Friday's Favorites: Cupcakes

I love desserts. You name it, I like it. Cakes, pies, cookies, bars, ice cream and anything chocolate. I grew up learning how to make all sorts of delicious desserts my mom, aunt and grandma would make. I could probably make chocolate chip cookies from memory by the age of 12. One of my favorite memories as a child involved the ritual of making cupcakes for my birthday. Each year I would request cupcakes, chocolate mostly, to take in to school for birthday treats. I would help my mom mix up the batter and I can still remember her pouring some of the batter into a cupcake liner for me to eat. The other day I was at Barnes and Noble and saw the February edition of Martha Stewart Living and it caught my eye because there on the front cover in the shape of a heart were the most delicious looking cupcakes.

I bought the magazine immediately.

I have been reading through it and have been amazed at some of the recipes it contains. Things like peanut butter cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and jelly. Have you ever heard of that? It sounds incredible! or Brownie heart cupcakes...brownie batter baked in cupcake liners that look like cupcakes with cut out brownie hearts on top of a buttercream icing. Wow!

So, I thought that for today's Friday's favorites I would share two of my favorite recipes I found in the magazine. In case you already have the February 2009 copy, you can find the recipes on page 148. If you don't own this copy, you may just want to run out and get yourself a copy!

YELLOW BUTTER CUPCAKES
(makes 36)
3 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
9 ounces unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs plus 3 large yolks, room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
2. Reduce speed to low. Mix any remaining wet ingredients in a bowl if needed. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
3. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days, unless otherwise noted.


ONE-BOWL CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
(makes 18)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons safflower oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth.
2. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks, and let cool. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.


BASIC BUTTERCREAM
(makes about 4 cups)
12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (after every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high). Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.)


Happy cupcake eating! Have a great Friday! See you all on Monday!
Take care,
Julie

Friday's Favorites

Yes, I am back with Friday's Favorites! If you are new to this you can read about it here.

Last week my husband and I went on a date, a real date that included dinner and live music. Jon McLaughlin was in town and I jumped at the chance to listen to him live. He's on tour to promote his recently released second album. (If you've never heard of him you can check him out at www.myspace.com/jonmclaughlin. Some people know him b/c one of his songs was featured in the movie "Enchanted" and he performed it in the movie as well) His first album, "Indiana" has been on almost constant rotation on my ipod this past year. He is an amazing piano player, but not only that, he managed to make the concert rock while playing the piano along with the rest of the band. He ended the concert with "Industry" and for his encore did "Human" and "Beautiful Disaster" which are all off his first album and were by far my favorite songs, along with "Beating my Heart". He played at a place here in town called Brewster Street which has a restaurant and an outside open patio with picnic tables and a stage. Thinking about this concert made me think of other concerts I have been to, so today's Friday Favorites is a list of some of my all time favorite concerts, in no particular order:

1. Over the Rhine: This was the first date and concert my husband and I went to. Over the Rhine was playing in Cincinnati, Ohio (which is where they are from) at a place called "Sudsy Malone's". Sudsy's was a bar/laundromat and if you brought in a load of laundry to do they would waive the cover charge. I remember the concert was so good and I was in heaven just being there with John, great, great memories.

2. John Prine: I saw John Prine with my husband in Des Moines, Iowa probably 10+ years ago. I remember Todd Snider opened up for him. John Prine is such an amazing story teller through his songs. I remember yelling out "Lake Marie" (which is one of my top 10 songs of all time) after every song and yes, he did do the song and it was just amazing.

3. Nanci Griffith: John and I saw Nanci in Ohio a long ago. I remember this concert as just being fun. I love her voice, love her music and the crowd was into it as well. It was a bit of a smaller venue and it just felt pretty intimate.

4. Counting Crows: I saw them at Polaris in Columbus, Ohio. Polaris is an outdoor place. It was a beautiful night and my sister came with John and I. We were on the grassy area where you just sit down on blankets. I remember two things about this concert, Adam Duritz, the lead singer was just mesmerizing...he did this probably 10 minute version of "Round Here" that was incredible. The second thing I remember is that this couple came around and asked if they could sit on our blanket with us. We said sure, so they sat for awhile and right away it became apparent that they were completely drunk. After a few minutes the girl just leaned over and puked all over the corner of our blanket! They both apologized and then got up to leave. My husband pulled out his swiss army knife, cut off the stinky puke part, threw it away and Voila! we continued to enjoy the rest of the concert!

