Just Say Cheese...burger!

Memorial Day and Father's Day and the 4th of July and BBQ season are nearly upon us (well, unless you live in the NW, then you're still in rainy season), I thought I'd share them in case any of you need a fun, creative dessert idea, or a project to do with your kiddos, or a birthday party idea, or...well, you get the point. :)

Are these not the cutest things you've ever seen? :)

Okay, and here's the truth: they are SUUUUUUUUPER easy to make! :) Here's what you do:

1. Bake some cupcakes out of yellow cake. Personally I think they are cuter if you use the cupcake wrappers and then take them off so the "buns" have the crinkled edges and they don't get too brown.

*Note: If you really want to be authentic, you can buy sesame seeds (I bought them out of one of those bulk tubs at the grocery store), and while the cupcakes are still warm (the seeds stick better), sprinkle them over the tops. If you're having trouble getting the seeds to stick, get a little bit of warm water and use your finger to wipe it over the top of the cupcake before sprinkling the seeds, then they will stick just fine.

2. Bake a pan of brownies.

3. Cut the cooled cupcakes in half.

4. Using a biscuit cutter or a cookie cutter or a knife or whatever will work, cut circles in your brownies about the same size as the bottom of the cupcake.

5. You can buy a tub or two of white/vanilla frosting and dye it with food coloring, or you can buy the cans of ready-to-go icing with the different attachments to decorate. You need red, yellow, and green. And you want vivid colors, so if you dye your own, make sure you use plenty of food coloring or else it looks kind of weird. (In the photos I dyed the red and yellow and I bought the green.)

6. Pipe icing, either using the can, a piping bag, or you can glob it into a ziplock bag and snip of one corner, of one color onto all the bottoms of the cupcakes (I put red on bottom, but it doesn't really matter). It doesn't have to be neat--you can just use squiggles--and you really only need it around the edges. You want it to peek out so you can see it. This will hold the brownie in there and it will also make it look like ketchup (or mustard or lettuce, depending on what color you use) on your burger.

7. Put the brownie circle on next, then pipe the other two colors in the same way around the edges of the top of the brownie. Add the top of the cupcake.

Voila! Cheeseburger cupcakes. Adorable and easy. :)

And if you want to go the extra mile...

It is also super easy (although a little bit time consuming) to make "fries" out of sugar cookies. You can use your favorite sugar cookie recipe (ones that don't rise and lose their shape work best--like the recipe you'd use with cookie cutters, as opposed to the recipe for just round cookies that puff up), or you can buy the sugar cookie mix at the store. Roll it out flat, about 1/4" thick and put it on your cookie sheet (I put mine on top of parchment paper...it made it way easier to deal with). Then take a sharp knife and cut your layer of cookie dough vertically down the middle. Next make horizontal cuts all along the length of the dough, about 1/4" wide. The cookies will rise a little, so it work best if you then peel up every other one so there's a space in between each one giving them room to grow a little (especially if you use the store mix).

Cook them until they're a pretty golden-brown. AS SOON AS YOU TAKE THEM OUT OF THE OVEN, sprinkle sugar over the top (this will make them look like the fries are "salted", and if you do it while they're hot, the sugar will stick). When they come out, if they've grown they will probably look like "steak fries" like you would get at Red Robin, etc. If that is what you want, awesome. While they're still super hot*, take your knife and go over the cuts again, just to make sure they are separated. If you want them to look more like McDonald's fries, cut each "fry" down the middle to make them half as big (that's what I did).

*If you wait until they cool off, they will have hardened and they will break when you cut them, so make sure you cut them as soon as you take them out of the oven.

So there you have it! Super easy, adorable, and lots of fun to make. And you can make baskets like these and put tissue paper in them to make them even more "authentic." (I used red and blue because they were for the 4th of July...and that's what I already had at my house.) :) There's a template for the basket HERE that you can print on cardstock and assemble yourself. There are also templates for Father's day tissue paper and a fry holder, if you are interested in those, too.

Have fun! If you make them, be sure to post photos and let me know! Can't wait to see them! :)

And if you want to see where I got this cute idea, or more detailed step-by-step instructions with photos, click HERE!

This is What Happens When Two Generations Collide.

On my recent trip to Denver for my sister's graduation, my sweet 80-year-old grandma flew down for it, and upon arriving in Denver, she was immediately freezing. In an attempt to help her get and stay warm, my dad offered her his hoodie. This is what happens when an 80-year-old woman, who has NEVER in her life worn a hooded sweatshirt, puts one on for the first time:

And this is what happens when her 25-year-old granddaughter tries to teach her how to be "gangsta":

P-Dub Comes to P-Town!

Confession: I am totally and completely hooked on reading Ree Drummond's blog. And have been for about 2 years. Do I know this woman? No. But...I CAN say now that I have met her!

