Creamy dreamy buttercream. Oh, my lovely butter dream. Everything tastes better with butter. Everything tastes better with cream. And if you disagree, you're probably just trying to convince yourself because of the guilt-potential. :-P
I made buttercream frosting for the first time today. It's 228 calories per serving, but they're super dee duper delicious calories! Is it totally crazy to eat veggies for every meal just so I can eat buttercream frosting? Umm yeah.
The buttercream adventure began with my disatisfaction with Oatmeal Cream Pies. Plastic comes to mind when eating them. Plastic and sugar. so when the whole box was gone, I decided to invent my own non-industrial version.
First, I made oatmeal chocolate raisen cookies. They didn't come out as flat as I wanted, so a little more experimenting is needed. Oh darn. ;-)
Next came the buttercream frosting to be sandwhiched between two cookies.
I found an amazingly simple and noisy recipe. One stick of butter {mmmmmmmm}, 2 cups powdered sugar {10X sugar is what the hardcore buttercreamists call it}, a bit of vanilla, 2 tbsp. of milk. Using a noisy mixer, cream {fancy word for mix} the butter, then slowly add the sugar, next the vanilla and milk, and voila! Buttercream that will make you use the word "buttercream" in every song....if you're lyricists like my crazy family pretend to be.
My hubby is playing the guitar and singing these lyrics with Aurora as I type. Here are a few gems:
"I like it....on my cake
I like it....on my steak
I will eat it....with a carrot
I might even....share it
Ohhhhh I like buttercream,
I like buttercream."
And the lyrics go on and on and on in Dr. Seuss style.
Needless to say, buttercream frosting will be made on a semi-regular basis in this house...
{I secretly saved a cookie sandwich to take a picture of, which is coming soon!}
Showing posts with label Jason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jason. Show all posts
August 14, 2011
August 08, 2011
My Leo Lover
She spent weeks crafting him present after present. The moment she awoke on the big day, she went to work on wrapping up her works of art. Finished, she helped me make him breakfast, complete with his favorite flaky rolls.
"Happy Birthday, Daddy! Time to get up! Breakfast is ready!" Aurora announced as she jumped on top of her sleeping Daddy. He wrapped his arms around her, and I fell into their love pile to take part in the birthday wake-up call. Jason was simply happy. The love was palpable. And there's nothing that means more to me than seeing my loved ones happy. Especially on their birthday! :-)
Birthday celebrations are one of my favorite events. Of course nothing can take the place of weddings in my heart, but birthdays are a close second. Love! Cake! Presents! Birthdays and weddings have it all. But one thing birthdays have over weddings is that we get one every year! {I'd love to be able to afford a full-on wedding every year!} Jason's birthday this year was made oh so special.
The morning went swimmingly! Jason was so impressed with Aurora's homemade presents. Among them was an incredibly detailed Chinese Dragon. I've seen our daughter produce amazing works of art, but this was in a whole other league! She'd perfectly cut out an orange dragon, bejeweled it with glass stones, and drew a beautiful, realistic face. It was superb! Besides being an exquisite piece, Jason looooves Asian art!
Jason also loves attention. Of course he would. He's a Leo! AND his birthday is the 1st of the month. I love attention, too, but I also love to make my loved ones feel like the center of my world. And my world is blessed with a man with many wonderful qualities. He's strong-willed, ambitious, and outgoing. All of those intense qualities are balanced out by his extraordinary, intuitive sensitivity and his humble {sometimes too humble ;-)} nature. All that is topped off by a controversial sense of humor. His fresh perspective is always entertaining! Politics. Religion. Society. Pop culture. All taboo subjects, he lightens, hence lifting my spirits with his open-minded humor. He's my favorite comedian. My favorite lover. My favorite friend. And he can cook, too!
Happy Birthday, baby! May we get to spend dozens more together. :-x
xo
jbnewcomb<3
May 14, 2011
Summer of Love
He was finishing his second contracted book, staying in a city he wasn't from and knew no one.
She was home from college for the summer.
Both were lonely and curious to see what would happen if they looked for love on Yahoo! Personals.
He wrote her. She liked what she saw. Artistic. Gorgeous, friendly eyes. A cool air to him. So, she gave him her phone number, and no one else.
She liked to sleep in, so when he called at noon, he woke her. They talked for a long time. Laughed. Hit it off. They were anxious to meet right away.
They went to the beach to walk and talk. Both didn't wear sunglasses, but somehow that made it more magical. Being bathed in light, their instant attraction grew as intense as the sun that blinded them.
She went to his vacation home where he had been writing and painting. A gorgeous painting he'd started looked eerily like her. She loved it and he promised she could have it. And he painted many more paintings of her that summer, their Summer of Love.
