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Thank you Pinterest for giving me a new addiction!  While perusing Pinterest I came across this fantastic blog called “your cup of cake” and it is such a delicious looking site! My heart stopped when I came across these blueberry/lemon cupcakes I just had to make them!

Not only does my house smell amazing but this recipe yielded enough cupcakes that my work will get some too!

PS: I left a few without frosting and just heated them up for morning coffee break!

Lemon Blueberry Cakes:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 ½ cups flour
¼ cup corn starch
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons lemon zest
¼  cup lemon juice
1 cup sour cream
1 cup buttermilk
1 ¾  cups blueberries + 2 tb flour

Lemon Blueberry Buttercream:
1 cup butter
¼ cup blueberries
3 teaspoons lemon juice
3 ½ -4 ½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with cupcake liners (yields about 32).
2.    Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Be sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl.
3.    On low speed, add eggs one at a time, being sure to let fully incorporate before adding the next.  Careful not to over beat.
4.    In a separate bowl, mix flour, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Sift if needed to get out lumps.
5.    In another bowl, combine buttermilk, lemon zest and lemon juice.
6.   Add about 1/3 of your dry ingredients to the sugar mixture, then buttermilk mixture, then 1/3 dry, sour cream, then final 1/3 dry.  Making sure to let the ingredients fully combine before adding the next.
7.    In another bowl, lightly toss (fresh or frozen) blueberries in 2 tb flour, then fold into batter.
8.   Fill liners about ¾ full and bake for 16-22 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
9.   Buttercream: Beat butter for 3 minutes.  (If using frozen blueberries, microwave to room temperate.) Mash blueberries and then push through a strainer to remove all skins and clumps.  Add blueberry juice and lemon juice to butter and add powdered sugar.  Adjust consistency as necessary.  (Add more lemon juice, blueberry juice or milk to make thinner, or more powdered sugar to thicken.)
10. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and top with a fresh blueberry.  I also added a few sprinkles

This weekend I cooked for an army! Ok so it was only the husband but the amount of food was massive and we will be eating left overs for awhile!

I wish I could say that all of the recipes were 100% mine but they arent. I take a recipe and add my own zest to it, but I cant take all the credit. Here are all the recipes and some pics to my weekend cook fest

Beef Bourguignon

I got this recipe from the man I have a crush on – Anthony Bourdain. This recipe is so simple and sooooo good! Make it! Now!

Beef Bourguignon

A large slab of meat…just ask the butcher for good “stew meat” and they will either have a bunch of meat nicely cut into cubes or they will point you in the right direction…3-4lbs works

Salt and pepper
A few dashes of olive oil
4 onions, thinly sliced
1 large pinch of flour
a large jug of cheap burgundy – I mean cheap
6 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 garlic clove
5-7 sprigs of thyme
a few fresh bay leafs
garlic salt
A little chopped flat parsley

Method

1. Cut the meat into 1.5 inch cubes (if not pre cut) Season the meat with salt and pepper.
2. In the Dutch oven, heat the oil over high heat until it is almost smoking. Add the meat, in batches – NOT ALL AT ONCE! – and sear on all sides until it is well browned (not gray). You dump too much meat in the pot at the same time and you’ll overcrowd it; cool the thing down and you won’t get good color. Sear the meat a little at a time, removing it and setting it aside as it finishes.
3. When all the meat is a nice, dark brown color and has been set aside, add the onions to the pot. Lower the heat to medium high until the onions are soft and golden brown (about 10 minutes).
4. Sprinkle the flour over them. Continue to cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add about 2 cups of red wine. Naturally, you want to scrape up all that really good fond from the bottom of the pot with your wooden spoon. Bring thewine to a boil.
5. Return the meat to the pot and add the carrots, garlic, and Thyme, Garlic Salt and Bay leas. Add just enough water so that the liquid covers the meat by one third – meaning you want a ratio of 3 parts liquid to 2 parts meat. This is a stew, so you want plenty of liquid, even after it cooks down and reduces. Bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer, and let cook for about 2 hours, or until the meat is tender (break-apart-with-a-fork tender).
6. You should pay attention to the dish, meaning to check it every 15 to 20 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot to make sure the meat is not sticking or, God forbid, scorching. I like to add more red wine and water as needed – dont be afraid to add and trust your instincts…You should also skim off any foam or scum or oil collecting on the surface, using a large spoon or ladle. When done, remove and discard the Thyme and Bay leafs, add the chopped parsley to the pot, and serve.

