This and That

Hey there!  Happy 2012, peeps.  I hope your year is starting off swimmingly.  Ours actually is, which is good considering that I spent most of the last two days of 2011 being an emotional, horomonal sissypants.  (My hypothesis is that the boy was going through a massive growth spurt, which made me uncomfortable, gigantic, and brought with it a surge of horomones that left me a sobbing mess.  If you have proof that that's not what happened, then I don't want to hear it because it's the only way I can explain myself without admitting to be a complete psychopath.)

So we've got some catching up to do, don't we?

1.  Mitch is still the cutest dog who's ever lived.  He's been polishing off the last of the homemade dog treats that we made in Virginia for all of his dog friends and cousins, which means that Matt and I have been finding little cheesy flax-seeded biscuits buried in blankets and couch cushions all around the house.  Right now he is barking at sassing me because Matt is watching football and Mitch hates football.  He'd rather go lie in his dirt spot, which is currently a mud spot because it's raining.  Seems fitting, since I just made our bed up with all white linens.

2.  I love this commercial with my entire heart and soul.



3.  I also love these Asian Turkey Meatballs with my entire heart and soul.

4.  Matt is a crazy ellipting fool.  Did you know that?  Did you know that after he implemented a self-improvement plan a year and a half ago he's been the incredible shrinking Matt?  And that every time we see someone we haven't seen in a while they say something along the lines of, "Oh, wow, Matt!   You look great!  What is your secret?  Amazing!  Oh, hi, Mandy."  It's extra fun now, you know, now that he's knocked me up and I'm getting fatter by the second.

5.  Oh em gee!  I totes forgot to tell you that my former almost fiance Matty Fraker who owns the cupcakery in Richmond, Frostings, was on Cupcake Wars tonight.  It replays on Tuesday at 8 p.m., so if you have the chance you should totally watch it.  Shoot yeah, Matty!



6.  Have you watched Downton Abbey?  If you haven't, you totally should.  It's pretty and smart and a little bit soap opera-y but not stupid.  AND, it's on Netflix Instant, so you have no excuse not to watch it.  There are only 7 episodes in the first season (oh, silly British television's short seasons), but season 2 begins again soon.  Plus, it has the handsome Matthew Crowley who is handsome and has a nice accent and looks good in a tuxedo and is also handsome.

7.  Not really doing any New Year's resolutions this year because I'm a little busy gestating a human, and all I really want to do is get through the year without being a psycho.  So that's my resolution: not to be a psycho. Shecky says that saying not to be a psycho is too definite and possibly unattainable, so I should actually make the resolution to be less of a psycho.  Either way.  My goal is for the crazy to be on the decline.  How's about that?

8.  Our New Year's Eve was pretty lame, even by our homebody standards.  Matt had to work, and I was in such a foul mood that I went shopping with a scowl on my face, so I went to Publix and bought a no sugar added reduced fat cheesecake (which was surprisingly good) and some sugar-free Jello (can you tell I have a glucose test fast approaching?).  I ate half of the cheesecake (it was a little one), and still felt like an angry troll, so I decided to take a nap around 9:00, in the hopes that I would wake up a better person.  Surprisingly, it worked.  I woke up when my neighbors started setting off fireworks at midnight, ate a bowl of booze-less Jello, and Matt and I watched Downton Abbey (seriously, go watch it now).  So the 2011 part of New Year's Eve sucked, but the 2012 part was pretty nice.

So that's what's going on here.  Was crazy, am not crazy now, hope not to be crazy in the future.  Dogs are cute and cheesecake is delicious.

How is your 2012 shaping up?

Cupcake Kitchen

I'm not terribly good at window treatments (or home decorating in general--like I've mentioned before, our house is slightly more sophisticated than a dorm room).  I'm not good at figuring out how to make curtains look good, and I'm way too cheap to invest money in good ones.  I'll deal with it.

But I have been looking for some kind of curtain for our kitchen window, mostly because we've had new neighbors move in next door and our houses are REALLY close together.  When I stand at the kitchen sink and look out the kitchen window, I'm essentially staring into an eight-year old girl's window.  Fortunately, she has curtains.  (But the other day I was pacing around the driveway chatting away on the phone when she stood right in her window, behind those curtains, and stared at me.  This kid's like eight, and has apparently watched a lot of scary movies.  I almost shit my pants.) 

So I want something to put in the window for those times I do dishes topless (which I hardly ever do), and to protect me from the creepy little git next door.  (I jest; she's probably fine.)

I was going to use the fun fabric that I found at IKEA, but that would 1.) require some sewing technique, and 2.) be really busy-looking.  Plus, I couldn't figure out exactly where to cut into the print. 

Crisis averted.

When Cassie came over last night to wolf down some Domino's (yeah, pizza tracker!) and to develop an addiction to MTV reality television, she was bearing gifts--super super cute cupcake kitchen towels from IKEA.  !!!!!!

They're fun, and all a little different. 

And we had an  idea.

IKEA cupcake kitchen towel curtains.  Let's do it.

So today I stopped by my local Target (because apparently my body will cease to function if I do not go there at least 6 times per week) and picked up some of those little curtain clips.

Now, I should have ironed these first, but check out how fun!

They're like the sassy first cousins to this cupcake collage I hung in the kitchen a few weeks back:

Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnd. . .now I'm hungry.

Enjoy your Thursday.  I'll be spending my Thursday at home, eating yogurt and ice cream, because apparently trying to talk over thirty ninth graders at a time about Shakespeare while they chatter away will make an already-sore throat feel even worse.  It's either that or Ebola.