5. Jars of Clay: This group is one of my favorite bands. I saw them in Iowa last summer. It was an outside concert and it was fun. I saw them last December when they were on their Christmas tour with Third Day. My friend Yvonne and I waited in line to meet them. They were a group of guys that I could picture my husband and I hanging out with and having over to dinner.

Other great concerts...

REM: Saw them in Ames, Iowa and I remember Michael Stipe stood with his back to the audience. I say it was almost the entire concert, my husband says it was not that long. Any way, the concert was good.

Chris Rice: Saw him at a fair and he performed outside. It was a perfect summer night and it was lots of fun!

Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, etc. Lots of great times

Well, that's it for now. What about you? Do you like going to concerts? Any favorites or good memories? Tell me about it, I'd love to hear!

Take care,

Julie

P.S. I asked my husband his favorites and he seconded the Over the Rhine, REM, Jars of Clay and added: Lenny Kravitz, The Rolling Stones, Bare Naked Ladies and the Ichthus festival.

Friday's Favorites

The other day I was praying whining to God about the weather. (Anyone else care to admit, like me, that sometimes your prayers are more like whining than a conversation with God?) I grew up in the Midwest. The Midwest has 4 seasons. All different. I have now lived in South Texas for almost 3 years. The South has pretty much the exact same weather, give or take 20-25 degrees. My mind can not wrap itself around the fact that although the calendar says October, which in my mind equals cool weather, leaves changing, sweaters, fires, etc. the weather here equals summer, as in 92 degree summer weather. In the middle of October. This just doesn't seem right. I was talking to God about this. How I could really use a break from this hot weather. Something, anything a bit cooler. I was starting to get depressed about it. Guess what came through last night? Yes, a Texas kind of cool front. Guess what the high temperature was today? 71 degrees! TWENTY degrees cooler! Noticeably cooler. So much so that as I am writing this I have all the windows open, I'm wearing a fleece and I am playing Christmas music! That's Texas weather for you!

Thank you Lord for loving me enough to listen to my pathetic whining and graciously lavishing South Texas with a break in the weather. You are so kind.

Anyway, for Friday's Favorites I thought I would talk about favorite things about fall. Please feel free to add any you can think of. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

1. sweaters
2. fire in the fireplace
3. opening up the windows and airing out the house
4. pumpkins
5. cool temperatures
6. leaves changing
7. hay rides
8. wearing jeans and not roasting
9. reading a book while covered in a blanket
10.flannel pj's

What are your favorite fall thing? Let me know.

Take care,
Julie

Friday's Favorite...it's a dump

*Updated to add: I originally had this written for last week but opted to post something else that was on my heart. Hope you enjoy it one week later.




Hey there!

Did I get your attention with the title for today? Let me do a little explaining. Oh yeah, in case you are new to Friday's Favorites you can read all about it here.

This week's favorite is a recipe for a dump cake. Why, one might ask, would you post a recipe for a dump cake as a favorite?

One simple answer...it saved me this week. Not saved me as in I was dying, but came to my rescue in a time of need.

Let me backtrack a bit. Friday is the end of the first 6 weeks at my kid's school. One of the kindergarten room mothers thought it would be a great thing to do some kind of teacher appreciation event for all the teachers in the school. (thankfully it's not a huge school) It was decided that the Pre-K and Kindergarten wing of the school would provide for a teacher appreciation dessert on Friday. Since I am room mom for my daughter's kindergarten class, the responsibility to find eager parents who wouldn't mind adding one more thing to their already busy plate, fell on me. I sent out an email talking about the dessert and how our class was asked to provide two fruit desserts and paper plates.

You all know where I am going to go with this one. Within minutes I got a response back from a parent wanting to bring the paper plates. I knew it was coming. Who has not been on the other side where a sign up sheet is going around and you think to yourself, "Man, I hope there's something easy I can sign up for like paper products!"? After the sign up for paper plates I had no takers on the fruit desserts. I resigned myself to the fact that I would bring in a dessert. So I sent out a second email later in the week asking for a fruit bowl. I thought that maybe someone would rather run into the HEB grocery and pick up a pre-made fruit bowl instead of whipping up a fruit dessert and that I might get someone's attention.

I was wrong. As I am writing this, I still have no takers which more than likely means I will run to the grocery and pick up one of those convenient pre-made fruit bowls I promoted earlier.

