Here are some initial shots of The Core Value Book we wrote, designed and printed for all of our team members. We also created cards to correlate with each core value that everyone can fill out for their outstanding team members and recognize them for their core value achievements - no matter how big or small.
My #100happydays
On January 9, I took the 100 Happy Days pledge for fun, to play with some photography (gotta love the iPhone selfie), to encourage myself to keep the commitment and to be able to look back on these past couple of months. January was a bit of a milestone for me so it was fun to take this opportunity: I started a new job that I was (and still am) really excited about, Ray and I are in our second year of marriage and we had recently adopted Sputnik, who as you can tell is very photogenic. I do confess both Ray and Sputnik were in a vast majority of my daily posts - and for good reason.
Here are a few of my favorites from the past 100 days:
Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
Pinterest has done it again! This week we had our Pre-St. Patrick's Day potluck at work, so of course I couldn't resist baking with beer. Usually I bake with wine (and none of it makes it into the food) so this one was a real treat. ;)
While I can't claim the recipe my own creation, they still turned out pretty dang good! I made mini cupcakes because with the combination of the chocolate/beer flavor and very sweet vanilla frosting, bite-size was just right.
Here's the recipe:
Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup plain, thick yogurt, at room temperature
6 oz. Guinness, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake papers; spray the whole thing, cupcake papers and all, with nonstick spray. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in microwave or on stovetop, then set aside.
3. In a large bowl, preferably with a pouring spout, whisk together eggs and yogurt. Add beer and vanilla whisk until well combined.
4. Sift all the dry ingredients together (cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking soda, and cinnamon) into a separate bowl.
5. Add about a third of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and using a hand mixer, blend well. Add the rest of the flour mixture, a third at a time, mixing well after each addition. When all ingredients are blended, add the melted butter then continue mixing until very well combined.
6. Pour batter into the twelve cups, filling each only about 3/4 full.
7. Bake on center rack of the preheated 350 degree oven and for approximately 25 minutes.
8. When cupcakes are done (toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake will come out clean), remove the pan to a wire rack. Let cool for ten minutes then remove cupcakes from pan and let them cool completely on wire rack.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
In a medium bowl, blend together cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing well until it’s all incorporated. Use immediately. The frosting will harden in the fridge, so plan on bring it back to room temperature if you must refrigerate it before frosting the cupcakes.
Check out some of my other cupcake creations here.