She was home from college for the summer.
Both were lonely and curious to see what would happen if they looked for love on Yahoo! Personals.
He wrote her. She liked what she saw. Artistic. Gorgeous, friendly eyes. A cool air to him. So, she gave him her phone number, and no one else.
She liked to sleep in, so when he called at noon, he woke her. They talked for a long time. Laughed. Hit it off. They were anxious to meet right away.
They went to the beach to walk and talk. Both didn't wear sunglasses, but somehow that made it more magical. Being bathed in light, their instant attraction grew as intense as the sun that blinded them.
She went to his vacation home where he had been writing and painting. A gorgeous painting he'd started looked eerily like her. She loved it and he promised she could have it. And he painted many more paintings of her that summer, their Summer of Love.
He captured her eyes best in this one.
Painting by Jason Augustus Newcomb
{How could I resist a man that worshipped me with his paintbrush?!}
xo
jbnewcomb<3
May 07, 2011
I'd get Married 7 Times, but to the Same Guy
I've always been in love with L<3VE and all that hallmark gushiness celebrating it: love poems, romantic movies, gifts of chocolate, cards, and, of course, weddings.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of one-in-a-million romantic love, the Cinderella fantasy of meeting one’s true love and being betrothed from that very moment on.
My first crush was in pre-school, and though it changed every year, I loved with a passion so great that I convinced myself I would marry each one.
This went waaay beyond writing “Mrs. [crush’s last name]” like most girls. My mind was so preoccupied with my infatuations that in third grade, I secretly wrote “I love Scott” on the bottom of my friend’s shoe when we were all sitting on the floor watching something (of course I can’t remember what because my mind was only focused on love), and my friend later discovered it and told the teacher. Our teacher asked the mysterious vandal to confess, but I didn’t.
Ok, so you could call my obsession borderline crazy….90% of my thoughts were devoted to love. “I love so and so” or “does he love me?” were buzzing through my mind all day long. The only games I played with my Barbies were about getting married or having a family.
I can distinctly remember being six years old and receiving the most beautiful wedding-themed Barbie and Ken. Looking back, their attire was clearly expensive and they were most likely collectible; Barbie had an intricately laced ball gown complete with lingerie and white thigh high pantyhose.
Because I was an only child and didn’t have any siblings to whine at me about playing the same thing over and over, I played “wedding” for hours upon hours, particularly enacting the ceremony, the kiss, and the first dance. If I’d had more friends to play with on my street, maybe I would have given other games a chance, but probably not! hahaha
As I got a bit older, I obsessively fantasized about what my wedding would look like. I’m sure no one would be surprised when I say my Mom was concerned when I asked her to buy me wedding magazines in the checkout lane at the grocery store. Because I was eleven when inspired to begin this hobby, I did my best to convince her that I just loved weddings and wasn’t thinking of getting married anytime soon. (Though I sooo would have run away with any one of my crushes if they’d asked.) She gave in, and I couldn’t tell you how many dresses, bouquets and cakes I cut out and paste into an idea book.
This continued until I got married, and a couple years into my marriage, my husband caught me looking at wedding gowns on the internet. He kidded when he asked if I was going to marry someone else. To rationalize my hobby, I have since then decided we will have a recommitment ceremony on 7/7/2014, exactly seven years after our wedding on 7/7/2007 (seven corresponds with Venus and Venus is the planet that rules love). Yes, I am that crazy about love and crazy in love with my husband.
I’m very lucky in love, and I think it’s because I have given it a lot of thought! I found my perfect Ken and he thinks I look like Barbie. What a doll he is! Pun intended. :-P For our next wedding, I make collages on the computer. Thanks internet and Publisher…you’re a crazy-passionate girl’s best friend! :-)
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of one-in-a-million romantic love, the Cinderella fantasy of meeting one’s true love and being betrothed from that very moment on.
My first crush was in pre-school, and though it changed every year, I loved with a passion so great that I convinced myself I would marry each one.
This went waaay beyond writing “Mrs. [crush’s last name]” like most girls. My mind was so preoccupied with my infatuations that in third grade, I secretly wrote “I love Scott” on the bottom of my friend’s shoe when we were all sitting on the floor watching something (of course I can’t remember what because my mind was only focused on love), and my friend later discovered it and told the teacher. Our teacher asked the mysterious vandal to confess, but I didn’t.
Ok, so you could call my obsession borderline crazy….90% of my thoughts were devoted to love. “I love so and so” or “does he love me?” were buzzing through my mind all day long. The only games I played with my Barbies were about getting married or having a family.
I can distinctly remember being six years old and receiving the most beautiful wedding-themed Barbie and Ken. Looking back, their attire was clearly expensive and they were most likely collectible; Barbie had an intricately laced ball gown complete with lingerie and white thigh high pantyhose.
