Super Bowl Su...um Tuesday... Mini Recap

Happy Tuesday ALREADY!!! These days are just flying by! The crazy thing is how much I look forward to my weekends, starting on Monday morning during my drive to work.  Sad huh?  I just love doing things that are NOT me working haha! I’m sure that would be so much different if I absolutely loved what I did or had my own company of something cute, fun, and girlie.  Until that day, I shall continue to look forward to my weekends =)

You may or may not have heard that Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday.  My team didn’t make it to the playoff, let alone the Big Game.  That’s alright – they didn’t have a stellar season and they ended with a few too many injuries.  Then the team I wanted to cheer for in the playoffs, didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. SAD!  SO I had to pick my ‘favorite’ of the two competitors.  I went with the 49ers.  Who didn’t win but DID make an exquisite attempt during the second half. I ended up getting pretty caught up in things this year…I made themed cupcakes and even a BANNER! WHAT?! I know crazy!

I saw a picture of these SUPER cute cupcakes that had two colors of frosting on them…SO cute! I hit the Google search to see if I could find some sort of problem free tutorial on how to achieve the look.  The best one I found was here, at Grin and Bake It.  I ended up using a home-made disposable icing bag with our vacuum sealer and then a disposable icing bag I had in my baking cabinet.  I filled one with the red frosting and one bag with the yellow frosting.  When I put those both in the large icing bag, only the red was coming out.  After a couple attempts (and fails to combine the colors) I stuck my hand in the piping bag and forced out some yellow.  From there, it was perfect and worked really well.  At the end of it all, I said “well I won’t do that again….who am I kidding?! They are so cute this way!”  The Husband promptly rolled his eyes at me but agreed they were super cute!

 

For the ‘tags’ I found a logo for SF via Google and pasted 16 in a word document.  I then cut them out by hand and taped them to a toothpick.  A LITTLE time consuming but they were the perfect cupcake topper!!! 

For the banner, I used my cricut for the letters/numbers and then ‘hand-cut’ the pennant out.  I punched little holes in the corners using my crop-a-dile and then found some gold ribbon to attach it all together.  It was super easy and fun to make.

The party was hosted at my parent’s house, which is always so much fun!  I was thinking the other night about whether or not it is ‘weird’ that our friends are also friends with my parents. It is totally the norm for me but I was wondering if anyone else is like that??  I’m not talking like we all just hang out and my parents join in.  I mean a couple that The Husband and I are friends with went on a trip with just my parents.  I think it is awesome because our friends end up being a major extension of our family and not just on mine and The Husband’s level, but my extended-immediate family.  

So let’s take a second to discuss the halftime show.  You may love Beyonce.  You may despise her.  But you can’t deny the girl has incredible breath support and she can dance.  You don’t have to like her dance style – heck she may not but that’s what the choreographer went with – but you can’t deny her talent.  I know what your argument is – she lip synched the National Anthem at the inauguration this past January.  Let’s take a moment here and remember that she was probably nervous – the National Anthem has been botched on more than one occasion and truth-be-told, it isn’t an easy song to sing. Anyone who has paid any attention to her career knows that if you don’t include that ONE time, I have a hard time recalling any other lip-sync scandal that included Beyonce =) Just saying!  

Oh and I saw an article on Yahoo! – well I saw the title and little blip , I didn’t actually read the article lol – but it stated that people were upset about Alicia Keys’ rendition.  I’m not going to lie, I loved it…though she was a little slow and had excessive breaks in the music/vocals, I was moved by her rendition.  I thought she did it justice. 

How was your Super Bowl?
Did you enjoy halftime?
How about the National Anthem?

Friday Adventure: Food Truck Bazaar

Last Friday night, The Husband and I met some friends for dinner. It wasn't just a normal dinner - we were going to a food truck bazaar!!! We were excited and then we did some research and found that they were expecting at LEAST 1000 people! sheeesh! AND that the trucks run out of food...bummer =/

We still thought it could be fun, so after work, The Husband and I met up at the truck bazaar. 

It was fun - we met up with our friends and picked a line to stand in....thirty minutes later, we literally hadn't moved. The Husband was really hungry and starting to get a little grumpy, so we went to find everyone to say 'good-bye' and go somewhere else. As we were finishing up seeing everyone, The Husband saw a truck with no line! So he ended up eating there.  He had a Jambalaya Po' Boy sandwich.  He said it was very tasty.  I wasn't feeling any of the food at the moment so we just continued wandering until everyone else was ready to leave. 

