Sucre King Cakes for Mardi Gras

I have seen Sucre in NOL and then I saw them again in this months Garden and Gun (my current favorite magazine).  I ordered a gift basket for my Dad's birthday and he said it was fabulous.

For my family I ordered the famous king cake. 

Here's a little bio from Sucre: "The king cake is as rich in history as it is in flavor. Since the 1800s, New Orleanians have celebrated the beginning of the Carnival Season with a “King’s Cake” on Twelfth Night. A small plastic baby is inserted in the cake, and the reveler who finds it is said to have good fortune for the year. The recipient then continues the festivities by having another party and providing a King Cake. To read more about the Washington Post article, please visit our Blog post."

 My king cake should be getting here this week. I'll let you know who gets the baby.

 Mardi Gras is next Tuesday February 21st.  You still have time to order.  

Love = Paula Deen's Sour Cream Pound Cake

LOVE EQUALS my hubby, my children, my family and friends and Paula Deen's Sour Cream Pound Cake.

This recipe rocks people. The only thing that I changed is I baked for about 50 mins.  Nothing worse DRY CAKE!  My dad taught me that. LOL.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the sour cream and mix until incorporated. Sift the baking soda and flour together. Add to the creamed mixture alternating with eggs, beating each egg 1 at a time. Add the vanilla and pour the mixture into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.

Be Mine Valentine: Printables

BE MINE VALENTINE!
Need a cute Valentine for your kids this year.  Get big Lollipops and add these printables.
Easiest assembly ever just a little bit of double sided tape.

P.S. The YOUR has been fixed to YOU'RE in the printable. 

Valentines' Day Printables

Southern Cooking.

I ♥ Southern cooking.   I love fried chicken, country fried steak, collard greens, succotash, black eyed peas, okra, boiled peanuts, grits... I just can't help it.  It's my favorite type of food to eat, mostly because  its what I grew up eating.

I remember when we moved out west my hubby and I were in Las Vegas and we asked for sweet tea, the waitress looked at us like we had four eyes.  Seriously!  She had no idea what we were talking about "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." 

I am getting to my point.  Southern cooking is having a spike in "trendiness" from NYC to Chicago to LA people are on the "grit"wagon and its moving fast. This month Bon Appetit's whole issue is dedicated to southern cooking.  The recipes in here are TO DIE FOR!  Check out this pan skillet-fried chicken...Yummy....Get this months Bon Appetit.  Its worth every penny.

Happy Southern Cooking :)

Pancake Weekends.

My kids and I LOVE pancakes.  We make pancakes or waffles at least  once on the weekends together.  I always sneak in a something healthy just because I can...and it makes me feel like a better Mom.
Here's an easy way....ADD Banana into either your pancakes or your waffles.

Make your batter as instructed, add 1/2 of a banana, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and blend into batter with hand mixer.

I prefer Pamela's Gluten Free Baking and Pancake Mix.  We are NOT a gluten free family but I gotta tell ya...I have tried lots and lots of pancake mix and this one rocks.  Even my hubby (who grew up on Bisquick) loves it.

Not into banana?  Add blueberries, apple sauce or  strawberries instead.

Easy, breezy, Sunday Morning...The kiddos love to help and eat too.

Party Ideas: PotteryBarn and PotteryBarn Kids Rocks!

I love PotteryBarn.  They have the best styled magazine shoots and their website rocks.  Did you know that PotteryBarn and PotteryBarn Kids now offer tons of great party tips.  They have free printables, downloadable invitations, gorgeous table design photos, craft ideas, game ideas and more.

PBK has even hired Kim Stoegbauer from The TomKat Studio to style their kids parties. Here are a couple of my favorite styled parties of hers.


Looking for a Themed Party for the grown-ups?  Check out these parties PB has styled.

• Big Game Party, Bridal Shower, Spring Celebration, Comfort Food Party, Movie Night, Pizza Party, Tequila Tasting Party, Farmhouse Brunch, Mediterranean Tapas, Mojitos & Tacos, Summer Barbecue

They give you all the details.  What food to serve, how to decorate, what bar tools you will need, recipes and more! They even have music set lists you can download from iTunes.  

They have thought of everything!   Happy Partying!  

Valentine's Day Table: Repost from last year.

Here's a Valentine's Day Table LLB created. I am loving all the pink. 

Makes me feel like Spring is coming! 

Want these printables for free?  

No problem.  Here's how! 

Pick ONE entry...  Follow us through Goggle Connect, Facebook or Twitter...(If you are feeling extra nice you could re-tweet, re-blog, re-post about these printables) and then leave us a comment with your email address and we will email you the PDF files within 48 hours for free!  

So easy and Everyone is a winner!

Here's what you get...

3x3 Party Circles

Cupcake Toppers

Large Cupcake Wrappers

Happy Valentine's Day Banner

"Love is all You Need" Sign

Polka Dot Party Cones

Blank Food/Place Setting Fold-able Labels

Valentines Day Printable Collection

Everyone's Doing It.

So why shouldn't Trina Turk.  She is designing a "Palm Springs" inspired line for Banana Republic that will launch in June.

Love Trina Turk  and Love Palm Springs because that's area where I live.

I'm sure this will be a hit especially since it is said to be priced between $49.50-$150.

This is the only sneak peak on the net.  This print has been out for a long time. I have it in a dress from about 8 years ago but its still rocking!

I Found a Muse!

Wow! 38 Days and no LLB blog post. I think that was the longest lapse of non-posting ever in the history of LLB.  I was swamped busy with the holidays, the kids, the stomach flu and more but I am back... and I have found a muse...not to shabby huh?

Pic from a long time favorite mag of mine...

W Magazine!

Chanel: Paris-Bombay 2012 Fashion Show

Do you want to see something that is so incredibly fabulous? Check out this fashion show Chanel put on in Paris, December 6th.  Leave it up to Chanel to create something so amazing.

To see the whole 16 minute show go to Chanel.com