Happy Birthday Kami Cupcakes

My Dear friend Kami turned 22 this weekend.  We celebrated her birthday New York Style to the max even with a skyline and a ball drop surprise.  Since I am too cheap to make cheesecake ( I am saving it for thanksgiving) I make the next best New York treat... something with apples for The Big Apple! I think these are the most moist cupcakes I have ever made. Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Applesauce Spice Cupcakes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (I didn’t have any so I used allspice and tasted just as yummy!)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (I didn’t put these in because my friend is allergic and I really wanted her to eat one)

Preheat the oven to 350. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add applesauce and then flour mixture, beating until just combined after each. Stir in pecans by hand.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to two months, in airtight containers.

To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Frosted cupcakes can be refrigerated up to three days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Brown-Sugar Cream-Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• dash of cinnamon

With an elecrtic mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth. Use immediately, or refrigerate up to three days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I have a confession to make.  I love pumpkin and I like to hoard my cans of pumpkin. Its one of those things that I buy because I love, but I never want to use because I want to save it for a special occasion. My husband's work team isn't the most special time, but we wanted to butter up to his supervisor. I hope they like them. I think they are very tasty and honestly the best cookies I have made since I have been married (only three months) but now that I think about it I think they are the only cookies I have made since I have been married, but still tasty nonetheless.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from allrecipes

yields 16 large or 25 medium cookies

Ingredients

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla paste (extract will work just fine)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Method

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt.
2. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
3. Add vanilla and chocolate chips.
4. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm. 

Halloween dinner

We had some new friends over for dinner for Halloween. We had a great time with them and we had a great meal to go with good friends. I wanted to do something new, but nice with a Halloween twist. So... we had Road Kill (whole chicken with lemon, garlic and rosemary in the crockpot), road kill guts(cornbread stuffing with craisens), garden snakes (fresh green beans), frog eye salad and rolls. The chicken fell off the bones. My husband was shocked and He liked the stuffing which is great cause he doesn't like stuffing. All and all it was a great Halloween dinner!

Lemon Garlic Rosemary Crock Pot Chicken
3-4 lbs whole chicken
2 lemons
1 poultry pack of fresh herbs
4 tbs butter
6 cloves of garlic minced
salt
1/2 yellow onion

Clean and dry Chicken and toss out giblets. Cut up onion and stuff in cavity of the chicken.  Soften butter and added minced garlic. Rub the butter under the skin of the chicken and on top. Put the Chicken in the crock pot. Cut one of the lemons in half and squeeze over the chicken the other lemon cut into slices and place on top of the chicken. Salt the inside on outside of the chicken. Put half the the poultry herbs on the chicken. set the crockpot for 7-9 hrs depending on the size. Enjoy!

Chicken after we ate it- it really does look like road kill!

Cornbread stuffing with Craisens

1 package of cornbread stuffing
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup celery
1/4 cup  onion
3 cloves of garlic-minced
1 can of chicken broth
1 cup of craisens

In a sauce pan saute butter, garlic, and onion. Once onion is clear add celery.  Cook for a few minutes then ass package of stuffing. Slowly add chicken broth until stuffing is the consistency you like for stuffing. Cook for a few minutes. When everything is combined add craisens and serve immediately.

Frog Eye Salad

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 quarts water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 (16 ounce) package acini di pepe pasta
• 3 (11 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained
• 2 (20 ounce) cans pineapple tidbits, drained
• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup shredded coconut

Directions

1. In a sauce pan, combine sugar, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pineapple juice and eggs. Stir and cook over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat; add lemon juice and cool to room temperature.
2. Bring water to a boil, add oil, remaining salt and cook pasta until al dente. Rinse under cold water and drain.
3. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, egg mixture, mandarin oranges, pineapple and whipped topping. Mix well and refrigerate overnight or until chilled. Before serving add marshmallows and coconut. Toss and serve.

One Hour Rolls
1 1/4 cup milk, scalded
4 tbs butter
3 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs beaten
1 tbs rounded, yeast
4-5 cups flour




In a small bowl dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1/4 cup warm water.  Melt butter in scalded milk.  Add eggs, sugar, salt, and 1 cup of flour.  stir well to develop the gluten.  Add the dissolved yeast.  Mix in remaining flour.  Knead for 3-4 minutes, just until dough has a soft consistency. Place the dough into a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap and raise for 20 minutes.  Roll out the dough and shape. Bake for 10-12 minuted at 400 degrees.