Orange Creamcicle Cupcakes

So I was in the mood to bake...I rarely get that feeling, so I decided to make the most of it. I decided that cupcakes sounded good, I could use my cupcake carrier that my wonderful friends Liz & Rob gave us for our wedding and take most them up to my parents tomorrow when I go to spend time with my parents.

I wanted to make a cream cheese frosting to go with the cupcakes, because...let's face it, I could eat that stuff with a spoon! Anyway...I found that I had all the ingredients to make a vanilla cupcake and cream cheese frosting...except I wanted to flavor them with the orange extract I had but didn't have the confectioners sugar! Luckily, I did some investigative work via the wonderful internet and found that you can blend regular sugar into powdered sugar!

Unfortunately, I didn't blend long enough or something, it looked and felt pretty powdery, but it made the frosting very gritty...Paul didn't care for the texture, I thought it tasted good, just a little crunch to it. Next time I make these, I'll have regular confectioners sugar and they will be even more spectacular.
Vanilla Cupcakes (which I transformed into orange)
Recipe courtesy of www.joyofbaking.com

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract (I substituted Orange extract)
• Zest of 1 large lemon (optional – I omitted)
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp. Baking powder
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• ¼ cup milk

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and lightly butter or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
• For the Cupcakes: Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
• In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. If you want flat topped cupcakes then slice off the dome of each cupcake, with a sharp knife, before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe courtesy of Slashfood

Ingredients

• 8 oz. cold cream cheese
• 5 tbs. butter, softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. orange)
• 2 cups confectioners sugar

Directions

• Beat cold cream cheese (right out of fridge is fine), the butter and the extract together until combined.
• Add the sugar a little at a time until all combined and uniform. You can add more sugar here until the frosting reaches the desired consistency.

This is NOT take-out...

My husband loves General Tso's Chicken when we go out to our local Chinese place...to my surprise, he decided a few days ago to search for a recipe he could make himself (which he found here at Beachlover's Kitchen), went and got all the ingredients and tonight, he made this dish for our 2 1/2 year anniversary together. Does this look like a meal you get at home? NO! Did it taste like a bland version of Chinese at home? NO...it was outstanding. And no, I am not just saying that because he's my wonderful husband. I seriously thought this was just fabulous....flavorful, tasty, and fairly quick...I didn't hear any complaining coming from the kitchen and before I knew it, he was saying that dinner was ready! He even plated it himself, look at that beautiful picture! I am so proud.

General Tso's Chicken - prepared by Paul
Recipe courtesy of Beachlover's Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1-2 lb boneless chicken breast (cut into cubes)
• 5-6 tbs. corn flour (*Paul used 8 tbs. regular flour)
• 1 egg (*Paul used 2 eggs, he said it was too thick with one egg)
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• *mix above ingredients for 20 minutes before deep fry*
• 1 head broccoli (cut and steamed)
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 4-5 cloves minced garlic
• 1 Tbs. Hoisin sauce
• 1 Tbs. Soy sauce
• 2 Tbs. Sugar
• 1 Tbs. Chinese Rice Wine
• 1 tsp. Ground Ginger powder
• 1 Tbsp. Chicken Bullion powder (*Paul omitted)
• 1 tsp. Dark soy sauce (*Paul omitted)
• 1 Tbs. Corn flour with water (dissolved) (*Paul used corn starch)
• 1 Tbs. Sesame oil
• Paul added Red Pepper Flakes to his plate to give it some heat
  

Directions

• Prepare oil in deep pot for frying at medium heat. Add in coated boneless chicken in the hot oil one at a time, fry until it's turned golden brown, remove and lay on paper towel to absorb excess oil.
• Prepare wok with 1 tbsp oil at high heat. Add in garlic, Chinese rice wine, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sugar, dark soy sauce, ground ginger powder, chicken bullion powder and corn flour solution. Let the sauce simmer until it boils. Quickly add in fried breaded cubed chicken in the thick sauce, mix well. Remove from heat.
• Microwave cut and washed broccoli in a large bowl, covered for 2 minutes (It would be easier to boil or steam the broccoli until tender on the stovetop). Decorate steamed broccoli with cooked chicken as shown. Serve warm with rice.

Mmmmmm...Guacamole

We had 4 avocados that were needing to be used, what better way to use them up than by making guacamole?!

I found this recipe on Cooking with Court's blog...it is for Chipotle's Guacamole. Anything close to Chipotle's anything must be good! It turned out sooooo good. It was delicious, easy, flavorful and I will definitely be making this again soon!!

