Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Happy Halloween!  I've been doing quite a bit of pumpkin baking lately, mostly because I love it for this time of year.  But this time it was for our good family friend Hanna's birthday.  She turns 19 today. 

She also loves to read so her mom came up with the idea of putting books on the tops.  I need to work on my sculpting skills a little more, but I think they turned out ok. 

In Hanna's family there is her older brother who's in the military and her dad who is a fire fighter -

Hawaiian Bridal Shower cake

It was fun to break out of the birthday cake scene for a bit and make a bridal shower cake.  It was a Hawaiian themed event with pink & orange as the color combinations.  I was shown an inspiration photo but it was of a 3 tiered cake and much more elaborate than was needed so I improvised.  I decided to do a tall stacked cake for dramatic effect and use the hibiscus flower for theme.  I had never made them before but I like the way they turned out.  I find it relaxing

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. . .