When you make cupcakes with plans to do fancy pipping on it, you need a good buttercream recipe to go with it!
This recipe is just a simple vanilla buttercream which is also by Marg(CaymanDesigns) that is found on Food.com.
The only complaint with this recipe is that it's a little sweet, but you can add a little bit of fine salt to cut the sweetness.
As far as pipping goes, this recipe worked great. I made it on a day where it was a bit humid and decently hot and the icing held up just fine and didn't get hard or anything.
This recipe was a winner. Everyone seemed to like them, except for one critic who believed there wasn't enough icing. Again, personal preference. He wanted a mountain, not a swirl.
Also tested the happy-happy part of doing two-tone icing. Very good, very good[:
This recipe is by Giada De Laurentiis. They smell SO good when they're baking. The whole kitchen smelled like sweet vanilla cupcakes and they have a pretty golden color to them, too. My iPod's camera certainly isn't doing justice.
It would probably go great with ice cream, just saying...
Ingredients:
Yields: 12 Cupcakes
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup quinoa or almond flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Frosting of choice
Special equipment: one 12-cup muffin pan and 12 paper cupcake liners, such as Betty Crocker Standard Size Baking Cups
Directions:
Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to
350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat the sugar and
butter until combined. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat until
smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Spoon the
batter into the prepared muffin cups (about 1/4 cup batter in each cup).
Bake until puffed and the cake springs back when touched, 15 to 17
minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Using a small spatula, frost the tops of the cupcakes. Allow the frosting to set for 20 minutes before serving.
Vanilla cupcakes, as you'd think, would be a very simple operation of finding a good recipe. But no. It's more complicated than that. There is probably millions of different recipes out there, it actually gets a little overwhelming trying to find one.
Food Network is usually my go-to source for recipes when it comes to making something fancy for someone. Love the site, love the shows on the channel. It's just a favorite.
I wish so badly to say this recipe was a winner, unfortunately it wasn't all that great.
The batter seemed great, they smelled good, but they were rather... dry when they came out. They were barley even golden brown, too. I know the temperature was right, and all the ingredients made it in correctly. Maybe I accidentally left them in a hair too long, or over-mixed a second too much.
They weren't horrible they just weren't the best.
However I thought I'd share, maybe someone will have better luck with it.
If you do make it, please let me know what your results were!!
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the middle of the
oven. Line one 12-cup standard muffin tin or two 24-cup mini-muffin tins
with cupcake liners.
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric
mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually
pour in the butter and then the vanilla.
While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients. Then add all the
milk and follow with the rest of the dry ingredients. Take care not to
overmix the batter. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared tin.
Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out
clean, rotating the tin about halfway through, 18 to 20 minutes (10 to
12 minutes for minis). Cool the cupcakes on a rack in the tin for 10
minutes, and then remove from the tin. Cool on the rack completely.
Decorate as desired.
Read more at:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/go-to-vanilla-cupcakes.html?soc=socialsharingpinterest&oc=linkback
This past week has felt so busy, something was going on every day. It's Sunday and I'm still not ready for a new week to begin.
On Monday I visited my grandparents with my Mom. While I cleaned, like every year, they made canned peppers. (A blog post will be up about this too!) I wish I would've taken a picture of all the peppers before hand, there was a big ole wicker basket full! They were on the vine a little too long so they are quite hot, much hotter than the should be, but it smells sooooo good.
Pappap also helped me with the bow. It's been so long since I've done archery or fired the gun. We used to practice shooting all the time when I was younger, I miss it so much. Now that hunting season is coming back I'm hoping to get my license this year to be able to go. First things first... it might help if I could actually pull the bow.
So Tuesday morning, after my breakfast of corn flakes and banana slices while working on school work. Or at least attempting to. My focusing skills have seriously lacked lately...
This thing has been on my to-do list to help with the bow and tone up my 'archery muscles' as I call them. Those things seem to have gotten a bit rusty.
Went back to my Grandma's and while cleaning off her buffet stand I found these... what're these? Kidding. This was the only was I could listen to music growing up that wasn't on a radio station. Talk about a blast from the past.
These things are also amazing. I've been liking them alot for times like this when I'm away from home but need a pick-me-up. I don't feel all heavy and gross after eating them, but yet they're filling. My favorite so far I think is the blueberry crisp.
