Don't Forget County Parks

I often think so much about the great state parks in Minnesota that I forget about some of the great county parks in the area. This Sunday Blake and I visited Oxbow Park & Zoo near Rochester, Minn. The park has great hiking trails, nice picnic areas and a small zoo featuring mainly animals native to Minnesota. It was the perfect way to end a busy weekend and enjoy the weather.

Blake made a friend at the Oxbow Zoo.

Camo Cupcakes

Blake has been quite the trooper with all of the wedding craziness lately, so I made him a little thank you - camo cupcakes.

Prepare one white cake mix and one chocolate cake mix according to the directions on the boxes.

Split the mixes up into four bowls.

1. 1/2 cup white cake mix, 1 cup chocolate cake mix and 3 drops green food coloring.

2. 1 cup white cake mix, 1/2 cup chocolate cake mix and 7 drops green food coloring.

3. Remaining white cake mix and 15 drops green food coloring.

4. Remaining chocolate cake mix.

Put one spoonful of each color into each muffin liner. 

Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean.

Top with chocolate frosting.

Wall art under $20

I finally got some art work on dining room walls all for under $20! I got the plates for 99¢ each at Goodwill and bought some cheap plate hangers. Now I just need to think of something cute to put on my cake platter.

Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Pudding

I was going to make strawberry cheesecake pudding pops tonight, but after I got it all mixed up, I realized I was out of popsicle sticks, making the pops kind of hard. So, I just put it in a big container and froze it. It was equally delicious but not as fun to eat!

If you're interested, here's the recipe:

1 pkg. 3.4 oz. cheesecake pudding

2 cups milk

1 cup whipped topping

2/3 cup slightly mashed strawberries

Mix milk and pudding. Fold in whipped topping and strawberries. Freeze. Enjoy!

Twister: Senior Citizen Edition

Recently our friend Terry turned 60! To mark the special event, I converted a traditional Twister game into Twister: Senior Citizen Edition.

Best of all, Terry enjoyed it!