Is it just me or are there literally babies everywhere? Everywhere I turn someone new has a baby or is pregnant. This is great for me, because it means I’ll have lots of babies to visit! I think it has to do more with the time in my life (I’m barely a week from being 26), than just a sheer coincidence that so many people around me are expecting.
I have a new friend I’ve just gotten to know within the past year or so, who discovered she was pregnant. WITH TRIPLETS. Yes. Three babies in her belly! Melissa and her husband moved for his job, and haven’t been living in TN very long. All her family and friends still live up north. She was discussing how they were having a shower for her at home, but she couldn’t travel. Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s fair to have THREE LITTLE ONES coming, and not get to attend a shower! Me, and a couple other girls she knows put together a SURPRISE baby shower.
I decided to work around a “Sweet Pea” theme I saw on Hostess with the Mostess. I don’t have the time/money/skill to throw showers like they do on that blog, but it’s a great inspiration! When I mentioned this to my friend Jamie, (who is pregnant herself!), she told me about the garden cupcakes in her Hello Cupcake! book. One of the vegetables was peas! HOW PERFECT!
The shower was going to be a small affair, just 5 of us attending to so I turned to my Perfect Cupcakes book because all the recipes in the book make 6 cupcakes. I knew I wanted to use the pretty rainbow sprinkles on the frosting, but was excited to discover a “sprinkle” cupcake recipe that includes them IN the cupcake! It basically makes cupcakes just like the Funfetti kind in a box. And you know me, I’d rather bake something from scratch than I would a box.
Because this made such a small batch, I didn’t get to do a “taste-test” like I usually do, and eat one the night before, so I was worried the cupcakes would be dry or not taste good. But I was happy to discover they actually turned out great! They were moist, and sweet, but not too sweet, with a yummy vanilla flavor. And, the sprinkles inside turned out so bright and pretty! The frosting itself is now my favorite traditional buttercream. Usually buttercreams end up too sweet or too buttery for me, and this was a really great balance. I definitely recommend these cupcakes for a kid’s birthday, or any fun occasion. If you need more, just double the recipe for a full dozen.
Cake:
3/4 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup multi-colored sprinkles
Frosting:
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 Tablespoons heavy cream
Decorations:
green fruit chews (I used Laffy Taffy)
green Skittles
Directions:
CAKE:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 6 cup muffin pan with liners.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, using a hand-held mixer on medium speed, cream together butter and sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg and vanilla until light. Gradually beat in half of the flour mixture. Bean in milk and then the remaining flour mixture until blended. Fold in half of the sprinkles. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cups.
Bake until the tops spring back when lightly tapped, 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.
FROSTING:
In a medium bowl, use a hand-held mixer on medium speed to beat together the confectioners' sugar and butter until blended. Beat in the vanilla, then beat in enough cream to achieve a soft consistency suitable for piping or spreading.
*I spread the frosting using an offset spatula, then rolled the edges around in a bowl of sprinkles.
For decorations, Roll out each of the green fruit chews into a 3 x 1-in. oval 1/8-in. thick. (If you're having a hard time rolling out the candy, 3-7 seconds in the microwave will soften it up.) Press 3 skittles onto one side of each oval. Fold the other side over to cover the candies slightly. Pinch the ends and place 1 pea pod on top of each of the cupcakes.
Pssst… And if you’re looking for a good salad to serve at a Peas in the Pod themed shower, check out this salad!
I made these Halloween cookies using this recipe. And I’m not even gonna lie, I had full intentions of doing royal icing and all that, but I fell under the “spell” of the tube of cookie frosting in Kroger, and took the easier way out. If you’re still scrambling for ideas to bring to a Halloween party, be sure to check out some of my previous posts:
The Boy and I have jetted off to Chicago for the weekend for a fun weekend getaway, and we got tickets to see one of our favorite bands, Cage the Elephant, play. I thought their recent hit seemed quite appropriate for this post, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”.
Check them out… Buy their CD, it’s really good! We also really like the song, “Back Against the Wall“.