Cookie and Jack both decided to grace us with their presence. Cookie, being 15 years old, likes to stick around the house and sleep. She's slowly down so much, it hurts. She's been looking better though, she's not so thin anymore.
Jack on the other hand is a hundred percent an outside cat by his own choice. He's into everything, that's why he isn't wearing a collar. They go missing in a matter of a few days and it frustrates me. Because of woods being so close to the house, a harness is a bad idea. It's always nice to see him though when he shows up for food. Holy cow can that cat eat. He's like a lab.
These were here and there in the yard, thought they were too pretty not to get a picture of. Thankfully, no one seemed to be home, then again I wasn't looking too hard.
Does anyone remember these? 90's kids should know. That book had been taken on a camping trip like easily 10 years ago, my Grandma found it in her trailer. Don't think I ever read the whole thing, it looked so hard to read! No it's like a piece of cake. Also, the fleer cards. Apparently those are from the 60's? It's of a bunch of different baseball teams. They're so cool!!
Here's a video of the fish in our pond. The water has cleared up a lot since. I love the sound of the fountain though and watching them eat. It's so nice having fish again.
This tastes so much better than it looks. It's a can of Gluten Free Cafe Veggie Noodle Soup with half a can of added kidney beans. It has rice noodles, corn, black beans, celery, green beans, carrots, peas, and tomatoes. Of course you could add more if you'd like. But this way is perfect. One whole can of this and half a can of kidney beans is about 2 1/2 servings for me. It should be more like 3 though. Oopsies!
This is the problem I have with studying. As soon as I'm set on sitting down and actually doing it. Two sentances in my brain suddenly remembers things that I should look up, or do. Or I get hungry, then I procrastinate but I'm so strict on having good grades. How does this even work?
Don't the clouds look like they're painted??
Me and Mom went out. I needed a large coupler for icing, and since we found a 20% off coupon I got a turn table too. Every icing video I've watched everyone has pretty much said that these things are a huge help when it comes to decorating and I'm so excited to use it!
Schar's sent me samples in the mail of their new Artisan Baker Gluten Free bread. It's AMAZING.
The bread is SOFT, LIGHT, and FLUFFY ... like normal bread!!!! And it has a slight chewy to it. It would taste good with anything. There's no over-powering flavor to it so you don't have worry about it clashing with something else.
I personally like mine with almond butter, and one just with a bit of plain butter on it. Nice and simple[:
Once a week me and my mom treat ourselves to something like chick-fil-a, a smoothie at Sheetz, whatever. After out fiasco last week, and we didn't do anything Thursday, we went early Friday morning and decided on Starbucks again. I got a green tea frappe, a marshmallow dream bar, and a KIND Almond Coconut Cashew Chai bar. I was hoping the green tea and KIND bar would be a 'healthier' balance considering I still haven't ate the dream bar. Every time we go I always get something different, I have a goal of wanting to try everything on the menu, fall drinks are still on the list! Thoughts on the green tea frappe? MUCH better with the whipped cream mixed in, I think. I'm not a whipped cream person but I always get it on top, probably more for the looks, but never eat it. Ew. Gross. The little bit of sweetness helped it though. As for the Chai bar, it was really good. There's cinnamon in it, stupid me for not reading the ingredients, but it tasted kind of like pumpkin spice or something? It didn't even taste like there was cinnamon in it.
Lastly, food shopping. I wasn't really in the mood for anything. It was
one of those days where nothing sounded good at all. So I guess
everything was more snacky. We went to a new place so I got unexpected
things, too.
The list:
Strawberry Nesquick (Was dying of thirst, no iced tea #firstworldprobelsm)
Mini Babybell Lights
1 Blueberry Muffin Larabar
1 Cherry Pie Larabar
1 Chocolate Chip Clif Bar
1 Oatmeal Raisin Clif Bar (I bet there's cinnamon in that too -.-)
Pumpkin Spice Mini Wheats (There's definitely cinnamon in that :/ )
Chia Date Coconut Cereal Toppings
Pepperidge Farms Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Mini M&Ms
Werthers Caramel Popcorn
Nature's Path Maple Crunch GF Cereal
2 cans of Tyson Cooked Chicken Breast
1 Strawberry Dole Shakers Smoothie
1.84lbs Sunflower Seeds
Unsweetened Coconute Flakes
1 GF Honey Beef Stick
1 Fig Blueberry Bar
Again. A LOT more than I typically get.
I wanted lettuce but nothing looked good, most of it was all brown unless I bought a huge bag. My stomach cannot consume that much lettuce before it goes bad! Lol
The Replacement Girlfriend by AubreyEatsHearts
A and D by Louisse Carreon
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Miles to Go by Miley Cyrus
Maid for Hire by demonicblackcat
The Quirky Tale of April Hale by demonicblackcat
Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
Tame by EmilyTheReader
Twilight Director's Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer by Catherine Hardwicke
The Bad Boy's Girl by jessgirl93
Not Exactly Romeo & Juliet by kpgcatlover
Library Love by kpgcatlover
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
I'll Protect You by orangechicken
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
My Dark Knight by Sheriff Squinty
Twilight: The Complete Movie Companion by Mark Cotta Vaz
Four Paws from Heaven by M. R.Wells
Maybe Perfect by qinx1348
I've never made a dark chocolate cake before. I've made Death By Chocolate cupcakes, but nothing labeled 'dark chocolate'. This kind of scared me. All the dark chocolate cakes either have coffee, espresso, or fancy ingredients that seemed like a lot of hassle to make for the chance of it not coming out good.
For starters. I'm not a huge cake-lover. Strawberry, and vanilla are the only good cakes-oh! And funfetti! A cupcake now and again, sure, those Starbucks cake pops always catch my eyes. But I don't ever remember craving cake, ever. Pie is a different story.
Chocolate cake is definitely not on the list for me, and when you're trying a new cake recipe... somebody has to test it.
Which is where Mom and Pappap come in! Mom isn't a chocolate person, or a chocolate cake person let alone dark chocolate AND she liked it!! She thinks it's very good. Pappap agrees, he thought is could use more icing though. But that's a personal preference thing, the cake was the main subject. And, my brother approved!
I seemed to have lacked on taking a picture but I can assure you that it smells like brownies, and it definitely looks like a chocolate cake, and it was fairly easy to make. Plus, no fancy ingredients. Completely coffeeless. The batter is very thin though, fair warning. I almost chucked it because it didn't resemble any cake-batter I ever encountered, but it does turn out to be very moist and fluffy. Don't let the vaking fairies tell you otherwise! Fight those fairies! (Anyone?!?! No? Okay...)
Side note: The recipe calls for Dutch/Dark Chocolate cocoa powder. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe Nestle Tollhouse is Dutch processed, but it's the one I used, and it turned out just fine.
3⁄4 cup baking cocoa (dutch process or dark cocoa preferably)
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3⁄4-1 cup boiling water (see note below)
Side note #2: I used a little less than 3/4c of the water.
Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour two 9 inch round baking pans or one 13x9 inch pan.
In large mixer bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Stir in boiling water by hand (batter will
be thin). [[Side note #3, because of the raw eggs, I added in the hot water slowly while mixing to temper the batter so the eggs wouldn't cook and get all gross in the cake.]] NOTE: I have tried it with 1/2 cup, 2/3 cup and 3/4 cup
boiling water and we prefer it with less than 1 cup water. I usually use
between 2/3 & 3/4 cups. The cake is still very moist but it doesn't
seem to "fall" as much as it cools. This might have to do with our high
humidity or brand of flour or other factors so I don't know if it will
work for everyone.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round 9-inch pans,
35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in
center comes out clean. (Do not use 8-inch pans or the batter will
overflow.).
Because they have a tendency to overflow if
you fill them more than 2/3 full, I usually get about 27-28 cupcakes per
batch. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes.
Before you say it. I know, snickerdoodle's have cinnamon in them...
My Dad got these for me so I figured I'd give them a go, and I seem to be able handling only having one here and there.
These are super flavorful and not obnoxiously spice-flavored, soft, and chewy. They also are certified gluten-free, non GMO project verified, no high fructose corn syrup, kosher, rBST free, xanthan gum free, peanut and nut free, certified vegetarian, no trans fat.
I'm unable to fish up the ingredients because I'd already thrown the box away, and the ingredients aren't list on their website. So I do apologize for that. But I do assure you, these are pretty decent. I probably won't be getting them again because of the cinnamon, however that's person preference, but if you're a Snickerdoodle-lover, I would certainly suggest them.
Holy smokes! I still can't believe it's turning into fall outside!
The fish you see above with the black, that's Pouncey. He's hard to snap a picture of, he's like the Road Runner of fish. He's there one second and gone the next!
