When Life Gives you Lemons...Make Frosting!

Okay, so my mom came home with some softball sized lemons that she got from a couple from our church. Needless to say, the wheels started turning as soon as I saw them!

Around Christmas time we always go to our beloved Costco and buy the boxed sugar cookie mix. We can NEVER use the whole box so we always have leftover mix in our cupboard.

So...Sugar Cookie mix...HUGE lemons...

I made sugar cookies with lemon cream cheese frosting. YUM. It is the perfect summer treat, light yet sweet!

I added some toasted coconut to the tops of some of them, and that just made it even better!

Here's the recipe for the frosting:
1/4 Cup Butter (softened)
1 8oz. Package of Cream Cheese
1/4 Teaspoon of Vanilla
1 Cup Sifted Powdered Sugar
The Juice of one Whole Lemon (I only used half of my massive lemon, but if you're using a "normal" sized lemon,  use the whole thing)

Beat the Butter and Cream Cheese together until smooth. Once it is all mixed up, add your splash of vanilla, mix that in. Once everything is incorporated, mix in the powdered sugar (make sure that you don't develop any clumps). When you have mixed in all of the sugar add your lemon juice and mix! Put the frosting in the fridge and make sure that the sugar cookies are completely cooled before you frost them.

Enjoy this summery treat!

P.s. Royal wedding in t-minus 4 hours and 13 minutes. AHHHH! I will be celebrating with Chocolate cake and sparking strawberry lemonade :)

Spring Break Baking

So, as I mentioned in my little descriptor thing at the top of the page, I have been away at college! The whole experience of being away from home has been really neat, and I have loved living in the dorms...but I HATE that I don't have access to basic baking items. If I want to make homemade chocolate chip cookies, I have to have eggs, butter, flour, sugar...and those are things that I don't just keep around in my dorm room. So then I resort to  store bought cookie dough (which is totally fine and delicious)...but sometimes, I just want to make something without having to go to the store!

All that being said, I LOVE to bake when I come home because everything that I would need is right at my finger tips!

The first night I was home I made dinner: Twice baked potatoes, BBQ Chicken, and Corn on the Cobb (yum!)
The second night, my dad and I made our famous homemade lasagna!
Monday night, I made my favorite Pineapple pork chili with cornbread (one of my favorite chili's EVER)

When I came home this time, I saw that we had a couple bananas that were on their way out, and I thought...Banana bread! I have a recipe for chocolate chip banana bread that I just adore, and I felt that it would be a good idea to make it!

The Recipe I used was one off of about.com and I love it! I tend to drop in a few more chocolate chips that is mentioned in the recipe, and I also sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of the bread before I bake it so that the top gets nice and crunchy!

·         1 cup granulated sugar

·         4 ounces butter, softened

·         1 1/2 cups mashed bananas

·         2 large eggs

·         2 teaspoons vanilla extract

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Cream sugar and butter; beat in the mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and stir into the first mixture just until moistened Fold in chocolate chips until well incorporated. Pour batter into greased and floured 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Cover loosely with a tent of aluminum foil. Bake at 325° for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 3o to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted tests done. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan and cool

Happy Baking!

Here Goes Nothin!

Well, alright...

I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now and tonight, I decided, Heck, Why not?!

I go to school at Biola University, and the first year that I was there I got a beautiful job as a student ambassador. These are current students at the University who call prospective students to ask if they have any questions about applying to our school. The other part of the job is that you either give tours to visiting families, or you blog...guess which one I did?? BLOGGER.

Ever since then I have been itching to get back into it. So, while I am on spring break, why not accomplish that desire?

So the basic idea of this blog is to be able to talk...talk about baking, photography, life...I guess just whatever is on my mind at the time! (That's the whole point of a blog...right?)

So my plug is this...if you, like me, enjoy reading about other people's lives...what they're up to, what they're baking, where they're going, then join me, we'll figure this stuff out together!