Thursday, July 21, 2016

Sweet Peach Tea Cupcakes

"I like the peach tea.  I drink the heck out of it."  -- Kevin Dukes

Growing up in New England, iced tea is tea that you put ice in.  Nobody asks if you want it sweet or unsweetened.  It comes one way - unsweetened - and if you want it sweet you add your own packet of sugar or sweetener.  If you DO want sweetened tea, you get that nasty Nestea stuff. 

So, funny story.  B is obviously a southern boy.  We were travelling to New England to visit family and stopped at a diner.  Now, we all know you can get ANYTHING at a diner.  He asked me what he could have to drink, so I told him anything.  Sure enough, this boy tells the waitress he wants sweet peach tea.  Well folks, take it from me.  Diners do NOT serve everything.  No sweet peach tea for this kid.  And he has not let me live it down since.

Since my last cupcakes were a huge success, I thought I would try again.  This time with these delicious looking Sweet Peach Tea Cupcakes by Baked Perfection. 

 
Shhhhh......the secret to these is Crystal Light mix!
 
Sweet Peach Tea Cupcakesrecipe from Baked Perfection
recipe makes approximately 30 cupcakes

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 packets Crystal Light in Peach Iced Tea Flavor (each packet makes 2 Quarts of Crystal Light)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

In a medium bowl combine the flour, crystal light mix, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick). Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 

Sweet Peach Tea Frosting
recipe by Baked Perfection

2 sticks of butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 packet Crystal Light in Peach Iced Tea Flavor (each packet makes 2 Quarts of Crystal Light)
1/2 cup milk

Beat butter and salt until smooth.  Mix half the packet of Crystal Light with the milk.  Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time to the butter, beating until combined. Add milk/ Crystal Light mixture 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.  If the peach flavor is not strong enough for your tastes, just sprinkle in a little bit of the remaining Crystal Light packet and mix until combined.
 
As you can see, not too shabby.  And again they were a HUGE hit!!!
 
 
 
From my board "Cupcakes take the cake"

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

The Cat Cafe

"There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat." -- Tay Hohoff

Our last day in San Diego.  B has been bugging me about going to the Cat Cafe which I found on a BuzzFeed list of things you didn't know you could do in San Diego.  I knew we had to get there, so first thing in the morning we hopped on a trolley and made our way there.  (It's like 2 blocks away from the Convention Center trolley stop - SUPER easy to get to!)



The Cat Cafe is a little coffee shop where you can buy your drink and go into the next room and play with the cats living there - which are ALL adoptable!  We counted 9 cats there who have the run of the place - which is filled with cat houses and cat trees and baskets of toys!  







We of course wanted to take them all home with us, but that wasn't going to happen.  We hope they all get adopted.



From my board "You're Off To Great Places"