Sugarwater Tea: Winter "Happies"

Hello, Winter! It's getting colder down here; you know what that means?

-Snow!

-Cute doggie outfits

-Dad's birthday (AKA time for cake)

-Brunch experiments

So, welcome to our house. This is what it looks like at 7:00 AM on my way to school:

This is the best house in the entire world.

There is no other place I would rather be.

I know you all have been wondering how little Tuck is doing. Mrs. P. loves cold weather because she gets to stay inside on her stoop much more. She also loves (read as: "puts up with because she gets treats") her cute outfits! Here are pictures of her favorite pink "Snuggie" and cute Christmas dress:

We know; she's absolutely adorable.

Also, December marks a wonderful time for celebrating births! Not only do we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in December, we also celebrate our Dad's birth! So this past week we partied for Tom Tom's __th birthday. :) It was a lovely evening of steaks, potatoes and good conversation around the dinner table with all of our chicks home. I took charge of the meal and thoroughly enjoyed my time in the kitchen. (Am I seventeen or sixty? Goodness, I need to get out more...) ;)

In preparation for the party, I made Dad's favorite cake! Warning: it has no recipe.

Truly, that's not my style. I like the fact that recipes are 1+2=3. Much more straightforward.

After doubling the amount of batter, resulting in overflow cupcakes, I finally produced a cake. I had to call in some reinforcements, AKA Sarah, to finish it.

Needless to say, I struggled.

MY recipe:

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 small can of Eagle Brand

Whipped Cream

Shredded Coconut (Dad likes it, we don't).

After the cake is baked, quickly poke lots of holes into the cake and pour the can of Eagle Brand over the top. Allow it to sink into the cake then cool in fridge. Put whip cream on top and coconut if you wish! :) It really is delicious!

Side note: Sarah is absolutely obsessed with Eagle Brand. She begged me to let her have the majority of the can.

It was a good time. :)

Since I am out of school, I have the opportunity to experiment with Brunch! The majority of our household does not especially love Breakfast foods, or mornings in general, so Brunch is much more our style. I decided to try out this lovely Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry recipe from Ina Garten.

(Click on the link for the recipe!)

I neglected to take pictures throughout its creation, but here's the finished deliciousness: