life.

lemon blueberry cupcakes.

i love blueberries, i love lemon, and i LOVE cupcakes.  why not have all three of them together?

For the cupcakes:
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided
¾ cup cake flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Zest of  1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. milk, at room temperature
1 cup fresh blueberries

For the frosting: 
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 1 large lemon
Additional fresh blueberries, for garnish

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the ¾ cup all-purpose flour, the cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Blend in the milk. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.
• In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Using a spatula gently fold the berries into the cake batter. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners, filling each about ¾ full. Bake 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. (I used a large, unlabeled star tip to frost these cupcakes.) Garnish with fresh blueberries.
  
  via annies-eats.com

i made these, and they were delicious.

i did it, folks.  i made pumpkin donuts.  and they were one of the most delicious things ever.  i highly recommend!  

recipe found here if you're interested.  {i used 10 oz. pumpkin, instead of 8}.  enjoy!

awful waffle.

have you ever heard of speculoos?  it's delicious.

there's this place in provo called awful waffle, and they have it - along with waffles and crepes to smother it in.  we went there with friends on saturday night.  we then watched the last season game for byu.  lucky for us there's still the armed forces bowl to look forward to.

and i have now been spending every spare moment searching online for a squeezable form of speculoos to buy myself for christmas, thank you very much.

over the weekend.

over the weekend, we stayed at my family's house and played parent.  {it's exhausting - but fun - being parents!}  we had a wonderful time, but missed mom and dad, who were in california for a wedding.  we goofed around and ate pizza.  john and sam bonded over video games {typical}.  and i enjoyed doing my homework while the puppy curled up next to me.  and yes, i made pies.  scrumptious.

overall, a very fun weekend.  thanks for inviting us, mother dear!

make these, if you want.

i kind of loved these and thought i would share.  pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. 

for the cupcakes:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.  source.

for the frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

1 {8 ounce} package cream cheese

1.  Whisk butter and cream cheese until creamy.  Mix in vanilla.  Gradually add confectioner's sugar and cinnamon.  

these are best when kept in the refrigerator.  now go make some!

long time, no see.

every weekend it is the same.

"where do you want to go eat?"

"i don't care, what do you feel like?"

"i feel like food.  what do you feel like?"

"we could get chinese, american, mexican, italian...."

{etc. etc. etc.}

well, last friday we settled on greek food.... and boy, did it hit the spot.  

my mom pointed us towards a really great greek place about a year ago.... and now, when we walk in, the owner says, "hey!  long time no see!"  as if we haven't been there every two weeks for the past year. the food completely "hit the spot" and made me wonder why i haven't consumed greek food every day of my life.  i mean seriously, it is that good.

 {john's gyro with lemon rice}

{just look at that falafel!  delicious.}

also, we ate raspberry cobbler last night with fresh raspberries from muti's garden.  

and it was yummy.

have a wonderful weekend!

oh yes we did.

i made these. and they were freakin awesome.

john's exact words were: "these are the best cupcakes i have ever had in my life."

so, go ahead and make some.

you're welcome!

over the weekend....

we have done nothing but cook/eat yummy food, enjoy time with friends, and watch great movies.  

1-2.  the product of a lazy saturday.
{3.  my $6!!! diet coke at the movie theater}
3-4.  dinner and harry potter with these friends.
5-6.  my old man's birthday.  {love him!}

mango sticky rice.

honestly,

jump on a plane, or a bus, or a train

RIGHT NOW.

come to salt lake city,

and walk straight into this restaurant.

order....

the crab won-tons:

 the red curry:

 some pad thai {a classic}:

 and don't forget the mango sticky rice! {honestly, the best i have ever had}

 

while you devour the meal, you can enjoy the cool artwork on the wall,

and also observe this elephant carving.

and play with little umbrellas in your drink.  

and don't forget to sneak a pic outside to remember your wonderful adventure,

to an extremely delectable thai place.

{that plane ticket was totally worth it, no?}

as we sat down to eat, i contemplated all the fond memories i have of dating john.

we ate thai food a lot.

our first date even, was at a thai food place.

as i contemplated, i said to him:  

"i think our relationship was built on thai food!"

"and love!" {he said, defensively}

some delectable things i wish to add to the brunt household:

thank you amazon, for taking up about three hours of my day today.  

i loved every second of it.  

i dream of one day, being able to spend exorbitant amounts of money at costco.

we are back in the united states!  oh the beautiful land of the free and home of the brave!  a place where the policemen don't carry machine guns and women don't sit on a beach topless and think nothing of it!  a place where i can mostly understand everyone!  a place where the food is exactly what i am used to!  a place where family and friends abound!  oh, america, you are so beautiful.  

things that are slightly frustrating about mexico:

1}  the language barrier.  not anyone's fault.  but hard still, right:?

2}  the policemen carry m16s.  'nuf said.

3}  naked women on the beach.  [i think this one's a little self-explanatory.]