Just to keep things really interesting, I have had a sick child for the past few days which has confined me to the house and left me with a child who fluctuates between being clingy and wanting to play CandyLand after the medicine he's taking kicks in and he feels good.

So, earlier in the week when it became apparent that I would be making a fruit dessert, but before I had a sick child, I had the clever idea of doing a fruit pizza. Sounds good, right? In theory, yes, but with a sick child, a husband working long hours at the hospital and being stuck at home without any of the ingredients and no time to slice a bunch of fruit for a pizza, let's just say, "It's not going to happen!" Plan B then...a dump cake. It fits all the categories I need...it contains fruit, it's easy and I can take sick child to the grocery and buy the ingredients in no time flat.

However, before I went out and bought the ingredients to make a dump cake I needed to check with my good friend, Yvonne, who is the room mom for her daughter's kindergarten class at our school. See, Yvonne's class was assigned to bring a cake for the dessert and I figured since great minds like ours think alike, I should probably check in with her and make sure she wasn't planning on bringing the same thing. Plus, I wanted to get a little go ahead for coming up with such a brilliantly easy solution to the dessert dilemma. After talking to her and finding out that she also had taken creative liberties with her "cake" assignment , deciding to instead bring a cinnamon struessel bread, I got the thumbs up and "dump away" from her.

That, in a nutshell, is why today's Friday's Favorite is a dump cake. It has 4 ingredients, one of which is 2 sticks of butter and I figure what says "Teachers we love and appreciate you and are not trying to clog your arteries and cause you to have a heart attack" like a cake with two sticks of butter.

There you have it, Dump Cake. Here's the very easy recipe.
Enjoy.

Dump Cake:
1 20oz. can of crushed pineapple (do not drain)
1 21oz. can of prepared more fruit cherry-pie filling
1 box of yellow cake mix
2 sticks of butter

1. Dump the fruit in a bowl and stir.
2. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.
3. Sprinkle the cake mix over the fruit
4. Melt the two sticks of butter.
5. Drizzle butter over the cake mix.
6. Bake at 350 for 45 min. to an hour (May take more or less depending on your oven)


Take care,
Julie

Friday's Favorites #5

Lately I have seen a lot of blogs posting their fall reading list or their favorite books from the summer. Now that it is a comfortable 80 out as I am writing, I thought I would go with that theme for this week's Friday's Favorites. If you are new to this blog you can read all about Friday's Favorites here.

I picked four of my favorite books to highlight. Some have been a favorite for years, others have become a favorite recently. I have to say, some of the books have things I don't agree with, one of the books disturbed me, but they all made me think and in that respect earned a spot as a favorite.

My first book is a recent favorite, "The Shack". In fact, it was the topic of my last Friday's Favorite. I won't spend a lot of time re-saying the same things. You can read what I wrote about it here.

One of my favorite authors is Donald Miller. His most popular book he's written thus far is "Blue Like Jazz." I liked the book, but the book he wrote that I want to mention is "Searching For God Knows What". It is just great. Here's a quote from the book, (on page ix) ...

"Sometimes I feel as though I were born in a circus, come out of my mother's womb like a man from a cannon, pitched toward the ceiling of the tent, all the doctors and nurses clapping in delight from the grandstands, the band going great guns in trombones and drums. I unfold and find flight hundreds of feet above the center ring, the smell of popcorn in the air, the clowns gather below, amazed at my grace, and all the people chanting my name as my arms come out like wings and I move swan-like toward the apex, where I draw my arms in, collapse my torso to my legs, roll over in perfection, then slowly give in to gravity. My body falls back toward earth, the ground coming up quick, the center ring growing enormous beneath my falling weight.

And this is precisely when it occurs to me that there is no net. And I wonder, 'what is the use of a circus?' and 'why should a man bother to be shot out of a cannon?' and 'why is the crowd's applause so fleeting? amd...'who is going to rescue me?' "


Next on my favorite's list is a book called, "A Severe Mercy" by Sheldon VanAuken. It's a love story but it also is the story of the author's conversion to Christianity through his friendship with C.S. Lewis. It's beautifully written and it's been my favorite book since I first read it in college.

Two other books I like are "Jesus Land" by Julia Scheeres. This is the pretty disturbing one, although its written well and riveting. The author grew up in a Christian family in Indiana with two adopted african american brothers, a cold and abusive physician father and an even more distant mother. It's heartbreaking.

