Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

My friend Melinda Lanham was nice enough to share this recipe for her Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting. I was fortunate enough to get to try it on top of some delightful Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins! They were so good!

6oz. cream cheese, 1/4 c. melted butter, 2 tsp. cream, 2 tsp flavoring (vanilla or almond), and 4-6 c. powdered sugar, 1-2 c. whipping cream, whip, sweetened and flavor with vanilla.

Cream the softened cream cheese and softened butter together. Add cream and flavoring. Add powdered sugar until desired consistency. Gently fold whipped cream into the frosting. Chill. Use as soon as you take it out of the fridge. It will melt and get a bit runny with warmth.

Monster Ball

What is this?

A monster ball.

Om nom nom.

I think there is something tasty inside.

So I will carry it around...

...until I discover its secrets.

Weekend

This weekend flew by too fast!

Meet Pixel

I didn't want a dog.

Enter Pixel.

Both Trevor and I had agreed we didn't want a dog. A dog is a lot of work. A dog is expensive. A dog ties you down. A dog is a personal tragedy waiting to happen. We had a million reasons not to get a dog.

Then Pixel happened.

Trevor was at a client's house when he was greeted by a strange assortment of dogs. 3 dogs of black and fawn coloring, yet 2 were giant mastiffs and 1 was a tiny pug. When Trevor commented on her, the immediate response was "Do you want her? She's free." Trevor's response was "I'll talk to my wife".

He came back home that night with a twinkle in his eye. "I have a temptation for you." He showed me a video of a pug frolicking outside. My response was "I'll think about it."

A few nights later, right before bed, Trevor asked me what I thought we should name her if we did end up taking her. I had thought about it and told him "Pixel".
"Really?"
"Yeah, don't you like it?"
"I do, it's just..."
"Yes?"
"I had thought of that same name."

Today, Pixel has become a part of our lives. She fits in well as a low-key, quiet and lovable dog. She keeps me company at home while I am working. She gets along great with the kids and they love her. It's getting hard to imagine life without her.

I think we got a bargain.

Lanternlight

Fall is coming on far too quickly, so last weekend I made sure to spend some time outside with the kids, enjoying the weather while it is still around. I pulled out our Ladderball, and the kids were both soon having fun trying their hand at this classic backyard game.

Aspen was a natural! She got the hang of it so quickly.

Ethan had his own style and flair!

Nighttime outside can be a lot of fun, especially when you have some oil camping lanterns to play with! We have to enjoy this time before it gets too cold to be out at night anymore.

My lil' lantern princess...

...and my Prince Charming. So contemplative!

Iced Coffee

A friend of mine posted that she had tried a recipe for iced coffee from the Pioneer Woman's blog, which is a site that I find myself frequenting quite often as of late. I love iced coffee, but have never thought of attempting to make it myself. Being the often over-optimistic chef, I decided to jump in with both feet. A quick run to Target to pick up one huge pitcher, a wire strainer, a plastic glass with straw, and some decaf coffee, and I was ready to go!

My coffee and water mixture (a.k.a. the sludge).

After a overnight rest, the sludge gets poured slowly through some paper towels and a strainer into the huge pitcher.

The sludge being separated from the deliciousness.

When I say slowly, I mean slowly. This step took over an hour. After it all was finally poured through, the final product goes back into the fridge for a little more chillin'.

Look at all that coffee!

I could hardly wait for it to be cold enough! I did try the Pioneer woman's suggestion to add some sweetened condensed milk and a splash of creamer to make it a "Russian". 

Yum, yum.

Our second honeymoon | Part 2

As we headed up the shoreline of Lake Superior, there was some beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of being on a bike instead of a car is that it is really hard to take pictures sometimes, so we just had to stop at a scenic overlook and stretch our legs.

Look at that view!

Watch out for falling rocks!

We did run into a nice couple who offered to take our picture, so we didn't have only self-portraits (although Trevor is really good at those). 

Behold the zen master.

After our little break, we did a longer stretch to make it all the way up to our hotel in Tofte. We were staying at the Cliff Dweller, and it was a nice little place with a gorgeous view of Lake Superior. After getting settled in, it was back on the bike to head just a little farther north to our final destination, Grand Marais. 

We ate dinner at a fairly overpriced cafe, did a little shopping, and then walked around enjoying the cool weather and picturesque harbor.

So sunny.

Trevor shows his manliness

T is for... totem?

What a beautiful night!