Great Pumpkin Muffins [with Cream Cheese and Chocolate Chips]

This photo pretty much sums up fall for me - leggings, pumpkins, glitter Toms. If Toms and/or Uggs aren't acceptable anymore please mark me on the list of people who just don't care!

Lemon and Orange Chia Seed Muffins

Muffins! They're cake that you can eat for breakfast, what's not to like?

The best part of any food (song, smell, person, or place for that matter) is when you're hit over the head with a very specific memory of a happy place and time in your past causing a big, goofy grin to spread across your face. Lemon poppy seed muffins rock my socks and immediately transport me back to the vacations of my childhood in Florida. Our favorite breakfast spot was the Broken Egg on Siesta Key and their lemon poppy seed muffins were always a tasty treat to start my day.

All that being said, I can't remember the last time I had a lemony breakfast cake speckled with tiny seeds of happiness and I'm sure that I've never made them. These muffins are a collaboration brought to you by two friends of mine - Bob and Sally. 

Rainbow Carrot Cupcakes with Lemon Peel

This is the first time in six years that I've experienced a change of seasons! After moving from Honolulu, Hawaii to Seattle, Washington, in November of all months, I couldn't be more excited to get back to coat-less living, sunglass wearing, and bright and delicious flavors. (Does this mean that the soup phase is finally ending?!)

You may remember that I teamed up with my roommates from Camp Blogaway for a July 4th BBQ mash-up and we're at it again, this time welcoming spring with carrot cake! My creation was this - rainbow carrot cupcakes with lemon peel. What would a carrot cake be without cream cheese frosting? Just a carrot muffin??

Saltine Toffee with Bacon

It's January, my birthday month, hooray!

It's also bandwagon diet month but I don't care, I'm posting my brilliant holiday baking revelation because I'm wild and cra-zay like that!

Banana Chocolate Chip Waffles

Ladies and Gentlemen: Let's get ready to wwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaffffffffffffffffffffffffffllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeee!

You may remember rounds 1 and 2 of my match with waffles from a few years ago that resulted in a tie. Most recently the round with chocolate waffles ended in my favor.

I'm more than happy to report that we now have a winner by KNOCK OUT... and it's me. 

Last Sunday Bryce and I enjoyed a wonderful morning and breakfast together before I headed to work. I'd been planning on making waffles but failed to remember that we were out of eggs! When Bryce returned from his run to the store for eggs he also brought bacon and juice in tow.

Chaslee's Birthday Butter Mochi

Hey y'all! Can you guess what this post is about?

It's Paula Deen's favorite food, y'all - BUTTER!

Here in Hawaii there exists a wonderful dessert called butter mochi. It's made mostly from sweet rice flour and eggs and resembles a baked custard. The flavor is rich, sweet, and heavenly. Butter Mochi's texture is the best part: sticky, super heavy, and slightly crispy on the edges. 

New Year's Day Chocolate Waffles

Happy 2013!

Because I'm an Event Manager, I was working on New Year's Eve instead of sleeping on my couch while fireworks went off around me. My night at work was spent being fully entertained by live bands, musical theatre acts, a stilt walker, human bird puppets, a vintage plane fly over, and so on. There's no way I could have paid for or attended a more exciting evening elsewhere!

Regardless, I woke up on January 1 feeling hung over after just 5 hours of sleep. My feet were sore from walking around the event/premises and all of my muscles hurt from a "free" 1 hour consultation with a personal trainer at our new gym. Please don't worry, I'll never go fitness crazy and try to be on a real diet! My body was in rough shape and I was wide awake, despite being exhausted. That called for a filling, fun, and indulgent breakfast: chocolate waffles!

A hot cup of coffee, recipe displayed on the iPad while music played simultaneously, and gadgets and ingredients galore. That's my happy place :)

Corn Dog Corn Muffins with Cheese

The reason that I blog is because so many of the best memories of my life are strongly associated with foods (and I want to keep track of said memories and foods)! Sweets with Pap-Pap, cafeteria lunches with grade school friends, dinners with Mom and Dad, holiday meals with our whole family, and so on. One of the earliest of my food memories is ritually getting a corn dog at the mall with my Mom. It's the little things in life, right?! I'll have to ask her exactly what mall it was that had the prized corn-dogs and just how many times we enjoyed shopping and high-class dining together, although that may just ruin my happy little memory!