4}  the cheese.  most of the food was great.  awesome, even.  but the cheese?  weird.  

that said, we love mexico.  {please read: meh-HEE-co, it makes it so much better.} mexico was an absolute dream.  the beach, the sun, the palm trees, the icy drinks, the wildlife....  yes, we dearly love mexico.  but now that we are back, {and by back i mean at my parent's house in salt lake, because they give us free food} i am able to more fully appreciate the life we live here. which brings me to....

coscto!  i love costco.  because let's face it, costco has everything.  especially the things i have been craving as of late.  like falafels and hummus and chicken pot pie and steak and pizza and lots of other super delicious pre-packaged things.  honestly, i want to buy half of the store.  and that doesn't fly on the newlywed budget.  so i bought bagels and cereal, only.  but, i dream of one day, being able to spend exorbitant amounts of money at costco.  

and then owning my own churro machine.

happy thursday!

lately, my loves:

playing N64 nonstop with this guy:

clean bedsheets....

seeing the parentals, lots! {and eating ice cream with them}

delicious hershey's drops.... {try the cookies 'n' cream ones, you won't be sorry....}

long walks with this guy:

i just love life.

five guys.... oh, how i love you.

sometimes, john's friends decide that they want to get married and have bachelor parties.

don't even get me started about bachelor parties.  

oh! the cruelty! 

taking my husband away for a full day!

and playing video games....

and giving gifts....

i'm not against boy's nights, but i think bachelor parties have a bad connotation.

and they slightly upset me.  

and i don't hear from him at all and gosh, am i being a little dramatic?

now that i got that off my chest....

i really also like a little something about bachelor parties.  

this little something is that i get to spend time with my gorgeous girl friends and have a girl's night out.

{don't ask me to try and explain while i like girls nights but not bachelor parties.... i don't understand the intricacies of my own mind myself}

and plus, i really needed some five-guys.

and some s'mores, of course.  

my loves:

last night, we were in turkey-bacon-burger/cheese-fries heaven.

we also inhaled some strawberry shortcake. {thanks, muti}

and watched episodes of 24 until far too late.

it's days like these that remind me how terribly important john is to me, {like seriously, life without john would just be bland, boring, tragic, and all-around unlivable....} and that since we've been married i have been the happiest i have ever been in my whole entire life.  although we make mistakes and sometimes hurt one-another, each day our life together only gets better.  neither of us are perfect, but we are perfect together.  and that's what matters.  dear john:  thanks for loving me, taking care of me, humoring me, forgiving me, and taking me out for burgers and cheese fries.  i love you the most.

today, i read catcher in the rye....

and i kind of didn't love it.
i also made cookies with jenna and andy jack.
and i kind of loved it.

hand-crafted cookie cutters, easter-themed, of course.
{except for a bat per andy jack's request}

and.... john and i celebrated the birthday of one of our friends!

hope you have a great night, friends.

amnesia.

sometimes, i wonder if i have amnesia.  

i mean how often am i sitting in a test, and have studied for it for 10,000 hours, and yet have gone blank, even though i knew the answer right before i sat down.  how often am i reading 50 pages of nursing whatever and then stop and realize, i can't remember what i just read, or even what it was about.  maybe nutrition and food? hmmm.... i love food.  i am so gosh darn hungry right now......

see???

and just now, as i was sitting on my couch getting ready to blog, i thought, 

i can't even remember what i did last night.  {[i mean, seriously, was i on drugs?] i can assure you that i wasn't, but that's what it felt like...}  

the point, is that i am very forgetful.  and it sometimes gets me into trouble.  fortunately, i have a darling husband who remembers things better than i do, and can remind me what we did last night.  which was eat cafe rio {two free meals, thank you so very much vati!}, and snuggle on the couch while watching a movie.

oh, and made cookies.

food.

last night, i had a thorough conversation about being healthy with john.

wilst making a pumpkin cake.  i know.  how ironic.

here's how it started:

he:  "well now that you're taking that daily vitamin, i wonder if i should be taking one, since i don't get very much nutrition in my diet"

{sometimes, i wonder about him.  i mean honestly, i think eating healthily is the most common topic that i force him into- and also the one that he shows the least amount of interest in.  [right after fashion of course].  he never wants to talk about nutrition.  if anything, he definitely hates it.  i think my attempts at being health-conscious are a nuisance to him, if they can even be called that.  i should properly say that i think my attempts at attempting to think about eating healthily are more or less a great nuisance to him.}

she:  [making excuses] "well i try to feed you fruits and vegetables..... blah blah blah blah blah"

{as i am making cake}

the truth is, cake is much more delicious than celery or carrot sticks.

and, although i like fiber in my diet,

and know that i should eat more healthily....

a little cake every once and awhile is a needed treat.

next step:  let's count the pounds of chocolate goodness stored in my backpack.

{for quick-energy, of course- and so that i don't crash into oblivion whilst studying}

so {we} are turning a new leaf.  i mean, at least for tonight.

i am going to make a low-carb, high in veggies, low-fat, fiber and nutrient-packed meal.

john and i will definitely hate it.

date night.

dearest john,

thank you so much for taking me out last night.

i had such a wonderful time eating at our favorite pizza place,

making fresh blueberry muffins together....

and then watching a silly movie into the wee hours of the night.

i love you.  

more than you will ever know.