Making carrot cake cupcakes

Robyn celebrated her birthday while she was in town, so we made cupcakes, naturally. This is the recipe we used: Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.

They were good, but I'm not sure I'd make them again. Instead, I'm more interested in making these babies: Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting. Yes, please.

I especially like that Smitten Kitchen says this recipe can be adapted for a breakfast muffin. If that doesn't inspire me to fulfill my tentative plans to find a quick breakfast alternative, I don't know what will.

Making the Victory Lap

I'm almost finished the quilt I started for my Mom and her husband that I first told you about almost a year ago. (!!!) I am currently doing the victory lap, or handstitching the binding. I have to say, this is an apt expression, so congratulations to whomever (?) coined it. There is nothing like binding a quilt. It has a two pronged attack: the first prong it that all of a sudden your layers of business become a quilt, and the second is that you are FINISHING THIS QUILT! Hallelujah!

I have taken a break from working on my crafting projects generally this summer. I think it was just too hot. Since it's cooled off a bit, I have rediscovered the soothing ecstasy that is quilting for me. I love it, you guys. It pretty much has it all.

I hand-quilted this one, and all of those hours were so worth it. It's hard to do it justice in photos, but hand-quilting really communicates, you know? In all examples of it that I've seen, there's some extra mojo* in there. I don't think I've ever been more excited about something that I've made. And it's for my mom, which makes it even better. Yay!

* Read: abiding love, for a more gooshy/accurate version of how I feel about this whole business!

Making ANZAC biscuits

Because I have a new blog crush on Lottie + Doof, I made these ANZAC biscuits to prove my devotion. Just kidding. They looked easy to make, is all. And they were!

I've never been a fan of dried coconut, but it made sense in this recipe. My only complaint is that the cookies are a little too sweet, so I might fiddle with the sugars next time around.

I really want to make this caramel cake next, but I have plans to make some healthy muffins first. Bah.