And the Winners Are...

So, what did ya'll think of the Oscars last night? I thought the new format and Hugh Jackman were great! Definitely, one of the better Oscar shows in recent history. I especially loved how past winners came out and praised each nominated actor, everyone got their moment in the sun, so nice! Another great moment was Kate Winslet FINALLY winning her Oscar!


I saw The Reader a couple days ago and it just reminded me of what a gifted actor she is! Also, all of her co-stars in The Reader gave terrific performances.

So, we're ya'll as surprised when Mickey Rourke didn't win? Did you notice that Robert Pattinson had a better seat than Tina Fey? Don't get me wrong, I like Robert and all, but REALLY? Understand, I'm no producer, so I know they have their reasons.....just don't shoot me. :)

I thought today I might do an overview of best dressed, but nothing really reached out and grabbed me. For those of you that want to see more, here's a good write up on the evening attire. Everyone looked good, but when don't they? Also, almost everyone seemed to be in a neutral color. Did anyone stand out to you?

Hope everyone had as much fun watching the Oscars as my friends and I did.

Oscar Weekend

I always look forward to the Oscars! I love movies and seeing all the big players come together and dressed to the nines! What's not to love about all that? This Sunday happens to be my book club meeting, so we've turned it into an Oscar party as well. We're going to serve a couple Oscar related drinks, The Ultimate Blueberry Martini

and The Red Carpet Fizz
The hosts have decide to do a taco bar, so in keeping with the Mexican theme and Oscar theme, I've decided to make Texas Caviar:

2 cans of Trappy's black eyed peas, rinsed and drained

1 can of Rotel

Diced green, yellow & red bell peppers

1/2 purple onion, diced

3/4 cup zesty Italian salad dressing (don't do low fat, stick with the regular Zesty)

1/2 lime, juiced

small bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 can of mexi-corn, drained

1 jalapeno, chopped (take out the seeds for less heat)

salt & pepper

couple dashes of hot sauce

Stir all together and chill for a couple hours, before serving with corn and tortilla chips.

Also, it's fun to have a couple Oscar Ballots on hand and for correct answers you could hand out your own Chocolate Oscars

Hope everyone has a great weekend and all your favorites win!

Amazing Race 14 Premieres

I love the Amazing Race on CBS! I'm already hooked on this season and it's all because of Luke and Margie, they are so cute!

They're a mother and son duo and Luke just happens to be deaf! I have a cousin that is completely deaf, so it definitely touches home for me. I love that Luke just wants to get the message out there that he can do the same things and accomplish just as much as a hearing person, which is so true! I actually teared up when they finished FIRST this week and so did Team Harvard, whom finished second, it was so sweet. Not only was the end great, but the cheese challenge was crazy! It turned out to be much harder than I would have thought and the locals were just standing around laughing at the constants, all while drinking beer! Got love it! If you're not watching, you definitely should start. Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Happy Valentine's Day

I have to be honest Valentine's Day isn't my favorite holiday. I don't know why, maybe it's too much pressure, too commercial or I have more memories of being alone than with someone? :) What do you guys think? Whatever the reason, I'm embracing it more nowadays and I thought these adorable cookies, my friend Amy made would brighten anyone's day!

And I think this would wash the cookies down perfectly and it pours out the lightest shade of pink, so perfect for today!

Just in Time for Valentine's Day

Seeing how I've had this blog set up for quite awhile, I thought I'd actually post something and venture into this world of blogging. Yes, I know I'm very behind, but that wouldn't be out of the ordinary for me ;)

So, I thought what's better than kicking things off with a lovely Strawberry Cupcake with Champagne glaze recipe? Combines two of my favorite things and it's a perfect thing to share with you and yours tomorrow. The recipe below is from http://www.cupcakeproject.com/.

Enjoy!

Makes 24 cupcakes
2 1/2 C cake flour
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 C unsalted butter
1 1/2 C sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 C buttermilk
1/4 C canola oil
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 C finely chopped fresh strawberries
In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer.
Add eggs. Mix until smooth and creamy.
Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until just combined.
Stir in strawberries.
Fill cupcake liners half way full.
Bake at 350 F for 18-20 minutes. Let cool.

Champagne Glaze
1 stick butter
1 C sugar
1/4 C water
1/4 C Champagne
Boil butter, sugar, and water for 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat.
Stir in champagne and let cool.
When I took the butter, sugar, and water mixture off the stove and mixed the champagne into the hot mixture it was delish and it had a strong champagne flavor. After it cooled on the cupcakes it was still great, but the champagne flavor did become a bit more subtle.How to Glaze a Cupcake. The trick I learned for glazing a cupcake is dip the cupcake into the pot of glaze and twist the cupcake as you take it out to keep the glaze from dripping off. Coincidentally, dip and twist sounds like a move from my new hip-hop class. I double-dipped (a restaurant faux pas) but very important here to get a nice thick layer of glaze.