Chocolate Stout Cake

Last week we celebrated my beer-loving, hard working, and oh so 

appreciated husband's birthday.  So, naturally I made him a 10 pound 

beast of a cake and shared it with both of our families and eight friends.  

That's a lot of cake.

As much as I would love to tell you that I stuck to my dairy-free diet 

and made a cake from scratch, I can't.  I made cake from a box.  

Similar to this one.

Had I have had more time or a husband who doesn't love 

box cake I would make the one I found on Blogging Over Thyme.  

Next time I'm definitely going to make this one! 

Yum!

Also, cheers to all the moms out there!  

This would be a great cake to celebrate with!

{photos & styling by me}

Workspace

Last week when I came across WeWork, a coworking company,
I was inspired to post about my work space.

I live in a tiny apartment with a little kitchen nook that I turn into a 

make-shift office when I need a home workspace, but let's be honest - 

my couch is where most of my late night blogging actually happens.

I love to surround myself with lots of natural light and simple and playful art.  

I try to keep it simple so I don't get distracted, which happens easily.  

I am also a huge fan of plants, they bring life and fresh air into my workspace. 

I always keep a photo of my husband and I close by.  

It's the perfect reminder of how great life is and 

why we work so hard to support and enjoy our time together.

Another thing I really care about is my computer background.  

As silly as it sounds, it really sets the tone for the project I'm working on.  

If I'm working on a pink post you can bet my background is saturated in pink.  

I find a ton of inspiring ones here.

If you are looking to grow your business out of your home 

and into a great artistic and inspiring community I would 

highly recommend WeWork!  They offer great office spaces 

in several cities across the world.  

If you are in the Seattle area I would check out their space.  

It's full of funky urban finds and a great space to simply get things done!

Have a great weekend!

 

{photos and styling by me}

Baked Oatmeal

My aunts in Alaska make the  b e s t  baked oatmeal!  

It tastes a lot like bread pudding (my favorite!).  

Its easy to make on the weekend and then warm up 

each morning for an on the go breakfast.

Below is my family's recipe. 

Ingredients:

    

1 Cup Cooking Oil or Butter

    

1 Cup Honey

   

4 Eggs Beaten

      

6 Cups Rolled Oats

     

4 tsp Baking Powder

    

1 tsp Salt

2 tbl Chia Seeds (optional)

       

2 Cups of Almond Milk (or regular)

Directions:

     

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

    

Combine wet ingredients in a bowl

        

Combine dry ingredients in a larger bowl

      

Mix both bowls together in the larger bowl

       

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan

     

Cook for up to 45 or until slightly golden on top

Refrigerate after cooling.  

This amount lasts all week for my husband and I.  

He loves to warm it up with milk and peanut butter.  

I prefer almond milk with shredded coconut.  

You could also top with maple syrup, cranberries,  

blueberries,  or apple slices.  The possibilities are endless!

Enjoy!

{photos and styling by me}

Sweet Potato Muffins

J is about to start his new job next month (more coming soon!) 

and its going to be very physical for the next four months.  

I have been collecting recipes to help him retain energy and 

his weight while working out heavily.  So, this weekend I decided 

to put my research into practice!  First up: Sweet Potato Muffins.  

They are starchy and packed with sugar to help him power through an active day.

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

⅓ cup sour cream

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 cup mashed sweet potato

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla (I tend to use more)

1½ cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

Streusel Topping:

3 tablespoons unsalted softened butter

¼ cup chopped pecans

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F 

Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners

In a large bowl lightly beat the eggs. 

Next, add the sweet potato mash, vegetable oil, and sour cream.

 Stir well.

Mix in the brown sugar and add vanilla. 

Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.

Stir until combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl crumble together the softened butter, chopped pecans, flour, and sugar. 

Sprinkle the topping over all the muffins. 

Bake for 18 minutes

For a healthier version skip the Streusel topping 

and let them go bare.  They are still so delicious!

In the coming weeks I'm going to be practicing my 

domestic cooking skills, if you have any great recipes 

for a guy on the go let me know!  

