Monthly Archives: August 2012

Foodie Penpals Reveal: August 2012

Posted on August 31, 2012 | 3 Comments

It’s the last day of the month, which means it’s Foodie Penpals reveal day! This is my first month back after taking a couple off for the wedding! (I owe you guys some wedding and honeymoon posts….seriously!) I’m glad to be participating again because it’s always so much fun sending things you enjoy to someone else and even more fun receiving a box of goodies!

This month I received a box from Rachael over at Ready To Get Sweaty! She asked the best questions in her email to me. My favorite was when she asked me to name my top 5 favorite foods/snacks. On my list was cupcakes and peanut butter and boy did she deliver! :)

Rachael sent me the ingredients and recipe to make chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting! Along with a book with cupcake and cake recipes! The recipe she sent for the chocolate cupcakes is even Weight Watchers friendly! You can find the recipe over at Skinny Taste. I haven’t tried it yet, but I did make the AMAZING peanut butter frosting for some other chocolate cupcakes I made.

Seriously…..there are no words for how delicious this frosting recipe is! I ate the leftover frosting straight out of the frosting bag….no lie! :) The recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa and can be found here!

She also sent along these goodies! Dark chocolate peanut butter shall be paired with a banana soon! I also can’t wait to sink my teeth into that Peanut Butter Extreme protein bar!

I must say Rachael put together a box that was TOTALLY me! :) Thanks Rachael!

Oh and how cute are the toppers on these cupcakes? They remind me of blogging! :)

I sent a box over to Kim at Redefining Kim! Be sure to check out what I sent her!

Now, if you haven’t joined Foodie Penpals yet (WHY HAVEN’T YOU?!), here are the details:

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

And good news for those of you in the UK:

***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved

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Posted in Cupcakes, Foodie Penpals

Cupcakes and Beer

Posted on August 27, 2012 | 4 Comments

With my job I only get every other weekend off, so the weekends I do have off we tend to pack it full of things to do. This weekend was no different! I thought I’d share the happenings with you guys because it was a good time! :)

After baking the delicious bacon topped cupcakes on Tuesday, I had a chance to bake again on Friday. My mother-in-law was having a CAbi open house Saturday to introduce the new Fall clothing line and asked if I’d make some cupcakes for it. Well, being that I LOVE baking, I said yes.

I had all the intention in the world to make this awesome salted caramel frosting. Which required me to make my own caramel sauce…sounds easy right? WRONG! My first attempt was a complete failure as was the second one. So, I had to go with a plan B.

Mr. B consoling me after my failed attempt.

Luckily I received my Foodie Penpals box last week and she included ingredients and a recipe for a peanut butter frosting. It wasn’t the salted caramel I was wishing for, but it may have been even better! I’m telling you this frosting was the most amazing peanut butter frosting ever! I may have even eaten the extra straight out of the frosting bag. Lol.

Finished cupcakes!

The white cupcakes with strawberry frosting and chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting were freaking amazing and a big hit with everyone who ate them at the open house! I should start a business or something! ;)

Oh and while at my in-law’s house, I snapped this picture of Mr. B’s senior picture collage. Wasn’t he just a cutie with those curls?! I totally would have been crushing hard on him in high school! :)

Mr. B circa 2005

After the CAbi open house, I met up with Mr. B. We made our way down to RIBCO for their 3rd Annual Festiv-ale. We met our friend Justin and tasted our way through some delicious beer!

Me and my first choice! (Envious from New Holland Brewing Co)

We walked around and tried several different beers. Mr. B was all about the IPAs and tasted several, Justin tried a variety and I carefully selected my choices. :)

Justin and Mr. B!

 

Mr. B and I!

We were getting down to our last few tickets and becoming more picky about our selections. I knew the I wanted to try one last beer before we left and had been saving it for last. And boy did I make a wise choice!

That above is Creme Brulee beer from Southern Tier Brewing Company out of Lakewood, NY. If you ever get the chance to have it, do so! It so tasty and smells yummy! This was the winner in my book! :)

After the beer fest, we made our way to a couple’s baby shower for our family friends. We ate some yummy Mexican food and played some fun games! I won the “Guess what candy bar is in the diaper” game and Mr. B got to drink beer out of a baby bottle. Lol

Chug…Chug….Chug!

Sunday was a low-key day. I worked on cleaning up my craft room. Mr. B is finishing up my craft desk and I’m super stoked for it! I have been waiting forever for this! :) I also made some salsa and enjoyed the day before having to return to work.

It was a great weekend and I’m more than ready for the next weekend I get away from work!

Are you a beer drinker, if so what’s your fave?
How was your weekend?

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Posted in Cupcakes, Living Life, Loving Life

French Toast Cupcakes w/ Bacon Sprinkles

Posted on August 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

 

Warning: This post is nowhere near WW friendly… 
(unless you want to use all those extra points you’re earning by working out!)

But this is something that had to be done. I mean, who doesn’t want to top a cupcake with bacon? As the man at the meat counter said as I was telling him what I was doing with the bacon:

Everything is better with bacon….

No truer words have been spoken! :)

French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Frosting & Bacon Sprinkles

Cupcake Recipe: (adapted from Let’s Dish Recipes)

Ingredients (for 12-15 cupcakes)
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 large eggs, separated

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.  With a mixer, mix the butter and sugar on  high speed until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and vanilla and set aside.  Add the egg yolks to the creamed butter one at time, waiting for each one to be fully incorporated before adding the next. (put the egg whites in a separate bowl!)  Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk mixture, waiting for each to be fully incorporated before adding the next.  Raise the speed to medium and mix briefly until a smooth batter is formed.

Transfer the batter to a large bowl. Thoroughly clean the bowl of the mixer and put the egg whites inside. Whip the egg whites on high speed, using the whisk attachment, until stiff peaks are formed. Working several batches, using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter, until just incorporated. Fill the cupcake liners 1/2-2/3 full. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Maple Frosting and Bacon Sprinkles
(Recipe from Southern Living’s Big Book of Cupcakes)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
6 slices of bacon

Directions
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar; bringing to a boil and stirring constantly. Add evaporated milk, baking soda, and corn syrup; bring to a boil and stir occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool. (about an hour or so) Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl.

While your caramel mixture is cooling, cook your bacon anyway you like. (I cooked mine in the oven until it was nice and crispy.) Set aside to cool. When cooled, chop into little bits.

Gradually add powdered sugar to caramel mixture; beat at medium speed until creamy. Stir in maple flavoring. Beat at high speed for 2 minutes or until creamy. This icing firms up quickly, so be sure to use immediately.

While icing is wet, sprinkle your bacon on top!

Now the trick is not to eat them all in sitting and quickly send them off to work with your husband the next day! :)

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Posted in Baking, Cupcakes, Food, Recipe