thankful thursday: fast internet

yes i will repeat yesterday's post

because 

last night 

it only took one hour to download an hd tv show

where as two days ago

hd wasn't even an option

and

it took 8-10 hours to download

sd

so tonight 

after emmi goes to bed

hubby and i will enjoy

in hd!!!

for those who are subjected to regular afn programming you know hd is a BIG deal!

love love from avian

thankful thursday:happy birthday honey!

recently

we celebrated

my husband’s birthday

and

i am so thankful

we get to celebrate

his birthday

another year

for those who don’t know myhusband
he is a man

who is selfless

and caring

recently

his squadron had their holiday party

and

he volunteered to do child care

with me and the breastfeeding support group

forfeiting

all you can drink wine

a nice restaurant

and a night out with his colleagues

one of the many times

i have thought

“how did i get so lucky

that he chose me”

so today

i am so thankful

for him

and

for him loving me

thankful thursday: tune in radio

 many of us love the holiday season

and

i am one of them

one of my favorite parts of the season

is the Christmas music

back home

{magic 104.1}

plays Christmas music 24/7

from the day after Thanksgiving

to

the day after Christmas

and

it makes my heart happy

however

here in italy

they don’t believe in 24/7 Christmas music

they have no idea what they are missing

and 

if it wasn’t for my iphone

and 

the 

{tune in radio app}

i would be a grinch

during this holiday season

so thank you

tune in radio

and

magic 104.1

for keeping my heart full of Christmas cheer!!

what is your favorite part of the holiday season?

thankful thursday: travel

happy thanksgiving

ya’ll!

to celebrate emmi’s first thanksgiving

one would think we’d pile her high chair tray

with turkey pumpkin pie and sweet potato casserole

but

we aren’t

we deserve the good parent award i know

we are running away

to Vienna

pic from {here}

then to slovania

so her first thanksgiving dinner will be brats and apple strudel

i am so excited to see the Christmas markets!

we went to Salzburg last year 

 

and it was

wonderful

 

sparking us to start a new tradition

of seeing different Christmas markets each year

so happy thanksgiving

and may your travels be safe

and you be surrounded by loved ones

love love from aviano

thankful thursday: smile!

thankful thursday is back!

i have so much to be thankful for

and it gives me a "topic" to guide a post!

today 

it's her smile

 

her smile lights up a room

and 

warms my heart

love love from aviano

 

 

thankful thursday: it's her birthday!

because

during our chat this week

she said

"i miss your baking blogs"

wow! really! someone reads them?!

because

cupcakes make me happy

because

she loves summer

and these are the perfect summer cupcakes

because i have new kitchen island

just waiting to get dirty!

and because

{kristi's}

birthday is today

i tackled a new recipe

{fluffy lime cupcakes with lime frosting}

yum.

first like any good american

cooking in italy

open a bottle of wine!

now we are ready to bake!!

mix your dry ingredients

the flour, baking powder, and salt

set that aside

and whisk four egg whites and buttermilk together

set that aside

prepare your lime zest

remember

{this}

yep, the grater still scares me

grate away

then step back and take a moment to smell the aroma in your kitchen

lime smells delicious, fresh, crisp!

now pull out your stand mixer!

i'm going to digress here so bear with me!

or skip down three pictures

pull out my mixer?!?

in italy i have yet to use my stand mixer

mainly because it ain't easy 

and counter space was limited

but now i have a new island!

so i lug out the 2000 watt transformer

it's heavy and ugly

so i usually hide it

i mean who wants to answer the question 

"what's the theme of your kitchen"

with

"electrical conversion equipment"?

then i found my stand mixer

plugged it in to the transformer

and prayed i didn't blow the breaker

success!

i still have lights after turning it on!

ok back to the cupcakes!

add your sugar and lime zest in the stand mixture 

then blend it together

i used my hands it made my hands smell like lime all day

yum.

beat in your butter

 your lime juice

and your lime extract

disclaimer:

i could NOT find lime extract at the commissary

so i squeezed some of the lime from the lime zest into the batter

then 

the recipe breaks down how to add in your dry mixture 

and your egg/milk mixture that you set aside

honestly 

because i'm not good in math

and i become overly anxious

wondering if i added in 1/3 or 1/4 

i just alternated adding in the two different mixtures

a little dry, then a little of the wet, a little more of the dry

well you get the idea

and after it's all combined

it looks something like this

this is where i do the 

"make sure it doesn't kill you"

taste test

really i just like batter

and trust me folks!

this is good batter!!

before you eat all the batter 

remember you have to make cupcakes

so fill those cupcake pans

put it in the good ol' oven at 350 for about 18-20 minutes

or until they look like this

and your kitchen smells heavenly!