Chipotle's Guacamole
Recipe courtesy of Cooking with Court

Ingredients

• 2 large ripe Hass avocado, peeled and pitted
• 2 tsp. fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
• 1 clove of garlic, finely minced
• 1 Serrano chili, seeded and chopped *I omitted*
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions
Mash up avocado with a fork or food processor. Add lime juice. Add all other ingredients and blend well. Serve with tortilla chips.

**Also, Courtenay posted a wonderful tip that if you put the avocado pit back into the guacamole and cover well, it will prevent it from browning! It worked like a charm!!! Awesome tip!!!!

Creamy Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms

This recipe is a Shawna original...I try lots of ways to change up the typical stuffed mushroom recipe and these were flavorful, creamy and delicious! It was a great way to use up some pesto from the giant batch I made! Of course, Paul is always a willing guinea pig!

I would change up this recipe a little bit...I would add in Italian bread crumbs to make the filling more stable. I forgot that the mushrooms would release liquid while cooking, so they came out just a little watery...I think the addition of bread crumbs would help tighten it all up while it cooked!

Creamy Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms
Recipe courtesy of me

Ingredients

• Button mushrooms, wiped clean, stems removed & reserved
• 1/2 brick of cream cheese, softened
• 3 Tbs. fresh Pesto sauce
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• *In the future, I would recommend adding 1/2 cup or so of bread crumbs here*
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Goat cheese to top

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix cream cheese, pesto, parmesan cheese, *bread crumbs*, salt & pepper in a small bowl.
• Using a spoon or scoop, fill each mushroom with a scoop of cream cheese Pesto filling.
• Set each mushroom on a baking sheet that has been drizzled with olive oil.
• Slice a small piece of goat cheese (YUM) and set on top of each mushroom.
• Pop in oven and cook for 10-12 minutes until hot.

Pesto Sauce

*pesto shown over Trader Joe's Mini Cheese Ravioli*

Deliciousness at it's best....a great, versatile sauce for ravioli, spaghetti, dipping bread, or my recipe for stuffed mushrooms! Paul never had Pesto before and he's commented both times that I've made this that he loves it. A home-run, if you ask me!

Walnut Pesto
Recipe courtesy of Astray Recipes

Ingredients

• 3 Tbs. walnuts
• 2 cups fresh basil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

• Combine first 5 ingredients in food processor and puree.
• With machine running, slowly stream in olive oil.
• Turn off, scrape down sides, puree again until uniform.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

I got the idea for making my own tortilla chips on Carrie's blog (Carrie in the Kitchen) and again, it was one of those moments when I said to myself "Why haven't I ever done this???" Easy, fresh and much better than store bought, these were just like the good ones at your local Mexican place! I'll definitely be doing this again and next time adding in some homemade salsa!

Tortilla Chips
Inspired by Carrie

Ingredients

• As many corn tortillas as you would like, I cut each stack into 6 wedges (cutting them like a pizza into equal wedges), you could do 8 wedges if you'd like
  
• Salt to sprinkle to taste
• Enough oil to cover a skillet or pot about 1/2 inch

Directions
Heat oil until very hot...I tested one and if it didn't fry aggressively instantly then I knew I needed to crank up the heat a little more. If the heat is too low, the chips will turn out soggy.
It should only take about 5 seconds per side.

Fry in small batches, flipping after about 5 seconds, let fry another 5 seconds then remove to a plate waiting nearby lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt to taste when still hot and ENJOY!

Perfect brownies...

At least in our opinion...these were not TOO sweet, not too rich, the crust was crunchy and the inside was moist and fudge-y. They came together so quickly! I did make one substitution & one addition, but I think it worked out well, see recipe. :) I can see being able to add so many things to this recipe and them all turning out very well!

Brownies Cockaigne
Joy of Cooking Cookbook - 75th Anniversary Edition
Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker

If you want them chewy and moist, use a 9x13" pan; if cakey, use a 9x9" pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt in a double boiler:
1/2 cup butter
4 oz. chocolate (I didn't do this, instead I added 1/2 cup of Hersey's cocoa powder to the melted butter)
Cool this mixture. If you don't, your brownies will be heavy and dry. Beat until light in color and foamy in texture.
Add 4 eggs at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add the following gradually and continue beating until well creamed
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
With a few swift strokes, combine the cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs and sugar.
Even if you normally use an electric mixer, do this manually.
Before the mixture becomes uniformly colored, fold in, again by hand:
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
If desired, add:
1 cup chopped pecans (I omitted, but did add a very small amount of leftover Heath bits)
Bake in a 9x13" pan (or 9x9) for about 25 minutes. Cut when cool.