Trix Cupcakes: a Dream Come True

The other night I was lying in bed, reading my Google Reader on my phone. I came across a Trix cupcake. Then I fell asleep, and had a dream about Trix cupcakes. (I go into REM sleep about 30 seconds after falling asleep.) Not wanting to actually get out of bed, and fearing that I would forget about this new fantasy of mine, I emailed myself, from my phone, "don't forget trix cupcake."

The next morning I was a little confused. (And, in case you're wondering, boxed wine actually had nothing to do with this saga.) But I was also excited about this blast from the past.

I needed to figure out the perfect combination, though, and who better to talk to about it than my brother, a kid I've had physical altercations with over breakfast cereal. (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, to be exact. One day, after realizing that there was only enough CTC for one more bowl, Jordan and I raced each other, fought at my grandma's glass storm door, and fought until my elbow broke through the glass. While I nursed my wound--one I still have a scar from--Jordan ate the last bowl of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Asshole.) When I mentioned the idea of a Trix cupcake, Jordan was interested. We brainstormed, and then agreed that a lemon-flavored cake would be good. And we decided that vanilla icing would work, too.

So I set out to find good recipes. And boy did I!

I give you, the Trix cupcake, a dream come true.

(This baking endeavor also allowed me to use one of my favorite kitchen toys, my lemon juicer, a gift from Matt's mom. Thanks, Sue!)

(For about a third of the cupcakes, I folded Trix into the batter, thinking it could be like some awesome funfetti cake. I thought I'd experiment. But when they baked, the Trix got too chewy. I wouldn't recommed it.)

And while the cupcakes baked, I got started on the icing, trying my best to match the icing on the Old Fashioned cupcakes at Back in the Day Bakery. This recipe was actually pretty close.

And then I went a little bonkers with my neon blue food coloring.

And it was so pretty on the cakes! I was afraid that I'd ruin them with the cereal.

But then, as a result of my ghetto-rigged pastry bag, my kitchen table started to look like a scene from my 10th birthday party. Ahhh, silly string.

And then I took the plunge. Well, the cupcakes did at least. And look at them!

F'ing beautiful.

Lemon Cupcakes (adapted from Martha Stewart's Lemon Cake recipe)

Ingredients
Serves 12
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs plus 3 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest.
2.In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time. Beat in 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined.
3.Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack.


Sassy Pants Vanilla Frosting (adapted from Martha Stewart's Fluffy Vanilla Frosting)

Ingredients
Makes about 4 cups
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions
1.With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
2.Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.
3.Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

Happy Monday to you!

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

It's been a while since I've made cupcakes, and I'd been wanting to make these for a long time now. I'd resisted because I suspected that I would like them so much that I'd eat them all. We were having a Super Bowl party, and planning for a bunch of people, and I decided that tonight was as good a time as any. Then our party fell apart, and only four people came. Hmmmmm. More cupcakes for Mandy? Unfortunately/fortunately, yes.

I found this recipe on the 52 Cupcakes blog. Very much in the style of Julie & Julia, this woman has taken it upon herself to make all 175 cupcakes from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. Hopefully, she's cooler than Amy Adams's Julia. I think there's a good chance she is, though, because she has a cute dog, Layla. Mitch would be friends with Layla, and he would dance with her. (PS--"dance " is my latest euphemism for "hump." He just dances like he's at the prom.)

Back to the cupcakes. They're not traditional cupcakes; instead they're a cupcake/cheesecake hybrid. Throw in some Oreos and you've got yourself something truly special. These are actually super easy to make, too, which is nice.

Pretty basic ingredients: two pounds of cream cheese, a cup of sour cream, vanilla, salt, eggs, sugar--and Oreos. Lots and lots of Oreos.

And I got to use my silicone baking cups again. (And yes, Caitie, I did wash them very well after the pupcakes featuring cat food.)

And would you look at that? We've entered the new millennium, people. Paperless recipes!


You place an Oreo in the bottom of each cup.

And then chop up the rest of the Oreos.


Whip the cream cheese.
Add sugar, vanilla, salt, and then egg. Mix in an electric mixer.


And fold in the crushed Oreos by hand.



Bake for 22-26 minutes, switching racks halfway through.
Allow to cool completely. Refrigerate for a minimum of four hours.

HOW FUN IS THAT?
And delicious, too. I had one last night and two today. And I think I might have one more before bed. Or maybe two. . .
Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes, stolen from 52 Cupcakes who stole it from Martha

Ingredients:
42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt


1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Happy baking, and happy snow day to our friends in the mid-Atlantic. I'm so jealous of you that it hurts. Next month I'll be posting pictures of us at the beach, and perhaps then Savannah and its stupid climate will redeem itself.

(Maybe this is our punishment for choosing a place to live based almost entirely on fact that there's no open container law?)

Snowman Cupcakes

Inspired by my friend Martha, I decided to make some holiday cupcakes. I was fond of this snowman cuteness, and thought to myself, "How hard can it be?"

The answer? Hard. Yeah, Martha claims that you just squeeze the top marshmallow to make it smaller. Maybe it's because my marshmallows were Kroger brand, but those babies wouldn't shrink for anything. (I can't decide whether to make a dirty joke or a self-depricating joke about fatness here.)

My attempts (and my Reese's cup hat) were, well, less than good. My snowman looked more like a hobo, and nobody wants to eat hobo cupcakes.

So I opted for just the face. Chocolate sprinkles for eyes, cut up pieces of an orange Starburst for noses.

And soon I was looking at an army of snowmen.

Tonight's baking also afforded me the opportunity to use the pretty Christmasy sprinkles my Grandma Carol gave me. They're BEAUTIFUL!

Once I got all of the cupcakes loaded, I just stared at the box, patting myself on the back. I think I need to go work at Back in the Day Bakery.

Happy Friday to you! Today is my last day of school until 2010 (!), so I'm a happy, happy girl.