while they cool

and trust me you want the cool before you frost them

i tried rushing the frosting bit 

and it melted off the cupcake

i'm impatient i wanted to eat one!

make your frosting

and you get to use your stand mixer again!!

yay!!

take your chilled heavy whipping cream

and 

whip it with the balloon whisk attachment

until it has a peak

this takes a little while

be patient

then add your sugar

and lime zest

the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of sugar

i didn't like the consistency of the frosting 

so i 

added another 1/2 tablespoon

and still not pleased

i remembered that

{the pioneer woman}

uses powdered sugar a lot in frostings

so i added 1/2 tablespoon

a minute later

i was pleased

then ice your cupcakes

and garnish with more lime zest 

or fresh lime slices

and enjoy.

i will say this

the cupcakes were a little dry for me

this could be baker error

but next time

i might try a stick and a half of butter

i'm not a professional

i'm a trial and error kind of gal

and 

i know anything with butter is usually very moist

so why not try more butter?!

 so for my dear friend

kristi

happy birthday

i am so thankful that you are in my life

i wish i was there to enjoy your day with you

i miss you 

and will see you very soon!!!

thankful thursday...hope

i said it yesterday

and i am going to say it today

and probably tomorrow

and the next day

june sucked

and after every disappointment

i would find something

to hope for

to try and remain optimistic

and 

i thought hoping

was helping

but

a part of me 

wanted to throw up my hands 

and 

scream

"really!!! not again!!!"

but

the good news

is 

i still have a roof over my head

that has amazing views!

food in my belly

good food at that!

pups who think i'm the best thing since the dog bone

i think they are biased

i am the hand that feeds them

and

friends

old and new 

love group skype!!

and they threw up their hands and said "really?!?" for me!

so 

bring it on july

june may have roughed me up

but 

i still got hope!

thankful thursday: a rose by any other name

let me start by saying

it's been a rough few weeks

getting adjusted to kenneth's new schedule

getting adjusted to my new schedule

and

experiencing the loss of my family dog

missy

while overseas

she was seventeen and a half

she lived a good life

but 

not being able to be there 

with my family

was hard

so 

when our rose bush started to bloom

i couldn't help but smile

my mom

had rose bushes 

at my childhood home

she adored her rose bushes

and tended to them almost daily 

from spring to summer

honestly

i had no idea we had a rose bush

but

i am so thankful we do

the buds are small right now

and very distinct in color

i check on the roses daily

just as my mom would have

and i've hinted to kenneth

that should he choose to cut a rose for me

to make sure he cuts

below the first stem 

with five leaves

it's something my mom would always say

so 

for now 

i wait patiently

for the buds to open

hoping that by the time 

my mimi gets here next week

i can greet her

with vase of roses

in her room

today

i'm so thankful

for 

the little surprise

that bring me back to home

thankful thursday...things that take you back

we were at the local bakery

and 

kenneth

exclaims

"look they have kinder eggs"

my first response

besides almost jumping out of my skin 

due to the fact

kenneth rarely gets excited

was

"oh that's nice honey"

followed by

"what's a kinder egg?"

well 

folks

you would have thought

i just told my husband

i killed his favorite dog

his heart was visibly broke

he almost shed a tear

then 

he stepped back with a look 

of shock 

and disbelief

and 

almost as loudly as he exclaimed the first time

he said

"you don't know what a kinder egg is?"

politely

realizing i'm treading on 

a delicate matter here

i responded

"no honey i am sorry 

i don't know what a kinder egg is"

i grew up 

in a town where we got crimson and creme slushes

and root beer with hot tamales

(trust me its fabulous!)

turns out

this is a kinder egg

turns out 

it was all the rage

during kenneth's youth in germany

but

they were at one time

illegal in the states!

chocolate illegal in the states

with our obesity rate!

can't be true!

i digress...

what's so special about this egg

that has cadbury running for the hills?

from the naked eye

nothing

it's an ordinary chocolate egg

but

what's this?

that doesn't look like creme filling to me!

a little plastic container

and 

inside

he was so excited!

a toy!!!

turns out the toy caused american kids to choke

enough kids choked that 

kinder eggs became illegal!

i guess the kids missed the plastic piece..thought it was creme filling.

after some assembly

and

some instructions

we had our first kinder toy

a little man

that you could

manipulate to

give a thumbs up

if you liked something

or 

a thumbs down

                                 

if something wasn't to your liking

but the best part 

was seeing kenneth's face

as 

we embarked on our kinder adventure

the kinder chocolate 

brought back 

found memories of childhood

that we often forget 

in the hustle and bustle of our days

and 

that my friends

is what i'm thankful for

look you can see his dimples!!

that's when you know he is really smiling!

love from aviano!