It’s My Birthday and I’ll Eat Cake If I Want To

October 11, 2013 by 27 Comments

Happy Friday, friends!

Today is an extra special Friday in my world because it just so happens to be my birthday. I’ve lived to see another year and I am so very thankful. I had great intentions of making a crazy all-out birthday cake for myself this year (and then totally stuffing my face), just ‘cause, but life kind of got in the way of that plan and here I am today, cakeless. However, there are many cake gems floating around the Interwebs these days, so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorites.

And so, Cake Day was born. A day when you eat cake for every meal. Preferably on your birthday. Although not terribly realistic (my stomach is hurting just at the thought of it), it’s kind of fun to imagine a day of only cake-eating. And now, the cakes!

Breakfast

Cinnamon Roll Cake from Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Cinnamon Roll Cake. What more perfect way is there to start a day than with freshly baked cinnamon rolls? This cake looks super easy to whip up and packs all the flavor of beloved cinnamon buns. Perfection!

Lemon Raspberry Gooey Butter Cake from Willow Bird Baking

Let’s also enjoy this Lemon Raspberry Gooey Butter Cake. It has fruit in it, and it’s made in a skillet, like other breakfast things. Therefore, fruit + a skillet vessel = birthday breakfast!

Mid-Morning Snack

Banana Nutella Swirl Bundt Cake with Coffee Icing. Enter caffeine, an important part of any morning (at least, in my books). And bananas! More fruit – this is good, we are being healthy. Also, nutella. ‘Nuff said.

Snickers Cake

Uh oh, I think my blood sugar might be dropping. Better have a slice of Snickers Cake!

Lunch

White Bean Cake with Fluffy Meringue Frosting

Lunch time! White Bean Cake with Fluffy Meringue Frosting. It has beans in it, therefore, it’s lunch. Logic.

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Layer Cake – Umm, post-lunch dessert. Duh. Plus, I am all aboard the salted caramel train. What took me so long?

Afternoon Snack

Peanut Butter Mousse Torte from Sweet Tooth

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Torte – Protein. Yep.

Dinner

Moist Chocolate Beet Cake from David Lebovitz

Moist Chocolate Beet Cake. What’s dinner without vegetables? They’re hidden inside a dense and moist chocolate cake? Umm, bonus.

Dessert

Classic Vanilla Butter Cake

Classic Vanilla Butter Birthday Cake. I am a chocolate lover, through and through, but I have a special place in my heart for vanilla cake. It’s just so simple and delicious.

CCC cake slice stand

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake. Check out all that cookie dough. I want.

Baked Lemon Pudding Cake from Dinner with Julie

And finally, the lemon lover in me would not be able to let my birthday go by without adding another lemon cake to the mix. This Baked Lemon Pudding Cake sounds tooooo good. Please excuse me while I faceplant into those lemony clouds and into the luscious pudding below.

Well, now that we’ve all become diabetic, I’m going to sign off. I’ve got a birthday to enjoy! And if I’m lucky, I might get to eat some cake.

PS. Have a wonderful weekend! Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian friends! I am thankful for many things, including all of you dear readers! xo

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Weekend Favorites

September 20, 2013 by 14 Comments
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Hey hey, happy Friday!
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Another week in the books. And time for another edition of Weekend Favorites!
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1. Love this article about happiness habits. Let’s all strive to be supremely happy!
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2. I’m going to spend some time breaking out the pumpkin in my kitchen this weekend. I have a few recipes coming together in my head, but I’ve been looking for pumpkin inspiration. How about pumpkin meatloaf, pumpkin manchego gnocchi, pumpkin mac ‘n cheese, or pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Can I have one of everything? Also, if you’ve never made these soft pumpkin cookies, you haven’t lived. They put the dream in dreamy.
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3. Amazing food hacks. My life has been changed for the better. Especially the taco trick – genuis!
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4. It’s official. Thank you to Netflix (and my friend, K) I have become addicted to Breaking Bad. Ironically, I cancelled my cable because I never had/made the time to watch TV. I am entering hermit status until I finish plowing through all 5 seasons.
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5. This girl can write. I’m gently reminded that I don’t need to “have it all” to feel utterly content and happy with life, even in small doses. Thank you, Megan! I’m going to have to make those cookies, too.
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6. I am a complete scarf whore. Like seriously, I have a nice lil’ collection going, and can’t turn down a beautiful scarf. Have you seen these gorgeous scarves from fashionABLE? Beautiful, hand-crafted, AND the purchase of every scarf helps to create sustainable business in Africa and fight poverty. I am so down with amazing initiatives like this one.
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7. My friend, J has me hooked on to the Astro Twins astrology website. I’m not sure how much I believe in all of that stuff, but it’s rather entertaining to read my daily, weekly, and monthly horoscopes. I’ve gotten into the habit of reading my horoscope after the day, week, or month has passed to test out how accurate the predictions are. SO entertaining. And surprisingly, kind of true.
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8. Making a fall picnic happen has just soared to the top of my Fall Bucket List. Thanks for the inspiration, Megan! Also on the list – get thrown into a pile of freshly raked leaves, go apple-picking, and drink pumpkin beer.
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9. After deliberating for ages about whether or not to buy these boots, I finally bit the bullet this past week and splurged. Don’t worry, I found them for a much better deal than the price listed, but they still cost me a fair chunk of change. But they’re so perty and very well made. I can’t wait to wear them for approximately 239 of the next 250 days.
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Friends, enjoy your weekend!  And happy early Autumnal Equinox! I hope you all can find the time to relax and enjoy a special moment or two.
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xo.
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Weekend Favorites

