Pear Preserve Muffins

My coworker, Laura, lives on 25 acres and loves to garden! She grows everything from corn to raspberries to pears.  With some of the pears that she grew, she made them into preservers with her husband. I love preserves, so she brought me a mason jar full of them this week!

Rusty and I are going to the beach tomorrow, so I decided to make some goodies with these preserves that I had.  I was toying between baking muffins or cookies. You can't go wrong with either, but I finally decided that muffins would be the best option.  I searched the Internet and finally found a recipe that I could improvise a little to make something delicious.

Yum...Pear Preserves!

The recipe was by Diana Rattray and it does not disappoint!

Ingredients: (I doubled the recipe to make 24)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk 
• 1/2 cup preserves

Preparation: 

1. Into a mixing bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Form a well in the center.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the egg and milk; pour into the well and stir just util dry ingredients are moistened (about 25 strokes).
5. Batter will be lumpy.
6. Fill greased and floured muffin cups or paper liners about 1/3 full.
7. Carefully center 2 teaspoons of preservers over batter and cover with enough batter to fill muffin cups 2/3 full.
8. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Before putting them in the oven, I mixed together softened butter and cinnamon sugar to make a scrumptious mixture to top the muffins with (I HIGHLY recommend this!)

Fresh out of the oven 

So yummy and gooey! Definitely serve them warm

I brought some into work today and they were a hit! I hope that you enjoy these as much as I have!

Finally its the weekend! Have a great one :)

Making Progress

We are slowly and I mean SLOWLY making progress on our house.  Looks like our move in date will be pushed back about a month or so due to some building complications. I guess this could be blessing in disguise because I can save up more money and I have a lot more time to start collecting items from the house (this one I don't think that Rusty will be to thrilled to hear!).

Although our moving date has been pushed back, Rusty and I did get a head start on a few items this weekend.  We went around to a few furniture consignment stores, thrift stores for DIY project ideas, and some furniture and decoration stores to start gathering ideas of how we might want to furnish the house.  I am so indecisive so we only bought a few things on our fun-filled day of shopping.  Rusty was such a trooper so I even agreed to go to Twin Peaks with him to watch some baseball. I am such a nice girlfriend, right?!

As we get closer to moving day, I can't wait to start sharing all of my decorating ideas and DIY projects.  I have been obsessing over Pinterest lately, always trying to find new ideas and new websites that might have some cheaper decorating ideas and furniture.  This will definitely keep me occupied during the longer process of building!

Here are a few snapshots from our shopping adventure!

Rusty's dream for his Man Cave at Rooms to Go

Our BEAUTIFUL bar stools that we found at Southern Housepatality
(an upscale consignment store in Greenville, SC)

The 2 accent chairs we bought for the living room from Overstock!
Just a little bit obsessed!

After a long day of shopping we deserved some wine, a movie, and  Crescent stuffed Brie with Raspberry Jam

We are off to the beach this weekend for a little fun and relaxation with a great group of friends, but after that I am sure we will be back at the house projects!

My Life Lately

Recently, life has been pretty hectic! I feel like I always am running around in circles and never have enough time to do anything.  Work is crazy busy, but I am still making sure that I leave the office after 10 hours a day (don't think that I could handle much more, even though there is PLENTY of work to be completed!).  Between my crazy schedule at work, I have to fit in time to go to the gym, meeting with the builder, planning things for the house, and overall just maintaining my life.  Needless to say, there a few things that I definitely need to catch up on. Thankfully, this weekend Rusty and I don't have much going on so we are going to spend most of the weekend planning out things for the new house (this might be a surprise to Rusty!).  Planning out things for a new house means SHOPPING and lots of DIY projects.  I am sure Rusty will be thrilled with all of these ideas I have :) I am sure 5 minutes into shopping, he is going to want to kill me!

After this stressful, long week I am so happy that it is Friday and that the weekend is here! I hope y'all all have a great weekend too :)

Finally picked out everything for the house!

My sleepy little puppy on her 1st birthday!

Enjoy a beautiful Sunday in Downtown Greenville

Rusty and the dogs playing in the Reedy River

Falls Park in Downtown Greenville...absolutely gorgeous!

Alicia, Courtney, and I at the Clemson Sring Game

The boys with their cigars

Uncle Rus playing with Emma!

Just a few snapshots of what I have been up to lately!!

Just Call Me Betty Crocker

This weekend, I had the house all to myself!  The boys went down to Myrtle Beach for the weekend to play golf and drink beer.  This left me with a lot of time on my hands.  So with all of this extra time, I decided that I would spend my weekend cleaning the house, baking some goodies, and spending some time relaxing (which I am not very good at!).

I love baking, so I decided that I would bake some goodies for the boys when they come home on Sunday and to bring to my coworkers on Monday.  Below are some of the treats that I have made thus far over the weekend! Enjoy, they are delicious!!

