Dulce de Leche is Spanish for Amazing

Dulce de leche is the Spanish phrase for AMAZING!

Ok, so not really, but it should be.

Today I made the most perfect chocolate cupcakes, filled them with dulce de leche caramel and topped them with chocolate fudge and sea salt.

The cupcakes were made using coffee instead of water, so they have a little caffeine kick to them. The dulce de leche caramel is sweetened milk that was slowly cooked down to a thick creamy caramel. Once the deliciously caffeinated  cupcakes were cooled I pumped them full of creamy caramel goodness. Last but not least I made a chocolate fudge to top them off and sprinkled just a pinch of sea salt on top.

Now, please excuse me while I slip into my sugar coma...

Our Journey of Love

Life is a journey.


No matter your age, or place in life there is always a journey.


Love is a journey. The journey doesn't just end when you fall in love. The journey continues everyday.


When I was 17 I started dating my best friend. We had been friends for years, but he finally got up the guts to ask me out. That was 7 years ago today.


At 17, I may have seemed like a confident, smart ass teenager on the inside, but really I was an insecure girl just trying to find her way. After dating for less than 6 months I knew that I was in love, but I was afraid to let myself be vulnerable. After all, he was leaving for Marine Corps boot camp. The night before he left (July 19) he professed his love to me. When he said those the little words, I actually just said "Thank You."


I was over the moon happy (and head of heels in love), but I was scared. What if I wasn't enough. What if when he came back, he would realize that there were so many girls out there who were skinnier than me, prettier than me and smarter than me. What if he realized he could do better?

That is one of the greatest lessons that love has taught me, that I am good enough. He loves me for all of things that make me the person I am. You have to love yourself before you can fully let someone in. I am who I am and I own it. If you change who you are for someone then they don't really love you, do they? That's why our love is great. He loves me for exactly who I am.


After boot camp my love went to training in Florida, then Fresno, CA and then finally he was stationed in San Diego, CA. We flew to see each other as often as possible during all of his training. We grew more and more in love every day, even though we didn't get to see each other all the time.


After many months of a long distance relationship I made a huge decision. I decided to pack my bags (3 to be exact) and hop on a plane and Move to San Diego, CA where the love of my life was stationed. So, 6 days after my high school graduation I did just that, and it was the best move I have ever made!


My journey to find love had taken me 2500 miles from home and it was the best thing I could have ever done!


A year after I moved to San Diego, I married the love of my life. Our life hasn't been a cake walk since then. We will have been married 5 years this June and of those 5 years we have only lived together for 3 of them. We have been through 3 deployments plus 6 different TDY (temporary duty) assignments.


Being apart hasn't always been easy, but I truly believe that we grew closer while we were geographically miles apart. There have been tears and heartache, lonely nights, empty days, yelling and making up. There have been days when I wasn't sure how much more time apart I could take, days where I was so angry with the Marine Corps for taking him away, days where I took that anger out on him. There have been missed holidays, birthdays, funerals graduations and anniversaries.


I have never been good at communicating, especially when it comes to feelings. In fact, I wasn't even sure what feelings were (kidding...kind of) until I fell in love with my husband. Since were apart so often communicating became very important and I had to learn to talk about my feelings. Being apart forces you to communicate in ways you may not be used to, but you have to communicate. Being able to talk to him doesn't replace his physical presence, but it helps and makes it easier for both of us to get through the bad (and the good) together.


Today, the Marine Corps has dropped us in a new city, with new people. My amazing friends are thousands of miles away, I can't find a decent job, and my husband works 13 hours a day, but he is home and we are together so I know that everything is going to be ok. This is just the current stop on our journey of life and love.


I am so glad that 7 years ago the amazing man I call my husband got up the courage to ask me to be his girlfriend in the basement of my parents house in the middle of the night. I love him with all my heart and I can't wait to spend another 7 (and many more) years with him and see where our journey takes us.

Sugary Fun

About a year ago my mother-in-law sent me the book Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock Prado. I read the book in one sitting and I fell in love! At the end of each chapter she included a recipe. I have always loved baking, but this book inspired me. I have baked everything in this book! This week she released her newest book, Sugarbaby.

Sugarbaby is all about working with sugar. There is a recipe for cotton candy, rocky candy, caramel, ect. I am so excited to have a purpose for being in the kitchen again! I haven't done a lot of sugar work, but I am so excited to start working my way through this book. I have a lot of free time on my hands these days, so I will be sure to share the outcome of the sweet treats that I create!!

What is a Casimir Pulaski?

When I set out to make paczkis this morning the plan was to have them for tomorrow, which is Fat Tuesday. Little did I know, today is Casimir Pulaski Day. My 9 year old cousin schooled me on this this morning is her "I'm smarter than you" sort of way. Our conversation went like this:


Me: I'm making Paczki for Fat Tuesday tomorrow.


9 year old: Today is Casimir Pulaski Day and you are supposed to eat those today!


Me: What is Casimir Pulaski Day, is that some kind of Polish sweater??

9 year old: No, stupid! Casimir Pulaski Day is a day to celebrate Casimir Pulaski because he was kind of a big deal in the Revolutionary War! Duh!

Me: Oh, that's cool I guess, I didn't know that was today.

9 year old: Don't you know anything? We even get the off from school! We had a party last night too!

We chatted briefly after that, but I honestly had no clue that Casimir Pulaski Day was today. Am I the only person who didn't know that? Where I grew up there was always a big celebration on October called Pulaksi Days, but I always thought it was just a Polish party. I feel really dumb now! 

Anyway...on to my Paczki, which are for Fat Tuesday!