Note: If you haven't yet wandered past this lovely woman's blog, don't think about it, just immediately click HERE to go discover why literally MILLIONS of visitors view her blog every month. Start with her love story, "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels." But only start there if you have about a day to spare. :)

A couple friends got me hooked on The Pioneer Woman (the name of Ree's website), and I have loved seeing her beautiful photos, reading her hilarious posts, and trying out her awesome recipes. (Her recipes, by the way, are INCREDIBLE--she posts photos of every step, and while they may not be the healthiest, they are ALWAYS delicious!) I followed the blog all through her process of creating, editing, and publishing her new cookbook, and was pretty bummed when her book tour last fall brought her nowhere near the West Coast (she IS from Oklahoma, after all).

This means I was STOKED when she announced she'd be visiting a few more cities this spring, INCLUDING PORTLAND!! Not only that, but the store she'd be signing at was LITERALLY five minutes from my house. SO EXCITING!! It also happened to fall when my sister was visiting, so I called her and begged her (she is not addicted to PW's blog...YET) to agree to come with me (which she did).

So, when the day finally arrived, I raced home from work, picked up my sister (who didn't understand my urgency to leave until we got there and saw literally HUNDREDS of people waiting to see Ree), and we ran over to Powell's. We were about an hour early, so we were lucky to get tickets (they gave out 375 tickets, and after that, it was a free-for-all), then we went to Cold Stone to grab some ice cream and headed back to wait. The employee in charge of crowd control was pretty much a complete schmuck (seriously...who gave that guy a mic?!), and obviously had NO idea what he had gotten himself into. At the appointed time, he headed toward the store's main entrance with the mic and waited for Ree to arrive.

PW (or P-Dub, as she calls herself) was supposed to start her talk at 6, but she got stuck in traffic (not shocking). She was about ten minutes late, and ran into the store through the mall entrance. Everyone started clapping and cheering as she hurried to the mic and apologized for being late...into an empty mic stand. Everyone laughed as she regained her composure and the schmuck with the mic finally figured out why everyone was laughing and clapping and made his way back to the podium with the mic.

Ree was every bit as funny and charming in real life as she is on her blog. She was also graceful and incredibly nice. (And if you've read the blog, YES, she did the Ethyl Merman impersonation!) She answered questions for 20-30 minutes, then started signing cookbooks.

I had gone ahead of time and purchased cookbooks for Amy and myself, so we just hung out and waited. They were calling people up by number in groups of ten (our numbers were 218-219)...so we had awhile to wait. After about an hour, when they had only gotten through about 80 numbers, Amy needed to get back to study and I was supposed to be at puppy class with Allee, so reluctantly, we headed home without getting our books signed. :(

I dropped Amy up and picked up Allee and headed to our class. After class, I decided I'd swing by the bookstore to see if people were still there (it was about 9:00 PM at this point, and it was on the way home anyway). I left Allee in the car and walked through the door, cookbooks in hand (just in case!) and heard, "Numbers 220-229 can line up." WHAT??? They were literally JUST finishing up our number!! Wahooooo! I jumped in line real quick and waited less than ten minutes before it was my turn. I gave a lady in the front row my sister's camera and asked her to snap a few photos for me.

I probably only got to talk to her for about a minute, but she was a total sweetheart and I'm SO glad I went back in! It was awesome to meet someone who I've read so much about--I think everyone who follows her blog feels like they know her personally. I can't wait to try more recipes from my autographed cookbook--YUM!

Meem's Visit!

I know these posts are not in order...whatever. I'm also stealing liberally from photos that my sister's posted since I only recently got a new camera (Canon's are wonderful, by the way!). :)

My sis came up a few weeks ago to visit and go to her best friend Micaela's bridal shower. Since she had some time off from school and her clinical was over, she stayed a few extra days to play (and visit)!

Jenna, Micaela, Amy, Allie, Me

We had a blast! We spent an afternoon at The Melting Pot (which is spendy but FANTASTIC and a great way to spend several hours with a group of friends). Amy's college friends are adorable and we had a super fun night. Amy and I flitted around Portland and did some fun things, I got her totally hooked on "GLEE" (woohoo!), and we ha a great time together. She interviewed at the Southwest Washington Medical Center while she was here, which brings me to my next point:

AMY AND STERLING ARE MOVING BACK TO PORTLAND!!!!!!

I could not be more excited! I had already basically decided that if they weren't moving here, I was going to start looking for jobs elsewhere, so I'm so excited that she got the job in Vancouver and they're coming back!!! My sister and I have not lived in the same state in 11 years, so this is HUGE news! SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!

Yep. That's all.