I've fallen inlove with them. It's hard not to get attached to animals.
Even though I'm much more of a summer kind of girl, it's flannel season. And hoodies. Oh, how I've missed them.
My mom got me these really cute blue mini ceramic pots from Burlington, they were supposed to be a Christmas gift but she said she wanted to give them to me early because she didn't want me to get them when we go back cause she wouldn't know what to say. I had planned on getting them too! Originally, I had planned out to make oatmeal, and somehow that got turned into this and it was SO GOOD. It was slightly just a little too much in one sitting though, next time I'll cut back on some of the pasta.
Ingredients:
1/3c gluten free pasta. (I used Sam Mills)
1/2 a can of Del-Monte Zucchini in Tomato Sauce
A Spinkle of Sargento's Cheddar Cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Over medium heat, bring a small pot of water to a boil, add pasta and let boil for 8mins. Drain pasta and add to ceramic pot, add a pasta, spoon over zucchini and tomato sauce, top with cheese and bake until cheese is golden brown.
Enjoy!
Hello hello hellloooo, I... am your beloved Count Olaf...
Just kidding.
He scares me a bit...
It's just me. Amber, the actual author of this blog, I promise! I'm here to present a late night post of this past week. Hope you enjoy!
On Thursday, Mom and I went out for our weekly day out together. I had a few things I was in desperate need of.
Our first stop, Mom needed rocks for the pond.
We hit up a local place that is pretty much rocks-galore and Mom got
probably six different large rocks to put around the pond. It's so
exciting watching it all get done. She seems super excited about it too!
Since Burlington Coat Factory didn't open for about another half-hour we went to Starbucks.
Let me just state the fact that where we live, even though it's not, our town is considered 'country'. Therefore we are country people. At heart we certainly are, we just don't like on 5acres with a farm. So us in Starbucks is a bit of a train-wreck trying to get the lingo and everything down, it's quite funny.
The guy who served us was so incredibly nice, he even made mine specially. If there was a way I could get his boss to give him a raise, I'd try!
I ordered a Grade, which really should have just been a small, Strawberries & Creme Frappe but with coconut milk, it was soooo good! I always try to get something different when we do go.
Mom got their Apple Spice drink which smelled like apple crisp.
After sucking down our drinks Burlington opened and we were able to look for what we needed.
I was on the hunt for shoes for my brothers wedding. The dress code seems to have gone from semi-casual to all the guys wearing suits. So apparently converses won't do... -.-
So instead I got combat boots! [side note: I'll add pictures tomorrow, promise!] Along with a much needed 'winter' jacket that's faux brown leather, so hopefully it'll keep me warm. I freeze just from opening a freezer, so.
Plus I got a cute long sleeved night shirt for cheap. Another needed item is long-sleeved clothing.
On Friday...
It was a trip to the hospital for an Endoscopy for my stomach issues. My doctor seems to want to get this kicked in the butt.
I've had one done before by a very not-so-great specialist who would not listen to any of the problems once so ever, but thankfully this doctor was sooo nice! He listened and seemed to have checked over what the previous doctor had done, from what files were found. Sketchy, right?
So, as of now, nothing major was found, no ulcer or anything like that which is great, but also a little frustrating. He's gonna test for celiac, and depending on how the results come out I'll probably get the gallbladder checked next.
Lastly, today. It was nice outside and I had a bit of time to myself so I went out and snapped a couple pictures. This isn't all of them, but these are two of my favorites.
oooh-aahhh, so artsy.
While working on editing the photos I made lunch. Since the Endoscopy my stomach has been kind of touchy when it comes to food. It's probably a mind thing, but whatever. I've been really craving dairy lately, and I've been having ice cream on the mind for the past week and a half so I decided to cave but I made myself a salad first to get in something healthy. I used:
Mixed organic greens, organic kidney beans, organic ketchup, and a bit of lemon pepper. It's weird, I know. But it was surprisingly good. It was like non-spicey chili.
Lastly, hung out with this cutie. She plowed down a spot of grass to the dirt, silly girl. She really enjoyed it though. I've been wanting to get her outside. I don't like keeping her in so much.
