Nutella Buttercream Frosting

i made the mistake (on purpose ;0p) of purchasing nutella from costco a few weeks ago. and when i finally realized that there was no way i was going to be able to stop myself from continuing to dip a spoon into the jar over and over and over again, i knew i needed to start getting creative and use those jars up.

i started by making homemade nutella filled croissants and sent a bunch home with my mom. they were super easy to make and only took about 20 minutes to bake. you simply buy a few sheets of puff pastry, roll out the dough and cut it into triangles, spread some nutella on the rolled out dough and then roll them up into croissants. swipe an egg wash over them and pop them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until they're golden brown. they were good, but nothing to write home about.

and then i started perusing pinterest, which is dangerous enough by itself, but if you type into the search bar "nutella recipes," life as you know it is over. so many crazy, amazing, delicious, fattening recipes to try!!!!

i settled on the nutella buttercream frosting because, well, it's my birthday next week, and cupcakes are always a good idea. so, i baked up a batch of confetti cupcakes (i used a box which i almost never do) and then whipped up a batch of the nutella buttercream. mind blown. or as my husband said after eating one and then two and then three: "those aren't going to last long." (lay off my birthday cupcakes husband! ;0p)

this frosting is so freaking good. i honestly don't think i'll make any other kind again. everything goes with nutella right?

Nutella Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup nutella
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar

in a medium size bowl, combine butter, nutella, vanilla and about 1 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar. mix well. sample and continue to add about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time until you reach the desired consistency and taste. i think i ended up using about 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

my favorite time of the year is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the last three months of the year are without a doubt, my absolute favorite and it starts out with all things pumpkin! and while i have to admit, i'm not a fan of the famous starbuck's pumpkin spice latte, i am all about the pumpkin baked goods!

i indulged my love for fall and all things pumpkin this weekend, when i had little man help me make pumpkin pancakes for daddy this past sunday. while i know he's too little to really help in the kitchen, it was so much fun measuring out ingredients and letting the little guy pour them into the bowl. he is already so interested when we're cooking in the kitchen, and it's fun to include him.

we have our annual trip to green bluff  to pick pumpkins from Siemer's with the fam on the books, and mid October cannot come soon enough. the pumpkin spice donuts from harvest house are also calling my name! so to tied me over until October, i made pumpkin chocolate chip bread last night and it is so FREAKING good. this recipe is from Sally's Baking Addition, and I followed it almost exactly. I left out the OJ because we didn't have any on hand, and it turned out pretty darn tasty if i do say so myself. i also let the little guy help me out in the kitchen because i cannot get enough of my mini chef. i hope he likes to cook and bake as much as his mama, because i see plenty of cookie parties in our future ;0)

here's the link to the recipe!

past blog posts about green bluff found here and here.

and for those of you looking for a little pumpkin inspiration here are a few pumpkin related recipes I've made in the past! clearly i have an affinity for the little orange squash.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies
Pumpkin Thyme Pasta
Pumpkin Chili
Pumpkin Donuts

Labor Day Weekend and Daddy's back!!!

Happy Labor Day!! I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. We sure are.

Husband is finally home for good, and before settling into a normal routine we've been out on the island soaking up some family time. It's so great to finally get to come out and enjoy the beach with daddy!

Here are some photos from our weekend, including a little family photo session, beach side!

Little Man's "Sock Monkey" Themed Birthday Party!

i mentioned in lincoln's last monthly update that we threw a little party for our little man's big day. i'm excited to share pictures of the party here today! instead of doing a "cake smash" photo shoot, i thought it would be more fun to just have photos of the party (including the cake smash) and so here they are! (All photos from Jennifer DeBarros Photography).

Lincoln James: One Year

we made it! we made it through the long, terrifying at times, difficult, wonderful, amazing first year of Lincoln's life. yesterday morning, i woke up and thought how is it even possible that one whole year has gone by. but it has, in what seems like a blink of an eye, and we officially have a one year old. we'll no longer count his age in months, but in years and while i am so excited for everything that is to come, i can't help but be a little sad that my baby is not a baby anymore.

we weighed the little guy yesterday, a monthly tradition and by our scales he is weighing in at 21.8 lbs (he was sick again this month so we didn't have much weight gain), but we'll get the official height and weight, etc. at his one year checkup next week.

and once again, lincoln has developed by leaps and bounds this month. we are so so so so close to walking. he walks along everything and is so fast with his little walker, but he doesn't yet seem to have the confidence to let go and do it on his own, even though i'm confident that if he tried, he 100% would. we still don't have any teeth yet, but they tell me the longer it takes for your teeth to come in, the stronger they are, so i'm rolling with the old wives tale and am convinced he will have teeth as strong and as sharp as T-Rex ;0p

he is talking up a storm! we say "mama" "dada" and "baba" - which i think he's either using to describe the ball or his bottle. he says it when referring to both so who knows? he can "shake his head no," waves "hello" and "bye-bye!" and loves to play ball (we roll it back and forth), peekaboo! and while the swings still remain his absolute favorite at the park, we also now like to climb up the slide (no joke, the kid won't walk but he'll climb up a freaking slide!).

we have officially made the switch to whole milk and he is down to only 3 bottles a day. the rest of the time he is drinking water out of a sippy cup. after this weekend, we're switching him to just two bottles a day and he'll drink milk and water out of his sippy cup the rest of the time. he is the best eater and i know how fortunate i am for that.

as far as sleep goes....we are back in a no sleeping stage, unfortunately, but husband is home for good the end of August!!!!! and we'll get back on the sleep training wagon and hopefully officially have a good sleeper on our hands.

we celebrated Lincoln's first birthday with a little sock monkey themed party on thursday evening, his birthday eve and had friends and family with us. he was the most adorable birthday boy and such a delicate cake smasher. we were lucky enough to be able to hire a friend to photograph the evening and i'll share those photos when i get them here.

in the meantime here are photos from the last month! this is the last "monthly update" for little man, and it's been so fun to document his growth here. i know they'll be so much more to document as he continues to grow and i'm excited to share it here as this has become an online journal of sorts.

before i sign off, some words to my dear sweet boy. lincoln james, we love you so very much. you are the best thing to happen to your daddy and i. this has been the most amazing year watching you grow and i know it is only going to get better from here. just do your mama a favor and go easy on her with the dare devil, houdini acts....we want you around for a long long time! with all my heart,
love, mama.