   

We all left together and actually went and hit up a local eatery. It was fun - a HUGE group of us smooshed into this place but it was awesome. I love going to more 'intimate' style places where the atmosphere is casual and laughter is welcome because we do a LOT of that =) 

There was a cupcake truck there with amazing cupcakes! my sister bought 6 and Christy's mom bought 6. Her mom ended up sharing with everyone.  The Husband and I split a cupcake called The Pineapple Princess. It was definitely THE BEST CUPCAKE EVER!

Pineapple Princess

The Pineapple Princess is the perfect summertime treat! Our sour cream pineapple cake (made with real pineapple) is topped with an Italian Coconut Meringue and freshly toasted coconuts!

I want another but apparently the cupcake company ONLY runs at events like this. BUT I did find out that they cater...they may have to cater this cupcake to me because it is Monday haha =) 

All in all - I probably won't attend another food truck bazaar unless we pre-eat before we go so that standing in line for an hour and a half doesn't make me too grumpy =) It was a fun Friday night event and our super-not-so-awesome phone service kept us from being interrupted while we were at the bazaar...literally we had ZERO service...as in circle with a line through it! Annoying on any other day, but that night I was thankful to that we could give each other undivided attention; without interruptions. 

What did you do this weekend?
Have you ever been to a food truck Bazaar?

142 Cupcakes and Being Busy at Work

HAPPY FRIDAY Y'ALL!!!

I am SO SUPER busy at work! 

I get there early and leave late. I'm swamped!

By the time I get home, I am SO tired, I am not doing anything except relaxing.

Except for last night - I baked 142 cupcakes

Actually I made 144 cupcakes - but The Husband thought he needed to taste test.

And yes, they were mini - not full sized. But still. 

I made them to sell for Relay for Life.

My mom and sister each have a team, my sister is the Chair Person for the event.

Silly girl - she can't help but volunteer.  She already has a lot on her plate...

but it is for a good cause. And I will go and support them! =) YAY!

I have no plans for the weekend other than helping with this event.

I'm hoping for a relaxing Sunday and maybe a crafty Saturday.

I know - how boring am I?! 

But seriously - I have to have some down time where I am not stressed.

Work has me stressed to the max and I'm just exhausted.

On top of that silliness, I think I am getting sick =( 

I plan on running 3-4 miles tonight at the relay in hopes of pushing it out of my system.

Oh and I am totally going back to get this watch:

I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since trying it on

and it is like 60% less than retail! I should have just gotten it yesterday...

but that isn't my style ;)

What are you getting into this weekend??

{Recipe} Champagne Cupcakes

I saw these on Pinterest - shocking I know! 

BUT the for real shocker is that they are from Betty Crocker! 

I can honestly say I had no idea all the wonderful recipes and concoctions I found existed on BETTY CROCKER! Some of them are SO innovative!! 

Last night I had a hankering for some cupcakes! 

We didn't have many eggs and ZERO oil AND I wanted something fun and NOT boring. 

ENTER: CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKES

(should be PINK but this girl doesn't have food coloring)

Champagne Cupcakes

1

box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix (I used Vanilla cake)

1 1/4

cups champagne

1/3

cup vegetable oil

3

egg whites

Buttercream Frosting

1/2

cup butter or margarine, softened

4

cups powdered sugar

1/4

cup milk

1

teaspoon vanilla

• 1
  Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
• 2
  In large bowl, mix dry cake mix and champagne. Add oil and egg whites. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
• 3
  Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• 4
  In medium bowl, beat frosting ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Sprinkle with garnishes. Store loosely covered.

OK NOW I followed the frosting directions. It was THICK! 

so I decided I needed to add some milk...this was my frosting outcome:

When you are finished laughing, NOTE that this frosting was administered VIA A PIPING BAG! 

No, no, I'm not joking.
Seriously - SADDEST attempt EVER. 

I went back and added some more powdered sugar to thicken up the frosting.

VIOLA! Sheer perfection y'all!!! 

AHHHH! Much better! 

I LOVED these! The champagne gave the cake a fresh/crisp flavor.
These would seriously be perfect to take to the beach.

Because I had so many, I took pretty much ALL of them to work today.  

I plan on making a pretty good amount for Saturday night, with some variety so we'll have leftovers this weekend. 

