
Strawberry Pina Colada Cupcakes
Dear Fellow Cupcake Lovers,
Sometimes it can be a good thing when a recipe fails. Last night I made the worst strawberry cupcakes from scratch. They were soggy, flat, rubbery, and the bottom of the cupcake liners had burned. The sight of them sitting on my counter was frustrating. I immediately discarded them like they were a bad omen and they spent the rest of the night cooling in the trash.
Short on time and not really in the mood to research recipes and begin again, I decided to cheat. For the sake of convenience, Duncan Hines became my partner in crime. After a full hour spent carefully measuring and weighing ingredients, recklessly ripping the top off that bright red box of Pineapple Supreme Cake Mix was a bit of a rush. I followed the directions on the box explicitly with the exception of adding 1 teaspoon of vanilla and replacing the 1 1/3 cups of water with 1/3 a cup of Coconut Rum and 1 cup of pineapple juice. It was easy, the process was painless and I mourned my fallen strawberry cupcakes by toasting them with a good shot of rum. I have started using pineapple juice a lot more after finding out that Kim Kardashian loves pineapple juice because it has a lot of health benefits. Read more…
Ceres' Recipe Box
baking, coconut, cupcakes, dessert, holiday, pineapple, rum, sprinkles, strawberries

As I sit here at my laptop, and look around at all of the modern conveniences that life in this century has afforded me, I can not help but wonder if my great grandparents would recognize most of them. If they were to be able to travel through time and space for a visit, how would my everyday existence appear to their old world eyes and sense of accomplishment? Would they be impressed with the fact that my home and life is stuffed to the gills with time saving gadgets which free up my time, only so it can be over scheduled and filled up with a million other distracting tasks, preventing me from savoring the moment at hand? Above all, could they comprehend the fact that living green and practicing sustainability is something I am learning and not second nature? Yes, these are questions that make me wonder about who I am and what I can do to leave something more behind me then an enormous carbon footprint in this world… Something that would make them feel proud of the legacy they have left behind them as well…
At the moment, the steps I am taking still seem small and insignificant to me, but all of them have enriched my life, giving it a deeper sense of value, and purpose. In my journey, towards eating local, living greener, and incorporating more sustainable practices into my life, I have found that Read more…
Ceres' Recipe Box
breakfast, canning, farm, homemade, pick your own, recipe, strawberries, sustainability

Just two weekends ago, my husband and I laid our heads down on our pillows, slept under the soft Friday night light of a Strawberry Moon, and dreamed of fields that went on forever… As a result, we woke up bright and early the next morning hungry for the sticky sweet taste of strawberries and a day that began in an orchard full of perfectly ripe fruit waiting to be picked.

With tall travel mugs full of freshly brewed, steaming hot coffee, and the largest Read more…
Eating Local in Ohio
buy local, day trip, farm, pick your own, strawberries