Vacation Depression

So as a New Englander I'm dreading the third weekend in a row because of ... snow. The season finale of Downton Abbey has not helped at all either. To put us all in a better mood here are some of the things I did on vacation in Florida, because we can at least think warm. 

After we landed I refused to leave the airport until I had put my sweatshirt away, because it is much to warm to where a sweatshirt in Florida right? The cold night air blasted me in the face as we left, and I felt as though we hadn't actually left home. The next day was much nicer though.

Funny I didn't realize till I got there that I'd never seen a palm tree in person before.

I never really considered myself a pool, person, but when there is on readily available, I definitely got used to it.

I got to pet a baby alligator and then...

I ate one.

Went to the aquarium and saw a sea lion do this,

while a sea turtle just kept swimming.

I also saw Ms. Attitude.

Doesn't my Woolie Alligator look just like her?

Woolie Alligator

But now I'm back and I will shovel away like all hearty New Englanders do, yet I'll be thinking about this while I do.

Even though it's a little more like this.

So everyone stay warm! There is good news here though the Sweet Carolyn's shop has tags!

Have a great Day.

Cheeseburger Cupcakes

ATTENTION: This post will be as good as it sounds, may require immense will power or purchasing of larger pants.

A former co-worker of mine was talking about how she made cheeseburger cupcakes for dinner one night that week, and I was intrigued so I asked her if she had a recipe. She then rattled off a few ingredients and some basic instructions, so I went home and gave them a try. They are amazing! I now make them for potlucks and parties they are easy to make and perfect portion sized finger food. Too bad you can't just eat one of them. 
One of my many business venture dreams is to open up an awesome food truck featuring savory cupcakes, but until then I'll share how you can make your own!

First things first, you'll need:

Muffin Tins (2 that hold 12 muffins each)

24 Pillsbury Grand Biscuits

 (Can be the store brand, but must be the large or jumbo sized only)

2 Pounds of Ground Beef or Turkey

One Bottle of your Favorite BBQ sauce

1-2 tbsp Brown Sugar (optional)

Favorite shredded cheese

Biscuits I chose to use.

Now brown your ground meat in pan of suitable size, until fully cooked. Drain the grease and add enough BBQ sauce to the meat to make it the texture of sloppy joes. If you'd like to sweeten the sauce a bit add a tablespoon or 2 of the brown sugar to the meat and sauce mixture until fully dissolved. Normally for children's recipes sugar is added to cut the acidity of the sauce, I myself have never added sugar.

Ground meat and sauce mixture.

Next preheat your oven to the temp on the biscuit packaging usually between 375 and 425 degrees, and now spray your muffin tins with non stick cooking spray. After this take each biscuit and squish them out flat and round so they will fit into the tins. Like so:

then...

Perfect, next, spoon your ground meat and sauce mixture into each biscuit cup.

Once finished sprinkle shredded cheese on top,

and bake them in your preheated oven for 17-20 minutes or until the biscuits are golden and the cheese melted.

Let them set in the tins for 5-10 minutes before serving, and be careful they will be VERY hot. 
Then Enjoy!

Vacation Preparations

So I went on vacation, it was great, and now I'm back, but it took a lot to get there. My normal vacation plans are usually day trips, maybe a few days somewhere, but this time I headed far south for an entire week. Which was a welcome relief, because here in New England it had been a bit chilly.

I do my best not to complain overly about the cold, because I just think about weeding a cornfield in 20 pounds of wool in 90 degree heat and humidity. It's just that last year was such a mild winter, that this was a welcome break.

The downside to this trip is was that I had been instructed that all my belongings for a week needed to fit in a carry-on bag........ no it was not a joke. So after much debate and outfit arranging, I pared down all my needs to a carry on and large purse.

Incase my bag needed to get checked at the gate due to space issues (I'm a planner and a worrier, a dangerous combination), I prepared with a luggage tag to make it more noticeable. (No the fact that it is green was not enough.) So I decided to go with a nice luggage tag, how about one that's personalized that does the work for you.

Great Tag!

Unfortunately I didn't order this with enough time allotted but you can! I'm now back, safe and sound (blizzard and all) and did tons of exciting things, and now that I'm back I have great new things headed for my store, and more vacation inspiration to follow!

Great hand knit felted bags, but couldn't leave them plain, oh no.

Needle-felt whales! I think a needle-felt tutorial is in order as well, don't you think? Keep tabs on us wherever we go on instagram @sweetcarolyns.

Beauty of the Blizzard

We got some snow, it wasn't actually a blizzard. What was reported the day before was this:

After it had been snowing for about an hour the weather men were like "Oh my gosh guys it's actually not going to snow that much, you bought all the bread and milk you could, and thought you may have work off and ... oops. Oh that darn mother nature she's tricky." Well they may have not made that exact quote, but they might as well have. Along the coast we got anywhere from a dusting to a few inches and it does make everything very pretty. I went for a walk this morning at work and although cold, you can't beat the view.

One good thing about an impending storm is I got a lot of work done. This is my latest creation:

Woolie Whale made with the scraps of other whales and creatures, very eco-friendly.

Stay warm and productive my friends!