oreo cupcakes

My husband  brought home a cupcake that looked like this (only it was wrapped in tin foil and looked as if he had tried to not let anything happen to it). It was delicious.

It probably helps to know that we're a pretty chocolate-loving family 

(except for my oldest, who'd rather eat chips ... I like chips too).

And, at our house Oreos are a staple.

Maybe if I didn't buy them, we wouldn't eat them. Bahhahha.

I set to the task of recreating the recipe (and I didn't even look on the Internet).

It was really easy.

To make these tasty treats, do this:

Mix up a chocolate cake mix as directed.

Have a kid in your house (or you) drop a full-sized Oreo into the bottom of each paper cupcake liner.

Put the cake batter in the cupcake liner as usual.

Bake normal time.

Make some type of white frosting (I made butter cream).

Crush up some mini-Oreos
(I guess you could use regular size, but we chose not to waste them like that).

Frost cupcakes.

Garnish with a teeny-tiny Oreo
(you know, the ones where you have to eat the whole bag).

This is what happened to them at our house:

We'll be making them for the Super Bowl this weekend.

(And, yes, we used Halloween cupcake liners in January. Better than Easter ones.)

What treats does your family enjoy for the Super Bowl?

block exchange swooning

I'm a participant in a cool block exchange group that I've blogged about MANY times before.

One of the reasons that I like it is that we meet in person. 

We share a meal. 

We laugh. 

We listen. 

We talk (there's a lot of talking).

We make each other's blocks.

This year, our group's organizer, Ruth, is moving to Minnesota.

It's her home.

It's a great opportunity.

It's near her family.

We'll miss her terribly.

And, although we will still meet in person, 

we are moving pictures and posts to an online home:

block exchange bonanza.

With some help from a little girl (who doesn't think she's little), 

we started a blog for the block exchange.

I've chosen to do my Swoon (Pattern by Camille Rosekelley) quilt as my block exchange this year,

not because I'm trying to torture people (I'm really not). 

But because I really want these blocks to get into wonderful quilts,

and that's all I ever get from my block exchange friends:

Wonderful quilts (and much, much more)!

new machine

 

One of my goals for 2012 was to get a new machine.

Specifically, I was looking for a Janome. So I did a quick search 

Craigslist and found one.The owner (now former owner) 

was a lovely woman willing to part with this machine.

It's a Janome Quilter's Expression and is very easy to use.

Although I haven't spent a ton of time sewing on it (about 4 hours so far),

I really like it.With a 1/4-inch foot, I'm totally in business

(all the gals in my block exchange will be happy too).

It also came with a walking foot.

Probably the best thing is that I met another quilter, 

who obviously loves the craft and wants others too as well.

One resolution for 2012: check.

Thanks, Susan!

eye chart

There are few people in this world for whom I would answer 'yes' to a

Dec. 5 text that says 'would you make Bill a quilt for Christmas?'

My sister is definitely one of them.

A new-found phenomenon, I'll admit, because when we were young I'd have stepped over her on the street (okay, maybe not, but I defintely would have pushed her down).

That's why kids grow up, so we can be best friends.

And so, I said of course I can make Bill (her fiancee) a quilt for Christmas.

Wait, Christmas 2011? Whoa.

We first had to decide on colors.

Orange. That's his favorite color.

Okay but the first fabric stack I showed her included orange, teal and gray.

Not working for her.

What was I thinking?

I did what any sister does. I called my mom.

'How about navy?' my mother suggested.

'Just like Syracuse.' I could hear her laughing.

And the Bears ... and Illinois ... and they live in Chicago.

I'm saying this aloud: My mother was right.

I started with this for inspriation: from Ashley's blog, but since the quilt was

 in fact for Christmas 2011, I cut some corners (or sashing).

My plan was to do an off-centered 9-patch with a large piece of the coordinating fabrics next to them.

That didn't work like I thought it would. It needed to be a queen-sized quilt.

Hmmm. Insert me doing math around midnight or maybe it was 1 a.m.

It wasn't really pretty: It involved a calculator and me thinking ... 'I'll just press the #@$% out of it.'

Yeah, that'll work.

Eventually, it DID work. And, although it's not yet quilted ... it will be soon ...

it's nearly done, and will only be six weeks late.

I'm dubbing it 'Eye Chart' since Bill is an optometrist and it reminds me of any eye chart.

Fabrics: Scott Hansen's Blogger's Choice from Fat Quarter Shop

Solids: Navy, not sure what, or who, my LQS had it available.

Couple others from my stash ...

Yes, it needs ironing (done).

This is one of my favorite fabrics. Bill loves fishing, and I thought this fit him pretty well.

I grabbed the measurements, so I'll post a tutorial on this pretty soon.