Author Archives: Chelsea

About Chelsea

I am a small town girl. I came to Austin to study at The University of Texas, and a very handsome boy sat behind me in class. I love baking, sewing, watching movies, laughing, and willing my plants to grow.

lemon poppyseed muffins

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I am on an ongoing journey to find a muffin recipe that makes those big muffins with the big fat tops on them. I read somewhere that the secret was using yogurt, or something like that to give your muffin some oomph when its baking. I used a recipe similar to this, and added some lemon zest and poppy seeds.

One of the best parts of making muffins or cupcakes is putting the little cupcake liners in the pan. Instantly makes me feel like I am in the kitchen with my ma.

This batter is super thick. I imagine you could maybe put it in a loaf pan and make bread too.

The recipe said it makes 12 muffins. I checked multiple times. So I made only 12 (overflowing) muffins.

I skipped a glaze on top, since its mostly sugar, and we are trying to be a little healthy here.

And here is the huge muffin! Perfect for our Sunday brunch. I don’t think it is my perfect muffin recipe yet, but by george, it sure has a glorious top on it.

granola bars

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It is quite a shame that not all treats are easy to mail. I wish I knew how to send a pie in the mail. It would be the best feeling to know that someone is going to get your pie in the mail at any minute.

I needed a treat to send to all my wedding peeps, but it needed to not be melty, and to hold up for a couple days while it flies across the country. I decided on granola bars. Because they are like the universally eaten treat.

I used this recipe here. It was pretty easy. Basically you mix stuff together.

At this point, you resist the urge to crumble it all up and keep it for yourself.

Chop em up into bars. I got somewhere between 40-50 bars that seemed perfect sized.

I ended up dipping them in chocolate. To be fancy.

I would make these again any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Because people consume more granola on Sunday than other days. I would try making them with some dried fruit and coconut, or mini marshmallows and tiny chocolate chips. Or just tiny m&m’s mixed in. Or just plain.

wedding project: fabric ribbons

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These ribbons are only if your wedding guests are the very best, like ours were. I started making them as a busy project a couple months beforehand. It was one of those instantly gratifying projects. I first got the idea when I made this ribbon for my ma. And my ma is always my inspiration.

I took some leftover fabric scraps from some other wedding decorations, and I made a million yo-yos. I then scrounged up some felt in coordinating colors, and glued on the extra bits. I attached a pin back to the back of the ribbon.

On wedding day, we put them all in berry baskets by the wedding programs. It made me very happy to see everyone wearing them!

(photo by our amazing photographer)

little surprises

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We put together little “thank you” surprise boxes for our family and friends. While they might not be full of gold, I put a lot of love inside. (Hint: They are full of treats. Love for your belly.) The guy reminds me that sometimes, it really is the thought that counts.

tomato and basil salad dressing

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Maybe it was the recent long weekend or the longer days, but I feel like time is moving slower lately. We have been enjoying the time by putting more effort into our meals. I even made salad dressing. Salad dressing. Not a baked good.

This salad dressing was basically like salad salsa. It was chopped up tomatoes, basil, and green onion. A little garlic, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, and oil. Shake it all up in a jar. We put it on a salad of spring mix, white beans, and red pepper. Fancy, right??

our white whale

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This was our white whale. South Congress Cafe. We have attempted to brunch there several times over the past couple months. Each time, the wait was 2 hours or more. Sometimes, if you wait 2 more hours to eat, it becomes a different meal by then.

But we finally did it! Only a 30 minute wait. I got the migas, and I don’t know what they did to them, but they were sooo good.

backyard dreaming

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We have really enjoyed having a backyard so far. It is such a nice refuge after a long day at the office. The fixing up comes in stages- first up were some pretty lights. We like to stare out and imagine what it will look like in a couple months. Next up- some flowers and a garden. It will be a fun summer project.

wedding project: wooden sign

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Our wedding was very homemade. Like the it-was-in-my-backyard-and-we-made-all-the-food brand of homemade. We planned out most of it, but there were a lot of little serendipity projects right at the end. We just happened to have certain things lying around at the exact moment we got an idea. So I thought I would share a couple of those projects. The first is a wooden sign.

We were thinking that this tree needed a little something, and we happened to have this old piece of wood. So I whipped up a little sign. I painted on the letters, and the guy tied the rope around it. Teamwork.

peach crisp and vanilla ice cream

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I usually stick with something apple-y for dessert on the Fourth, but I decided to try peaches this year. I really wanted peach pie at the wedding, but they weren’t in season there yet. So I have had a hankering ever since.

Our air conditioning decided not to work that day. I think it was making a point that it was a holiday. So I tried to get all my baking done in the morning before it got blazing hot. I managed to make a peach crisp and the ice cream base before noon. I called my ma to ask if it was ok that the ice cream never got fluffy enough, and she assured me that it will taste just fine. She is always right.

a floppy hat

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I made just a couple key purchases for our honeymoon at the beach, and boy am I glad I did. I felt like a glowing newlywed who was spending the day lounging at the beach in style, and sometimes it just makes you feel even better to look the part. Before our trip, I really wanted a big floppy beach hat, and seriously, money well spent. It was one of the top 5 most awesome I have ever felt in my life. Here are some of my beach essentials: