why I jumped out of bed at 6am

Today I got my first shipment from a local CSA! I got inspired by K who is getting one from her BIL's farm. I'm getting it every other week (delivered on Monday) and I was surprised how big the box was!





It's got a nice mix of fruits and veggies. I got 4 apples, 5 oranges and a MANGO! The mango is a little random and I had to double check my list to make sure I wasn't going crazy...Veggie wise I got, lettuce, carrots, radish, mushrooms, tomatoes, purple tomatoes, spring onions and broccoli.




Notice that I subbed in the tomatoes? I originally had strawberries and since I'm not a huge strawberries fan, I'm glad they allowed me to change it. They also give a couple recipe suggestions which I appreciate!

Sperry topsiders

It might be because I see these on my fellow employees at Crewcuts and in the J.Crew catalogs but I've been bitten by the boat shoes bug. I keep waffling over if I will really wear them. I think they may be one of those, "looks cute on others but I won't wear them" things. We'll see though...they are on sale this week at Nordstrom.

The countdown has begun!

15 more days and I'm off to San Fransisco! I am so excited! This time I am going for longer than just 2 days and doing more of the touristy stuff (plus visiting a close friend!)

sorry blog!

for not posting in ages! I haven't done anything blog worthy lately (or at least I think so) so I'm sharing a few things that I've bookmarked but never posted about. One of them is a blog called They Draw and Cook.

Here is a recent example of the type of stuff they post on there.

I just love this illustration! It reminds me of the drawing style of the Little Golden Book series that I read when I was growing up. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here is a cover of one of the books.


I am also crazy addicted to Design*Sponge. Specifically the before and after pictures. I wish I had the design eye that others have. It's hard to tell that it's the same room! I think everyone has the same dream of buying an old run down house and flipping it to something amazing.

chocoate cupcakes

Everyone needs a go-to chocolate cupcake recipe and I decided to test one out by Ina Garten. I got mixed reviews from the people that I gave them out to. Some felt it tasted chocolately enough and some said it was too sweet. It definitely isn't a fancy cupcake since it was made with hersey's chocolate syrup but it definitely was chocolatey enough for me.

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 11 fluid ounces chocolate syrup (recommended: Hershey's)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

For the ganache:

nocoupons

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
• Candied violets, for decoration, optional

Directions

Line muffin pans with 12 paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Don't overbeat, or the cupcakes will be tough.

Scoop the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Let the cupcakes cool thoroughly in the pan.

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Dip the top of each cupcake in the ganache. Decorate with candied violets, if desired. Do not refrigerate.