Turquoise Dresser Re-do

Turquoise blue is one of my new favorite colors.  It is so popular right now and I feel like I could never get tired of it.  My BFF, Mrs. S, scored this super cheap dresser for her living room.   She painted it with Better Homes and Gardens paint by Glidden in True Turquoise (from Wal-Mart).  I like the idea of taking out the drawers.  I think she did a fabulous job!

Jalapeno Jelly

Last Christmas one of my friends brought over a jar of jalapeno jelly … and I was in love with this stuff!  I decided to try to make some of my own.  Wow!  It was super easy to make!  Pour over a little cream cheese, serve with crackers and you have a delicious snack or appetizer.  I am probably going to make a million half pint jars to give away at Christmas time.

I used the recipe found {HERE}:

Jalapeno Jelly

• 3/4 lb jalapeno pepper
• 2 cups cider vinegar, divided
• 6 cups sugar
• 2 (3 ounce) envelopes liquid pectin
• green food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. After removing stems and seeds from jalapenos, puree in food processor with 1 cup cider vinegar.
2. Combine puree, additional 1 cup cider vinegar, and sugar in large saucepot. Bring to a boil; boil 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Stir in liquid pectin. Return to a rolling boil and boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
4. Skim foam, if necessary, and stir in a few drops of food coloring, if desired.
5. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

(I actually didn’t have to place my filled jars into a boiling water canner, they ended up sealing on their own by the time I woke up the next morning.  My Mom said that this was okay- she use to can a lot as a child, so I am trusting her word.  Also, I added about a pound of jalapenos and a little red bell pepper to give it some color.)

This is what the liquid pectin package looks like. 

I actually found mine at Walmart in the canning section.

Cupcakes!!

I have been on a mission to make super snazzy looking cupcakes for about a year.  I’ve posted about them a few times but I think I finally have this cupcake thing down.  Not only do they look snazzy but they taste pretty awesome too!  It thought icing a cupcake would be really hard, but it totally isn’t.  Once I had the right supplies, I was able to master the icing.  {GLORIOUS TREATS} is a great blog about making cupcakes and icing with tutorials.  {THIS} blog post is my favorite because it shows how easy it is to ice cupcakes and she provides information about the right supplies needed.

I use a boxed cake mix and add additional ingredients.  I just don’t see how it would be that much cheaper to make a cake from scratch; it seems like it would take longer … Time is money.  I always use milk instead of water. Sour cream, coffee creamer, and yogurt can all be substitutes for the water but not limited to those.  Also, do NOT bake for 20+ minutes! I don't not know why the box says that. I would bake for 13 minutes, stick in a toothpick to see if they're done.  Different flavors bake for different amounts of time. About 15 mins- give or take ... Depending on your oven (or elevation?!?! Not sure if that really has any bearing on the bake time.) My cupcakes never bake for more than 15 minutes. 

Also, if you ice the cupcake and it doesn't turn out, just push the icing off the cupcake and redo it.  I  always have about three or four that I have to redo. I push the icing off with a butter knife and reuse the icing if I need to!