This Moment

THIS MOMENT: a friday ritual. a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment i want to pause, savor, remember & cherish.



Our Lil' Fisherman Birthday Favours

Another Year Older

January is coming to an end and the sun is starting to shine for a lot longer when it does decide to come out. BOY is it ever welcomed!!  This girl is another year older and boy was I spoiled this year not only with an abundance of love and best wishes,  but with lots of lovely gifts. My awesome hubby ordered in Chinese so I didn't have to make dinner two days in a row. I received one of the things I miss most about the warmer seasons ...  beautiful colourful flowers!

 

Over the past couple years I have discovered that I really enjoy orchids and they enjoy being in my presence as they will often bloom for me the majority of the year. Oma & Opa gave me these two beauties.

 

My Dad always gets me fresh flowers for my birthday. Usually it's a bouquet of roses and I always tell him the bouquets of mixed flowers always last longer but he usually ignores me. This year surprisingly he listened. If you look close though there's a couple roses in there. I'm loving my 1 Gallon mason jar Hubby gave me at Christmas!!

My Sister surprised me with this adorable and fun birthday cake that she made all on her own.



It was delicious!

 

I am truly surrounded by such wonderful and amazing people!!

 

 

28/52 Fun Times + A New Hat

This past weekend we celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday with a Domino's pizza dinner at my in-laws place. After dinner we went outside to enjoyed the beautiful summer weather. The Lil Man had a great time running around the yard ...

 



 



Photo is blurry because he doesn't stay still any more

 

Checking out Oma's gardens and smelling the flowers ...

 

 

Sharing the flower with the Birthday Lady - Aunt R.

The Lil Man enjoyed running around so much he did not want to go inside.

On Sunday we took a trip to Home Depot to grab some stuff for another project. Hugo is now ready to help dad with his new hat!

 

Byron manage to snap this picture of the Lil Man moving all his train pieces around. This is one of his new things he likes doing lately.

 

 

He tried moving all the stuffed animals from his bed but when I went to take a picture he had dropped them all because the pile was too big for his tiny arms. Some days he is just too funny!

 

Hope everyone in the Toronto area is ok after the major flooding that occurred yesterday.

 

Looks like it is going to be another dark, grey and wet Tuesday.

 

APRON in a Jar ...

Thought I would share a gift idea that I put together for a Birthday gift a couple weeks back {finally had a chance to blog about it}. This would work great also for Mother's Day {which is this coming weekend if you have not checked your calendar} or part of a Bridal Shower gift -- an Apron in a Jar.

I found this cute apron with orange tulips and thought instantly of my mother-in-law's 60th birthday. Seeing as I still do not know how to sew and can not wipe one up myself {hopefully I will be able to unpack my sewing machine soon} I bought this one.

Then I went on a search for a jar that it would fit in and found the following one ...

Our table needs to be refinished please ignore the scratches.

 

 

 Once I returned home, I just fell in love with how cute this little jar was I realised I should have grabbed a couple extra for my craft supplies {I always do that}.

 

 

I then folded the apron in half twice ...

 

 



 

And rolled it up and stuffed it into the jar.

 

 

 

I printed a little tag on the computer and used my Cuttlebug to cut it and I attached it the lid. You could also put the apron in a mason jar and attach a recipe card with the ingredients. I was short on time and decided to go with the little tag.

 

 

Hopefully Oma enjoys it!

 

 

I would love to see your version if you give this gift idea a try! Happy Wednesday!



 







Birthday Surprise

This past Tuesday I celebrated my birthday. Besides being another year older, it was a lovely day.

Temperatures outside were warm, like a spring day -- +12^oC. I can't remember ever celebrating a birthday with such warm weather. Usually there is either a winter storm happening, or freezing rain ... never this mild. You get the point ... I was shocked.  It was a pleasant surprise! Today on the other hand, we woke-up to reality ... old man winter dumped close to 40 cm of snow overnight and there is still a snow squall warning in effect, and the temperature outside is -19^oC with the windchill. The snow was almost as high as Roxy and she wasn't to sure she wanted to get off the deck ...

The day started with this clue from Byron ...

