Shirley Temple Cupcakes

Third times a charm, as the saying goes.  Back in June we took Audrey out to dinner after her farewell dance recital and several family members graciously attended.  Our young cousin, Abby, ordered a shirley temple and it reminded me of when my girls used to do that.  As I watched how much she enjoyed it I thought about how it would be a fun flavor for a cupcake.  So I told her I would make some for her.  I finally was able to get to that but came up with some interesting road blocks.  First of all, there is a wide variety of recipes for the drink itself!  I had to decide on what flavor combinations I thought sounded best and went with gingerale and cherry.  The lemon-lime flavors didn't sound as authentic to me.  Then several times I found out that other people had made cupcakes using a cake mix box and a can of soda.  I understand that sounds easy and even a little fun - but I wanted to make it all from scratch.  So then I wondered if I could take just the dry ingredients of a cake recipe and only add the sugar & soda. 

White Chocolate Ice Cream

This is one of my very favorite things!  I love ice cream.  It has been a problem actually and I now I have to really watch when & how much I enjoy my favorite dessert :)  But it is custard time in the Alton Brown book of teachings, so ice cream must be made.  Mr. Brown has a recipe for chocolate ice cream with a little kick of cayenne.  I'm sure it is wonderful, but sometimes chocolate ice cream is a little much for me so I thought I would change things up a little.  I decided to use white chocolate instead, which I supposed is really a sweet form of vanilla.  I used espresso white chocolate sauce and ghiradelli white chips. 

the yummy vanilla & white chocolate sauce

then the white chocolate chips

Pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

I really can't say how many times Craig has asked me if I'm making cookies when he sees me start to pull the Kitchen Aid across the counter.  The answer most of the time is no, however if it is yes - the next predictable question is "chocolate chip?".  After all, that is the whole reason he actually bought the mixer for me in the first place!  Because of a stupid autoimmune issue (that's still not completely diagnosed) I have lost some strength in my hands and couldn't really stir a good sized double batch of chocolate chip cookies anymore.  Thus, I got my gift.  So every now and then I really do need to make chocolate chip cookies.  But I have really been craving some peanut butter oatmeal cookies and then its also fall. . .

Nutella, Lemon & Strawberry Shortcake

It's been an "Odds & Ends" kind of week :) 

My youngest moved into College this week.  I thought that would make life very quiet.  But I've been out to take her some stuff once, she drove home once and will be home this weekend already :)  I'm completely fine with that! 

In order to accommodate all the running around baking was a hodge podge of whatever needed to happen.  The Strawberry Shortcake cake was for a little girl turning 6 years old - she got to celebrate while taking chemotherapy on her birthday. She was a sweet little angel and I feel blessed to have been able to do anything that made her day a little brighter.


It's amazing how much Pinterest helps with motivation on weeks like this too!  Whenever I see Nutella in the title I have to check it out

Pumpkin Marble Muffins

I can't believe how badly time has gotten away from me this summer!  I love summer because it usually means more time with my family doing fun things in warm weather, but it doesn't really help me stay focused and timely very well.  Isn't that what life is supposed to be about though?   Making memories that count instead of always worrying that the day-to-day stuff is taken care of.  I remember someone telling me once that when I was going to make a big decision to always check for whether it would be important 5 years in the future.  I look at the time I spend with my family

Peanut Butter goodness

 

Cookies are always a hit around my house, well, let's face it - all desserts are hit around my house!  But there seems to be a special affection for cookies.  In fact it was the standard chocolate chip cookie that necessitated my KitchenAid stand mixer and started my entire baking career! 

 

While the chocolate chip may hold a special place - there is no better flavor for me than peanut butter.  I really don't care what it's in I'm going to try it!  One of my favorite savory dishes is Thai peanut noodles!  I feel like Dr. Seuss - I could eat it in a boat, I could eat it with a goat. . . . There are so many recipes for peanut butter cookies and it seems like everyone has "the best" one.  I like a cookie that is soft and chewy with intense flavor and these certainly held up to that standard.  They also had

Good plain ol' brownies

Sometimes the classics just can't be beat.  Brownies came up next on the list and I haven't met one yet that I don't like.  These turned out very thick and cake like - in fact my husband said that he'd rather have a birthday cake made from these instead of regular cake next year.  I actually think that I might try a bigger pan and make them a little thinner next time because I thought they were a little too moist still in the center, but that was up for much debate as we tried many just to be sure.