The other book I read through as quickly as possible was, "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. This is the author's version of what happened on that fateful Mt. Everest expedition the author was on in 1996 that took the lives of many. Jon Krakauer has written other great books like, "Into the Wild". I saw a book of his the other day that I thought I'd like to read. I can't remember the title but it involves a cult.

A couple of other books I would like to read this fall are:
"What's so amazing about grace?" by Philip Yancey
"A long way gone" by Ishmael Beah
"Persuasion" by Jane Austen


What about you? Any book you hope to read this fall? Let me know.
Take care,
Julie

Friday's Favorite #4

Welcome back to Friday's Favorite. If you are new here to this blog you can read about Friday's favorite here . Last week I took a break since I was in NYC doing lots of stuff, but mostly watching tennis.

This week I have picked a book for Friday's Favorite. It's one I started reading on the plane last week. It's called "The Shack" and it is written by William P. Young. I first heard about this book over at the Burnside Writers Blog. The review caught my attention, but I wasn't planning on reading it, for whatever reason I had at the time. Then, I read another story on The Big Mama Blog referencing to the book. Her story got my attention also, but I was holding strong in my conviction not to read the book. Then I left for NYC. I got to my hometown airport and it took all of ten minutes to get checked in and go through security. I had some (lots) of time to pass before my flight left and I thought I'd go buy a book. In my mind "The Shack" came up and I said something to God along the lines of "If this really is a book I'm supposed to read then I will buy it if I see it in the giftshop." Completely thinking there's no way our tiny airport giftshop is going to have it.

I don't have to tell you what the first book was that I laid eyes on.

That's right, "The Shack". Right there in plain sight.

Do not try to tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor or that He does not use different people or means to get His message across to us. For me, it was this book. I knew that the minute I started deciding how God does or does not get His message across to people that at some point I would read this book and that it had something important just for me.

"The Shack" is the story of a father, Mack, who has an unspeakable tragedy happen to one of his kids. He's angry, blames God and has what he calls "The Great Sadness" come over him. One day he receives a letter in the mail from God asking him to meet God at the shack. Mack goes and the rest of the book focuses on this encounter between Mack and God. (By the way the book is fiction)

What I walked away with after reading this book is that I don't really know the heart of God as much as I thought I did. There's a section in the book where Mack comes face to face with what is in his heart. God says to him, "The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don't think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything- the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives-is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don't." (pg. 126)

Pretty convicting.

This book covers a lot of questions I'm sure we've all asked at some time. Things like God's love and bad things in the world. Sin and pain and suffering. Basically this book caused me to re think my relationship with God in a very moving and powerful way.

If you get a chance, check it out and let me know what you think. Also, any favorite book you've read lately? Let me know.

Friday's Favorite #3 and a Giveaway!

Let's start with the really good stuff, a giveaway! Not just ANY giveaway, my very first blogging giveaway! YEAH! Last week forFriday's Favorite I talked about my favorite magazine, Real Simple. (In case you are new to Friday's favorite you can read about it here ) When I went to our HEB grocery later that day, I noticed a Real Simple Family issue in the checkout aisle. I picked it up and bought it. However, this week in the mail I received another copy of the same magazine with my September issue of Real Simple.

I do not need two identical magazines. Maybe shoes, but that's another story.

So, I want to give one away! Just leave a comment and you will be entered. I will leave the contest open until this Saturday, August 23rd at 7:30am (Central time). I will then have my husband randomly select a comment number and we will have our winner. I will post the winner then! Unfortunately I don't have a random integer so my husband will have to do for now. Have fun! You may comment as many times as you wish!

Alright, now that the technical stuff is out of the way, let's move on to todays Friday Favorite.
My favorite today is a radio show from Chicago Public Radio called This American Life.

Where do I even begin in describing this programs greatness? How about with the shows host, Ira Glass? He's witty, an incredible storyteller and interviewer and he and his staff always manage to put together an hour of some of the most engaging, thought provoking stories on the radio.

I first heard This American Life back in 1997. I was listening to a story called Fiasco! . It's the story about a small town attempting to put on a "progressive" version of Peter Pan at a local theater when everything imaginable goes wrong. I was laughing so hard I had to pull my car over and stop so I wouldn't crash. If you go to http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ the Fiasco episode is listed in their archives section as one of their 12 early classics. Check it out. You can also sign up for their free weekly podcast as well as download past episodes and listen to a current episode. Look up http://www.npr.org/ to see if your local National Public Radio station carries This American Life's weekly show. You can also check out the TV show of This American Life on Showtime.