 

 

Hugo woke up just as I finished reading it and I wasn't able to start my search.

When Hugo went for his nap I made ...

 

Chocolate covered strawberries ... mmmm .... one of my favourites!

Then I saw some more hints ...

Then Byron came home with dinner ...

A family chicken deal from the superstore. It was so nice not having to cook. He also brought home a delicious cake!!I guess I didn't need to make the strawberries ... but I had a craving for them.

Then I received some more clues and I continued my search with my wonderful search dog -- Roxy. She is such a good helper. I had to get through this tiny space in the garage and Roxy looked at me ... "You expect me to get through there ..."

 

With some encouraging words, she got through and we found the door we were to look behind ...

... and then we found my gift {insert super excited & jumping for joy with a big smile on my face}!!!

Roxy had to sniff it to ensure it was safe for me to bring it into the house. I love it! Now I just need to learn how to use it!!!!

And then after all that hard work we had dessert and it was wonderful! Hugo had a little bit {big mistake}, it was 9:00 p.m. and he wanted nothing to do with going to bed!

We would definitely get this again.

I had a wonderful day with my awesome family!!!! Thanks to my amazing husband.

Byron's Birthday -- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Byron loves peanut butter cups, so this was my inspiration for his birthday cupcakes this year!! I find I like making cupcakes more than a whole birthday cake because it's easier to control the portions we eat and they seem to be a lot more fun to decorate.

I went online and searched through a bunch of recipes to find the perfect one to make for my wonderful husband ... only the best for him!!

I decided to go with the following recipe from Annie's Eats - Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with a couple minor revisions and they turned out GREAT!!

It is a very thick batter.

Since my time was limited to nap time, I did not make the peanut butter ball filling. Instead I used a Reese's peanut butter cup. Hugo doesn't nap for very long, so I knew I would only be able to make the cupcakes. I figured why push my luck. Perhaps these guys would have tasted even better with the filling listed in the recipe, but they still turned out great the way I made them ... maybe next time.

 

The other revision I made was to the frosting. Since my mother in-law can't have the frozen whipped topping {it gives her a tummy ache}, I used real whip cream instead. I had bought a carton of it when I was out grocery shopping, but when I got home I noticed it was leaking out the top ... arrrrrr... {what if it had gone bad} ... so I didn't want to use it and possibly make us all sick ... I had to find an alternative. As a result, I figured out how to make whip cream from scratch and it worked beautifully for this recipe, not sure if it would work all the time though. {Since my time is limited, I will do a post hopefully in the new year on how to make real whipped cream}.

I have heard that Peanut Butter Cream Cheese frosting is the best, but in our house, we like regular cream cheese icing best!

If you feel like giving these guys a try here's the recipe from Annie's Eats

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients:

 

For the filling: [I used Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to speed things up]

1 cup confectioners' sugar

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the cake:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 cup sour cream

2 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1½ cups sugar

2 large eggs

For the frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

½ cup creamy peanut butter

3¼ cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed [I used real whipped cream]

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

To make the filling, combine the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla extract in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls (at least 24) and set aside on a baking sheet.

To make the cake batter, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; whisk together and set aside. In a liquid measuring cup, stir together the sour cream, milk and vanilla extract. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix just until incorporated.

Spoon a tablespoon or two of batter into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Place a ball of the peanut butter filling in each cupcake well and top with the remaining batter so that all the cups are filled. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter and peanut butter until smooth. Slowly mix in the confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth and well blended. Mix in the whipped topping until smooth and fluffy. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

 

 

 

 

I topped the cupcakes off with little chocolate mustaches. (Byron had to shave his movember mustache off for our family pics we had taken at Zehrs. I thought I was ahead of the game when I called to book the appointment, but I wasn't and all they had available was 2nd week in November).

 

Overall cupcake result ...

 

Byron gave them a Thumbs Up!!

 

 

For Byron's Birthday lunch we had baked Brie (we sprinkle some brown sugar on top and then we pop it in the oven until the brie melts), we shared some with Hugo. It was his first time having Triscuits and Brie.

 

 

 

If you give this recipe a try, let us know how it turned out for you. Hope you have a good day!!