Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

We have a birthday party for a co-worker of mine today. She loves Pineapple Upside Down Cake, and I volunteered to bake. Well, you know me, can’t do anything NORMAL, so I thought, "how can I make this unique?" The idea of a cupcake came to me, and I found quite a few recipes. I chose this one and it’s YUMMMMY! I’m planning to serve these chilled (because making them fresh isn’t an option), with Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream.

This makes 9 full cupcakes, or 12 small ones.

Ingredients for topping:
1 can pineapple rings
Maraschino Cherries
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted

Ingredients for batter:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a non-stick cupcake pan. You won’t need cupcake liners, obviously, because you’ll be inverting these.

Melt butter and brown sugar in a small pot over the stove. Place a large table spoon of this mixture in the bottom of each cupcake cup. Placed pineapples and cherries on top of the sauce. I sliced my pineapple rings into four quarters. Two quarters fit nicely in the bottom of the cup.


In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon and baking powder on low, with an electric mixer. Carefully add in the melted butter, pineapple juice and milk. Then add the egg and the vanilla.

Spoon the batter over the fruit and sugar into each muffin cup, evenly. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick tester comes out clean. (Note: The sugar butter mixture bubbles up from the bottom and made quite a lovely mess in the bottom of my oven (yeah). Next time I’ll lay foil down first!)

When you take them out of the oven, let them rest in the pan for a few minutes making sure the edges are unstuck. Then place a wire rack on TOP of the pan, flipping it over and hopefully…your little cakes will just plop on out, with the pineapple on top. If not, gently tap the bottoms of the cupcake pan with a spoon. You can hear the difference in tone when the cake has released (Steven discovered this). Oh, and be sure to lay wax paper down before flipping these, because they do drip a little.


Aren’t you dying to try one? Marin whined and whined to have one. I KNEW she wouldn’t eat it, but I finally gave in. She grinned, poked it and then pushed it to the side of her highchair tray (typical Marin). She doesn’t appreciated food the way Steven and I do. Aren’t these cupcakes fun?

Happy Birthday Darci

Today is my friend’s birthday. Birthdays are a BIG DEAL to Darci. So, today Darci YOU are my blog post. This little piece of the internet is about you and how glad I am that we are friends.



Darci is quick to laugh (at herself and others mostly).

She LOVES being a mother, and she’s really GOOD at it.

Her best friend is Dan, her husband. She’d rather “hang out” with Dan than anything else.

Her voice is like an angel (confirmed by others) meets Superwoman (my perspective).

She makes office work fun (no more “Quiet Zone” signs).

I’m pretty sure she sits in front of a computer more than me (that’s impressive).

She is the QUEEN of multi tasking! If you are talking to her on the phone, I’d bet she’s also, answering an e-mail, working on a design layout, while entertaining Jami and IMing someone on the side. The amazing part is she hears every word you are saying and is on top of it all.

There is no doubt that Darci is a 100% dedicated member of Church on the Lake. Enough said.

Her faith in Jesus Christ is clearly evident in all she does. I love this most. It’s there on the surface and down deep. Her heart is wrapped up in Jesus and she is quick to give him credit for all things.

I’m blessed to have her as a friend and am so happy she came into Escapees to apply for the Graphics Assistant position. I think fate brought us together.

So, today, and every day I hope you know how happy I am that we are friends. (I think you can fill in the rest telepathically).

Krystina

Do you know how hard it was to find pics of us together? These will make you smile.

Something New From Something Old

Last Friday, I visited a couple of my favorite resale locations here in Livingston. I find that it inspires creativity to peruse items that other people have discarded. At times I find wonderful treasures for only a dollar! During my last visit I was on the hunt for fabric.

I came away with two items; a single panel from a set of curtains from the 70’s and a home-made “old lady” jacket (age, undetermined). When I stumbled onto the curtain panel I immediately envisioned a bag. When I saw the old lady jacket I estimated there was enough fabric to transform it into a dress for Marin. Below are before and after pictures of the jacket, turned dress.

I’m thinking it’s cute enough that it might be Marin’s Easter dress. What do you think? Is it too short? Lay some comments on me.

Happy Friday!

Bluebonnet Babies

It’s the last day of March. Another month has passed, making Marin and baby Jami one month older. Time goes by so fast…and while I wish Marin could stay little forever, I also enjoy seeing her development. The curiosity, the energy, but most of all the emotions. When she gives out kisses on her own accord. When she tickles us and then steps back, her face filled with mischievous thoughts. Glimpses of Steven’s antics…flashes of my own. She embodies not only our looks, but our emotions too. What a wonderful reminder of our love for each other.

