catching up

Life lately: 

breakfast dates.

the pup says no studying. 

handsome husband. studious. 

mini apple pie bites.

sangria pitcher. 

tapas night with friends. 

year 10 of college class. PhD year 2. 

Trauma nursing class. 

fall decor care package from my mom. 

sushi date night. 

Guest Post from Cristina at Sundae Brunch Blog

I recently stumbled upon Cristina's blog and fell immediately in love with her food photography and her recipes! Her blog is so colorful and her photos make her food look amazing! 

She was the winner of my giveaway a couple weeks ago, and in talking with her I decided to ask her to do the first guest post I have ever done here on Lace in the Kitchen! She accepted the offer and today I am happy to have her guest posting here on Lace in the Kitchen! 

Being a relatively new blogger, I was honored when Katy asked me if I’d like to do a guest post for her blog. Of course I would! Thinking of what in the world to write about was the hard part. I knew it had to be something that reflected my personality in the kitchen, something that Katy’s readers would enjoy, and, most importantly, something that Katy would enjoy, too. 

Whenever I’m having a party I always like to make cupcakes. For the time and effort (which isn’t much), I don’t think anything else has an impact quite like cupcakes. Sure, a tiered cake is impressive, but it isn’t always easy, and then you have to worry about serving it. Cupcakes are easy, beautiful, and make everyone happy. 

I created this recipe just for Lace in the Kitchen, using a classic yellow cake batter with lemon extract as my base, and adding in honey and extra vanilla to my go-to cream cheese frosting.

I love the way they came out. I also added fresh blueberries before baking to about half of the cupcakes, just to see how they’d taste, and those were really delicious, too. The only problem is that the blueberries sank. Not a problem at all flavor-wise, just not the final look I was expecting. I’d still recommend it, though. Next time I’ll just toss the blueberries in a bit of flour first to try and get them to stay “afloat”. (Just an excuse to make another batch, really.) 

The final touch was a bit of lemon zest (I love when the toppings suggest what flavors are inside) and the easiest DIY washi tape toppers. I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Ingredients: (makes about 18 cupcakes)
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ½ cups sifted self-rising flour
½ cup whole milk, room temperature
½  tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp lemon extract 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. 

Cream the butter and the sugar together. Add in the eggs and beat well. Add in the flour, milk, and extracts. Divide batter evenly between cupcake liners. 

Bake for about 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Let cool and then frost. 

For the frosting: (yields enough to generously frost 18 cupcakes, plus eat some straight out of the bowl)

1 ½ 8oz. blocks of cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ½ cups of powdered sugar (more or less)
4 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. honey
Heavy cream, as needed (usually a splash or two)

Instructions:

In your largest mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese and butter. Add in the powdered sugar little by little. Once it’s all blended, add in the vanilla and honey. If the frosting appears too stiff you can splash in a bit of the heavy cream until you get your desired consistency. Because I use a piping bag, I generally like to keep the frosting thick enough to hold its shape. I used the Wilton “open star” tip #4B on these.

Thanks so much Cristina!!!! Everyone go check out her blog right now. Seriously! 

Sundae Brunch

Bed & Breakfast

This is where I spent last weekend. The Grand Victorian Bed & Breakfast in Belaire, Michigan! 

Seriously, I have not been so relaxed in a very long time! 

This was our room. The "Queen Ann" room. It was so delightful. Fireplace, old victorian chairs and loveseat. and that bed was so comfy! Every day the host left us treats on our bed! 

I can't stand the cuteness!!!! (and the deliciousness!) 

Matt and I had no plans or expectations for the weekend except to eat good food and relax! We did just that! We walked down the street to downtown Belaire which is so big that if you blink you will miss it! Although the town has a lot to offer in a small space! cute stores, delicious restaurants, ice cream places! So cute! 

We explored around the B&B and this was one of the parlor areas! 

We ate a delicious dinner our first night in town after exploring and then went back and sat on the porch and drank coffee and ate our treats left for us for dessert! 

The next morning we woke up and sipped coffee in our room before breakfast! 

The breakfast both mornings was AMAZING! Seriously. To Die for! I want to live in this place all the time! I told them I was moving in! 

Saturday Matt and I heard at breakfast about this huge antique show happening even further north. After breakfast we hopped in the car on the hunt for this antique haven! We drove along lake Michigan and I kind of fell in love with Michigan even more. Until we got there and it was FREEZING and I remembered why Michigan and I have a love/hate relationship! 

We shopped around and I wished I had a house to decorate with all the antiques I could find! I had my dream home all planned out and decorated in my head before we left there! We came home with an antique crate I had been eyeing. 

We stopped on our drive home at a gourmet deli and got some lunch and enjoyed our food in this beautiful spot! 

OKay seriously... my husband is a stud! 

