A Memorable May

Ah, it's the last day of the month... Where did it go? For us, it flew by in a flurry of contract signing, loan paperwork, and never-ending packing. In between all the house stuff though, we did manage to have some fun! Here's May in pictures:

It was good start to the month, with margaritas and Coronas to celebrate Cindo de Mayo.

It wouldn't be a complete month without snapping pics of my dogs. We got the dogs some little bones at the beginning of the month.

They get pretty crazy over those little bones.

Gizmo returned to even more of his normal self, a little more everyday.

I love that little tongue.

Many of the hubby's dinners got a thorough stare-down.

Gizmo took many naps with his favorite person.

Brothers loved on each other :)

When one howls, so does the other.

Haloti can't even keep his eyes open while begging for food.

Here's my favorite things I baked this month:

Chocolate Chip Coffee Muffins

Lemon Curd Fruit Tarts

Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

My favorite recipes of the month:

Spicy Basil Chicken

Grilled Tomato Basil Bread

Raspberry Peach Lime Lemonade (with vodka, of course!)

And finally, on Mother's Day, in the middle of a complete downpour, the hubby put up our new mailbox at the property. One step closer in our journey!

While May was awesome, I don't think it can touch June and moving out of where we are now. Hope everyone had an amazing May!

Chocolate Chip-Coffee Muffins

On Wednesday, I set forth to make Glazed Lemon Yogurt Pound Cake. It came together easy, the batter tasted amazing, and it came out of the oven looking amazing. I put it on the cooling rack to cool, and couldn't wait to take some pictures and get to blogging.

I waited about an hour, and then tried to get the cake out of the pan. It completely fell apart. My hopes were dashed and I was grumpy the rest of the day. I have to remind myself sometimes that I'm not an expert baker and that I am still learning. Sigh.

It ended up tasting pretty good, even though it's in pieces instead of nice, neat slices.

I decided to redeem myself yesterday and make something easy. I'd seen these muffins a couple of issues of Cooking Light ago, and muffins seemed like a safe option.

I like these muffins. They didn't rise much during baking, and they are a denser muffin. They are crispy on the outside, but moist on the inside. You can taste coffee and chocolate in every bite. I found them perfect with a cup of coffee in the morning. I'm a big fan. I might even have another before my morning workout :)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
5 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp instant coffee
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup canola oil
2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine milk through canola oil. Stir well with a whisk, set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour through the salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray. Fill cups 3/4 way full. Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let cool in pan 5 minutes, remove to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before storage.

Adapted from Cooking Light

Adventures in K-Cup Land

The hubby and I have been immensely enjoying the Keurig coffee maker. I think the only time we have used the old coffee maker was when his mother came up to stay the night. She drinks a lot of coffee, so we had to make her a pot.

The hubby is still loving the Sumatra blend, he's been making himself a to-go cup every day before work. I've been using the "My K-Cup" attachment (which allows you to use your own coffee by putting it in a K-Cup holder with a little filter) and using the house coffee. Call me crazy, but I think our regular coffee tastes 100 times better from the Keurig.

I found a sale last week on Amazon and was able to order more K-cups. They arrived yesterday as I was in the middle of making muffins.

It also arrived at 5 pm, so I wasn't able to sample it right then. Boo.

I ordered Jet Fuel for the hubby. It was described online as "extra-extra-bold", so I figured it was right up his alley. I was right, he loved it this morning. The sale was also on a 50-pack of coffee, so this package should last him quite awhile. I ordered French Vanilla cappuccino for me. Yum, yum!

I was so happy to see these little things!

This flavor is perfect for me. I'm not a fan of black or strong coffee and I love flavored coffee. This coffee is not strong. I found it delicious.

It was an indulgent Friday morning started with a French Vanilla Cappuccino and a couple of Chocolate Chip Almond mini-muffins. TGIF indeed!