Fast forward to last weekend - we were going to our annual Penn State tailgate at Aloha Stadium and I needed a food offering that was liked by many yet easy to transport and eat. That's when I found Iowa Girl Eats' take on a mini corn dog muffin! She, too, agrees that these are a football food. (In case you missed it, Penn State crushed the Iowa Hockeyes this weekend! Iowa Girl I hope you're not a Hockeyes fan.) I un-mini-ed her muffins, added cheese, and used Lil Smokies.

Corn Dog Muffins with Cheese

Makes 24 (standard size) muffins

Pumpkin Spice Kissed Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses have been around for years (at least since 2008) and I just learned of them this year. Once aware of their existence, I was inspired by equal parts hunter, gatherer, and glutton to make them my own. After searching at 2 drug stores and 4 grocery stores I was beginning to feel defeated. 

That's the thing about Hawaii: new, trendy, seasonal mainland things aren't easily available here. Rice cookers, SPAM, musubi, and chop sticks can be found in every home and convenience store but apple cider and Pumpkin Spice Kisses are like unicorns! The real irony here is that Hershey's candies are from my home state of PA, the state that I left - willingly - 4 years ago.

I had to get strategic and think about where such a timely item would be found... my instincts lead me in the right direction: the commissary. The military bases are where the traditional-nuclear-families with 2.5 kids, 1 dog, 1 cat, and a picket fence would go for such a fall oriented treat, duh. My boss brought me 3 bags from the Navy/Air Force commissary and there are 3 more bags waiting for me on the Marine Corps base.

Oh Pumpkin Spice Kisses, how I've searched and longed for you!  

After all the anticipation I was truly scared to eat one, for fear that my hopes were set too high. The wrappers are an adorable fall-ish display of colors.

Halloween Oreo Mini Cheesecakes

All year long when I need a cupcake wrapper I only have these:

Finally it's time to use them! While we're getting festive, despite the fact that it's barely October, be sure to grab a package of unnaturally colored Halloween Oreos.

Jaclyn's Cocktail Shower and Margarita Cupcakes

Jaclyn and I have known each other for just over four years. We met during an interview in 2008 where she was considering me for a job that would end up being my first "real" job and a position that I held for over 3 years. She took me under her wing and taught me just about everything over many those long days in the office, weekend events, and difficult client personalities and demands. She handles every situation with a level head, professionalism, and logic and I couldn't have picked a better person to learn from. She and I now work together at the Battleship Missouri - the best job ever. Thanks AGAIN for guiding my path Jaclyn, you've truly been my Career Fairy Godmother. 

It's not all business with us, though. In that first interview we were wearing the same Tiffany's bracelet and she excitedly asked me (in casual conversation following the important questions of course) if I was in a sorority! I wasn't, we laughed together, and have had many, many laughs, good times, and great memories outside of work since. Although not a regular, she's been known to frequent the Bitches Who Brunch.

Jaclyn and Chris, her fiance, will get married this Friday after being together for over nine years! Last Sunday I threw her a surprise bridal shower. She's not your traditional bridezilla type who'd enjoy gifts for her home/kitchen (aka: me!), but more of a fun-loving, laid back, stiff-cocktail-sipping bride. We nixed the toilet paper bride game and bow bouquet and threw a Cocktail Shower, complete with margarita cupcakes!

Margarita Cupcakes and Frosting

Meet Candy

The day has finally come. Bryce and I are now the proud owners parents of a KitchenAid Stand Mixer! We're thrilled to add this to the list of our favorite kitchen gadgets.

Cue Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely... Meet Candy.

S'more Birthday Fun - Bryce's 27th

It's no shock to any of our friends (or my blog readers) that Bryce and I go all out, and then over the top, for birthdays. This year my birthday celebration was a month long and included 3 obnoxious posts: a birthday BBQ with friends, a journey to an outlet mall though the snow to acquire gifts, and a just-the-two-of-us dinner at an Italian restaurant. Now it's Bryce's turn!

If you don't know what a Spam musubi is, read about it here before going any farther! Bryce's birthday began with presents and cards first thing in the morning. He's a big fan of Spam musubi and when I saw this bag in the store it really got me thinking...

B[LT] My Valentine and Italian Cream Cake

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year's day-o-love was anything but typical for Bryce and I (especially compared to last year's at-home FEAST and clever and athletic dessert).