So, on this, the last day of March, here is to growing up and all of the good things associated with aging.

Aren’t you glad we have the ability to freeze frame moments in time? Hope you enjoy these pictures of two special babies in a field of Texas Bluebonnets.


Marin playing peek-a-boo. Ha!



I LOVE Jami's face in this picture. I see a little red tint in her hair, don't you?

Marin showing us where Jami's ear is. Right after this shot she poked Jami in the eye. Oops! Sorry, Jami.

Perfect Jami expression!

Ribbon Wands

As a kid nothing sparked my imagination like a billowy piece of fabric. Racking my brain for gift ideas for Julia’s fourth birthday, I remembered seeing these play silks in a Magic Cabin catalog (wonderful toy resource, but a bit $$$ at times).

Not having ready access to silk and not enough time to order these for Julia, I concocted my own play toy. Play Silk meets Ribbon Wand. Not sure what to call my creation. Any ideas?

My nameless toy was a big hit at the party and simple to make.

To make your own, you’ll need: one dowel rod, eyelet screws (appropriate in size to your rod), swivel hooks (fishing tackle) and ribbon (or silk scarf). Spray paint and wooden or foam accents make the toy pretty, but are optional.

Cut dowel to desired length.

Spray paint.

Insert eyelet screw. (Drilling a pilot hole for the eyelet screw in the rod, makes inserting the screw much easier.)

Add “accents” to the wand.

Thread ribbon through the circular opening of the swivel hook and clip onto eyelet screw.

Because the ribbon I chose for Julia’s wands was so large, I simply tied it to the swivel hook.

Don’t skip the swivel hook, it really does makes a difference in the movement of the ribbon. I’ve tested both. (Now I want my own nameless toy)

I’ve done a bit more research on ribbon batons and found the Ribbon Wands etsy store and blog. She creates beautiful, hand painted wands. Quite inspiring.

If your feeling especially crafty, and are interested in making your own play silks, read Squirrel Acorns’ post on dyeing playsilks.

Marin is still a bit too young for this toy, but I thought you guys might need a simple gift idea for Easter. As always, let me know if you make your own. I’d love to see pictures.

Princess Party

Here are pictures from Julia's party last Saturday. It was so much fun for the girls. Beth had everything set up outside in the front yard near the blooming wisteria bush, a beautiful setting for pretty princesses.

How cute is this look on Julia's face? Classic Julia!

Layed down to get this one. Love the movement and again, Julia's expression! (Oh, and those "Dorothy shoes"! Too pretty!)

My favorite picture from the day.

Happy Birthday Julia. Thank you for inviting us.

I'm really enjoything the new digial SLR camera. Can you tell?

Simple No-Sew Tutu

We attended Julia’s fourth birthday last Saturday. It was a princess party and Marin was to show up dressed appropriately for the theme. This gave me the perfect opportunity to enhance Marin’s new found love for “denc” (dance). A tutu was just the thing for a princess AND a dance lover. So I began my search for a simple, child’s tutu. This simple tutu gave me the overall concept and I added a few special touches.

I wanted the tutu to be short and puffy, so it is made with six yards of tulle (2 yards of each color: turquoise, light blue and green). I measured down from Marin’s waist and decided that 11" was just the right length. To make your own, tutu, measure the length you want and then double it. This determines the length of the strip. The instructions I read recommended cutting the strips 4" wide. This was perfect. Once the strip dimensions were determined I began cutting!
Mom bought me a Fiskars brand self healing mat and cutters for Christmas. They were lifesavers for this project as it made cutting the strips a breeze. Thank you mom!

Once the strips were cut from the six yards of tulle, I began tying the strips to the ribbon. Here’s where a handy diagram is helpful.

It might be helpful to string the ribbon between two fixtures. I tied mine around the back of a chair. This helped keep the ribbon taunt.

To make my tutu extra puffy, I created two layers and joined them together at every fourth knot.

This project took me about an hour and a half from beginning to end, but has provided Marin with countless hours of fun. Make these as gifts for any girl in your life.

Please post a comment and share pictures if you make your own. Or just post a comment letting me know you read my newest post. I'd love to have your input and thoughts! Comments make blogging fun.