Sunday is a thinking day......

Yesterday cupcakes were handed out for free to people that I hope will become my customers in the very near future.  It was like having a large taste testing day from people that i didn't know!  The results were great.  Not only were cupcakes handed out, there was also cheesecake,cannoli and fruit tarts.  We had great reviews for all the products except one lady told me that my cupcakes were too dry for her.  Out of 7 dozen cupcakes given out -I only had one person tell me a negative. She said she loved the flavor but likes them super moist.  I feel that was an amazing day for my cupcakes.

It's now Sunday and I'm watching football (KC vs IND -only because it's the only game on our TV) and thinking about tomorrow.  Tomorrow brings with it my new recipe of red velvet cupcakes.  Oh these red velvet cupcakes -- I will conquer this one this week.  I will be calling on my taste testers this week!

While working on red velvet I shall be coming up with my own icing.  Chocolate and Vanilla to start off. Not too sweet, not to rock hard and it must taste great!

Off to think about icing!!!

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12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Week #2: Peanut Butter Blossoms

It's week two of the Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies and I decided to make one of my family's favorite cookies...Peanut Butter Blossoms or as my girls call them, Kiss Cookies.  I love these year round but especially at Christmas as it is an easy and quick cookie and tastes awesome.  I haven't tried them yet with my white bean puree, but I plan on it. 

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
(aka Kiss Cookies)

1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 tbsps milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
unwrapped Hershey's chocolate kisses
granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Beat shortening and peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended.  Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well.  Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  While cookies are baking, unwrap kisses and set aside.  Once cookies have been removed from the oven, immediately press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges.  Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  Cool completely.

Linked to:

  * Simply Sweet Home:  Friday Favorites

Week 2 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

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Baking machine.......

Tonight I will start baking cupcakes to give away as free samples at a swapmeet over the weekend.  I think about 6 or 7 dozen will have to do.  I don't know if I could make much more then that!  lol I'll start after dinner.  Still need to get to the store for some more flour! 

I want to do some more crafting also to put out on the table.  Cupcake picks and wrappers.......maybe a few other odds and ends.  It is a craft fair after all.

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The Final Cupcake!

Once again my neighbors came through with the taste testing!  Tried out two more chocolate cupcake recipes today.  We have a winner!  Finally, my search for a great cupcake is done.  I now have a fantastic vanilla cupcake which I just can't get enough of and a great chocolate cupcake.  I will perfect the red velvet cupcake this week however I'm moving on to frosting!  There are so many to pick from and I'm not really sure which I like the best! 

The best part of today was a text I got asking if I can make a friend cupcakes.  Of course I can! 

Along with all this baking I've been crafting some items to go with the cupcakes.  Everyone needs accessories and guess what -- so do your cupcakes!  I'll be offering up some cupcake picks and cupcake wrappers to go with those yummy treats.  Just a little something extra to finish off the look of the cupcakes!

Eat your sweets!

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Penne with Sausage, Tomatoes and Ricotta

This dish was inspired by a recent visit to Carrabba's. It is actually pretty easy to throw together, takes very few ingredients, but has lots of flavor. I used a can of San Marzano tomatoes, which are a special variety of plum tomatoes that come from a small town of the same name near Naples, Italy. They're a little sweeter and less acidic. I added in some fresh basil and a dollop of ricotta cheese for creaminess. Bon Apetito!

What You'll Need:
1 package of hot Italian turkey sausage (or pork if you'd like), removed from the casing
1/2 an onion, chopped (white or yellow)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 (28-ounce) can of whole, peeled, San Marzano tomatoes
1 box of penne pasta
basil, about 8 leaves, plus 4 leaves
handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
0live oil
salt and pepper

How to Make It:
In a large skillet or pot, add a little olive oil and heat over medium to medium-high. Add the sausage and cook while crumbling. Once brown, add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes or so.

At this point start to boil your water for the pasta and the penne once the water is boiling. Back to the sausage and onion mixture, add the can of tomatoes (and the juice), crushing the tomatoes in your hand as you add them. Season with a little salt and black pepper. Allow to simmer while your pasta cooks.

Roll the 8 leaves of basil together like a cigar, slice to make ribbons. Add the ribbons of basil to the sauce. Once the pasta is done, drain. Spoon into bowls, top with some of the sauce and finish with the additional basil leaves, chopped parsley, freshly grated parmesan cheese and a dollop of ricotta cheese.

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Red Velvet Cupcakes

Today was filled with big fluffy Red Velvet Cupcakes.  Two batches to be exact.  Since I've never made a red velvet cupcake before I picked out a recipe from a very famous southern cook -who has a show on the food channel.  Well, I started bright and early this morning while my daughter was still at school.  Out came the flour, sugar and all the good stuff that goes into these cupcakes.  Turned up the heat on my fantastic oven to 350 and put on some tunes on my super old radio that has a tape deck. I mixed and mixed and thought this batch is finally ready.  In the oven it went to be baked.

The first batch was finally done about 20 minutes later.  Out they came to cool and first thing I noticed was these red velvet cupcakes had more of a pink tint to them.  Great maybe for a pink poodle party or a breast cancer awareness event but not for a red velvet cupcake.  With that I started on batch number two!

These came out a little more red this time around. However, still not great.  That's where a great old friend of mine comes into play.  My good old friend from Jersey sent me a tip and that tip will lead to batch number three tomorrow!  The red velvets that were made today were just fine however I'm looking for amazing.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to find just that - the most amazing red velvet cupcake.  Plus, on tomorrows list one more go around with chocolate cupcakes.  A friend sent me a recipe she uses and I think it might just help me out! 

Thank you to my friends and family that are so wonderful and don't mind helping me! Cupcakes for all! 

Remember to treat yourself to a sweet and be happy!

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Beauty and The Beast is finally on Blu-ray!

This is one of my favorite all time Disney movies!  I am so excited that is out on Blu-ray now.  Even better is the $10 coupon on the combo pack!  Awesome deal!!

At my Target, the combo pack is $24.99 so with the coupon it would be $14.99.

Guess what we will be watching for Friday Family Movie Night?

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