New Moon cupcakes

I have never professed to be a decorator. Ever. In fact even after this I STILL don't call myself that...but I think these did come out cute! When my Aunt got me Hello Cupcake and I saw the "wolves and moons" and with New Moon coming out just around the corner..I knew I had to make these for my standing date with my best friend!

The cake part was Chocolate Almond (it was a doctored mix, but I'll be happy to post it soon)

The icing was from a can.

So I did something new. I loved my bestie's reaction to the cupcakes, and we had a great time at what I thought was a GREAT movie..WAY better than the first!

Orange-Almond Cupcakes

TWLOHA is why I have it written on MY arm..check out the link if you want to know more.



In my hand...is a delicious cupcake! You see I'm suffering from something OTHER than just being pregnant...my sweet tooth is broken. Yes...it's sad, but it seems that this new kid that I'm growing just doesn't have a fondness for it like I do. But I have a cupcake rule....I have to try at least ONE of whatever new cupcake I make. If I've made it tons of times, I can skip..but new recipes require me to eat at least ONE (and I try to shoot for ONLY one)....I've stuck with the only one rule with these, but if I let myself I could probably inhale a whole dozen!

Onto the recipe!



Orange-Almond Cupcakes (recipe from Cupcakes! From the Cake Doctor-Anne Byrn)

Almond Filling:

1/2 tube (or can in my case) almond paste

1 bag sliced almonds (that was kinda vauge..I didn't have a "bag" well I had a ziploc but I think I used like 2/3 of a cup)

Cupcakes:

1 yellow cake mix

1 pack of vanilla pudding mix

1 1/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 teas vanilla

1 teas almond extract

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 generous teaspoon fresh orange zest

2-4 tablespoons orange juice

Preheat oven to 350

Line cupcake tins-

Prepare filling-crumble the almond paste and add the sliced almonds (my paste didn't really crumble so much as it did get more of a silly puddy consistency, but I think as long as the almonds are distributed throughout you should be ok)

Prepare the cupcake batter-put all ingredients (for the cupcakes) in the mixer-let it go for 30 seconds, do a scrape down, then let it go for about 2 minutes more. Should look pretty smooth and thickened. Remove 3/4 cup of the batter and mix that into your almond paste/almond mix in your separate bowl.

Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4s of the way, then spoon a heaping teaspoon full of your almond paste mixture into the centers.

Baked for about 18-20 minutes.

Put on baking rack to cool.

Ok..here is where this one differs for me. You'll strip these ladies. Nope..truth. That's what the recipe says..well..it doesn't say strip them..but it does say to remove the liners. Which is MUCH easier to do when they are cooler (they don't tend to crumble) and since you won't have good luck glazing when they are hot or even warm, it's best to let these little beauties TOTALLY cool, then strip them, then dip them. (for the glaze you just mix all your stuff together)

The book says to drizzle the glaze in a criss cross pattern. I'm more of a dipper and less of a drizzler..so I dunked the tops. Twice, then topped with sliced almonds.

YUM!

Twice Baked Tuna Melt Potatoes

Wait what? How many times did you read the title of the post? But that's what it is..honestly! And in my humble (and pregnant) opinion...delicious.

So how did I come up with this baby? Well...
back in HS my favorite lunch day of the month was the Tuna or Bologna day. No really...I never got the bologna (for the record I don't do bologna unless it's a) a certain brand-Eckrich, and b) fried..moving on...) The kicker to this day was you got a baked potato with your choice of sandwich...AND a cup of cheese...eh? See where I'm going with this? I LOVED dunking the tuna sandwich on it's soft white bread into the hot cheese. Whatever cheese was left was put on the baked potato.
Out of HS and no school lunches later my good friend Marcy (who is almost like a second Mom) started making me (I say me, I think I just happened to come over one day when she'd made them for lunch and decided from then on they were mine) Tuna Melts. Her Tuna Melts are perfect..although she doesn't even credit herself for the recipe. They are broiled to get the cheese all melty and just divine (esp with a bowl of cream of chicken soup).

Ok..so if you aren't completely gagged out already at the background..keep reading..I'm hoping I'm not the ONLY one that digs this as a supreme comfort food. Also...I take advantage of the days I don't work and am home with the kiddo to make stuff I KNOW the husband won't eat. Stuff the husband would literally turn his nose up at, but stuff I love.

So it's pretty basic.
I cheat when it comes to "baking" potatoes. I microwave them. That's just how I was raised. One medium baking potato takes about 7 minutes.
I scooped out the innards and added about 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 of shredded cheddar cheese, and 1 of sour cream and filled the skins back up.
In the meantime..my tuna salad is super simple too-(this makes way more than you need for just ONE potato...I'll be eating it all week)
3 cans of light tuna (in water)
Eh...4-5 tablespoons of mayo (sorry..I've never really measured)
2 tablespoons pickle relish-this is where it COULD get interesting. Marcy uses DILL pickle relish in her melts and they are heaven. But when it comes to just eating tuna salad (which I admit sometimes I just do out of the bowl) I kinda like sweet. Today for my salad I ran some of my Dad's lime pickles through the mini chopper and it made for a wonderful sweet tangy addition that normal "sweet" pickle relish lacks.

