Cupcake Friday!

These makes me dream of having a bunch of little girls and having a tea party!!

 [images taken from here]

Photography by  Laura Winslow Photography

Party Styling by Kim of The TomKat Studio

Cupcakes from  Decadent Delights

I have to say that Kim, of The TomKat Studio, has become my new idol over this past year and lives rather close to me!  Perhaps I will run into her at Target or the mall?  Ha ha!  Anyway, I do love her work!  Be sure to check out her blog for tons of inspiration and eye candy and check out her Etsy shop!  For more photos from the Alice in Wonderland tea party, click here and here!

I wonder if my son would mind having a little tea party with me.  Have a great weekend!  :)

A few things I am loving...

...from the ever-so-affordable, Francesca's Collections:

Greyhound Satchel $68
Bedrock Necklace $34
Isis Ring $18
New Route Messenger $38

Chocolate Attack!

Can you guess what I concocted last night?

Mmmm...nutella-topped ice cream sandwich! Thank me later. :)

On my desk...

I would like to see:

Create Philosophy Mug

Blick Studio Artists' Colored Pencils 

I have no real reason for wanting these.  The two together just seem like they may inspire me to create something...maybe?

Giveaway: Modern Bird Studios

I have a link to an awesome giveaway from blogger, Freckles Chick!!    Check out the work they did for her:

If you haven't heard of Modern Bird Studios, you must check out their site and see how your photographs can be transformed into a piece of art!  Be sure to enter here for a chance to win your own 12" by 12" personalized piece of art!  Good luck!!  I entered too!  They can do any photo, but I sure want one of my dog after seeing the one above!  :)

Something to do...

I have seen this floating around for a while now, but when  Pen N' Paperflowers posted it on Facebook last night (in a different color), I took it as a sign that I needed to share it...in the off-chance that you needed this reminder.  I couldn't agree more!
Prints can be purchased here from Etsy seller, letterhappy!

Cupcake Friday! (It's back)

I want to get back to Cupcake Friday because if nothing else, it makes ME happy and is a great start to the weekend! :)

It is summer and I always crave cobbler during the summer months....peach cobbler! A few weeks ago a friend posted her completed blueberry/peach cobbler on Facebook and it made me had to have it that day, so as soon as my son awoke from his nap we were off to the grocery store for ingredients. I made it and here it is:It was from Cooking Light, so it was not quite as buttery and rich as I normally expect from a cobbler, but it was still good.

Then I got to thinking and want to make peach cobbler cupcakes....today. I wondered if such a thing even existed and went on a search. I found something that might fulfill the craving and they sure do look adorable! Perhaps I will attempt them today since I am in a baking mood. Check them out:


You can view the story, the recipe, and more images here at Smitten Kitchen!

I may try to doctor up a recipe to make them more cobbler-like...if I do, I will report back. :) Have a great weekend!

Dinner!

Since I had a dream that I ate dinner with the Neely's last night, I thought today would be a perfect time to share my go-to meal (even though it has nothing to do with the Neely's). There is nothing particularly healthy or spectacular about this dish, but it is something that is frequently enjoyed in our house. The recipe says it serves eight, but I will be honest and say that my husband and I eat half of it one night and the other half the next night. We like to eat like piggies sometimes. :)

Quick and Easy Green Chili Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Source: allrecipes.com [I made my changes in green]
Original Recipe Yield 8 servings

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I usually only use 3)
  
• garlic salt to taste ( I prefer a chili lime seasoning)
  
• 18 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in half (I tear them into quarters)
  
• 1 (28 ounce) can green chile enchilada sauce
• 1 (16 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I only use 8 ounces and it is still very cheesy)
  
• 1 (8 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream
• 4 or 5 green onions chopped
• a handful of fresh cilantro chopped
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2. Season chicken with garlic salt (chili lime spice). Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool, shred, and set aside.
3. With metal tongs, char each tortilla half over the open flame of a gas stove burner for about 1 minute, until lightly puffed. (I skip this step entirely and just tear my tortillas into quarters)
4. After reading some of the recipe's comments, I shred my chicken and mix it with the sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro in a bowl.
   
5. Pour about 1/2 inch enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish, and arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer. Top with 1/2 the chicken, 1/3 cheese, 1/2 the sour cream, and 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. I top with 1/2 of the chicken/sour cream mixture, 1/3 of the cheese, and 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Repeat. Coat remaining tortillas thoroughly with remaining enchilada sauce, and arrange on top of the layers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and top with any remaining enchilada sauce. I top it with chopped green onions.
6. Cover (I do not cover it, but I do put foil under my baking dish because it tends to spill over a bit), and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly before serving.

I serve this with a simple salad consisting of diced avocado, diced tomato, diced red onion, fresh lime juice, and a dash of chili lime seasoning. Heaven!!

*Margaritas are optional. :)

Inspired.

I am very easily amused...sometimes inappropriately amused. I am also very easily inspired. I can look at a flower and instantly have an interior space planned out in my head. I blogged once about being inspired by a cupcake and another time about being inspired by a radish. My baby boy inspires me to be a better person and my dog inspires me to be a more patient one. I am constantly finding sources of inspiration and used to blog about them, but for some reason it has taken me a year to find the inspiration to get back to this blog!

It wasn't until yesterday reading this post from one of my favorite design bloggers/interior designers, that I was truly inspired to get back to my creative outlet: cupcake monkey. I have read her blog for a long time, but recently went through every single post of hers (like a crazy person) and discovered that several rooms in her home were rooms I have had saved in my inspiration file for years and never remembered the source. I took it as a sign that I needed to get back to what I love...back to my blog's initial mission: a girl's search for things that please...and get myself back to my definition of a cupcake monkey: a sweet, mischievous one in search of pleasure for all senses.

...and perhaps get away from using the word 'inspiration', or some form of it, eleven times in one post. :P

This pile in my kitchen has inspired my whole master bedroom/bathroom color scheme...more on that next week...



[The image at the start of my post is a collage created using images from my inspiration file. If an image is yours and you would like it removed or credited, I would be happy to do so.]

I want to get back to blogging.

...but I can't remember how to do anything. Like that 'Find of the Week' to the right...I have no idea how I found and posted those. Ha! Anyway, we are about to start a few projects around here so my inspiration folders are busting at the seams. Since in two days it will be exactly one year since my last post, I figured now was as good a time as any to start up again. :)

...hopefully tomorrow. :P