Cupcakes Continue ~ Some Simply Frosted, Some Fondant (plus stew, soup and pizza!)

This week I made a double recipe of LEMON BUTTERMILK CUPCAKES from Lindsay at Love and Olive Oil. First time using this recipe and it’s a keeper!





Lindsay includes a simple two-ingredient glaze, but for my purposes, I used a buttercream icing.

Half of my cupcakes were simply decorated with icing tinted yellow and sprinkled with white non-pareils.




The other half of the cupcakes were lighted frosted and topped with FONDANT OWLS.

The instructions at this link are not in English, but the photos are self-explanatory.










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SIMPLE BEEF STEW
Thanks, Brenda at Sweet Simple Stuff! So down-home. Satisfying. I ate some. I froze some. Today I handed a container of it to our apartment complex’s maintenance man. He’s been fixing things left and right for me this week and deserves something besides fast foods for lunch.



VEGETABLE SOUP
Canned tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, vegetable base/bouillon, white cannelloni beans, water, garlic powder, dried basil, crushed red pepper, S&P (oops, forgot to add a bay leaf!).



TORTILLA PIZZA
Whole wheat tortilla, shredded Mexican cheese, veggie pepperoni, steam skinny asparagus, all drizzled with EVOO. 400-degree oven, 8 minutes.

29th Birthday Treat For My Son-In-Law

My son-in-law is not a big fan of cakes or of chocolate or, for that matter, of any sweets. For the past ten years, I’ve made birthday treats for my grandsons (one 6 and the other about to turn 10) and for my daughter (more than 10 years!) , but never anything for my son-in-law.

This year was the turning point. I was on a fondant roll and came across a great idea that would fit him. If, I asked my daughter, he was to eat a cake, what kind would it be?

Pineapple Upside Down Cake, she said, he had recently had a piece of it and really liked it. So, I decided to see what I could come up with in the cupcake department with a pineapple taste.




The results was these amazing Crushed Pineapple Cupcakes from a blog called Life Made Simple. They are topped with a Pineapple Buttercream Icing.

I made one change when the heavy cream I bought went sour, so I subbed what I had: 1 tsp. low-fat milk.

I also made one addition--a surprise bite of one maraschino cherry in the middle of each cupcake.

As far as I’m concerned, Crushed Pineapple Cupcakes with Pineapple Buttercream Icing are winners and have a permanent place in my recipe collection.

Don't go away yet. Remember I mentioned fondant? My daughter and son-in-law are redoing a bedroom, tearing things out right down to the lathe and plaster, plus replacing framing around a window and putting up new sheetrock. So that means lots of tools, particularly hammers and nails.




I found what I was looking for on a blog called the Frosted Cake and Cookies which looks like it’s no longer maintained, but this June 2009 entry is still there for our use.

My advise for coloring the fondant and shaping the hammer and nails is to take your time and be willing to make mistakes and start over. It’s well worth the time and energy to produce these little gems.




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PEANUT BUTTER CUP BROWNIES
I made these little treasures again recently for a fundraising dinner. So rich and tasty. Easy to make.


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SOUTH AFRICAN BOBOTIE
I made it. I ate it. I loved it! Thanks to Bam’s Kitchen.

Breakfast Wrap, Tuna Salad and Cupcakes!

Omigosh, has it been two weeks since I've written for this blog?

It’s not that I haven’t been thinking about food. Or cooking. Or even taking photos. I have--all those. Just no long step-by-step creations. More in the line of take each day, one step at a time (step by step). Whatever comes of it, that’s what you have.

There has been so much heat in my life for the past couple of months. Remember the trip to Maryland and the 100+ degree days? We’ve had some pretty hot ones back here in New York State too. Now, however, it’s cooling down (80s are cooler, while I crave the 70s more than I used to when I was younger.)

Even though it’s cooler outside, I have to pick and choose what I cook and the times of day I cook ‘cause I’m in an upstairs apartment and it can get really hot and muggy in here. Just one little air conditioning unit doesn’t always cool things down enough to suit me.

Okay, enough of that. What I have to offer today are a couple of things I cooked for meals and some cupcakes I put together out of a boxed mix (cringe!).




BREAKFAST...
I like lots of ingredients, colorful and tasty, yet nutritious.

For instance, when I had a bowl of oatmeal this morning, I added a cut-up banana, a couple of teaspoons of organic flax seed (ground in my coffee grinder), cinnamon powder, sliced almonds and almond milk.

But, no photo of oatmeal. Who wants to look at pictures of oatmeal? Not me. In spite its yummy taste, oatmeal -- any way you dress it up -- is not that pretty. (Unless, of course, it’s part of Chocolate No-Bake Cookies!)

Instead, what you get are these pictures of my Breakfast Wrap...

* 90-calorie spinach Flat Out flatbread
* Morning Star Farms veggie bacon strips
* light sour cream
* shredded carrot
* eggs
* parsley
* kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I found a wonderful recipe on Helium http://www.helium.com for scrambled eggs, and I wanted to give you the link as well as give credit to the author of the article. But, now I can’t find it! Here are the instructions to the best of my recollection.

1. Crack egg(s) into small dish. Do not stir. Pour into hot (medium heat) pan and stirring constantly, cook till starts to set. Lift pan off heat for a few seconds as you continue stirring. Put pan back on heat. Do this 2-3 times till eggs are set the way you like them.

2. Remove the pan from the burner and stir in a teaspoon or two of sour cream (depending on how many eggs you’re cooking) and some salt and pepper.

3. If you decide to add any extra ingredients, such as diced onions or parsley, do your prepping beforehand and add them at the end. (Items that need cooking should be cooked and set aside until the eggs are done.)

LUNCH OR SUPPER...
Again, colorful, tasty and nutritious.

A salad -- always easy and quick to prepare. Just check the frig and the cupboards for ingredients to mix and match. In this case...

* leafy green lettuce
* cherry or grape tomatoes
* yellow summer squash (from a neighbor’s garden, sliced and lightly steamed
* shredded carrots (steamed with the squash)
* a whole (small) can of tuna in water -- drain off the water before adding to the salad

Arrange artfully and appealingly! Top with your favorite salad dressing.



DESSERT...
Perhaps my best cupcakes ever.

I had a coupon, so I cheated and bought Betty Crocker “FUN da-middles”: cupcake mix with creamy vanilla filling. Couldn’t help myself! There was a great coupon in the Sunday paper, so I got myself a deal when buying two boxes. I baked the vanilla version (as is obvious in the pictures). Love the filling--it’s marshmallowy!

Mmmmm, cupcakes even look yummy in black and white...

The icing came straight from my freezer. Homemade. Leftover. From Coconut Rum Cupcakes that I made for my son’s birthday. The texture and taste of the cupcakes was pretty bad, so I quickly removed that “pin” from my Pinterest cupcake board! The icing, on the other hand (with its tiny addition of coconut rum) was the best!

Doesn’t this picture make you a wee bit sad that you weren’t here the day I made them. I handed most of them out to neighbors.

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Basil leaves and a marigold from my little garden...