Tana's Shower

In a few weeks, I am going to be a bridesmaid in my friend Tana's wedding. She's marrying another friend of mine from college, and I'm glad I can take part in their special day. I'm also singing a song for the wedding, so we'll see how that goes. :)

Anyway, to give you a little background, I've known Tana since about halfway through our freshman year of college. I've gotten to know her family pretty well over the years. Her dad is a judge and her mom is a public health nurse. When I visited Florence, Italy for spring break during my time in London, I happened to get there the same day her family got there, and they were amazing! They took care of my like I was their own kid, paying for all my meals, letting me stay in the house they were renting, etc. I've also gone to Wenatchee to go horseback riding with her mom or hang out with them. They have an amazing family. All three kids, Tana included, are attorneys, although only one (her older sister, Sarah) actually practices law. They are a very cultured, classy, cool family, but they're all very down-to-earth, small town, fun people.

So Tana's sister, Sarah, and her grandmother held her bridal shower. Now, to be completely honest, I am not a big fan of bridal showers (or baby showers, for that matter). I usually hate playing all the dumb games and being there with a whole bunch of giggly girls being extra, extra squealy and silly. Knowing Sarah, I was hopeful that this shower would be very classy and not like the ones I was used to--I was totally right.

The shower was held at an adorable little bed and breakfast where they do high tea! It was AWESOME!! I wish I had photos, but I didn't bring a camera all weekend, so no photies. :( Oh well.

There were about fifteen of us there, all dressed up--it was a blast. The table settings were gorgeous with real, fancy china, the old house was awesome, and the food was outstanding. We all got to pick our own type of tea and got little, individual pots (I had a pear tea, and it was delicious). They started out with these cups of sun-dried tomato-basil ravioli soup, then we had English scones with jam and clotted cream, then tea sandwiches, fruit, and desserts. We only played two games--Sarah made a crossword puzzle about Tana and Devin (and I won!), and we were given hair bands and there were three words we weren't allowed to say or we lost our rubber bands (whoever had the most at the end won). Perfect. It was probably the best shower I have ever been to, and not at all annoying. We had plenty of time to chat and hang out, and it wasn't stressful or silly. Awesome.

Afterwards Allee and I went to Sarah's house to give Allee a chance to run around with Sarah's dog for a bit, and we had a nice chat, then we headed back to Portland.

It was hectic, crazy, exhausting weekend, but I had a blast.

Congrats, Sabrina and Teddy!

Mr. and Mrs. Sabrina and Teddy Escobar!

When I was on the REACH team a few years ago, I spent the year living with several awesome young adults in a green van, traveling from one city to the next across much of the US. One of those girls was Sabrina. Sabrina is one of the most fun, quirky, unique people I know, and she met someone that year who is PERFECT for her. Teddy is every bit as silly, quirky, and crazy as Sabrina, and they complement each other VERY well.

Me, Kari, Teddy, and Shad--Karalee and Shad are married now, but they were on my team, too! It was fun to see them and have a chance to catch up a little.

A couple weeks ago, they got married!! And in a whirlwind weekend, I drove ten hours in two days from Portland to Yakima, WA, to Seattle, WA, to Sumner, WA, and back to Portland so I could attend the wedding and then jet to Seattle for my friend's bridal shower. It was crazy and exhausting and super fun. Allee came with me and got to play with new people and new puppies and she loved it (she is an angelic traveler--thank goodness!).

This was their cake--green is Sabrina's favorite color, and she loves dinosaurs--this cake was SO them!

The Groom's Cake Sabrina had made for Teddy--he's a huge "Simpsons" fan, and this cake was AWESOME!! :)

Anyway, congratulations to Sabrina and Teddy--love you, Sabby!

Outnumbered by the Four-Legged Creatures.

Me with Whiskey (my aunt and uncle's dog--the little red one), Allee (my sweet gray schnauzer), and Penny (my cousin's dog that my family was watching while her owner was in the hospital).

It was sort of a last minute, complicated deal, but I went up to Seattle for Easter to spend a few days with my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dave. It was a great, fun, relaxing weekend--exactly what I needed, even if it was waaaay too short!

Allee came with me for the weekend, so with the two of us, there were three dogs, three cats, and four people at the house that weekend. 3 Dogs + 4 Cats + 4 people=1 crazy, chaotic house!

And on a random note...doesn't Allee look like a stuffed animal? She is so sweet--I wish you all could meet her!

Electron Boy Update!

If you enjoyed the very special story I posted below, check out THIS LINK for more on Erik the Electron Boy.

And either way, CLICK HERE to see an amazing video of Electron Boy's superhero Seattle mission.

Electron Boy to the Rescue!

Oh, friends. You HAVE to read this story. As a warning...you might want to bust out the kleenex first. This is one of the BEST stories I've heard in a long, long time. And make sure you check out the photo gallery and the facebook link, too. It will totally make your day.

Click HERE (or on the photo) to read the story.

And click HERE to watch the CNN video story.