Funfetti Deliciousness

If you don't like funfetti cake, then just please....like, stop knowing me.

Pinterest has once again given me the recipe to a new Holy Grail of desserts - Funfetti Cheesecake Bars. Kayla and I had our little baking adventure again this weekend, and I thought this would be the perfect recipe. I'd never made cheesecake of any sort before, and I was amazed at how easy it was!!

I followed the photo I pinned over to this rad blog, Megan's Munchies, and copied her recipe. For ease's sake I'll retype out the recipe here, but know I got it from her first guys!

Ingredients you will need:

- One box funfetti cake mix

- One container of funfetti frosting

- 2 packages of 8oz. cream cheese (I used the 1/3 fat ones, but you can do whatever you want)

- 3 eggs

- 1/2 cup butter

Recipe:

- Mix dry cake mix and the butter (softened) together until it's nice and crumbly. Measure and set aside 1 cup of this mix.

- With the 1 cup set aside, pour the rest of that mix into an ungreased 13x9 inch pan. Press the mix with the back of a spoon to make the "crust". I found the spoon worked wonderfully, but you can use whatever you want.

- In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese and the frosting. Beat until smooth. Next, beat in eggs until everything is well blended. Lastly, stir in the funfetti sprinkles (unless your sprinkles come pre-mixed in the frosting container).

- Pour mixture over your crust and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of crumbly cake mix.

- Bake for 45 minutes (42 if you use a dark or nonstick pan - which I did and it turned out perfect). Let bars cool completely and set in the fridge to chill for 2 hours.

- Cut into whatever size bars you want and keep refrigerated until serving.

This recipe was a HUGE hit with the husband, friends, and classmates. Make these as a dessert for your next BBQ or party and I promise you people will be chasing after you for the recipe. 

Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I posted some pictures a while back of my baking bonanza with my neighbor Kayla and got some requests for the recipe.

Nothing screams fall more than pumpkin, and Pinterest has been full of cool new recipes and fall decor. Kayla and I got together a few weeks ago to bake and she shared her aunt's pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe with me. It was a huge success both at home and at work, so I thought I'd share the recipe with all of you!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients:

- 1 1/3 cup sugar

- 1/3 cup shortening

- 2 eggs

- 1 2/3 cups flour

- 1/4 tsp. baking powder

- 1 tsp. baking soda

- 3/4 tsp. salt

- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp. cloves

- 1/3 cup water

- 1 cup pumpkin puree (canned is perfect)

- chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Mix together dry ingredients and wet in separate bowls. Slowly mix in dry ingredients to your combination of shortening, water and pumpkin. Mix well. Add chocolate chips as desired (I found 1/3 of a bag to be perfect, but if you like it extra chocolaty, go for half the bag) and stir in with a spoon. Grease a basic loaf pan and bake for one hour. Test with a fork or tooth pick after one hour to make sure it's baked all the way through.

It's seriously one of the easiest recipes ever! Plus, your whole house smells like yummy pumpkin the rest of the day. Happy Fall!!

And then there were three...

Wednesday night I flew home with some extra special cargo - my little chihuahua, Punchy. I've had him since he was four weeks old (he's six now) and we're completely obsessed with each other. The past year I've been up here without him has been really difficult - and my schedule has finally freed up enough to where I'm able to have him.

He'd never been out of my hometown in Southern California before, so hopping on an airplane and landing in the northwest was a huge change for him! We've spent the last few days together taking long walks, snuggling, and purchasing new toys and treats. Portland is really one of the most dog friendly cities in the U.S., with the most vets, pet supply, and dog parks/doggy daycares per capita. 

He's the perfect addition to my husband and I - making us a perfect little family!

Honeymooners: Our trip to Hawaii

Hawaii was amazing! We spent five wonderful days on the island of Oahu at the Royal Hawaiian hotel. Here's some pictures from our trip.

The entrance to our amazing hotel

Waikiki Beach at sunset

A must-stop at Leonard's Bakery for their famous malasadas, Portuguese donuts. They come filled or not filled, and I say don't waste your time if they aren't filled. My husband loved the coconut custard and I was partial to the lillikoi)

Breakfast every day at our hotel was amazing. Kona coffee, fresh-squeezed pineapple juice and the most delicious fruit ever.

Several people recommended Matsumoto's Shave Ice, so we made sure to visit that place when we rented a car and drove to the North Shore. It was awesome! Finely shaved ice covered with syrup and condensed milk (yes please!)

At the Valley of the Temples - such a beautiful and serene place to make a stop at

Breakfast on the beach on our last day!

Local Lovin': Bamboo Grove

A great local spot in John's Landing is Bamboo Grove, a traditional Hawaiian restaurant. Huge portions and a casual, family atmosphere are what makes this place so popular with local PDXers. They even serve a luau style Kalua pig in the summers - though I'm not into watching a dead animal be rotated over a fire in front of me, but that's another blog post. The decor is over-the-top Hawaiian, with tiki torches, Hibiscus paintings and other classic Hawaiian paraphernalia on all the walls. Nonetheless, it's a great escape from gloomy Portland weather.

(Images from Bamboo Grove's website)

Start off small with a bowl of their house-made kimchi. It's the perfect light precursor to your entree. Choose from a small, medium, or large sized entree, aka, "Island Grinds" (note, even the small is almost unfinishable by a hungry person) and you'll receive a generous scoop of rice and their famous macaroni salad on the side.  My husband loves their ahi tuna stir fry and their teriyaki chicken, while I stick with the vegetable stir fry (Hawaiian food isn't notorious for their vegetarian friendly dishes, but Bamboo Grove definitely makes an effort). The crunchy, seasoned vegetables combined with the creamy macaroni salad makes for a killer combination. Follow this up with a slice of their Kahlua cheesecake and you're in heaven.

Since my husband and I are jetting off to Hawaii tomorrow for our honeymoon, we were thrilled our friends suggested Bamboo Grove this weekend. We always end up with tons of leftovers to enjoy the next day!

If you want to make a night out of SW Portland, hit up Jolly Roger's on Wednesdays at 9pm for bar trivia!

Product Rave: Origins VitaZing

(Image)

I've always shied away from skin matching type makeup items. Personally, they oxidize poorly on my skin and turn orange. I figured Origins VitaZing would be no different when a friend introduced it to me the other day. The girls at the Origins shop were kind enough to give me a sample to take home to try it out....

....and I'm in LOVE!

It's smoother and more malleable than my favorite Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer, and a little bit really goes a long way. After hours of wear I have no orange tint and no harsh line between my neck and face like I normally do with this type of makeup. My face is left feeling light and refreshed with a gorgeous glow that's hard to get naturally.

What I love about Origins in general, is that there products are almost entirely all natural and don't contain parabens, sulfates, or weird chemical fragrances.

A bottle of VitaZing will run you $35 - it seems outrageous until you actually try the product and realize how little you actually need for full coverage.

Try or buy?

My opinion, try first and then buy. The medium coverage may not be what you are looking for and it can leave your face looking greasy if not followed up with a powder.

Five Things I Can't Wait For

Fall is coming!

1. Salted caramel hot chocolates at Starbucks

2. Cloudy days, orange leaves, and scarf weather

3. Autumn walks with my dog

4. Halloween!!

5. Corn mazes, caramel apples, and apple cider

Are you happy to see summer go? 

xx