First, we decided not to buy gifts. I owe him a 20 minute back massage and he agreed to see a chick-flick with me, The Vow! Good deal.

Second, we could only be together for lunch! Rather than make a full dinner-type meal, I made one of his favorite lunches: a BLT sandwich on sourdough bread.

Fruit Pizza

Breakfast or dessert? Savory or sweet? What exactly is a fruit pizza - we need to know! 

Remember my dear friend Christine, whose baby shower I hosted back in November? She and her husband were blessed with baby Stephen just hours after leaving my birthday BBQ! 

Cinnamon Blondies and the Yelp Cookie Swap

Hawaii can be so funny, sometimes. Earlier this year I was selected for jury duty and I was the only white person or haole as we're called in Hawaii. Everyone else was "local" which tends to mean either Hawaiian or Asian.

During our lunch break one day, some of the ladies started talking about haole brownies. I thought to myself "What the hell is a haole brownie?! It must be either a white brownie or a brownie made by a white person." I sat and listened quietly. These haole brownies seemed to be hugely popular, well known in the Kamehameha Schools community (the school system here in Hawaii just for native Hawaiians), and extremely delicious! Ok, so maybe they like these haole brownies and aren't making fun of white people, I thought. If they were, they wouldn't say it in front of me, right? I've done a little asking around and googling since then, and it seems that these mysterious haole brownies are actually blondies!    

One long story later, I'll get to the point - this haole girl was invited to a Yelp Holiday Cookie Swap! I decided to make a delicious recipe I'd tried out a few months ago for cinnamon blondies. They were easy to make and incredibly addicting so they'd be great for sharing. I also found it quite funny that the haole girl would bring haole brownies!

I made them exactly as the original instructed, only I doubled the recipe and used regular-old-cinnamon. I don't have 2 square pans of the same style - one is an 8" x 8" metal and the other a 9" x 9" Pampered Chef stone baker.

Cinnamon Blondies
(makes 2 batches)

2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3 cups of light brown sugar
3 teaspoons of vanilla
2 sticks of butter
   (there are 3 sticks in the photo, although you only need 2)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
   (again, 6 eggs in the photo but you only need 4)

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Halloween has come and gone again. This year I went to 2 Halloween parties dressed as Lil Wayne (a homemade costume, might I add), visited a Haunted House, and ate both pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin mochi ice cream = success! 

I also managed to go fall-food insane in the kitchen! There were cupcakes made with candy corn and a BIG can of pumpkin that became soup, then cheesecake bars (which I've yet to blog about), and finally pumpkin snickerdoodles. Snickerdoodles have always been one of my favorites and, since they were the first cookie I ever made from scratch, have become my go-to cookie. Adding pumpkin is a smashing idea!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

makes 36 cookies

2 sticks of butter

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of light brown sugar

3/4 cup of pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 3/4 cup of flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

for rolling the cookies in:

1/2 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of allspice

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Mini Triple-Treat Cupcakes

Happy Halloween! I found a recipe for Mini Triple-Treat Cupcakes in the October 2011 Everyday Food Magazine. Leave it up to Martha to create a dessert using leftover candy! These clever and addictive cupcakes were my contribution to our Halloween pre-party this weekend. I will be making them year-round with different seasonal toppers. These are so, so yummy and the best part is that you don't have to frost them!

Mini Triple-Treat Cupcakes 

Ingredients

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of fine salt

1/2 cup of crunchy peanut butter

6 tablespoons of butter, room temperature

1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1/4 cup buttermilk (I faked it with 1 tablespoon white vinegar and the remaining 1/4 cup of milk)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mini Reese's Cups

Candy Corn

Red Velvet Mini-Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, I hinted that I had a BIG life change in the works.  Well, now I can tell you the BIG news: I got a new job!  After 3 years at my former job I was ready for something new, different, and less stressful.  This new job is all of that, less hours, and more money!  I'll have more time to enjoy living in Hawaii, try to get a tan, and cook and blog, of course!  To celebrate my BIG life change, I decided to make mini red velvet cupcakes!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let me tell you that I don't like baking.  Baking makes me feel frustrated, incapable, and defeated.  I'm immediately flustered and panic at the slightest hiccups while attempting to bake in the kitchen.  Baking only happens because my sweet tooth demands it!

