Happy Birthday to The Queen Bee News!! (and a recipe for Little Ray of Sunshine Cupcakes)

Happy birthday to my little outlet!! Can you believe it's been two years!? I know!

To celebrate, I thought I'd let you in on my little secret recipe for a sure fire way to warm up even the hardest of hearts or the coldest of feet after a long late autumn hike. These taste just like pure sunshine. I promise.

Note: a fantastic UK/US Imperial/Metric converter for recipes can be found here.

For the cupcakes:

225g or 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
225g or 1 cup caster sugar
225g or 2 cups self-raising flour (or add 1 tsp baking soda if you don't have self-raising)
1tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

For the Frosting:
115 g or 1/2 cup unsalted butter
225 g or 2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp orange essence OR 1 tbsp orange zest
Food colouring -- orange and yellow
Coloured sugar
Jelly Beans, gum drops or other candies of your choice!

1) Turn on a suitably sunshiny day record for singalong fun eg Vampire Weekend, The Shins, The Noisettes, Hot Chip etc or anything just a little bit Motown (it's just impossible to be sad with a "doo wop doo wop" in the background). AT ALL COST avoid the likes of Bon Iver, Elliott Smith or Nick Drake.
2) Now that you're happily singing along let's make some cupcakes! Turn the oven on to 170 C / 350 F and line your muffin tin with 18 cupcake cases.
3) Combine all the cupcake ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until smooth and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon the batter into the cases, filling them just over half full.
4) Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when you prick the centre of cake!
5) Boogie down while wiping up and getting on with the fun part, the icing!

1) Prepare the icing by beating the butter, icing sugar and orange essence (or zest) until smooth. Divide into two bowls.
2) Add a tiny amount of food colouring to each bowl and beat until mixed well. I urge you to start of with the smallest amount you can manage -- you can always add more to go darker, but you can't go back to pale! I use a toothpick and gel based food colourings.
3) Here's the fun part. Allow the cupcakes to cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes or so. The frosting will melt if you put it on too soon. Be patient! Do a little dance, make a little love, take the dog for a walk, organize your jelly beans -- anything to resist the urge.
4) Finally, once cooled the decoration can begin! Spread the frosting on the cupcakes, finish with coloured sugar and jelly beans! Get creative, if the flavour of sunshine doesn't cheer you up, decorating these little beauties definitely will!!

Got a thing for chocolate? Want to try a variation of this recipe? Go Chocolate Orange!
Using the exact same cupcake recipe, add 4 tbsp of cocoa powder to the mix and substitute 1 tsp of orange essence for the vanilla and 1 1/2 tbsp grated orange zest. Once mixed add 100 g or 3 1/2 oz of plain dark chocolate chips. Oh yeah (read with my very best Barry White voice).

For the frosting, we're going full on Chocolate Butter Cream:
100 g (3 1/2 oz) of chopped plain chocolate (I find 70% works best -- try Green & Blacks or the co-op for those of you in the UK)
2 tbsp double cream
50 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
100 g (1 cup) icing sugar

1) Put the chocolate, cream, butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Stir gently until combined -- DO NOT let it go to the boil. (Chocolate does funny things)
2) Remove from the heat and stir in the icing sugar until the mixture is smooth. Swirl onto cupcakes and top with orange coloured sugar and a slice from a Terry's chocolate orange. Bon appetit!

It's that time of year again.

The nights are getting longer. And colder. I'm pulling out the scarves and cardigans and layering. The skies are crisp blue and there's just the beginnings of a nip in the air. That can only mean one thing. It must be knitting season!

A couple nights ago, I started knitting Cedar a doggy sweater with the Noro Kureyon odds and ends in my stash and some general guidance the Cowl and Howl pattern from the original Stitch n Bitch book and inspiration by this strapping young lad who I found while browsing Ravelry. Watch this space for progress pics!(Photo GFTC flickr)

Although now I'm feeling a bit selfish (and a bit chilly!), I want some new knits for me!
Here are the next project contenders. I need you (yes, you!) to help me decide where to start!(Photo: Knitty)

The Riverbanks hoodie from Knitty Fall 2009.
(Photo: Ravelry Christine73)

These fair isle fingerless mittens from Interweave Knits.