It's the end of cherry season up north so we stopped and picked up some fresh cherries and enjoyed them for dessert the rest of our drive back to the B&B. 

We arrived back at the B&B and I took a 2 hour nap! aaahhhh..... 

That night we went to Short's Brewing company in downtown Belaire! I ordered so much food I don't know what I was thinking!! I ordered 2 separate appetizers! HAHA! Our B&B was part of the "mug club" at the brewery so we got $1 off our beers and got to drink out of these handmade mugs! 

Seriously. I needed this weekend! Great third Anniversary celebration with my love! 

Stay tuned within the next couple days for a guest post from Cristina at Sundae Brunch Blog!!!!! You're not going to want to miss this post! Seriously... I've seen the pictures! 

Three Years!

Tomorrow, Matt and I will celebrate 3 years of wedded bliss!! It's been a whirlwind 3 years! 

July 31, 2010

Honeymoon in Jamaica

Home to WV for 2 days then packed up the Penske truck for Chicago, IL. 

We explored Chicago area for almost 2 years. Then, Matt graduated with his Masters of Divinity! 

We packed up the Penske truck again and headed north east to Grand Rapids, MI. 

We got the cutest puppy ever and Mildred Agnes taught us way more responsibility!! 

We've managed to do some traveling in between all the crazy! 

We visited several places in Germany! Cologne, Trier, Koblenz, and several other places! 

We went to South Carolina with my family! 

We've been home to WV, visited family in OH, and several states in between! 

I started my 4th job in 3 years 2 weeks ago and you are always so supportive and loving!! 

This is the boy I fell in love with in 2005 and became my husband, the man I fall in love with more and more every day we get to live life together! I love you Matt! 

So excited for our weekend up north in Michigan celebrating at an adorable B&B! 

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner of the Frooba popping bubbles giveaway is: 

Christina Carrera from

Sundae Brunch blog! 

Her blog is so cute and her recipes are mouthwatering! 

(Christina, I will be e-mailing you and asking for your address to send to the company so they can ship your Frooba variety pack!!)

Send along some pictures of the delicious things I know you will make with them!!!! 

Seeing as how she was the only person that entered... it made picking the winner pretty easy. 

So here I am, Looking for some feedback as to why others did not enter and shamefully asking for any advice from other bloggers out there. I had hundreds of page views and one entry... this is where we're at now here at Lace in the Kitchen.  

Beach Day & Blueberry Picking

I spent my day yesterday on the shores of Lake Michigan with two girl friends. 

It was a gloriously windy day! 

Last night we had our bible study and then this pup and I snuggled a lot! 

This morning I went blueberry picking with some girls from my new job! 

I brought them home and my husband immediately whipped up some blueberry pancakes with my friends boyfriend's Michigan made syrup smothered all over them! 

'

So yummy! 

Tonight, I'm off to dinner with a friend then we're packing up the pup and heading out to another friends house for a bon fire! 

Love summer days off here in Grand Rapids! 

Also, don't forget about the giveaway going on HERE! 

My First Giveaway--FROOBA BUBBLES

In my last post, I talked about Frooba popping bubbles! 

(source: froobabubbles.com)

I served these popping bubbles in cocktails at our little party this past week, and they were a huge hit! 

They are different than the tapioca bubbles you get in bubble tea. 

From the frooba bubbles site: 

"American Poppers is an innovative company based out of beautiful Boulder, Colorado. We strive to introduce every consumer to the new food experience  of bursting fruit bubbles. Frooba, as they are called, are little sphere shaped bubbles filled with delicious Real Fruit Juice. Frooba bubbles can be put on or in almost any of your favorite foods or drinks. Whether you present them as a treat for your next house party or your kids enjoy them as an enhancement to ordinary snacks, Frooba can be used by everyone!"

They were definitely a big hit at the party! 

I had gotten a few comments saying that they had never heard of them, or they had them at there local fro-yo establishment. 

So I decided that this would be a perfect opportunity for my first giveaway here on Lace in the Kitchen! 

I contacted Tim, at the company and he offered to give away a FROOBA variety pack with a mix of flavors to the winner of the give away! 

I am so excited that this is the first opportunity for a giveaway here! It's a great one! 

Here are the suggestions: 

1.)Visit the Frooba website! 

2.) Follow Lace in the Kitchen on bloglovin or via blogger.

3.) Spread the word! Post about the giveaway on your blog or Facebook! 

Here's the rule: 
MOST IMPORTANTLY: 

4.) Leave a comment here on the blog saying what flavor of frooba you would love to try and where you are following!
(Make sure to leave an email address please! this is how I will contact you if you win!!) 
(ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PLEASE!)

All the comments will be placed in a generator (or in a hat depending on how many entries) and chosen randomly and 
announced on Friday July 26th! 

Due to shipping costs: this giveaway is limited to US residents only!

Good luck and thanks for stopping by!!!