Like a bite of sunshine

I made these cup cakes for my sister in law's birthday, she is partial to lemon cake so I made them as lemony as I could.

To make these I used a box of store bought lemon flavored cake mix, but I added the zest of two lemons and substituted the water with mayo.

For the frosting I combined

1 1/2 packages of creme cheese (room temp & softened)

3/4 cups of butter (room temp & softened)

1 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar (sifted)

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

the zest of 1 lemon

MIx creme cheese, butter, lemon zest & vanilla then gradually add the confectioners sugar.

Wait for the cupcakes to cool before frosting then them garnish with fresh raspberries. These turned out better than I anticipated. They were a crowd favorite, but most importantly the birthday girl was very pleased. They were reminiscent of a tart raspberry lemonade.

Mid-Summer Day Snack

Who needs a grilled cheese truck?

If you want a mac n' cheese grilled cheese sandwich I can't help you.

But bread & cheese, I can do!

I've tried many different types of bread. Wheat, whole grain, squaw, potato, organic etc.

My favorite to use for a grilled cheese is a san fran sourdough or sarah lee's white bread.

For the kids I go for the white bread. They like an american/provolone combo.

These creepy little smiley face taters are a fresh n easy find. The kiddos love em'!

Super simple. Super delicious.

Just a pleasant afternoon grilling.

No kidding, we got into a heated Madonna vs. Lady Gaga debate. Four against one. Sorry Hector.

Key ingredients for said afternoon:

Good company

Creative taste buds

Cold beer

A sparkling cocktail

MUSIC

These bad boys are courtesy of my dear friend Stephanie, aka Peacock Social.

They are super delicious & easy to prepare.

Take your pick of pepper (try saying that out loud).

We have tried pasilla, anaheim & poblano to name a few. Slice the pepper in half and you are left with a little boat of a pepper. You can stuff them with either creamy goat cheese (like chèvre), cream cheese or combine both cheese's if you'd like. You can grill them right on the grill or over foil paper.

The last time we had these I concocted a drizzle for them.

1 tablespoon of honey

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1/2 the zest of on lemon

salt to taste

Enjoy!

The drizzle for rizzle.

This is my go to cocktail glass, I bought a set of four at the antique swap meet.

I'm not sure what to call this, it's kind of like a mojito. But not.

I started with fresh mint, muddled with a long wooden spoon in my glass. Next I added ice (a little more than halfway up the glass), a shot of sapphire gin, the juice of half a lime, sprite and stirred.

It was magic:)

You can play with the proportions of this drink depending on what kind of day you've had;)

We also grilled blue cheese burgers, which I posted a recipe for prior. And had fresh berries and grilled pineapple for dessert.

The final ingredient to this sweet afternoon was the music.

Big Pink, Late of the Pier and The Pixies to name a few.