SO what did I learn from this?? Use frosting from the tub - it is PERFECT for decorating...

Seriously people, they perfected cake in a box and frosting in a jar. Take ADVANTAGE.

Just sayin!

Happy almost Friday!!

{Recipe} Strawberry Cupcake-Brownies

Many of you have probably seen this amazing looking treat floating around on Pinterest. I saw them and wanted to make these for Valentine's Day. Well we ended up being super busy last weekend and then all week last week that these yummies had to be put on hold. I found time last night while The Husband made dinner! YAY!

The ORIGINAL recipe can be found at Allrecipes.com. Jen at I heart 2 stamp made the strawberry cake modification.

{Ingredients}

1 box brownies

1/2 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

1 box Strawberry cake mix

3 egg whites

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/3 cup water

frosting!!

{Directions}

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners - or in my case, wipe butter on the inside of all the cups...seriously though - if you remember cup liners, those would be the better option =)

Whisk together the brownie mix, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil, and 1/4 cup water in a bowl. stir just until fully incorporated; set aside.

Mix the cake mix, 2 tablespoons canola oil, 1 1/3 cup water, and 3 egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Spoon the brownie batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 1/3 full (or in my case - it is a half and half mix! oops haha!)

Spoon the cake batter over the brownie batter, until muffin cups are 2/3 full each (or completely full if you are me haha)

Bake in preheated over until 'golden' -- about 20 minutes.

We opted for cream cheese frosting - which was definitely the optimal choice =)

they were so so delicious. I am so happy that I decided to make these cupcake-brownie things. Seriously - they are so good. The house smelled wonderful; we couldn't decide if we smelled the strawberry cake or the brownies! For real - go make these, like NOW! =)

Do you like cake or cupcakes better?
Do you like trying new cupcakes?

{Recipe} Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

Alright y'all - so my girl at work made these UH-MAZING cupcakes and brought them in to share. They were so delicious that I am pretty sure I ate most of them. She didn't have frosting for them, so I ate them with my coffee. DELISH!  I bothered her for the entire day asked her for the recipe and she got it from her mother. 

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

 

{Ingredients}

1 pkg yellow cake mix

1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water

3 eggs

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

{Directions}

Preheat oven to 350*.

Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed, just until moistened.  Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.  Spoon batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full. 

**Note** I did not have ground cloves, so I went without....the recipe is STILL PHENOMENAL!!

Bake for 20 minutes.

To frost, I used store bought cream cheese frosting - DIVINE! Oh my goodness, so yummy! I may have to make more!! I'm craving them now!!

PLEASE let me know what you think should you try the recipe!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Jambalaya Casserole and Drunken Cupcakes

On Sunday I was feeling very ambitious...I think that is due, in part, to the fact that I have kind of been a lazy wife. =/ Not a lazy person mind you.  I have a lot going on -- I'm involved in a lot of planning, most of which I can't discuss...yet.

Anyway -- I have fallen a little behind on my wife-y 'chores'. J had to work ALL weekend this past weekend so I really felt motivated.  I hopped online and searched for new recipes to try.  I had to find the recipes before I could make my trip to the grocery store -- duh I needed to know what to buy!

The first recipe I decided to try was:

Jambalaya Casserole

 

I found the recipe at allrecipes.com

J LOVES Jambalaya...I have only had it ONCE and I loved it. but it was a super secret squirrel family recipe that belongs to my dad's friend.  I am trying to get my hands on it to try on my own.  In the meantime, here is this casserole recipe that was uber yummy!

{Ingredients}

1 large onions, chopped

1 large green peppers, chopped

1 celery ribs, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup butter

1 pound fully cooked smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups uncooked long grain rice

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce

1 tablespoon browning sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

*the original recipe is for 24 servings -- I adjusted mine to 8 servings

{Directions}

1.In a large skillet, saute the onions, green peppers, celery and garlic in butter until crisp-tender. Place in a very large bowl; stir in the remaining ingredients.

2.Transfer to three greased shallow 3-qt. baking dishes. Cover and bake at 375 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until rice is tender, stirring twice.

For dessert, I wanted to try some new cupcakes. They are DELICIOUS!!! I made them Sunday and they were better after sitting YESTERDAY! YUM!!

I found the recipe at Smitten Kitchen.

