Kitchen Queen...Holiday baking!

Hi lovelies! Thought I would share a super easy bundt cake recipe that anyone can make! I originally saw this recipe on The Francis Family's blog and have since made many variations resulting in a super easy recipe that can be adjusted for the seasons or occasion. We're having a staff Thanksgiving pot luck on Friday so I thought this would be the perfect no fuss cake to share. Thanks to pinterest, I have quite a few "holiday" baked goods pinned for the season. So if all goes well I may share each baking success with all of you and maybe we can bake our way into the new year together.

First things first, if you're doing your baking in the morning you'll want to start with a giant cup of coffee, an in the kitchen "photo shoot" of yourself and then spend an obscene amount of time trying to put together a cheesy photo collage to introduce this little baking series. (All part of the process...hahaha) (Clearly I have no shame, and am not easily embarrassed by my own cheesiness;)

Without further ado... I give you Butterscotch Spice Cake!

You'll need a few simple ingredients:

1 box Spice Cake Mix (mine was Duncan Hines)
1 box instant Vanilla Pudding
1/2 cup Sugar
3/4 water
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
4 eggs beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 cup butterscotch morsels

Begin by mixing all of your dry ingredients together...

Then wisk eggs...

Combine all wet ingredients with dry (eggs, water, oil, sour cream) and mix mix mix!

I used my hand held electric mixer but the original recipe doesn't require one.

This step is the "taste test the batter" step, somehow omitted from the original recipe?? ;)

When all ingredients are blended fold in the cup of butterscotch morsels and pour evenly into your bundt pan.

Place in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees. Now here is where it gets slightly tricky. The original recipe says bake for 50 min. My cakes have NEVER been done in 50 min. I usually bake for 50, check with a fork or knife, bake for 15 min more, check and then cover with foil and bake for another 15. So almost an hour and 20 min when all is said and done. It could be my oven not sure?

This cake is incredibly moist, but your knife should be clean from any liquid upon removal to ensure it's done.

Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 min.

Once cooled ever so gently flip over onto the wire rack or onto your serving dish...

I kind of nudged this one along by gently going around the pan with a spatula...

Now with the other variations of this cake that I've made, I've never had this problem (Chocolate chocolate chip and Lemon Blueberry) But both times I've made this version it sticks so badly to my pan, kind of defeating the loveliness of the "bundt" ;( I think it may be the butterscotch or the fact that I've made this version using sugar which I found on another similar recipe?? If you're a true Kitchen Queen and have a suggestion please do share!!

So sad.. ;(

Errr... keepin' it real my friends...

Not the most beautiful of bundts but certainly one of the most delectable!

As you can see I basically just flipped it back over to give it a smoother finish since the other side was a bit crumbly looking...if you're not happy with this you could always garnish with some powdered sugar to kind of "cover it up", once you start slicing and serving though it looks lovely and tastes so delicious you'll hardly mind!

Serve with tea or coffee, share with friends or co-workers, or just eat the whole thing yourself!

Enjoy the gooey delicious butterscotch now and you can thank me later ;)

Maybe for the next little baking instillation I'll make another version to show you how it should really "look" when removed from the pan. Happy baking and Bon Appetit from my kitchen to yours!

xoxo- miss v.

What I'm Loving Wednesday...snapshots.

Happy hump day! LOVE that we're halfway through the week, which means a few days closer to my mini trip to Portland! It's been a busy week, with Parent/Teacher conferences, some good, some more trying than others, but all in all it really has been such a great experience and I'm so lucky to share it with my co-teachers who are such great examples for this new kid on the block. Thought I would share a few snap shots of life lately, some of these are a week or so old because I didn't have my camera there for a few days to update photos! I feel complete having it back with me at all times to capture the little snapshots that make up the bigger picture of life.

Loving...

Unexpected gift baskets filled with all kinds of delicious goodies.

Mr. Jones won this in a raffle at a charity golf event! I was so excited when he walked through the door! All kinds of fun stuff inside which led to...

A little evening living room picnic!

Loving...

The scenery lately... whether it's beautiful Fall foliage...

Sweet butterflies swirling around our classroom...

Or glittering branches in cozy cafe's.

Loving...

Sweet baby pj's that melt my heart every Tuesday morning ;)

Baking cookies on a Sunday...

And enjoying them all week long...

And super handsome Mr. Jones'...even when he's had enough of my picture taking!

(I couldn't help myself he's just too cute.)


Hope all of you are having a great week, and even in the hustle and bustle of a busy life you remember to capture the sweet snap shots of life's little moments that make you smile and fill your heart.

xoxo- miss v.

