Apple Pie Muffins

I found this tasty recipe for Apple Pie Muffins on Allrecipes.com. It was their featured recipe of the day several weeks ago and the title grabbed me. What's not to like about apples this time of year? It's a pretty straight forward recipe with lots of brown sugar. The topping just sinks in and gives you a few surprising bites of brown sugar every now and again, which is fabulous.

The biggest note on this recipe: Don't fill the cups to the top. 1/2-2/3 full will do the trick and save you the clean up later. In fact, it's a good rule of thumb for most cupcakes & muffins.

Operation Baby Room: Project 1

It was a beautiful Sunday in Nashville, which makes it a great day for a Mr. Diva project. Bad news for him, the hangover from yesterday's UT/UGA game was still pummeling the poor guy though he didn't let it keep him down. First project for Baby March Madness' room, the bookshelf.
I've had this bookshelf forever, but never got around to staining it. Staining is super easy if you've never done it. Just make sure you've got a well ventilated area (or outside) as this stuff is really potent. I chose to let Mr. Diva complete this one as the fumes were just too strong for this Diva mama. We used Minwax's Red Chestnut wood stain and one coat seemed to do the trick.



Next up: Painting

Apple/Pumpkin Butter Squares

One of the Diva mob made these yummy pumpkin squares last year. With a chill in the air, I thought it was a good time to pull this recipe out. Pumpkin butter isn't a normal grocery staple (check William Sonoma or Whole Foods), so I substituted the always delicious, slightly less expensive apple butter. These bars with apple butter were still a big hit. One party dweller said, "These are so good I just want to dance." Granted the kid was 5 and high on Cheetos, but I'll take it.

Sundays with Manning

Where have I been? Most likely cleaning up some mess that Manning has created. Whether it's a roll of toilet paper or one of his yard excavation projects, our dog has been putting his puppy energy to use. Here are a few pictures from his latest escapades!



I was cutting up a small watermelon and decided to give Manning some of the rind. He loved it.



The other day I was sitting at my desk attempting to do some work when I hear Manning bounding into the house looking like a dog full of mischief. After a quick picture and a little laughter, I decided I better clean him up. Look what I found when I went into the kitchen!