Drunken Cupcakes

{Ingredients}

Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

For the 'Alcoholic' Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)  <-- I used Cruzan Aged Rum

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Baileys Frosting

3 to 4 cups confections sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof) <-- I did 2 Tblsp Baileys and 1 Tblsp of cream

{Directions}

Special equipment: A piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work)

Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.

[This is a fantastic trick I picked up while working on the cupcakes article for Martha Stewart Living; the test kitchen chefs had found that when they added the sugar slowly, quick buttercream frostings got less grainy, and tended to require less sugar to thicken them up.]

When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar. Ice and decorate the cupcakes.

The original recipe calls for a ganache filling.  I attempted it but I thought it was awful.  I MUST have done something wrong.  So I didn't go through with the ganache and I thought they were amazing.  J can't stop eating them -- reminding me why I don't bake...although I think the novelty of these keep us eating them.  You know, since they aren't the same ol' cupcakes =)

You should try them! They are so good! I would love hear about your baking/cooking adventures! 

PS: Thanks Honey for taking a bite out of one and leaving it on the plate! It made for a perfect picture =)

::Recipe:: Brown Sugar-Pecan Cupcakes & Caramel Frosting

Dessert HAS to be my favorite part of a day.   I LOVE dessert and anything sweet.  I prefer cupcakes to cake, which is why as part of my Day Zero Project, I decided to make 20 different kinds of cupcakes. This is my second cupcake recipe!

{INGREDIENTS}

{FOR THE CUPCAKES}Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

{FOR THE FROSTING}
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans

Please pardon my crappy phone pic - I couldn't find my camera

{DIRECTIONS}
::FOR CUPCAKES ::
1. Place rack in bottom third of the oven; preheat to 350*F.  Spray  muffin pan with nonstick spray. Line with muffin cups.
2. Whisk both flours, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt in medium bowl.  Stir in chopped pecans.
3. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth.  Add brown sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
4. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions.  Beat in sour cream and vanilla.
5. Add dry ingredients; beat on low speed just to blend.  Divide batter among muffin cups.
6. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes.

::FOR FROSTING::
1. Stir sugar and 1/4 cup of water in medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to medium -high; boil until syrup turns deep amber, swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, 6 to 7 minutes.
2. Remove from heat; add cream (mixture will bubble up). Stir over low heat until caramel bits dissolve. Whisk egg yolks in medium bowl. Very gradually whisk hot caramel into yolks. Cool to room temperature.
3.Using electric mixer, beat butter and salt in large bowl until smooth.  Beat in caramel. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.  let stand at room temperature until thick enough to spread, about 1 hour.
4. Spread frosting over cupcakes. Place pecans on plate. Roll edges of cupcakes in nuts.

The cupcake part is AMAZING! I ate one this morning without any topping! it's so good!  I was a little skeptical while making the caramel topping ... the white sugar was going to turn amber?! It did! I think next time I will add more than the 1 cup of powdered sugar to have more of a frosting rather than a topping but it was DELICIOUS!

{Recipe} Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

While the chicken was boiling for our Casserole, I mixed up some Pumpkin Spice Muffins and cream cheese frosting.  I have seen the recipe a couple times and decided last night that I would be adventurous.  I used the recipe found at The Pioneer Woman.

{INGREDIENTS}

::Muffins::

1 c. All-Purpose Flour

1/2 c. Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Salt

4 tablespoons Butter, cut into pieces

1 c. Pumpkin Puree

1/2 c. evaporate milk

1 whole Egg

1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

---------------------------------------------------

::Topping::

2 tablespoons Sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoons Nutmeg

---------------------------------------------------

::Cream Cheese Frosting::

1/4 c. softened Butter

4 oz Cream Cheese

1/2 lbs powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

{INSTRUCTIONS}

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In one mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. 

Mix in butter (do not melt the butter).

In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg and vanilla.

Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. 

Fold gently until mixture is just combined.

Pour into generously greased muffin pan.  This recipe only makes enough batter for 12 muffins.
Mix Cinnamon/Sugar/Nutmeg  together and sprinkle the topping over the batter in the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool.

To make the Cream Cheese Frosting: Mix all ingredients on high until soft and whipped.  Spread onto completely cooled muffins or place into a large pastry bag to ice. Store remaining frosting in fridge, as it will soften at room temperature.

These were so yummy after our Casserole dish last night and the perfect way to bring in the first Day of Autumn (September 23!!).