Bites of My Life

The past two weeks have been filled with lots of blue, sorority songs, catching up with friends, getting settled, and celebrating the few days between recruitment and school starting. 

I personally don't mind school starting. I like having a routine to stick to and reasons to be organized. I love things the school season brings. Football games, sweater weather and in the words of Kathleen Kelly, bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils.

-Got to escape a few hours of work week to make my favorite sugar cookies.

-Kappa cookies for treats during our alumni/skit night!

-Pistachio, almond butter, white chocolate and orange liqueur rice crispy treat! Yes that is all packed into to one treat and sis brought it back for me all the way from San Diego!

-When a friend offered to buy all the ingredients for omelets as long as I showed her how to make one, I quickly obliged. 

-Loved getting to do my last recruitment week with the best PC around! Go Kappa!

-Cutie cups for the new house! 

-Loved exploring around the new West Elm in Classen Curve. Way to go OKC, now if we could just get a Trader Joe's, Zara and H&M....wishful thinking.

-A fresh coat of paint for my new room. Full bedroom tour to come!

-Can't wait for more breakfasts like this. Love having roomies who also enjoy things like coffee, breakfast foods, sriracha and smoothies. 

-A day of laying out and dinner at my dear friend's parent's house!

-Only good things went into this Saturday night salad. Avocado, dried figs, red onion, prosciutto and basil.

-To rap up my two weeks of bites; a back to school dinner with my Kappa family! Parmesan baked chicken with arugala salad, sautéed summer squash and watermelon feta salad!

Today is my last first day of school, hello senior year!

Annie

Kupcakes with a K

My favorite event of the year came and went last night. Each year my sorority puts on the beloved philanthropy event, Kappa Kupcakes. It's all you can eat cupcakes donated from local bakeries and made by girls in the house. The proceeds from the event benefit Norman families at the Center for Children and Families Inc., CCFI.

I'm partial to this event because it combines two of my favorite things, Kappa and baking. I'll be honest and tell you, I bookmark recipes all year long when I think they might be Kappa Kupcake worthy. With a busy week and mom cleaning out the pantry for the move, I passed by my bookmarked recipes and came up with some flavors based on the ingredients I already had.

Ready for a secret though...my cupcakes came from a box. Yes I'm a little ashamed, but they turned out so good and could not have been easier! I took a white and yellow cake mix then just spiffed them up to give them a gourmet taste!

I did an almond cake with dark chocolate almond frosting garnished with sugared almonds then a lemon cake with lemon cream cheese frosting. The best things don't always have to be homemade!

Chocolate Almond Cupcakes
yields 12 regular size cupcakes or 30 minis

Ingredients:
1 box Jiffy white cake mix (Jiffy is a family favorite, but any white cake mix would work)
2 tsp. almond extract, half for the cake, half for the frosting
store bought dark chocolate frosting (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 tbsp. sugar

Directions:
First line your cupcake tins with paper liners. Preheat your oven and prepare your cake mix according to the directions on the box. Add 1 tsp. almond extract to the batter. Depending on your cupcake size, fill your tins 2/3 of the way. An ice cream scoop is the perfect amount for regular cupcakes and a cookie scoop is perfect for minis. Bake and then let cool completely before frosting. 

For the frosting: While your cupcakes are cooling, empty your can of frosting into an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Add 1 tsp. almond extract and fluff up in the mixer. 

For the sugar almonds: Place your almonds on the stove in a pan over low heat. Add the sugar and stir around until they are slightly toasted and caramelized. Set aside and use to garnish. 

Frost, decorate and impress your friends with these easy cupcakes they'll think you slaved away on!

Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
yields 12 regular size cupcakes or 30 minis

Ingredients:
1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix
2 tsp. lemon extract
store bought or homemade cream cheese frosting (my go to cream cheese frosting recipe, just sub the vanilla extract with lemon)
lemon zest or yellow sprinkles to garnish

Directions:
First line your cupcake tins with paper liners. Preheat your oven and prepare your cake mix according to the directions on the box. Add 1 tsp. lemon extract to the batter. Depending on your cupcake size, fill your tins 2/3 of the way full. An ice cream scoop is the perfect amount for regular cupcakes and a cookie scoop is perfect for minis. Bake and then let cool completely before frosting. 

For the frosting: While your cupcakes are cooling, either make your cream cheese frosting r mix 1 tsp. lemon extract into a can of store-bought cream cheese. 

I used sprinkles but fresh lemon zest or lemon peels would be perfect to garnish these cupcakes. 

Kupcakes for a cause, what could be better?

Annie

Bites of My Life

It seems like every second of my day is filled with something. I miss having down time to just relax and watch TV or read blogs. It's down to the grind in order to get things done, and although I've been busy I love looking back and seeing all the enjoyable things from the previous week.

Last week, lots of yummy food got eaten, lots of future plans got finalized and lots of memories were made. One of my favorite restaurants opened a location in a Norman and I got to try a spot that has been on my restaurant list since it opened. I also confirmed my housing, my roommates and booked my one-way ticket because this girl is moving to WASHINGTON, D.C. FOR THE SUMMER!!!

The best part of the week was getting to celebrate my sorority's 100 years on campus. Members new and old came together and had a blast dancing, celebrating and reminiscing on Kappa memories.

-A school project with food benefits is my kind of assignment.

-Sweet potato tots are back and I finally got around to trying them! 

-Raw oysters and crawfish étouffée at my favorite Cajun restaurant that just opened a location in Norman!

-GNOs are the best kind of nights.

-A little too excited to finally try Organic Squeeze in OKC. Pineapple, banana, ginger, lemongrass, coconut milk, lime juice, spirulina, agave and cayenne made up my Spicy Thai smoothie!

-Beautiful weather on Friday made it a perfect night for some OU baseball.

-Celebrated 100 years of good ole’ Beta Theta chapter of KKG!

-Danced all night long with friends, family and alum in honor of Beta Theta’s 100th birthday.

Hoping to have a productive week then a relaxing Easter weekend at home!
p.s. tomorrow is a very special day!

Annie