April 28, 2013 by 33 Comments

Weekend Favorites

Friends, I’m home! Back from Hawaii, the land of sand, sun, and beautiful things. The last two weeks were filled with rest and relaxation, lots of good food, and a drink or ten (per day, of course). I came home with a happy heart, a rested mind, and many many freckles (oh, and amazing coffee and macadamia nuts, too!). If you’ve never been to Hawaii, I highly recommend that you get your arse there as soon as humanely possible. I spent my time in Maui and it was absolutely fantastic. The condo we stayed at was a hop, skip, and a jump from the beach, plus we had access to a beautiful pool. We rented a car, but were able to walk quite a bit too. And the weather? Amaze balls. I can’t wait to go back!

I am getting back in the kitchen this week to bring you some new recipes, including an attempt at recreating one of the most incredible desserts that I enjoyed while on vacation. In the meantime, here is another edition of weekend favorites!

  • My trip to Maui led me to develop a serious infatuation with fish tacos. Like, mega. If you’re ever in Maui, be sure to visit Fred’s Mexican Café and Coconuts Fish Café, both located on South Kihei Road. If you happen to have a bombshell recipe for fish tacos, please send it my way and I will love you forever!
  • Can openers hate me. Seriously. Rarely am I able to cut around the circumference of a can on the first try. And sometimes not even on the second or third. It’s annoying. Perhaps I should try this method. It just might be faster for me.
  • Aloneness is not loneliness. At least, not always. Being a single gal myself, I like this. I like it a lot. Being single has its perks!
  • This recipe makes me excited for rhubarb season.
  • 10 Second Rant Alert. What is the deal with hash tags? I mean, I know what they’re for. I even use one or two from time to time. But there seems to be an epidemic of hash tag overload. I understand posting a picture of a sunset and using the hash tag sunset or beautiful. But what the heck does friends or ice cream or monkeys or shoes have to do with a sunset?! Seriously peeps, tone it down a notch.
  • I went snorkeling while on vacation. We visited a place called Turtle Town. We saw a sea turtle. Which led to approximately 137 reenactments of this video. It just never got old.
  • So apparently one is supposed to “detox” after a vacation filled with copious amounts of food and alcohol. Detoxes be damned! I want these, these, this, and this, in that order. Cookies for appetizers…yes!

Hope you’re having the loveliest of weekends. xo

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Weekend Favorites

February 17, 2013 by 12 Comments

Weekend Favorites

Hi friends!

Happy weekend! It’s a long weekend around these parts, and I am so excited to have an extra day to relax and enjoy. I have a few new recipes that I’m hoping to make and photograph to share with you in the next couple of weeks.

I’m also going to try a little something new around here. A few of my fellow bloggers have started doing weekly posts to share their favorite finds from around the web, chat about what they’re loving lately, and so on. I find these kinds of posts really fun to read and thought I might give it a shot myself. At this point I don’t plan on making it a weekly feature, but rather something that I will try to do once a month.

So with that said, here are some of favorite finds from around the Internets lately! Have a fantastic weekend!

  • With this little bit of extra time on my hands this weekend, I am going to use my not-at-all-new-but-barely-used-doughnut-pan to make these. I have a very good feeling about this.
  • I read this post about love a while ago, and well, I loved it. Very well said, Emma.
  • You must watch this video. OMG, beyond hilarious. The road goes both ways, boys!
  • I had big plans to travel to Italy this Spring. For financial + other reasons, I’ve had to postpone those plans for the time being. However, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to blow this popsicle stand for a couple of weeks in the near future. I just booked a trip friends! Guess where I’m going? Hint: I just ordered 3 new bikinis. And I’m gonna get lei’d.
  • So how about that meteoroid that broke up over Russia on Friday? What the? Apparently it was too small to be detected in advance (150 feet in diameter), and NASA limits its watch to objects larger than 140 meters in diameter, as that is the size deemed to have the ability to be “regionally devastating.” Does anyone else find this a bit disconcerting?
  • I want to stick my face in this. And these. And this. In that order. And then repeat.
  • One of my favorite things about the blogging world is the sense of community and support that I feel from connecting with other bloggers. I remember starting Once Upon a Recipe with absolutely no idea what I was doing, and no followers, except for a few family members and friends. It’s so important to support one another! One of my readers recently contacted me about some advice for starting a new blog. Her name is Lindsi and she blogs over at Every Day Sugar High. Lindsi has recently posted some seriously delicious-looking treats. Why don’t you all pop on over to say hi to Lindsi and show her some love? xo.
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