I'm Not Above Bribery!

I am rushing! It is 2:40 p.m. and I am suppose to leave for the airport at 3:15 p.m. I have just spent the last 2 1/2 hours making and decorating homemade cupcakes for the basketball team.

Why do I do this to myself? The Boy told me just the day before that the basketball team was having a Pre-Season party to reward all the boys who have been conditioning for the past two months. He did not sign up to bring anything!

WHAT was he thinking. First of all, I love stuff like that. Second of all, has he not heard the saying, a way to a man's heart is through his stomach? Tryouts were the very next week. So, despite the fact that I only had less than 3 hours before my flight, I whipped up some homemade cupcakes. I am not above bribery!

Maybe better bakers would have a supply of fancy flours on hand and could whip up some cupcakes from scratch. I am a busy Mom, so I keep a supply of box mixes on hand. A few months ago I read a blog post (gosh, I wish I had bookmarked it!) about doctoring up a box mix. It was pure genious and makes a huge difference.

So, I am going to share her knowledge with you, my friends.

There are things that you should do to a box mix, every time to achieve a better, richer, moister cake. They are not hard things. But they create a huge POW!

First of all: ignore the instructions on the back of the box as to what you should add to the mix. Then add:
1/2 cup of oil

1/2 cup of other liquid. {The box instructions say to add water. But water has no flavor. So zest it up. Get creative. Even milk is better than water. I have used soda, tropical fruit juice, thawed lemonaide consentrate, and even chocolate sryup.}

1 standard size package of pudding mix {just the mix, and match it to your cake flavor}
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs

After you add all these new ingredients to the box mix, mix it up and bake it just as the box says you should.

I chose to make a variation of cupcakes in a jar. I did not want to send glass jars to cookout with high school boys so I put the cupcakes in decorative plastic glasses. After baking the cupcakes, in liners, you remove the liners, cut the cupcakes in half. To assemble, you put half of a cupcake in the glass/jar, add some frosting, then another cupcake half, and top with frosting.

This dessert could potentially become heavy on the frosting, so I was careful to just put one loop of frosting in between the layers. I put just enough to show through the glass. I added a fork and loaded up the car to head out to the school to deliver the cupcakes. With 35 minutes to spare, I find myself rushing out to the high school.

I walk in a total and complete mess. I have powdered sugar on my shirt. There is even shortening smeared on the upper left corner of my shirt. Vanity is out the window. I find a coach and explain that The Boy did not sign up to bring anything to the cookout so I brought these for him.

The coach, without taking his eyes off the cupcakes in a glass says, "Did you make these?" I answer him, not taking my eyes off my horribly dirty shirt, "Yes!" The coach then says, "WOW, these look amazing!" To which, I say, looking straight at the coach, "Then consider this a bribe!"

We both laughed! Do you think he knew I was being serious?

I made it home with five minutes to spare.

I am also happy to report, although my story may make you chuckle, The Boy made the basketball team. He honestly did work very hard for it and I am super proud of him. But in this Momma's head; it was the cupcakes that did it!

My Weekend Project: A PVC Camping Lamp Post and Flag Holder

I have seen a few of these around campsites and I knew I would like to have one. The only problem that I had is The Husband. He already thinks we drag too much stuff with us when we go camping and if I had told him my desire to have a PVC Camping Light Pole he would have shut it down quickly! So, that leaves a girl with only one choice: Figure out how to do it by herself. I did some internet searching and found a few road maps on RV forums. They seemed easy enough! I visited the local hardware store for the supplies: An exterior post lantern light 2 inch PVC pipe (I used 5 feet but had to purchase a 10 foot piece) A 3 inch toilet flange A 3 inch to 2 inch Reducer PVC Glue A 12 foot electric cord kit 2 - 3/4 inch PVC Caps I also used a few supplies we already had on hand: White Spray Paint 3 1/2 foot - 3/4 inch PVC Pipe Drill Bits (1 inch and 1/2 inch) Tent Stakes The first step was preparing the lantern light. I could only find black i

Liver Cheese: A Family Tradition

Today is an anniversary date. One of those dates you wish you did not have to remember but there is no way you can forget. Fifteen years ago today,two days after his birthday, my father died of lung cancer. He was a lifelong smoker and his cancer was aggressive. His battle was short. He fought for six short months after his diagnosis. He knew the chemo was not working and that his time was limited. When he came to this realization he became the best dad in the world. In the days before my father's passing, my family shared some memorable moments. One of those moments centers around the deli meat: Liver Cheese.I would not be surprised if you have never heard of it, or even never tasted it. But I was raised on it as it was one of my Dad's favorite things. What is it? Well, it is a German food that is actually called Leberkase. It is bacon, corned beef, pork, and onion that is ground together and baked. It comes with a

Tonsillectomy (Warning Photos!)

The Short Chic came down with a pretty nasty case of strep throat back in April. So, when The Boy started complaining about his throat hurting about 12 days later, I was pretty confident that he had inherited his sister's strep. Instead, The Boy was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess growing on his right tonsil. We had to immediately see an ENT Physician who took a needle and drained the abscess. He removed about 5.5 cc of puss from The Boys throat.and then told us that once you have a peritonsillar abscess you were high risk to keep getting them. The Boy's tonsils were now compromised and needed to be removed. We were told to plan for a two week recovery so we worked a surgery into our summer plans. Between family vacations, summer sports, and the beginning of school The Boy had his second surgery. A tonsillectomy. Pre-surgery prepping went well. It must be nice to be young and have healthy veins for an IV! The Boy had lots of pre-surgery visitors. My

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