meet the hosts, shall we?

This party is for all of your Fall related projects, recipes, crafts, decorating tips, tablescapes, DIY, printables, costumes, Halloween stuff, Thanksgiving stuff, etc .... By the way, they don't even have to be new posts - share your stuff from previous years as well and let's get them recirculated in bloggyland!

Everything and anything Fall is welcome!

Did you know, you can help spread the word and make this an even bigger party by placing this button on your post or blog .... or even by sharing a link back to the party. It's not mandatory, but we appreciate the bloggy love! :)

<div align="center"><br /><a href="http://www.lovebakesgoodcakes.com/" title="It's Fall Y'all 2013" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s368/lovebakesgoodcakes/ItsFallYall2013Button2_zps3a489e10.png" alt="It's Fall Y'all 2013" style="border:none;" /></a></div><br />

We also have a Pinterest board for this party - Everything that gets linked up will get pinned for even more exposure!
You can follow our board here:

Let's get this party started ... we're excited to see all of the great stuff you have! Just a quick note - by linking up, you are giving us permission to promote your links on social media - If we use your picture, it will either link directly back to your site or to your corresponding number in the party which links directly back to you. Let's have fun! :)

Don't forget to share and comment ♥Copyright © Love Bakes Good Cakes 2012-2013 All Rights Reserved

Friday, September 27, 2013

6 Things About Me

It's not very often that we get a glimpse at the people on the other side of the computer screen. I was recently tagged by Ali over at Jam Hands to answer 6 questions about myself. I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about me since I always love learning a little bit about some of my favorite bloggers. Here are Ali's questions for me:

What was your favorite vacation?
What would your dream job be?
How do you take your coffee?
What’s your favorite meal ever?
What is your favorite gift you’ve received?
Favorite TV Show or Movie, ever?

1. My favorite vacation would have to be when Brian and I went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina - without kids! I love my kiddos, but we were free to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted! It was a nice (and much needed) break away from them. :)

2. I am living my dream job right now. Growing up, I wanted to be a teacher - and I did that for awhile with early education/preschool. Now, I am extremely blessed to be able to homeschool (I'm still a teacher - yay!) our children and I can share my passion of cooking/food/recipes with the world!

3. I like my coffee "leaded" (no decaf here thank you very much - I need that extra jolt or three in the mornings!) - with cream and sugar - or the liquid stuff. I've tried drinking it black, but I just can't do it - even though it would probably be better for me.

4. Ha .... you do know I'm a food blogger, right? Asking me to pick my favorite meal is like asking me to pick my favorite child. Although I have many food loves, I have never met a chili that I don't like. Throw in some cornbread on the side and that's one of the most comforting and best dishes in my book.

5. As crazy as it sounds, I'm not a big gift person. I'm usually pretty simple and practical. However, two gifts do stick out in my mind - the first, was when I was about 15 or 16 years old. I wanted a keyboard so bad - and my parents got me one for Christmas. I remember the excitement when I opened that gift and how I played that thing all the time and taught myself all kinds of songs - but never really learned how to play well enough to make anything of it and I never learned how to read music. The second gift was from my mother-in-law. Having a large family, I always wanted one of those big griddles. For years, I made things like pancakes or grilled cheese sandwiches one at a time in a skillet on the stove for our family of 7! Can you imagine? When she got that for me, I swore it was the best gift I ever received because it was something I always wanted but never bought myself because other things always seemed more important ... and I was amazed at how fast I could get things done! Then of course, I kicked my own butt for not biting the bullet and spending the $30 or so sooner!

6. This might come as a shock to some of y'all, but we don't have cable or "outside tv." Believe it or not, there are some of us still like that! ;) I don't live under a rock though! lol. When it comes to movies, I generally do not have the attention span to actually sit down and watch it all the way through. It has to be pretty hilarious for me to sit and stay focused. When it comes to tv shows, of course like most foodies, I'm going to say I love the Food Network. :) I also like HGTV. I love the show "House" - and if I ever need a doctor, I want one just like him - sarcasm and all. I loved "ER" and "Friends" back in the day. I'm not much of a tv person really - usually I have music on. :)

I'm not sure how many people I'm supposed to tag - and there weren't any clear instructions - so I'm totally giving this "6 things about me" post to anyone who wants to participate. :) If you would like to let your readers know a little bit about you, feel free to do your own post with these questions:

My six questions:

1. What's your favorite meal?
2. Who do you wish you could have dinner with?
3. If you could vacation anywhere, where would you go?
4. What's one of your quirks?
5. Other than blogging, what do you enjoy?
6. This one's a freebie - you can talk about anything you think your readers may find interesting about you. :)

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Fall 2013 Printables

Does life ever really slow down? I mean, it seems like I am forever saying, "things will slow down when _______ {fill in the blank}" .... I'm done with this project ... or in the summer ... or when the baby takes a nap ... or whenever that time is that never really seems to happen! Most days, I feel like a chicken with my head cut off ... I have so many things going on at once most of the time! I know some of y'all totally get it.

Anyways, I decided to make some printables as a way to unwind and play .... and I needed some new Fall printables on the blog for this year, right?!
You could easily use these sheets as cupcake toppers or you can use them as tags. The choice is yours. As always, I recommend sending them to a place like Staples to be printed off - it saves your ink and the quality is just so good! You can get the prints for less than $1.00/page!
Just a reminder - You can download the image for your own personal use - You may not claim the image as your own, re-sell, or redistribute it. You can pin these images - You may also share the link to this post for your friends or family to get the printables for themselves.