(Photo: knitty!)

Quant Headband -- Knitty, Winter 2007. (The force is strong in this one.)

Photo: Ravelry Kathy Noth

The #13 Tasseled Earflap Hat by Kathy Noth and published in Knit Simple, Fall 2007

So... what do you think? What's the next project gotta be?

Psst! Are you on Ravelry too? Isn't it divine? Look me up, I'm thequeenbean!

No cats in these hats!

I made it to my first British wedding this summer.
I was enamored by all of the hats most of the women wore.

Here's the mother of the bride!
Here's a chicken-egg sort of question -- which do you think came first, the dress or the hat?

I even got in on the action! I felt soooo Jackie O!
Here's one of the boys.And last, but not least, the bride and groom!

The wedding was in June, but as any of you who manage to check this space regularly are well aware, I have been out of action for a while. Geno's off on an adventure tonight, so I've got the house to myself, a glass of red wine and full control of the remote! It's also given me a chance to catch up with you. So how was your summer?

Viva la greyhound!

Want more? Follow the link! Don't forget to check out chairman Meow.

Mine!

I love my husband dearly, but he's a sneaky towel thief.

The thing is, I don't mind that he uses my stuff (really I don't!) but under that polished, coifed and stylish exterior there's a sasquatch goin' on!
And sometimes those little curly black hairs that get tangled up in my towel, get tangled up on me! There have been a couple Clarence Thomas situations lately, if you know what I mean....
So I tattooed my towel. Hopefully he'll keep his grubby (furry) mitts off!!

The Mod Dog

Thanks to Kyra at the Mod Dog for helping my pets look bloody gorgeous!

Here's a little subtle brand placement...

It's not just dogs who get to be mod. Bisbee's collar is so perfect for him, but so hard to photograph through his long luxurious locks! We went for the 'Inked' theme because, as you know dear reader, Bisbee's pretty rock n roll. Remember his time spent in the slammer last year after a big night out?

While taking his photo he did his best Sid Vicious impression, though I can't really tell which finger he's giving me.
Thanks Kyra for styling Long Itchington's most fashionable pets!

So...where have you been?

This has to have been the longest break I've taken from the blog since this thing first started to take shape two years ago!! Hello again, dear reader. And how are you?Summer flew by this time around. It seems like just yesterday we were back in Pembrokeshire, but these pictures were taken the in the last two weeks of July!! I can't really get enough of the Welsh coast, Pembrokeshire knocks my socks off and I head West every chance I get. The rugged coast line, the bronze age artifacts, modern day artisans, and the deliciously slow pace of life when plodding about the coastal trail. Check out this stone circle we stumbled upon just about a mile from our hostel's back door.

And this old grain millstone with the world's greatest view!
The pace picked up a bit on the other side of the peninsula from where we were staying, with sandy beaches and the throngs to match. Mostly we took in the views on our own terms, though often the wind had other plans.

Can you see why we keep coming back?Oh! And did I mention the ice cream?? If you're ever in St. Davids you've got to stop off at a little coffee shop called the Bench. This adorable Italian man called Gianni makes the most amazing artisan ice creams. I insisted that we go back for a new flavour every day. (I still can't zip up most of my jeans after that trip!)Damn, that's some good stuff. My favourite was the Welsh honey and lavender. Manna from heaven.Did you notice the blue sky as we were packing up to leave? Isn't that always the way?

Sorry about the formatting - I don't know what the dealio is with all those links and to be honest, I can't be bothered to go through and sort it out!!

Puppy Love (this time in yellow)

The fields behind my house have been puked on by Big Bird.

Or maybe these are the fields of gold that Sting is going on about?

They make my dog smile and that makes me happy.

Know what else makes me happy? Floppy ears. Especially when he runs.

Watch this sequence.

How could you not love that?

It's okay if you want to make this one your desktop background. I already have.