Think Tank Momma: Friends You Love Blog Hop

Showing posts with label Friends You Love Blog Hop. Show all posts

Friends You Love - Monday Blog Hop - Mo' Betta

Monday, October 3, 2011

Guess who's back? Back again? Shady's back...tell a FRIEND! Ok...so maybe it isn't Shady...at least not the real Slim Shady....BUT, it's Friends You Love!

Last year Friends You Love was such an amazing event we brought it back. The friendships forged between women deserve to be celebrated. In fact, it takes a whole month to celebrate just how special those bonds are! We have all sorts of amazing things lined up for you all this month so stay tuned!

The rules of the blog hop are simple...I deviate from them of course...rebel that I am. You are supposed to reach into your followers/subscribers ask someone you don't know that well to guest post to make new friends. I on the other hand like to highlight people I have come to know and love, hoping that you will love what I do!

I thought I would share with you my most faithful Share a Spoon contributors! Kicking that off...I give you Kim from Mo' Betta!

I was so excited when Think Tank Momma asked me to guest post for Friends You Love! I never expected that I would develop friendships with people I've never met when I started my blogging adventure, a little over a year ago. It's definitely a great perk, and motivating reason to keep at it! My name is Kim, and I blog over at Mo'Betta. My blog centers around mommyhood x 3, and all the drama that entails!

I try to prepare healthier meals for the fam, while dealing with my 3 y/o's food allergies (eggs, peanuts, tree nuts) and my husband's diabetes. Not to mention my kids are notoriously picky! That being said, today's recipe has nothing to do with any of that :) This is a cake I made for my Grandmother's birthday this weekend, and I fully believe that calories do not count when eaten on a special occasion. (This explains why my jeans are too tight.)

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Creamy Pumpkin Glaze adapted from Dine & Dish

*my changes are in italics

2 cups granulated sugar *1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened *1/2 cup Smart Balance butter, 1/2 cup olive oil

4 large eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup sour cream *1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour *2 cups AP flour, 1 cup white whole wheat

1 tablespoon cinnamon *1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan. *I used Pam Spray, flour, then sprinkled some cinnamon sugar in the pan. Add sugar, oil, and butter to a large mixing bowl. Beat on low until light and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs, one at a time, and continue mixing until well incorporated. Add the pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla, mixing on low speed until well blended. While mixer is still going on low, add the flour, one cup at a time. Then add spice, baking soda, and salt. Blend until well incorporated. Pour cake batter into prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 60 minutes or until knife inserted into the center comes out clear. Mine took about 50 minutes.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk *I used fat free half and half

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons pumpkin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon *I added an additional 1/8 tsp.

dash of nutmeg and ground cloves

2 tablespoons butter - melted and cooled *omitted

Whisk all the ingredients together and spoon over cooled cake.

***********

I almost omitted the pumpkin glaze altogether, because I found a Cinnamon flavored Cool Whip (one of their seasonal flavors) and I was just going to use that. However, the cake looked a little plain, so I added the glaze, and I'm so glad I did! I think it adds a lot, and the cinnamon Cool Whip complimented it nicely. And as a side note, I added this Cool Whip to my 'cafe mocha' (which my quick and easy version is brewed coffee mixed with a half packet - or more - of reduced sugar hot chocolate. Can't ~~afford~~ have Starbucks all the time!) and it was the BOMB. It rivaled anything I've had at a coffee house. So, I'm really hoping the Wal-Mart doesn't run out of this cool whip anytime soon. (I'd bet money they will be out when I go back and it will not get stocked again. But that's a whole different ~~rant~~ post.)

So, anyways, the verdict? Pumpkin awesomeness. Fall on a fork. (hmmm, that sounds weird. Fall as in Autumn, not fall as in crazy women with raging PMS wishing you bodily harm. That's later in the month.) Sorry, TMI. Anyway, Granny said it was the bomb.com. Okay, she didn't really say that, but isn't that a pretty funny mental picture? She did like it however, as did everyone else who tried it. Unless they were just being nice, but in my family, we're known for being pretty ~~brutally~~ honest. Gotta have a thick skin to hang with us. My poor little I'm-allergic-to-everything-boy couldn't have any b/c of the eggs, so I brought him some egg free cupcakes that I keep in the freezer, just for situations like this. I recommend you go make this, and then sit back with a cafe mocha, a nice thick slab of cake, and a best bud, and talk about how hard y'all just worked out and how much you don't need to eat this cake ;) (Is it just me that eats cake after a workout? I need to refuel ya know!) Of course, I eat cake when I don't work out too. To help ease the guilt. It's a vicious cycle.

Thanks to the Momma for allowing me to high-jack her post today, and y'all feel free to stop by! Who are the Friends You Love? Give them a shout out!

Friends You Love Blog Hop - There are Toys in my Tank!

Monday, September 27, 2010

WELCOME!

Today is the final installment of Friends You Love's Monday Blog Hop. I hope that everyone has found some new friends to follow and get to know.

We have had the opportunity to meet some amazing women this way, and also highlight some amazing women as well.

Last week, my good friend Holly from 504 Main graciously agreed to guest post on the FYL blog. She offered me two posts to choose from.

I thought they were both amazing so this week I am posting the other post here.

I absolutely love Holly and I think you all will too.

