+ certificates.&.cupcakes

yesterday landon & i were officially married, we finally got our printed Marriage Certificate!!

and maybe some of you are thinking... uh didn't you get married in November? it's been 6 months!

well yes, we had some complications, to make the long story short... the man who married us

wrote down the wrong date on our license, and maybe that wouldn't be too big of a deal, BUT

landon was in the process of filing for permanent residency... and anything potentially sketchy

could not work in our favor. so we filled out papers and waited patiently and we finally have

the certificate and we finally sent in his immigration papers! YAY!

and this mini novel all leads up to:

the fact that we had to go to downtown Riverside to get our certificate, which then led to

getting tasty cupcakes at Casey's Cupcakes and then walking around beautiful Mission Inn.

which definitely means lots of photos!

So about Casey's Cupcakes:

my sister-in-law & brother came across this cute shop and found out that they won Cupcake Wars... which is one of my many favorite Food Network shows. so i knew that it was a necessity to go try a cupcake! everything was perfect and pink and just OH SO CUTE!

we bought six of them for my family and we all got to try a little of each one. so good!

after our cupcake run we walked around Mission Inn... and since oranges are known from

coming from California, of course there is going to be an orange tree in the middle of the

shopping center. landon got so excited that he ran up and got one!

at the Mission Inn

after our time spent in Riverside, we drove down and met my mother for lunch on her break

and then took the kids to feed the ducks! which is obviously saved for my next post! :)

+ carrots+ginger

so i just woke up.

my eyes feel swollen, my eyes don't stop watering, and my hair is in knots from head to toe.

i thought my allergies were getting bad in boise with the dogs,

but it's looks like i'm just getting sick- again.

boo hoo.

anyways,

i honestly don't feel like moving so i thought i'd post up a new recipe!

i made these last week and they are so delicious!

CARROT GINGER CUPCAKES

with

ORANGE GINGER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING.

so i remember making these a long long time ago for my family.

i was probably 12 years old and i distinctly remember how labor intensive these cupcakes were.... but i didn't remember why?

as i was grating my 3rd carrot by hand everything quickly rushed back

to me and i remembered why they were such a pain to make.

- but i'm known for being a 'grating hater' -

so maybe by me telling you this you aren't going to want to make these now,

which is understandable.

but if you have an electric grater or grate carrots on a daily basis for fun,

this recipe isn't so bad.

plus, it tastes so SO good and it's one of my favorites so you've gotta try it!

thought the washed out carrot look was fun.

it allows you to see the texture more!

THE CUPCAKE

Carrot Ginger Cupcakes

[from Martha Stewart kitchen]

2/3 c. pecan halves

6 carrots, peeled

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/4 c. buttermilk, room temp.

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/3 c. sugar

1 c. vegetable oil

2 tsp. freshly grated ginger

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Heat the oven to 350°. Toast pecans in oven for 7-8 minutes.

Remove & finely chop pecans.

2. Using the smallest holes (1/4") grate carrots. Grate carrots to

1 3/4 cups (about 6 carrots).

3. Put carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar, vegetable oil, and ginger

in large bowl- whisk together.

4. In a small bowl combine all dry ingredients. Using rubber spatula,

fold in dry ingredients to wet mixture.

5. Fold in pecans.

6. Put cupcakes in the oven at 350° for 20-25 minutes,

rotating the pan halfway through.

Orange Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

4 tbsp. unsalted butter - room temp.

8 oz. cream cheese - room temp.

1 c. confectioners sugar

2 tsp. freshly grated orange zest

2 tsp. grated ginger

pinch of salt

1. On medium-high beat butter until fluffy- about 2 minutes.

2. Add cream cheese + conf. sugar and beat until fluffly- about 2 more minutes

3. Add orange zest+ginger+salt- beat 5 minutes.

+ valentine's.day!

the house smelled of chocolate goodness & i was all full of love from landon,

the definition of valentine's day. for me at least ;)

yesterday was perfect and here's just a little of what went on:

i made landon's favorite cupcakes yesterday, my sister-in-law, katie,

made these last time in california and they were so amazing!

i was planning on making a vanilla bean frosting, but ran out of ingredients & time, oops.

milk is a DEFINITE when eating these cupcakes

oh wait!

there's a surprise in there! a cookie inside of a cupcake?! does it get any better than that?

when i went onto the computer yesterday landon had

left this cute note on illustrator...

i also baked up some heart shaped cookies with the left over dough.

i then strung little pieces of my heart all over. starting from the front door back to our bedroom where the dinner was awaiting...

we then enjoyed some delicious Thai food that gave us happy hearts & full bellies.

sorry no photos of the food... once landon came i put away my camera

and just left the night for him+me.

also, a great big thanks to my mother! she send us all the heart plates,

red kitchen towels, heart soap, and valentine's treats!