AMBER'S TEA PARTY THEMED BABY SHOWER

A few friends and I had the huge honor of hosting a baby shower for our dear friend Amber a few weeks ago! She's about to be a new mom to a sweet little girl, so we put together a very girly tea party themed shower for her.

The decor was simple. If it was white, gold, pink, lace, or crystal, we used it! The only thing that was made by hand {other than the food} was this open-frame twine & clothespin onesie display with circular cardstock cards for the guests to sign. Anybody recognize the same frame from Asher's birthday party?

These little bouquets were the table centerpiece and were made with inexpensive grocery store flowers;

The menu included turkey salad on croissants, toasted baguette rounds with a cream cheese pesto spread, toasted baguettes with mozzarella and tomatoes, a fruit tray, spinach quiche, homemade scones, skewered donut holes, a rosette iced cake, a Citrus Mint Cooler punch {the best punch recipe I've ever had!}, and of course tea and coffee.

We played a few simple games and had these hand decorated mason jars as prizes;

And seeing Amber open her gifts was so much fun! I think it got a lot of us expecting ladies excited for our little ones.

Congratulations, Amber!

HOME{MADE} CHOCOLATE PUDDING

Happy 30th Birthday to Thane! This year we celebrated with a couple of dinner outings and then an evening at home on the night of his actual birthday. Instead of a cake, I surprised him with- you guessed- pudding! {Which may or may not have been spurred on by our conversation about how much we loved eating dirt & worms- the Oreo & gummy worm dessert- when we were little. Who remembers that yummy concoction?!}. This happens to be a family recipe, and let me just say two words; more, please! With the exception of homemade granola, we've been on a fairly consistent no dessert eating streak at home. But I'm already scheming to make more of this pudding... It's so much better than what you get at the store!

INGREDIENTS

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking squares {add more or less according to taste}

Half cup of brown sugar

4 cups of milk, I used whole.

4 T cornstarch

1 Egg

Whipped cream for the topping {optional}

Oreo crumbs or crumbled up Oreo cookies for the bottom of the bowl and/or topping {optional}

1 t vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Melt the chocolate in a small bowl.

Heat three cups of milk in a double boiler, while adding the cornstarch and the brown sugar to the remaining cup of milk and stirring constantly to avoid hardening.

Once the milk is heated in the double boiler, add the remaining cup with the cornstarch, mix thoroughly and heat.

Remove about a cup of the milk mixture from the double boiler and add a raw, whisked egg.

Pour the milk and egg mixture back into the double boiler and add the chocolate and vanilla extract.

Stir until thick.

Pour into ungreased serving bowls/cups, {with the oreo crumbs already added to the bottom} and cool in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you want to make a healthier version of this, cut out half or even all of the brown sugar. I accidentally didn't add the sugar this past time and we still loved it. Or use 2% or skim milk instead of whole.

What are you guys indulging in lately? Leave a link to your favorite dessert recipe below!

CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN MUFFINS

Who's excited that it's almost October?! Full fledged fall is here {and other than the fact that it means it's time for Thane to deploy} I'm thrilled! So to ring in the season correctly, we had to have some chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. They turned out delicious, here's the recipe in case you want to give it a try:

3/4 Cup white sugar

1/4 Cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

3/4 canned pumpkin

1/4 Cup water

1.5 Cups all purpose flour

3/4 Teaspoon baking powder

1/2 Teaspoon baking soda

1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Teaspoon nutmeg {adjust to your taste}

1/4 Teaspoon salt

1/2 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 Cup walnuts

Mix it all up and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes! And for perfection, have it with a cup of coffee!

Happy fall & happy baking!