Salted Caramel Pretzel Blondies

My sister posted a recipe on my Facebook for Salted Caramel Pretzel Blondies that she found on the averie cooks blog.  I LOVE pretzels and blondies, so I thought I would give these a try!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups mini pretzels, measured loosely and crushed slightly
• about 1/3 cup salted caramel sauce, for drizzling before baking (the best is Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce)
• about 1/4 cup salted caramel sauce, for drizzling after baking

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8 inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a medium microwave safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute.
3. To the melted butter (allow it to cool slightly so you don't scramble the egg), add the egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and whisk vigorously to combine.
4. Add the flour and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix or the blondies will be tough. 
5. Fold in the pretzels (crush them in the palm of your hand)--I also added Chocolate Chips into mine right after adding in the pretzels!
6. Pour the batter into prepared pan, smoothing it light with a spatula.
7. Drizzle about 1/3 cup caramel sauce over the pan in a zig-zag pattern.
8. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until center is just set.
9. Immediately after removing pan from the oven, drizzle about 1/4 cup caramel sauce over the top in a zig-zag pattern.

Mixing in the pretzels and the chocolate chips

Right out of the oven...yum!

The finished product

Resees Eggs Blondies

I got this blondies recipe from my sister Katherine's blog, Tar Heel Taste Bud, and I have made it before, but this time I decided to substitute the chocolate chips with Resees Eggs.  Rusty's mom sent us a HUGE box full of Easter goodies and we had a lot left over, so I decided to do some baking with them!

Recipe from Shutterbean (slightly adapted from Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust)

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips** (Instead I added Resees Eggs)
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8x12x2 inch baking pan. (I used an 13x9 inch pan and lined it with parchment paper that I greased to make the bars easier to remove. I'd definitely suggest it!).
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well, scraping down the bowl.
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Fold the walnuts and chocolate chips in with a rubber spatula.
4. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes exactly (I baked mine for 26 minutes based on the pan size and my love for underbaked cookies).Don't overbake! A toothpick may not come out clean. Cool completely in the pan and cut into bars.

Add in the Resees Eggs to the batter

Ready to go into the oven

Resees Egg Blondies

Drizzle Chocolate Chex Cereal

The last thing I decided to make was Chex with Chocolate drizzled on them.  We had some extra cereal laying around the house and some left over white/chocolate chips, so I thought it would be yummy to make some sweet snacks.  This was really simple!

All I did was melt chocolate chips and drizzle the melted chocolate over a tin foil lined pan with the Chex cereal on it.  Let them cool and dig in!

I hope that you enjoy these goodies as much as I will :)

                             

Chicago Trip & Mimi's Strawberry French Toast

(obviously I am a little behind!)

When I think Easter, I think Spring.  This year, not so much! It has been such a cold start to Spring.  I definitely think that the Groundhog lied to us about having a short winter.  I experienced the cold Spring last weekend when I went up to Chicago to spend Easter with some of my family there.  When I touched down in Chicago, they were all so excited because it was 53 degrees.  Really? That was warm for them, they were crazy! People were in shorts and flip flops, while I was bundled up in my scarf and boots.

The weekend flew by, but it was so nice to be spending time with some of my family that I never get to see.  We didn't do much while we were there because my Grandmother is sick.  But my mom and I had a great weekend, minus the snow that was still all over the sides of the street.  That was something that I wasn't expecting to see at the end of March.  I spent my time relaxing, shopping, and helping cook Easter Brunch. 

Below are a few snapshots of my weekend in Chicago as well as my Mimi's delcious Strawberry French Toast Bake recipe.

Delicious Fannie May chocolate

Powdered Sugar Chocolate Cake made by Mimi's friend!

Ewww snow still on the ground at the end of March!

Spring brownies I made for Uncle Tom's birthday!

Found this gem at Mimi's! Kelley and I in an Easter picture with Mom circa 1991?

Pretty Spring wine glass on Easter Sunday!

Mimi's Strawberry French Toast Bake

1 loaf French bread

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

3 pt. fresh strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cornstarch

2 T. butter, melted

1. Cut bread diagonally into 10-14 slices.
2. Place on lightly buttered jelly roll pan.
3. In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, baking powder, and vanilla.
4. Pour over bread, turning until well soaked.  Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight

   
5. Blend sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch. 
6. Add sugar mixture to strawberries. Mix well.
7. Butter an oblong baking dish.  Add berries.

   
8. Place bread slices closely together on top of berries and brush with melted butter.
9. Bake at 450 for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden.
10. Sift powdered sugar on top and ENJOY :)

    

I am so happy that I got to spend time with my Grandma and other family in Chicago that I never get to see. Hopefully I will have time to go back up there sometime this summer!

Happy Friday y'all :)