Hallmark Holidays...

Happy Sunday friends. It has been a perfectly quiet and relaxing weekend. We watched movies, "Crazy Stupid Love" again (we saw it in the theaters) and agreed it's an excellent movie worth watching multiple times, and Water For Elephants. I feel slightly guilty because I haven't finished the book but I couldn't wait and Mr. Jones actually really enjoyed it, as I assumed he would.

My brother Nick is in town so we met up with him and friends for brunch out on the Piers yesterday and then last night decided to have an impromptu date night out!

It was a lovely evening spent with my favorite date.
Made complete with red wine and red lips.

There's been talk about going to the gym today. I'm on the fence. Ha. I do know though, that I will definitely be spending some quality time on the couch enjoying a slew of Hallmark Holiday movies. I've said it before, but I LOVE the Hallmark Channel and it's movies. I am aware that they are completely predictable and cheesy, low budget and usually starring B and C list actors but I just can't help myself. I love the simple sappy story lines, the happy endings, the comforting plot lines and silly characters. I will never tire of their Holiday movies, and trust me they make a movie for just about any and every Holiday. It is Hallmark after all.


I'm also thinking I might try my hand at a little baking. I love Italian Christmas cookies but have never made any myself. I'm hoping I can be the perfect little Italian Domestic Goddess this holiday season and wow my friends and family with my baking talents. Ha! I figure I should probably start practicing now. That.. and we've eaten all the cookies in the house.

Cute little Jolly Santa.

Those little green and red leaf cookies bring back so many childhood memories.

Thinking I'm going to attempt these little pillows of fig deliciousness ;)
Recipe found here

And these yummy cookies are what I actually do make every year at Christmas for our Girls Christmas Dinner. A very, very simple and decadent cookie to make!

Recipe Here

So while the gym does sound like the healthy and responsible thing to do after lazy weekend of lounging and eating, at this moment movie watching and cookie baking sounds so much more enticing.

What to do....

Hope all of you are enjoying the last day off before another Monday morning comes too soon.

XOXO- Miss V.

Tis the season... to be thankful.

First and foremost today is a day to be thankful for all of those who have served our country. I can't think of anyone I know who isn't connected in some way to someone who has served in some shape or form. I truly hope that all of the Veterans as well as current service men and women know that we are always thankful for their dedication to protecting our country and our freedom.

Today the schools are closed in observance for Veterans Day, and I've had some time to myself today to sit and reflect on what I'm thankful for right now. What better way to start the season of thankfulness than putting down in words those things big and small that make me realize how blessed I am.

I am thankful for girls nights, whether it's with our big group at a party or night on the town, or just a couple of us sharing food and a glass (or few) of wine at one of our homes...

I was lucky enough to spend time with two good girlfriends last night doing just this. We laughed, we vented, we looked through our HS yearbook and reminisced/cringed at those days and it was perfection.

I am thankful for nights like that and friends like them.

I am thankful that I woke up with the day off, I tackled a tiny bit of xmas shopping for the house, and then I started working on an even more important Christmas project. I'll share more when I have the details set in stone, but my girlfriends and I are "adopting" a family this Christmas. As part of our annual Christmas Dinner this year we will be collecting and wrapping our gifts for the family. Keeping the true spirit of Christmas at the forefront of all the holiday madness is important to all of us and I'm so excited to get this project underway.

Such a beautiful sentiment.

After taking care of a few "around the house items" I've spent the rest of my day off relaxing on the couch watching the rain, painting my nails with my newest fav nail polish...

Malaga Wine by O.P.I

I've been catching up on my new favorite show...

Prince Charming & Snow White from Once Upon a Time

And enjoying one of my favorite movies...

Pride & Prejudice... this also happens to be my favorite scene, the music, the statues, realizing she loves Mr. Darcy... ohmyword....I melt like butter every time and could just weep it's so beautiful! I am such a total sap.

All whilst sipping this deliciousness...

Starbucks sells their Hot Chocolate brand mix in Safeway now!!! Didn't think it was possible but the Holiday season just got better.

So very very thankful for days like today.

Happy weekends my loves and remember to take time each and every day to be thankful.

xoxo- miss v.

Confessions of a Shopaholic...

Happy Thursday my lovelies! So excited that today is my Friday and I have a fun slumber party planned with my darling friend Dana over at Many Moments. I am a little bummed though because I left my camera at Mama Kylies house on Tuesday when I was watching her little cutie. I had every intention of taking pics this week to share as well as of our little girls night tonight ;( I just haven't had time to go and pick it up so I'll just get it when I'm there next week. Luckily the internet and Pinterest provided plenty of photos of the things I wanted to share ha!