Also, we’ll be reprising our 2008 Halloween costumes, because no one in Chicago knows we wore them last year, right? And I just couldn’t resist because my costume was just so freaking awesome.
“Good Morning Mr Draper.”
He told me all the quotes are dirty, so he is quoteless..
People just know me too well. My cousin (the Pampered Chef rep, if anyone needs anything) sent me an email filled with pumpkin recipes. This one quickly caught my eye. I had been wanting to make pumpkin muffins, but I wanted a recipe with a twist. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any with a molasses glaze.
These muffins exceeded my expectations. They have a warm, delicious, down-home taste. Instead of molasses I used some locally produced sorghum I had on hand. (The difference between sorghum and molasses can be found here) The glaze really helps to keep the muffins super moist. The pumpkin flavor is definitely there, but not overwhelming. The Boy really enjoyed these muffins, and we all know his opinion on pumpkin treats!
1 1/2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I got out my 1/3 cup, and filled it mainly with applesauce, just added a touch of oil, to keep it healthier)
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup mild molasses
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon mild molasses
2 to 3 teaspoons water
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. In large bowl, beat together sugar and oil (or applesauce if you prefer). Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add pumpkin, molasses and buttermilk then beat until blended. Stir in flour mixture and nuts just until blended.
Grease, or line with paper cups, 12 count cupcake pan. Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool in pan 5 minutes, and then remove to rack.
In small bowl, whisk together glaze ingredients, except nuts, using enough water to make thick glaze. Dip muffin tops into glaze and transfer to rack. Sprinkle with nuts.
I know what you’re thinking, “What’s with all the salmon recipes lately?!”. Salmon is something we eat pretty often, but as I mentioned before, we typically use a store-bought rub. Well that rub is just about gone! So we’ve been following a lot of recipes, and I really like that. This is actually a dish I’ve made every summer for about 4 or 5 years. I remember the first time I made it was when I was living with my aunt for the summer, and that was in 2004. I’ve been waiting and waiting all season for radishes in my CSA and never got them… until now. I was so excited! I could finally share this recipe.
This was an odd recipe for me to want to make to begin with. I don’t usually like raw onion, and I’m not even really a fan of radishes all that much. What drew me to the recipe was the dill. The summer I first made this, I had discovered how much I liked dill. The salmon tastes rich, and the seasonings, especially the dill, compliment it very well. The relish is actually a really refreshing taste to go with the salmon. It just so happened I “assigned” The Boy to make this, so this isn’t the *exact* way I would have prepared it, but I need to learn to let go of some of that bossy control. This is a great dish, and something I look forward to every year. I don’t know why I got radishes so late in the season but I’m very glad I did!
1 tablespoon cold butter
4 portions, 6 to 8 ounces each, salmon fillets
Salt and pepper
Several sprigs plus 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (we most often use dried)
2 cups chicken broth or water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 small vidalia onion, chopped (The Boy used red onion)
1/2 seedless cucumber, chopped
2 radishes, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Rub the bottom of a shallow baking dish with cold butter. Arrange salmon in dish. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Add broth and a few sprigs of dill to the pan. Roast the fish 12 to 15 minutes.
Combine sugar, salt and vinegar in the bottom of a medium bowl. Add chopped onions, chopped cucumber and radishes. Sprinkle in 3 tablespoons chopped dill and toss the mixture to coat in vinegar, sugar and salt.
Remove fish from the oven. Spoon pan juices over fish and carefully transfer to individual plates or platter. Top fish with relish.
Hi, I’m Erin. Welcome to my food files. I love sharing recipes for food, drinks, & dessert; but also like to leave room for any food related posting I desire. Thanks for stopping by! ...more
The shower was going to be a small affair, just 5 of us attending to so I turned to my Perfect Cupcakes book because all the recipes in the book make 6 cupcakes. I knew I wanted to use the pretty rainbow sprinkles on the frosting, but was excited to discover a “sprinkle” cupcake recipe that includes them IN the cupcake! It basically makes cupcakes just like the Funfetti kind in a box. And you know me, I’d rather bake something from scratch than I would a box.
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