Really Smooth Mashed Potatoes with Buttermilk

5-6 Russet Potatoes – peeled and quarted
1 cup of warm Buttermilk (more if needed)
1/2 cup of butter
Salt and Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the quartered potatoes. Once the potatoes are really soft (15-20 min) take them out and set aside. To get my potatoes really creamy I put the potatoes in a fine grain sieve and used a muddler to smash the potatoes – it worked brilliantly! I then put the potatoes in my kitchen aid mixer and added salt and pepper and a little bit of the warm buttermilk. Put the mixer on and continue to add more buttermilk and salt and pepper until your desired consistency and taste!

***PUT THE POTATOES IN A BOWL AND THEN POUR YOUR BEEF BOURGUIGNON OVER. ENJOY***

For some reason I see this bag and I get a smile. It really is silly, that a bag can bring a smile to my face, when there are so many other worthwhile smile makers…Like I have a job, I have a loving husband, I have my health, blahblahblah…Sometimes we just need a bit of fantasy and a desire for something so unrealistic.

This bag does it all, not only is it a Mulberry – so you know the quality is there – but this bag has a statement that boosts energy, brings on smiles, and just looks great
Available at Net a Porter for a mere $1200

Maybe it’s the color – but these shoes are fancy!  Priced at $1250 I would rather get the bag!

Being a newlywed and moving to a new city gave me a chance to spring clean. AKA: Get rid of a lot of silly decorative stuff I have accumulated through the years. I have finally become accustomed to the idea of less is more and quality is better than quantity. With that being said I am still a design freak and crave bright color throughout the house…just now the pieces are often more expensive.
My Garage Sale:

I now live in a large loft and our kitchen is part of a big open space, so I look forward to certain pops of color in my kitchen. When it comes to decorating or de-decorating my kitchen, I was going for the industrial meets professional kitchen decor. Kitchen-aid mixer, stainless steel utensils, bar quality mixers, flour sack dishtowels, you get the idea…hues of grey, silver and pops of white. Boring…so picking out a dutch oven has become a very exciting task for me – color!

When we drove up to SF I could only bring a few essentials with me until the rest of my stuff could be transported. Everything is in storage

Being brought up on Le Creuset I always thought that is what I would get. After being slightly disappointed by their lack of color options (they are all primary colors, and the only colors I do like have been impossible to find)  I started to do more research. On the Le Creuset website there are colors I have never seen before. Ocean was my favorite and Spinach is a  beautiful bright yet dark green. I cant find them anywhere!

Le Creuset Ocean

Le Creuset Spinach
I found Staub at Sur la Table. I love La Mer

I did the research and both brands are comparable in durability and all the other adjectives that are important….so now it comes down to color. Oh and convincing my husband that spending $280 on what he calls a pot is reasonable.

My question: What is the better brand?

Finally something great has come on Beyond the Rack…Missoni Scarfs. As part of my routine I spend a few minutes everyday checking out the daily fashion sites like Gilt, Ruelala, etc…And I love these scarfs I saw on Beyond the Rack this morning. They are perfect for San Francisco weather Oh and they are either $80 or $119!

My Favorite:

While I was perusing NeimanMarcus.com I was so excited to come across this ring! It reminds me of a ring I was obsessed with from Louis Vuitton quite sometime ago ( circa 2005 ish) . I loved the gold bands and the pearl accents. This is a great everyday ring and cocktail ring and it’s a lot cheaper than the LV one

This is the one from Louis Vuitton.Here is the one I just found on Neimans.com

I came across this video clip and I about died laughing. It’s a fancy move called “Twerking” I mean “Twerkin”

Urban Dictionary defines the word as:

- to work one’s body, as in dancing, especially the rear endHip hop dance move for a female, shaking, jerking and twitching her buttocks in a sexually provocative manner.
-A conjunction of twitch and jerk, or twerk.
- The new age dancing at high school and college parties. The guy will stand against the wall and wait for a girl (or he can grab his own) to rub her ass on him while he’s up against the wall.