My "To Feed My Husband" pinterest board is blowing up but 

with 4 months ahead I can never have too many ideas!

{photos and styling by me}

Animals, Bubbly, and Cake

This past Friday my husband and I threw our friends 

our annual zoo lights party.  It was so much fun!  

I had been planning the decor, food, and cocktails for months ahead.  

My parents hosted a lot of parties growing up so hosting is in my blood.  

We offered two cocktails: a bubbly beverage and a whiskey cider.  

I used my favorite bubbly (here) and 

locally sourced hard cider (here).

Whiskey Cider

Bubbly Rock Candy 

*Side note: sugaring rims is SO much harder than I thought! 

I could not get it to look perfect like all of the photos on Pinterest.  

A should-have-watched tutorial here.

Considering I have a limited amount of champagne flutes and rock glasses 

I had each guest label their glass with a gold zoo animal.  

In all I had about 40 small gold painted animals.  

They decorated the cakes, drinks, and food display.

I wanted a wintery cake so I made a 

Peppermint Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Coconut Frosting.  

It was SO good.  I forced myself to toss the leftovers after the party

or I would have eaten all of it for breakfast the next morning.  No joke.

The finishing touch to our party was the gold tinsel photo backdrop 

paired with animal masks.  As seen below we had a lot of fun.  

Who doesn't want to wear an animal mask?

{photos and styling by me}

A Clean Start

Welcome to the new and improved Decor Amor!  

This was quite the weekend.  It was full of heartbreak, love, and memories.  

I have been toying with the idea of combining Decor Amor and A L P 

for a while now but carrying all 600 posts with me from the past felt a little cluttered.  

But then I woke up Saturday morning only to realize that 90% of my photos were gone.  Poof!  

In one mistaken click of my mouse years and years and years of my work gone.  

Heartbreak.

After a bottle of champagne I decided this was the blank slate I needed.  

Thus the re-branding and reformatting of this blog all in one weekend.  

It was so exhausting but more rewarding that I could ever have thought.  

Even though I'm still upset to have all of my photos gone, 

I am going to make the most of this and look forward to a fresh start.  

Below are the blogging headers I used through the years 

(and somehow managed to not disappear).  I hope you enjoy and 

thank you all for joining me on this new adventure!

xo

{photo by La Natura & all blog headers by me}

A Perfect Weekend

This weekend was a good one.

It started off with a surprise visitor and ended
with a quiet night at home with the husband.
In between I helped a friend design her wedding dress,
brunched, slept in, and drank a lot of hot cocoa. 

I also finally got around to editing our Italy photos. 

I have some great travel posts coming soon.
Here is a sneak peek.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.  

xo

{all photos by me}

Cinnamon Roll Tower

 

For Justin's birthday he requested Cinnamon Rolls.  No Cake.

I needed to make them look special so I came up with this drizzled and sprinkled

Birthday Cinnamon Roll Tower.  

Do you have any fun ideas to turn an everyday baked good into something special?

I would love to hear your ideas!

I'm Off

I'm off on vacation for a couple of days.

I'll be back next week!

{photo by me}

Champagne Cake

Bubbles, Butter, and Blooms.  I’ve never considered myself an excellent cook but I do love to bake.  Below is a recipe to one of my favorite recipes: Pink Champagne Cake.  I originally found the recipe here but I’ve tweaked it just a bit to make it my own. My favorite part is that it allows for a little extra champagne in the bottle so you can sip as you bake away! I hope you enjoy.   

   

Cheers!

Pink Champagne Cake

Ingredients:

       3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 egg whites

2 cups pink champagne

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two

9-inch cake pans (or cut parchment paper to fit).

*In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In a mixing bowl beat butter and sugar 3 to 5 minutes

until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat in the eggs one at a time.

*Beat in flour mixture and champagne in three alternating additions,

starting and ending with flour to prevent curdling. Pour batter into pans and bake

35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

*Let cool and then frost the middle and top layer only.