My oldest brother is getting married in less than a month. About two months ago he asked me if I'd be interested in making him and his fiance's wedding cake, supplies paid, me paid. Of course I said yes because A) He's my brother. 2) An excuse to bake an unholy amount of things that would be considered 'too much' on a typical monthly/weekly basis. Blue Seventeen) This may have been a secret dream, to bake a wedding cake. It's as if I have my own business. Except I don't have 25lbs sacks of flour in a spare room, or those gorgeous fancy ovens. And Z) It would be a little extra cash in my wallet... that will probably have a hole burned in it by the following week.
The information:
The wedding colors are turquoise and brown.
THEE cake, the Groom's and Bride's cake, is going to be dark chocolate, with chocolate icing, two layers, with a possible ginache on the top.
She wants it to look like this, or 'whatever I'm comfortable with.'
I've tried hunting this cake down in Google Images Search/Pinterest for the source of information on it and have had no luck, so if anyone knows who this belongs to, please let me know so I can put a source link.
As far as I'm aware, this is piped with a French tip.
The cupcakes:
Chocolate & Vanilla. Two-toned vanilla icing. Possible filling.
Assuming it's either a #4B or #6B French tip, and another with a star #1M(?). What makes me nervous about this is that I've never done two-tone before, or any of this spike like decorating. What makes me even more nervous is that my brothers fiance want me to do what I'm comfortable with, meaning: the icing flavor and the possible icing flavor. I do better when people tell me exactly what they want, and me telling them if I can/can't do it. Not so much the 'whatever suits you' thing. That sounds horrible, doesn't it? That should be a blessing!
The fact I can't figure out the exact tip number drives me crazy. Ugh, perfectionists.
"Over the course of the
last five years, Tim Tebow established himself as one of the greatest
quarterbacks in the history of college football and a top prospect in
the NFL. During that time he amassed an unparalleled resume—winning two
BCS national championships, becoming the first sophomore in NCAA history
to win the Heisman trophy, and in the face of massive public scrutiny,
being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos.
Now, in Through My Eyes,
Tebow brings readers everywhere an inspirational memoir about life as
he chose to live it, revealing how his faith and family values, combined
with his relentless will to succeed, have molded him into the person
that he is today. As the son of Christian missionaries, Tebow has a
unique story to tell—from the circumstances of his birth, to his
home-schooled roots, to his record-setting collegiate football career
with the Florida Gators and everything else that took place in between.
At
every step, Tebow's life has defied convention and expectation. While
aspects of his life have been well-documented, the stories have always
been filtered through the opinions and words of others. Through My Eyes is his passionate, firsthand, never-before-told account of how it all really happened." -- Goodreads
This was such an amazing book! Tim Tebow is a class act, he is.
Hes a great writer, I like how he talked a lot about God, and his family. There's a lot of football talk, of course. Which I'm totally okay with.
I also loved how humorous some parts were, just little quirky things here and there throughout it that helped make it much more enjoyable and light to read.
He is sooo talented, I'm not saying that just because he is who he is, I'm saying that because he is TALENTED. Just knowing how much work he put into his football career astounds me, even days after I've read the book, I'm still in awe.
He's going far. He deserves every bit of it. He's a very blessed man, and I can't wait to see what else he accomplishes.
Have I ever told ya'll how much I love Alton Brown? Seriously. Any time someone suggests baking something I'm always like 'See if Alton Brown has one!'. Me and my mom used to watch Good Eats all the time, in fact, it may have counted as school work because of him going into the science behind everything. It was very cool, and he's very entertaining to watch.
Although, on Cutthroat Kitchen? He does scare me a little...
A while ago some family friends came over making the perfect excuse to bake something. Everyone in the house is watching what they eat *sighs* My baking addiction has been put on hold :[
I've tried making a yellow cake before and it didn't turn out good at all, it was a train-wreck in a 9 by 13in pan. So this was a lovely discovery! I made homemade peppermint icing to go with it, too.
The only complaint about this is that it needed a little extra vanilla or something, there wasn't enough flavor that really seemed to come through. (Not that I'm dogging on Alton!! His scones are AMAZING.) This was my first time making this recipe so I was afraid to alter it with how scary it sounded to make.
If you have a scale, it's better to use that, this is a very precise recipe and goes more by weight than it does volume and what not.
Also, Pillsbury Cake Flour is really good to use!! It's already pre-sifted.
Start by setting everything out to get to room temperature and setting the oven to 350. Prepare two 9in pans, or one 9 x 13in pan with shortening and flour. Don't use butter because it's more water based and will cause the cake to not brown.
