Sweet Saturday

Okay, first let me apologize for being MIA this week. It's been so crazy this week and I have been absolutely exhausted that I just haven't had a chance to keep up with everything. That being said, I made you something today. Let me begin by saying for the past three months I have pined over a donut baking pan. I saw one on another blog and wanted it so badly. I finally went out yesterday and bought one. So, today I have cake donuts to bribe you into forgiving me.

I tried the recipe that came with the pan and well, it wasn't as sweet as I wanted so I scoured a couple of sites to find one that was just perfect for you.


Baked Cake Donuts
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare donut panwith non-stick cooking spray, if you don't have a donut you can use a muffin pan.
In a large bowl, beat sugar and egg together until creamy and light-colored. Add oil, milk, and vanilla and mix well.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
Slowly add flour mixture into egg mixture until well combined.
Fill donut pan about 2/3rd way full or the muffin pan about 3/4 full and bake for 10 minutes for donuts or 15 minutes for muffins, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Do not overcook! You want a nice, dense, moist cake.

Powdered donuts: While donuts are still warm to the touch, remove from tins and immediately roll the crust with powdered sugar, until it is well coated. Dust the tops with sugar as well.

Sugared donuts: Using a pastry brush, coat each donut with a thin layer of melted butter. Roll each buttered donut in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. (Perform this step immediately before serving. If the butter and sugar cool for too long, it will make more of a “crust” on the donut)

Jelly filled donuts: Layer the donuts. Put in about 1/3 then a ring of jelly then another 1/3 of the batter.

Icing donuts: Mix one cup of confectioners sugar with two table spoons of HOT water. Dip the donut into the icing.

I made chocolate ones and they tasted more like a chocolate bread, so I still need to find a good recipe for those. These were actually so much easier than I ever imagined. You can leave the plain, sugar them or decorate any way you want. They keep for several days but I'm doubting they will be around that long. Now...don't you forgive me? Let's always be friends. Have another donut. 

And The Winner Is.....

Extra big love to everyone who entered the giveaway. You guys rock my sock! The winner is....DRUM ROLL.....

SEW LOVELY EMBROIDERY! Yahoo!!!

Sew Lovely-if you would be so kind as to email me your address I would be ever so grateful. You can email me at v1313(at)hotmail.com or on flickr or facebook.

Stay tune for more cocktails, patterns, cinemas and of course giveaways!

Feel Good Friday!

 Picture courtesy of fabricio leal

For the love of all things holy, I am SO tired this Friday. I'm pretty sure it's because Lola and Pete decided at 5am that they wanted to play chase and sprung out of bed chasing eachother. It's a good thing they are cute, otherwise they would be going in the stew pot. Let's see what I have for you on this sleepy Friday.

Cross Stitch Ninja kicks major butt! This is an EMBROIDERED Lego plans. You should also check out her embroidered loom part. It will blow you away!

I absolutely LOVE history and the Wessels Living History Farm keep me supplied in farming and in wonderful history. I haven't been yet but one day I hope to make it. In the meantime, I will continue to read the website.

The past few days the weather has been a bit crisp which gets me in the mood for fall, specifically hunkering down for some cool weather stitching. I found this pattern and just adore it. I can't wait to stitch it up. It is so me!
For those of you who haven't seen it yet. A new Craftster video starring yours truly with cameos of Pete, Jujube and Mark's hand.

Alright my pretties. I am completely wiped out. I'm gonna put my feet up, turn on a bad movie and "rest" my eyes. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Get out there and enjoy the last days of summer or the beginnings of fall.

Optimist: Person who travels on nothing from nowhere to happiness.

~Mark Twain

Cause I'm Nice

Maybe it's because I'm super nice or maybe it's because I'm lazy but I decided to have a giveaway today. I'm giving away not one but TWO super cool books! You heard me! TWO SUPER COOL BOOKS!

First we have a great book that I reviewed on Feeling Stitchy, Bags In Bloom. This book not only gives you patterns to embroidery but also patterns for different purses

Second we have the wonderful Design It Yourself Clothes. This book gives you the abc's on pattern design so you can be the next Project Runway winner!

Now, what do you have to do to win these two awesome books? Leave your answer to the following question:

What is your favorite season?

A winner will be announced next Thursday so hurry up and enter to win!

Tie One On Tuesday!

I know that most Tuesdays I post yummy alcohol concoctions but today I thought I would tell you about my favorite sodas-which can be used to mix with some great spirits to make some of your own fun loving drinks .