Put about 1/4 cup of tuna salad on top of your re-stuffed potato skins, and top with more shredded cheddar cheese-pop under the broiler until cheese is to your liking...I like it bubbly and barely brown.

In my humble (and again pregnant) opinion. It was a perfect marriage. If you try it..let me know what you think!

Cupcake voting!

is now open! So if you'd be so kind...vote for "Suzy of Cup-tin creations"!

VOTE HERE

Cupcake Hero October: Pumpkin!

So I actually made it this time...I think that part of the deal this month was that we're supposed to give the cupcakes some sort of neat Halloweeny decoration..to make them "Boo-tiful"..but I opted to just make it yummy looking!

Pumpkin Poundcake with Butter Pecan Glaze (adapted from southernfood.about.com)

Cake:

3 cups ap flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 sticks butter

1 cup sugar (white granulated)

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 large eggs

1/4 cup veg oil

1 can (15oz) pumpkin

1 tsp good mexican vanilla

Preheat oven to 325

Mix first 8 ingredients in a separate bowl...whisk to combine

Cream butter and sugars, add eggs one at a time, add oil, pumpkin and vanilla

Add flour mixture (I took three scoops to incorporate)-mix until smooth and blended.

Put into cup liners, put in the oven...

and here by my own admission is where I messed up. I adapted this from a bundt cake recipe that you are supposed to bake about an hour...I looked at the clock when I put these in, then in what I thought was about 10 minutes, then what I thought was about another 5..when I realized the clock hadn't moved...and the battery was dead. Frick. So uh...keep an eye on these..I'd guesstimate them at about 35 minutes..but you know the drill..until you toothpick test them clean.

Glaze:

4 Tbls butter

3 Tbls heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2/3 cup toasted, chopped pecans

In saucepan melt together butter and cream and bring to a boil, let it boil about a minute, then whisk in the powdered sugar.

Let this sit about 15-20 minutes to thicken up a bit.

Once my cupcakes had cooled down, I just double dunked the tops in the glaze, then dunked the wet tops in the toasted pecans.

Reviews:

Husband-thought the cake was a little dry, but admits he thinks ALL homemade cupcakes are dry and prefers I just make cupcakes from a box mix (*gasp*)

Male Coworker #1-really liked them. Thought they were very seasonally apropo

Male Coworker #2-just shoved it in his mouth, gave me a thumbs up and nodded

Male Friend-Ate one at my desk and took one for the road-really liked them..didn't think they were dry.

Best gal pal-"the glaze was perfection" ='s she really REALLY liked them. (and hers had actually been dropped and transported by Male Friend whom she works with)

This cupcake IS for a contest and all the fun stuff about it you can read about here!

Now I gotta scoot and get this entry formally in before the deadline!

It's chili time

While the husband thinks it was little early...I could eat chili all year round!
Also the husband was just mildy impressed with this chili, but the in-laws called it "the best ever"....not really a big deal from my Mother in Law (b/c she complements alot of stuff that way)-but even my Father in Law raved about this chili....they took all the leftovers home!

Spicy Chili (recipe from Pillsbury Pot Pie and Casseroles book)-for the Crockpot!

1lb lean ground beef
1/2lb bulk italian pork sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (28oz) whole tomatoes, undrained, cut up
1 can (15oz) tomato sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 can (15oz) spicy chili beans, undrained
1 can (15oz) chick peas, drained, rinsed
Sour cream (if desired)

Cook beef, sausage, and onion over medium-high heat 5-7 minutes, stirring occassionally , until beef and sausage are thoroughly cooked, drain.

Spray 3-4 qt slow cooker with cooking spray. In cooker, mix beef mixture and remaining ingredients (except sour cream).

Cover; cook on low heat setting 7-8 hours.

Top with your choice! I prefer sour cream, cottage cheese (Yes, cottage cheese, don't knock it til you try it!), more onions (raw this time), cheddar cheese, sometimes mustard...see..chili head..right here!
I didn't find this chili terribly spicy, like the name implies..but I did love the flavor, and love the texture that the chick peas added.

Oh...and one more thing..I added a can of black beans too! Just because I love them so!

So this is love...

I recently stalked, erm...discovered a new blog that I'm obsessed with Everybody Loves Sandwiches -she's got alot of recipes that I'm convinced that I'm in love with before I've even tried them...but when I saw Pina Colada Fruit Salad...I knew it would have to be my first...

and ooooh what a first.

I love fruit salads...and I'm always verbally commiting to 'eat' healthier...more fruits...more veggies....if fruit is this...I have NO problem whatsoever.

Pina Colada Fruit Salad

(her original recipe-my changes set off by asterix)

1 small pineapple, diced *one large can of diced pineapple-I can't use fresh b/c the acid messes up my mouth big time!

1 basket of strawberries, sliced *about 3/4s of a container of strawberries, diced

3T unsweetened angel flaked coconut *I used sweetened

3T honey

4T amber rum *I used 1T Bacardi, 1T dark rum, and 2T pineapple juice (from the can)-I've got an alcohol allergy (lame I know)-so I couldn't add too much

1t vanilla extract *I don't own the stuff, I use mexican vanilla, just a tiny bit...the white stuff (not the dark..it tastes cinnamon-y)

This stuff is seriously.so.good.

I can't wait to eat more of it tomorrow once it has set overnight and gotten even more cozy.