Using an electric mixer, mix shortening for about a minute until creamy and fluffy, add in sugar and a pinch of salt then mix on medium for 4mins. (Side note, I didn't do this part. I'd completely forgotten all about it. Don't make that mistake!)
Put milk & vanilla in one container, mix, and in a separate container mix flour and baking powder together and set both aside for later.
After the four minutes is up add in the egg yolks in slowly to the butter/sugar while mixing, don't rush this.
Once mixed, alternate adding wet & dry ingredients by slowly adding half the flour & baking powder mixture. If you're not careful, the flour mixture may not smooth out like it should and not everything will be properly combined.
Next add half the liquid slowly, adding too much at once can possibly screw up the batter because of there not being enough try to soak it up.
Add the rest of the dry slowly, then the rest of the milk.
Add to pan(s) to oven. If you're baking with the two 9in make sure there's three inches all around each pan, or put one on a top shelf and one below it to allow proper heat circulation.
Bake for 18 - 20mins, use a toothpick and if it comes out clean, it's done!
Over the course of the past month or two my Mom has been working on getting a pond together in the back yard (if she posts a blog about it I'll be sure to attach the link!). The birds have been LOVING it. They like to stand on the rock where the water falls from the box into the lower water and bathe themselves, it's so cute to watch.
We even had an Eastern Painted Turtle for a short while.
Her name was Squirt, like in Nemo. At least I'm pretty sure it was a female. Anywho, she stuck around for about two weeks, two-and-a-half then suddenly was gone. My Dad think a racoon or a hawk got it, I think she ran away. It was a wild turtle, so it wouldn't be a surprise if it just took off to find somewhere else to be.
It was very friendly. We had the chance of keeping a Snapping Turtle, but Mom didn't like that idea... :[ I got to hold it though! It was only a juvenile, he fit right in the palm of my hand and was in fact very friendly, he didn't bite once, and he liked to have his shell rubbed. I wish I would've gotten a video of it, it was so funny. He looked like he belonged in Harry Potter.
When you have a pond, you need fish. I'm pretty sure it's the law to have a pond without any sort of animal or something ;]
So this past week me and Mom set out in search for fish. Of course, being mid-Spetember (I almost put October. Where has the time gone??) the choice of fish is very slim, and it's getting a little late to get any just because of the weather. But that didn't stop us!
One week we went to a pond store where Mom's been getting all her pond supplies to build the beautiful water habitat (a picture will be posted when it's completely finished) and the owner of the store has two ponds. A small one outside the building that has beautiful small and giant Koi, along with a much bigger one with a waterfall that has like three dozen huge Koi in it.
The black ones are my favorite. They don't stick out as much as the colorful ones so you have to look a little harder for them in the water. It's cool (and sounds really weird) only being to see something moving just under the surface.
When we finally set out to actually get the fish, and not just look at what was around we went to a completely different pond store. It was both a nursery, a feed store, and a pond supply place. It's huge. We were expecting it to be all nice and sunny, but it was raining buckets that day, therefore making it a little difficult to take a lot of pictures.
Although, I got one of a Damselfly.
We got two Fan Tails. The bottom one, with the mostly white tail is named Nemo, and I haven't decided on the other yet.
They are very photogenic.
On the way to the pond store with the Koi ponds, Mom had to stop at the bank and she got me two DumDum lollipops in Blue Raspberry. I haven't had one of these things in forever! We used to get them all the time as kids at the bank downtown.
At the store with the Koi ponds, and saw a GORGEOUS gold and white one that was all fancy looking but we found another tank outside that had younger ones and there was this black one with a silver stripe on its back, but when the lady put it in the bag it looked more like a trout... so we got one that was still a good bit of black, with orange/red on the sides, and silver/white on it's belly. It's name is Pouncey. I can assure you he won't be out for 6 weeks with a torn fin.
Last stop was a pet store that had tons of tanks, lots of salt water fish, too.
Mom got 12 feeder fish, which kept in tanks that I would be embarrassed for people to see, however, the other tanks were very nicely kept. Specifically the salt water tanks.
On the way home though one of them was belly up, but all the others were okay, they were all active and it's been a few days and none have passed.
So now the pond has 3 Blue Gills, 11 Feeder Fish, 2 Fan Tails, and 1 Koi. Next summer Mom wants to get tadpoles, another Koi with the fancy tail, and I want a turtle and an all black Koi.
No pond is complete without a turtle.