I am just a little bit obsessed over old toys. There is a sweetness about them. A mystery too. When I go to the flea market and see a worn doll I always wonder who, what where did that doll come from? Same thing goes for the bucket of hot wheels cars or the toy train or the rocking horse or the Little People Farmhouse. Yes, in spite of my house being filled with toys, and the fact that I {and sometimes the kids} are continually picking them up....I do have a fondness for those well-loved toys.

I am always preaching to my kids to take care of their toys...because when I was a child, I of course, took the utmost care of mine. In fact they are in pristine condition {or so I thought}. I, of course, ultimately hope this is teaching them something about responsibility and respect.

I have been very anxious to share my childhood toys with my children. Every time my Mom says "Dad is going into the top of the garage (or the attic)," I ask if he could look for one of my treasures. Well, my parents are all for this - they are cleaning house - time for my brother and I to store our own stuff. So, now, every time they come to visit I can expect at least one new find to come with them. And I am so excited about it! Just giddy, in fact!

I so wanted my own purple corvette and Ken!

My son looks at me like I am crazy {maybe he knows something the rest of the world can only assume?...hmmm...} when I tell him that I used to "use my imagination" when we played with Legos. When I suggest he can mix pieces from different boxes, he just about passes out {he likes order} - he cannot even fathom it "But Mom they come in sets. You cannot mix up the pieces!" Of course, we had sets with were houses, police stations, fire stations, etc., but nothing like the $150 sets they sell now {seriously, I am so tired of paying $5 in shipping for a teeny-tiny 45 cent piece, which is necessary to finish building the battleship}.

Over the last couple of years, Puzzle Town, Legos, Barbies, Nerf Ping Pong, and an my Cabbage Patch Dolls have found a new home at my "big-girl" house. Most of them have remained boxed in a closet or garage, but recently we have started pulling them out to play with. Boy was I in for a shocker! These toys that I thought I had left in perfect condition look a little tattered and bruised...all because they were loved of course!

We have unearthed my Barbies - most of who have had a haircut and some even without heads, a purple Barbie Corvette, a Mrs. Beasley with "false" eyelashes - most likely drawn on with a marker, a stained but oh-so lovable Raggedy Ann, a beat-up musical bunny, two Cabbage Patch dolls - one of which is a boy named Carol Lennie that at the time, I insisted could be just be a tomboy...he/she was part of the first run of Cabbage Patch dolls and my mom {try as she might} could not get a girl doll. I now can see he was clearly a boy.

I love these toys and love watching my kids play with them. I am wondering what toy brings back wonderful memories for you? Or what toy have you passed on to your children?

There's a DUCK in my Tank!

Monday, September 20, 2010

So, we all know my proclivity to um....bend the rules. I have an antipathy or aversion when it comes to rules. You know, of ANY KIND. I don't really know why....just a rebel at heart. Perhaps sheer stubbornness???

Suffice it to say, child psychology typically works on me. Tell me you don't want me to do something you really do, and I am all over it. Don't get me wrong, you have to be believable. Patronizing this gal is, well let's just say it isn't received well, and leave it at that shall we?

So...since we know I ~~break bend blow them all to hell~~ side step the rules, I have asked my BFF to guest post today. Yeah, yeah....sue me. *rolls eyes and sticks the hand up*

To me this month is about celebrating FRIENDSHIP. So once again, I am sharing my friends with all of you!

I present THE GREAT DUCKALICIOUS, so dubbed by ME!

take it away my fine feathered friend....

~ FRIENDS ~
As we walk our path of life,
We meet people everyday.
Most are simply met by chance.
But, some are sent our way.

These become special friends
Whose bond we can't explain;
The ones who understand us
And share our joy and pain.
Their love contains no boundaries.
So, even we are apart.
Their presence enhances us
With a warmth felt in the heart.
This love becomes a passageway,
And so, these friends, God sends our way,
Remain forever near.

~Unknown

And of course real friends offer to send cement and personally help outfit anyone in your life that might be needing some new shoes. Adrienzgirl has been a most phenomenal addition to my life. One of those connections that never in a million years could I ever have foreseen the intricate nature of, the importance or depth of her impact. She is an amazing life force full of love, compassion, empathy, laughter and sarcasm and has continued to be so through not only the death of my sister but in all of the waves at the pond as of late. Having the mobile connection through the Crackberry allows me to take her everywhere I need her and her humor to be. Which yes, includes the shitter. Many a convos takes place in the bathroom. Girl, you have NO IDEA how many bathroom stalls I've hidden out in just to be able to sit and chat with you!!

So thank YOU Momma B for asking me to Quack a bit over here in the Tank. Gives me an opp to share just how awesome you are!!! Not that your Smackers don't already know that. *big hugs* Thank you for being the awesomeness that is you and I am honored to be a part of the Friends You Love celebration this month! Your friendship is most assuredly worth celebrating! Now....go fix me a martini woman! Shaken not stirred...

As you can see, The Duck and I have weathered some storms, we have shared many tears (both painful and joyful). So next time you are in the shitter and wondering who is beside you typing furiously or Quacking to someone else, you can bet it's either me or The Duck!

Happy Monday Smackers! Leave us some love and then go make some friends!

If for some reason you don't follow Ducky, get over to The Pond and check that shiz out! She's wicked funny!