Here are a few of my favorite stories they told, in no particular order...
1. Pray
2. This one has two unbelievable stories. The first is about a place called the "Rubber Room". It's a room in NYC where public teachers are sent while awaiting reassignment or release. The second story is about a place called Chimp Haven, which is a retirement home for chimpanzees. I could not make this up if I tried. The story is calledHuman Resources .
3. The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar.

What about you? Do you have a favorite radio program you can't wait to hear? Maybe it's Prairie Home Companion? Or Car Talk? or Fresh Air? Let me know.
Take care,
Julie

Friday's Favorites #2

This week for Friday's Favorites I have picked a magazine. In case you are new to Friday's Favorites, you can read about it here .

There is one magazine I look forward to receiving in the mail more than anything else.

More than a Boden catalog,
More than an Anthropologie catalog,
More than a J. Crew catalog and even more than Dwell magazine, which is saying a lot because I really do love the above mentioned items. However, none of them compare to the joy I feel when I look in my mailbox and see the newest edition of Real Simple magazine.

This magazine if full of helpful hints, product reviews (think best black pants or best moisturizers), and great writing. I usually read it cover to cover in one sitting.

This month's August edition is no exception.

For example, one of this month's articles features a month's worth of meals that can be ready in 20 minutes.(pg. 152) Did you catch that? Twenty minutes. What's not to love about that?

There's another interesting article full of organizing tips for each room of your house.(pg. 168) Good reading, especially if you are a mother of small children.

If you have not done your back to school supply shopping yet, you will want to check out the article on page 122 containing ways to save money when you do buy back to school supplies.

Finally, you can go online to http://www.realsimple.com/ for different stories, recipes, blogs and more. I especially like the adventures in chaos blog.

How about you? Do you have any favorite magazines you can not wait to read? What about a great summer recipe that can be ready in a flash? Please share! I can't wait to read your comments.

Friday's Favorites

This week marks the beginning of what I am calling Friday's Favorites. I am pretty sure I am not the first blogger to come up with this title, so I'm not taking any credit for it. If you know who did, let me know so I can give them credit.

Each week I'm going to pick a theme and share a few of my favorites from that theme, whether it's shoes, hotels, books, products or websites I like. Should be fun!

Since school is just around the corner, I thought I'd focus on a major back to school item for this first edition....backpacks.

For the last couple of years I've bought a new backpack for each child at the beginning of the school year, mostly because the backpack from the previous year bit the dust by the end of the school year. (think broken zippers, holes in the seams from wear and tear) This year I decided to bite the bullet and invest a bit more money into buying a product that will last longer than a year. (I'm hoping for at least 3-4 years)

Enter Land's End.

Not only does Land's End make quality products, they also have an incredible guarantee that states, "If you're not satisfied with any item, return it to us at any time for an exchange or refund of its purchase price." (Land's End School Uniform catalog, page 4)

How awesome is that?

Also, if your school is on their preferred school list your school can earn 3% cash back on certain purchases you make. It's free and you can find more information about it at www.landsend.com/school.

Land's End has backpacks for every age and need. I bought a pre-school pack for my almost 4 year old. It comes in Navy or Pink and costs $26.50.

For my daughter who is starting Kindergarten I bought a Classmate Jr. backpack good for kids ages 4-7. It is also $26.50 and comes in a variety of colors. You can also buy the Classmate backpack for kids ages 7 & up for $29.50.

Lastly, I needed a backpack for my son who is going into 2nd grade. I'm sure he will have more homework this year and in preparing for older grades I went ahead and shelled out more money for the Wheeled Classmate backpack. At $59.50 it is a substantial bit more, but I figure it will last 4 years which is like paying about $15.00 a year which is less than what I've paid the past several years for a backpack that fell apart.

You also can pay extra for the option of adding your child's name, school logo or a variety of designs for $5.00 a piece.

UPDATE: For some reason I am not able to link all the pictures of the different backpacks and insert them into this piece. I apologize. I am so new at this and I'm not sure what in the world I am doing wrong! However, all the backpacks can be found at www.landsend.com/school

Land's end also makes great lunch boxes that range in price from $10.50-35.00. They come in a variety of colors with the option of adding a name or design.

Whew, that was a lot of information. Any thoughts that you have on back to school items? Do you love to shop for school supplies? Have you bought the supplies already? Have you been able to find everything you need? Do you have a favorite lunchbox from your childhood? Let me know. Take care, Julie