Because I was an only child and didn’t have any siblings to whine at me about playing the same thing over and over, I played “wedding” for hours upon hours, particularly enacting the ceremony, the kiss, and the first dance. If I’d had more friends to play with on my street, maybe I would have given other games a chance, but probably not! hahaha
As I got a bit older, I obsessively fantasized about what my wedding would look like. I’m sure no one would be surprised when I say my Mom was concerned when I asked her to buy me wedding magazines in the checkout lane at the grocery store. Because I was eleven when inspired to begin this hobby, I did my best to convince her that I just loved weddings and wasn’t thinking of getting married anytime soon. (Though I sooo would have run away with any one of my crushes if they’d asked.) She gave in, and I couldn’t tell you how many dresses, bouquets and cakes I cut out and paste into an idea book.
This continued until I got married, and a couple years into my marriage, my husband caught me looking at wedding gowns on the internet. He kidded when he asked if I was going to marry someone else. To rationalize my hobby, I have since then decided we will have a recommitment ceremony on 7/7/2014, exactly seven years after our wedding on 7/7/2007 (seven corresponds with Venus and Venus is the planet that rules love). Yes, I am that crazy about love and crazy in love with my husband.
I’m very lucky in love, and I think it’s because I have given it a lot of thought! I found my perfect Ken and he thinks I look like Barbie. What a doll he is! Pun intended. :-P For our next wedding, I make collages on the computer. Thanks internet and Publisher…you’re a crazy-passionate girl’s best friend! :-)
The Dream Come True!
xo
jbnewcomb<3
May 06, 2011
If I were a...
My hubby was me asking a bunch of questions on states of consciousness at 1am one evening that I actually had to think about. Because we have two children, one an infant, my mind was barely able to think at that hour.
To "get him back", I asked him a bunch of questions in return. Turns out mine were too easy. ;-)
I thought it would be fun to ask myself these questions and post the answers here. Do they say a lot about me? Maybe. :-) For each, I wrote the first thought that came to my mind. If you want to have some light-hearted fun, ask your sweetheart to fill in the blanks...better yet, I'd love to see your answers in the comments.
If I were a...
milkshake, I'd be cookies and cream.
car, I'd be an Astin Martin V-12 Vanquish...vroOOM.
flower, I'd be a gardenia.
song, I'd be Magic's in the Make-up by No Doubt.
element, I'd be earth, of course {I'm a Taurus ;-)}
color, I'd be periwinkle.
shape, I'd be a circle.
fabric, I'd be lace.
season, I'd be Spring.
animal, I'd be a white Tiger.
part of a house, I'd be the master bedroom.
chakra, I'd be the throat chakra.
body part, I'd be the eyes.
painting, I'd be Botticelli's Venus {same as hubby :-)}
statue, I'd be Venus (remember, I loooove love!)
goddess, I'd be Venus, the goddess of love, of course!
metal, yellow gold.
drink, I'd be iced tea.
flavor, I'd be chocolate.
scent, I'd be freshly baked apple pie.
He asked me if there was a purpose to these questions. I smiled and said, "No, you were just asking me a bunch of questions, so I thought I would too."
My Darling Hubby :-)
To "get him back", I asked him a bunch of questions in return. Turns out mine were too easy. ;-)
I thought it would be fun to ask myself these questions and post the answers here. Do they say a lot about me? Maybe. :-) For each, I wrote the first thought that came to my mind. If you want to have some light-hearted fun, ask your sweetheart to fill in the blanks...better yet, I'd love to see your answers in the comments.
If I were a...
milkshake, I'd be cookies and cream.
car, I'd be an Astin Martin V-12 Vanquish...vroOOM.
flower, I'd be a gardenia.
song, I'd be Magic's in the Make-up by No Doubt.
element, I'd be earth, of course {I'm a Taurus ;-)}
color, I'd be periwinkle.
shape, I'd be a circle.
fabric, I'd be lace.
season, I'd be Spring.
animal, I'd be a white Tiger.
part of a house, I'd be the master bedroom.
chakra, I'd be the throat chakra.
body part, I'd be the eyes.
painting, I'd be Botticelli's Venus {same as hubby :-)}
statue, I'd be Venus (remember, I loooove love!)
goddess, I'd be Venus, the goddess of love, of course!
metal, yellow gold.
drink, I'd be iced tea.
flavor, I'd be chocolate.
scent, I'd be freshly baked apple pie.
He asked me if there was a purpose to these questions. I smiled and said, "No, you were just asking me a bunch of questions, so I thought I would too."
xo
jbnewcomb<3
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)