My all time favorite soda is Cheerwine. This drink not only brings back childhood memories of growing up in North Carolina but also is a dang good drink. Cheerwine is only brewed in the Carolinas but they do distribute to other areas of the United States. This soda has a wonderful cherry taste and is made with real cane sugar. It's also fun for little kids as it produces the biggest burps I have ever heard! Get it in the bottle if you can. The taste can't be beat.

Now for those of you in the midwest, you have a little drink called Green River. This Chicago based soda has an interesting taste which my husband describes as a "kind of lime and delicious " flavor. The bright toxic beverage is especially popular during St. Patrick's day. It is another very carbonated soda that will produce maximum burbage on a hot day.

If you are lucky enough to live close to the southern border of the United States or have an international food store near you, you can indulge in a Jarritos sodas. My favorite is strawberry but with flavors like Sangria, Tamarindo, and Jamaica you can try local flavors without ever leaving your lawn chair. I might also add that a Mexican Coca Cola with cane sugar is the best you will ever get.

These are only a few of my favorites. There are so many local sodas out there to be found, drank and enjoyed. If you are feeling adventurous, you can make your own (but that's for another Tie One On Tuesday).  Oh my goodness! Mark found me a Cheerwine, now if you will excuse me, I'm gonna gulp this puppy down and rattle the walls.

The Spoof....or How To Tastefully Rip Off Another Movie.

The Spoof movie. It could be a hysterical tasty morsel that leaves you full and wanting more or it could be the worst meal ever that leaves you with heartburn not even Pepto Bismal could get rid of.  Here are a few of my favorite spoofs, and I promise they won't leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.

One of the best all time spoofs and probably my favorite is Airplane! This 1980 comedy mocks the disaster movies of the time. When you hear someone say, "I am serious and don't call me Shirely", you know exactly where it came from. It's a simple story. When the entire airplane ends up getting food poisoning, it's up to veteran pilot Ted Striker to bring the plane down safely. Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges and Leslie Nielson round out this rich comedic cast. If you like Gladiator movies, you will love this one (if you've seen the movie-you will totally understand).

Next on our  homage to fine cinema is Austin Powers (only the first one). Mike Myers pays tribute to the 1960's super spy films. Austin Powers is a spoof of movies like Our Man Flint which is a spoof of James Bond. Wow! A spoof of a spoof. Classic....Anyhoo. Myers plays a English secret agent that is brought back from deep freeze to bring down his evil nemesis Dr. Evil. Lots of tongue and cheek jokes makes this movie a fun romp in the park.

Last but not least and kind of a stretch, but I still love it so I'm gonna tell you about it anyway, is Mars Attacks! This film is a spoof on all those 1950's "B" science fiction Alien Invasion movies. Jack Nickolson in duel roles is amazing. He plays the President of the USA as well as a sleazy Las Vegas casino investor. Aliens land on Earth and much to our surprise they are hostile big brained boogers set on world domination. Who knew Slim Whitman could save the world?

Oh, the spoof. You make us laugh, you make us cry, you sometimes make us wonder why (your were ever made). There are so many ways you can play on the spoof-if you are lucky a smile will ensue, do it wrong and the world will never forgive you. Heed my warning young film makers, the spoof, she's a harsh mistress.

Feel Good Friday!

Yahoo! We made it to Friday! I didn't think we were going to do it and then BAM! We pulled it off! Pat yourself on the back!

Oh yeah-you are reading it right. Quit rubbing your eyes and close your mouth. AlwaysInspired and Digital Misfit created a new blog banner for me. Digital Misfit drew it up and AlwaysInspired stitched it up. It has all my favorite things. Cocktails, crafting tools, and pups! I really think they captured the chest part just right too. I look H-O-T all stitched up! Thank you guys SO much, seriously from the bottom on my heart for this. I just love it. You will be seeing it on my blog very soon!

I am completely blown away by Dalton Ghetti. That is lead from a pencil. CRAZY!

If you are thinking of something to get me for Christmas. This would be perfect. The Junk Gypsy has such great stuff! As a matter of fact, I think I'll take just about one of everything in their store.


You guys know I love a good cross stitch or embroidery pattern and if they are vintage-even better. Denise Felton shares my love of patterns and all things needlework on Craft Gossip. There are tutorials, patterns, and just plain cool stuff. If  stitching isn't your thing, check out the other amazing categories. Paper work, quilting, recycle crafting are just a few.

I would love to stay and chat more but the sun is calling my name and demanding that I get outside. Time to throw on my bathing suit, head to the backyard and play with the family. I've almost got the dogs trained to bring me beverages. ALMOST-only a few years away from perfection. Have a great weekend and enjoy life.

Jumping for joy is good exercise.  ~Author Unknown