For example, before making this recipe I opened the (very high) cabinet that contains all the baking ammunition - sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, food coloring, etc.  I pulled the things I needed down and put them on the counter.  These items were not placed neatly in one area upon being removed from the cabinet, they were all over the place.  I found a bag of sugar that contained less than a single cup of the small, sweet substance, and I needed 2 1/4 cups.  I went ballistic!  It was past 8 pm and the next day was my very last day at my job, I needed to have homemade cupcakes.  End.Of.Story.  Now in a state of major panic and self-pity, I begged Bryce to go get sugar for me.  He was comfortably lounging on the couch and looked at me like I was asking him to part the Red Sea.  So, I took my pity party to the car, then to the grocery store for more sugar.  I ended up also buying pre-made cream cheese frosting so that I'd be able get to bed at a reasonable hour.  I returned home with a forced positive attitude, I had everything I needed and was ready!  Back into the kitchen I went with the sugar and frosting in hand.  That's when I saw the HUGE bag of sugar sitting on the counter.  >>Sigh<<  I was so eager to panic that I didn't look around to see that I, in a moment of prior wisdom had acquired, had a back-up sugar!  If you need sugar you now know who to ask.

I started making my I-got-a-new-job-but-I'll-feed-you-one-last-time cupcakes for the office around 9 pm, using a Red Velvet Cupcake recipe from Better Homes & Gardens.  

Red Velvet Cupcakes

3 eggs (room temperature)
3/4 cup butter (room temperature)
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons red food coloring (an entire 1-ounce bottle)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk - I didn't have any so I made "buttermilk" using milk and white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt


Preheat oven to 350F.  Line mini cupcake pans with paper liners.  My apologies, I don' t know how many cupcakes this recipe makes.  I made 24 minis and a small cake!

Combine flour, cocoa powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.  Hey... salt wasn't on the ingredient list!  I'll add it. 

In another bowl, beat butter for 30-seconds on med-high.  Add sugar and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating batter after each.  Add the food coloring and beat on low to combine.

Side note on the food coloring - I was shocked when I found out that red velvet cake is red because of dye.  Anyone else?  It almost takes away all the fun, until you realize it's cuter than your average cake, delicious, and still contains chocolate!  My red food coloring wasn't completely full so my "red" velvet was more of a reddish-pink velvet.




Next, add flour mixture and buttermilk - alternately - to the egg mixture, combining on medium-low after each addition.  In the smallest bowl you own, stir together baking soda and vinegar, then add that to the batter and beat until just combined.


See - mine is pink!

Spoon, scoop, or pour the batter into the mini-cupcake papers, filling about 2/3 full.  This photo demonstrates how awful I am at making each cupcake equal in size.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes.  I swear that each cupcake is a totally different size!

Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.


I put the cream cheese icing into a ziploc bag and plopped a tiny bit of icing on each.  The icing distribution is almost as inconsistent as the cupcakes!  They still managed to be cute, despite my lack of equality.

The cupcakes and I ventured to our last day in the office (first and last day for them).  Needless to say, they were much more well-liked than I was!  Just kidding.  Everyone is just upset because they're going to miss me, right?

After 3 years with my very first "big girl job", I hope I left lasting impression filled with memories of hard work and a positive attitude.  If I didn't, I hope they remember me by these adorable sweet treats!

Winning vs. Waffles

The contenders: 

Ang - 25 year old, female human with little patience for baking

Ciusinart Classic Waffle Maker - Brand new from Macy's with a buring desire to create delicious waffles

Round 1:

The waffle maker was requested by Bryce, as a birthday gift.  I was glad to oblige and for our household to have another cooking gadget/appliance, of course.  The day after his birthday we had planned to go out for a nice dinner.  He ended up getting sick so we decided to stay home and have breakfast for dinner a la the new waffle maker.

(DING DING)

Ang started strong, prepping the waffle batter from scratch using the Better Homes & Gardens recipe.  The usually trusty book directed her to pour 1 cup of batter onto the iron, leading her to failure.  The Waffle Maker's instructions clearly state use 1/2 of a cup for a waffle.  So, 1 entire cup's worth of batter overflowed out of the Waffle Maker and all over the kitchen counter resulting in THE WAFFLE MAKER'S FIRST VICTORY!