I have been shopping up a storm. Yikes. So unlike me, but I did a little babysitting last Friday night which is rare so I happened to have a little extra "fun" money on hand for the weekend. Mr. Jones and I decided to head downtown on Saturday to do a little shopping and well, I've been doing a little shopping ever since! Shutting it down today! Unless it's for family for xmas!!

It's not quite decorated like this yet but I just had to post a holiday pic because it's just so pretty.

I don't feel too guilty though since it was "fun" money and they were items I have been waiting for.

I really needed a new pair of Converse. Mine were busted at the seams and provided quite a bit of "air conditioning" not good for the upcoming rainy season.

Mine are Gray which is new for me! I love them!

I lived in Converse for the majority of the past 6 years, being that for most of that time I was a student, and comfort was key. I dress nicely for work these days but it's always good to have pair of cute sneakers for the weekend ;) and casual Friday.

I also splurged on a pair of jeans. And by splurged I mean I bought a pair of 7's half off at the Nordstroms Half Yearly Sale.

I adore them and they are the perfect combination of skinny and flare. Waiting on them to be hemmed since I do not have long super model legs like this ;)

I've also scored a couple cute new things at Old Navy. That store is really hit or miss for me, but right now they have some super cute sweaters that seem to be very nicely made at very reasonable prices. I also LOVE that place for their Sale rack. It's time consuming and you have to check often but the prices are hard to beat.

This lovely was on sale for $9.97

And I picked up a cute thick long sleeve T like this one for $9.50. (Mine is not a henley but I couldn't find a pic online)

We also headed to Bed Bath & Beyond this past weekend (we're so domestic) to pick up a new space heater for our chilly apt. and I found a set of 40 ornaments in gold for only $9.99

And in keeping with my gold and silver theme this year I scoured the internet for a tree skirt and found the best deal online at Sears...

This silver quilted pretty will adorn the bottom of our tree this year! All for a whopping $7.19

And since I'm a die hard budget shopper I also have to include one final purchase that I'm really excited about...

A trip to Portland!

Jules over at Up In The Air, and her Pilot were kind enough to share some of their flight discounts and I will be heading to Portland to visit them next weekend!! (For a majorly discounted rate) I am so excited to visit my dear friend and see her new place and also visit Portland for the 1st time! It's somewhere I've always wanted to go!


Keep Calm, and Shop On my loves. Here's one more resource for savings on Christmas shopping. Try out these http://frugaldad.com/sears/ for additional discounts.

XOXO- Miss V.

What I'm Loving Wednesday...Happy Heart.

I am LOVING that Wednesday is here and there are lots of big and little things that are making this ladies heart happy this week.

I am LOVING a little me time tonight! Love me some Mr. Jones but while he was off golfing and having dinner with a friend I took full advantage and made some yummy healthy pancakes for dinner accompanied by Christmas tunes on my Pandora ;) (Don't judge! I just couldn't help myself!) I'm now enjoying lounging on the couch knowing I have the day off tomorrow and indulging in a little Father of the Bride part 2.

Let's just take a moment and ooh and ahh over my dream home ;) Every time we pass a house that looks like this I remind Mr. Jones it's what we will one day call home... A girl can dream!!

And what's part 2 w/o a shot of the nursery...

Perfection.

Speaking of babes...my newest little cousins birth announcement came in the mail this week!!

Love this sweet face! If only they weren't soo far away!

I'm also LOVING a fun little assembly we had at school today! The fire trucks came! The kids were elated and even I have to admit I was super impressed with the ladder truck! I had never seen one so close in person!

I must be having a thing with Fire Trucks right now... my 2nd photo shoot in less than a month! Ha!

I am also clearly LOVING getting ready for the Holidays! I am determined to get our own Holiday decorations this year! Mum Jones has so graciously lent us a ton of her extras in the past 2 years but I really want to go for a silver/white/gold color scheme so... bargain shopping I will go! Of course I have pinterest to blame for this obsession!

And I will be making this wreath!!!

Love!!

And the Holidays would not be complete without a trip here...

New York City!

I am LOVING that we booked our NY visit to see my fam during the 1st part of winter break! We'll be joined by my grandparents coming up from NC and cannot wait to visit with the Samples family to see their newest addition!

Such a blondie last xmas!

So many things making my heart happy this week and so many exciting things to look forward to! Happy Wednesday my friends as always hoping you have lots to love as well!

XOXO- Miss V.