For those who don't know what a paczki (pronounced punch-key) is...they are basically the Polish version of a jelly doughnut. I have a new found love for making yeast dough. I made 40 Paczki today and I filled them with Strawberry jam, lemon curd and custard, not all in one of course.  

 Yeast Dough

 Before they were fried

Frying the dough

 Finished Paczki 

I may not have know it was  Casimir Pulaski Day, but I DO know that tomorrow is Fat Tuesday and I am going to enjoy some fried deliciousness, also known as a Paczki.

Happy Casimir Pulaski Day and enjoy you Fat Tuesday/ Mardi Gras celebrations! :) 

Military Spouse Friday Fill-in

Another week has passed and it is Friday again. This week kind of got away from me, but I did have a job interview today. Hopefully I will get some good news next week. Since it's Friday It's time for a Friday Fill-in, if you would like to take part in the fun head on over to Wife of a Sailor's blog and check it out.

Aside from no deployments, what is one thing you would want to make the MilSpouse life “perfect”? submitted by Oh How Delightful
I would like to be able to pick our duty stations. That would make it perfect. If I could pick where I was going to live I certainly wouldn't live in this place for another day!

Just how many peppers did Peter Piper pick? submitted by Married into Army
I have no idea...maybe we should ask Sally...you can find her at the seashore selling her seashells.

If you could have any career in the world with nothing holding you back, what would you do? submitted by It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want To
With nothing holding me back...nothing at all...I would be pastry chef. Or maybe a Princess...I've always wanted to be a princess.

Do you have a service oriented tattoo and if so what is it. If you don’t what would you get? submitted by The Squid’s Accomplice
I do not have a service oriented tattoo and I would never get one! In my opinion, that should be left for those who are actually in the service. I am married to a man who serves, but I do not and I don't let that define my life. I suppose if you really wanted to get a service tattoo that says Marine Wife, or whatever branch you are a part of, that's your call.


Imagine a block of time has opened up in your busy day for you to take a class in anything you like. What subject would you choose?  submitted by To The Nth.
Anything? Maybe a cooking class, or a language class, or a dance class (I have always wanted to learn how to dance, but I'm about as graceful as a bull in a china shop)

Military Spouse Friday Fill-in

It's Friday again, which means it is time for another Friday fill in. If you would like to take part in the fun head on over to Wife of a Sailor's blog and check it out.

What is your favorite MilSpouse blog (not including Wife of a Sailor who we all love, or your own)? submitted by Our Crazy Life
I only read 2 or 3 MilSpouse blogs and I love them all, but I can't say I have a favorite.  

What are your favorite perks about your s/o being deployed (we all know there are perks)? submitted by Ramblings of a Marine Wife
When he is gone if I want to eat a can of corn dinner, I'll eat a can of corn for dinner. I don't have to worry about feeding someone else. My relationships with friends always get a little better when he is away (which shouldn't happen, I know, but it does) because I so much free time. I also get to sleep in the middle of the bed when he is gone! Between the 3 deployments and months upon months of TAD, I am pro at having him gone.  
How long did you date your before getting engaged? Married? submitted by Utterly Chaotic
We dated for a little over a year and a half before we got married, but we were best friends for a long time before that.  

What do you think your would do if s/he wasn’t in the military? submitted by Adventures of M-Square
 Well...he claims when he gets out he wants to get a math degree and be an actuary...super geeky and super boring! We talked about if he had never enlisted in the Marines after high school a few days ago and we are both pretty sure he would be a total loser still living with is parents or working some crappy job just to get by and living in a crummy apartment in our crummy hometown. He didn't have a lot of drive or motivation to leave home until he enlisted.  

If you could talk to the Secretary of (fill in your appropriate branch) what is one suggestion you would like to bring to their attention in order to improve the lives of military families?  submitted by My Life as His (Air Force) Wife

I would like to bring Tricare to their attention. When living on or near a military installation Tricare is fine and I haven't had much trouble getting the care I need. You just have to be responsible for your health care and be your own advocate. However, when assigned to a duty away from a military base, like recruiting duty, you have to use civilian care. Sounds great, I know, but it's not easy. There are very few civilian doctors that accept Tricare, because they don't pay the doctors. The Tricare website gives a list of providers that accept our insurance, but I have to call at least 15 offices before I found someone that takes our insurance. I also find it interesting that I could give birth in a hospital, a birthing center, or with a midwife, but the only way I can get pregnant is by having sex.

Rainbows and Butterflys

I haven't blogged in a while. I started a post about 10 times and then I would delete it. I am just not sure how (or if I want to) say what I want to say. BUT...I have been baking A LOT lately and I have a few pictures to share.

I haven't updated since before Christmas so we will start there. Every year I make like 15 dozen Christmas cookies. This year I made Christmas light cookies (among others).

My in-laws came to town for Chistmas (and Thanksgiving and hubby's birthday!) so I wanted to make a special dessert.

I made this Christmas cake, but I over cooked the cake so it got a little brown on the outside. I filled the inside with chocolate and caramel mousse.

Then I topped it with whipped cream

After Christmas I needed to escape life for a while so I headed in to the kitchen. When I came out I had a German chocolate cake...it was AMAZING! (Not to toot my own horn or anything lol)

A few weeks ago I needed some more time in the kitchen, so I made croissants. I love to make croissants! You have to roll and fold the dough just right in order to get the perfect flaky croissant. Look at all the pretty layers!

I made a few Chocolate/hazelnut croissants and a a bunch of plain ones. My oven is broken, so they aren't as brown as the should be, but they taste great!

Last but not least...my Valentine's Day cake:

When life isn't all rainbows butterfly's...cake can be! :)

P.S. I know I messed up the colors, but by the time I noticed it, it was too late!