Red Velvet Winter Cupcakes

Hey everyone! For this post I decided to try something a little different. I made a video! I made a batch of red velvet cupcakes and decorated them for winter. I decided just to use cake mix and frosting from the store so they wouldn't take quite as long to make. I hope you enjoy!

Instructions:
1. Make the batter from scratch or using a mix. Put into cupcake tin and bake, following instructions for your recipe or mix.
2. Frost with swirls using icing of choice. You can use any recipe or store-bought frosting. Click here to see my favorite buttercream frosting recipe.
3. Melt white chocolate either on the stove with a double-boiler, or in the microwave. To microwave: Put chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds at time, stirring between each 30 seconds.
4. Sprinkle silver luster dust in snowflake mold. This is the one I used, but any mold will work: Snowflake Mold
5. Put chocolate into mold and freeze. The amount of time it takes for the chocolate to set will vary depending on the type of chocolate and the size of the mold you use. Mine took about 10 minutes to fully set.
6. Remove snowflakes from mold and add to cupcakes. Be careful not to handle these too much. The warmth from your hands can melt the chocolate and you need to be careful not to leave fingerprints in the chocolate, either.

Sugar Free Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Hey guys! Here's a sugar free frosting recipe! I haven't been able to make buttercream frosting without sugar yet because the powdered sugar is what makes it that perfect frosting thickness, but cream cheese also works to get the right thickness.

Ingredients:
1 package of Cream Cheese
1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
2 tsp Trim Healthy Mama Gentlesweet (Artificial sweeteners like Splenda would also work. It's for taste, so whatever you prefer.)

What's Trim Healthy Mama? Here's their website. http://www.trimhealthymama.com/ 
Directions:

1. Mix ingredients with electric mixer.
2. Add more Heavy Whipping Cream if the frosting is too thick.
3. Add more sweetener if needed.

I hope you all enjoy this sugar free cream cheese frosting recipe!

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Hey everybody! Thanksgiving is over and I'm back home now. I enjoyed spending a weekend with family and I hope you all had a great time for Thanksgiving too. Now that Thanksgiving is over, what do you do with all those leftovers? Sure, you could just repeat Thanksgiving dinner for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a few days, but why not make it a little bit more interesting. Let's spice up those leftovers!

Here are a couple ideas:

• Casserole- Turkey, Stuffing/Dressing, Gravy, and Mashed Potatoes. Put all together in a casserole and you've got a whole new dish from the same old foods.
• Soup- A delicious way to use the leftover turkey. Click the bowl of soup below for a website with some great recipes for soups using leftover turkey.

  

  Soup!

  Image from: http://www.clipartpanda.com/categories/soup-clip-art-borders-templates 

2 Pumpkin Pie Recipes for Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!! Thanksgiving is here and what better way to celebrate than homemade pumpkin pie? Gotta have something worthy to follow that turkey, right? Here are two recipes I found for the perfect dessert after Thanksgiving dinner. One is made completely from scratch and the other is super simple.

1. Completely From Scratch

2. Super Simple

CHOCOLATE OVERLOAD

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/32/76/c4/3276c438f7a2c51415062769b064ed73.jpg

https://mumblingnerd.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/everything-either-is-or-isn_t-chocolate-v2.jpg

http://icehousecrafts.com/shop/images/uploads/chocolate_fixes_everything.JPG

Hello! This one is just gonna be some pictures to give you ideas for everything chocolate.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvEWYf6WLeCUAa7WctTMWoZJ4LXMjiN3RpxtXHQJ-uaksC84hL0A

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQc6OnpH3VmlAQt73CHnjVbVo3LUns7SV5hyzQ6to2BaGa9beZfQw

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRzrpto4M77R5CJXo0NvICUDFfC9Qp_hmcLIfSX4Z7ymgIDPKh09g

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQyrdMy-g9i0PnLvVD12bA5ejmAXwNMaiAmMRcjs1_evmrd_KIG1A

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRM7tZ7rl3XPh0mSPRFxjOm0boDeDPApnB2yy5G7UFZnvaB77K9OQ

I've saved the best for last:

http://www.nutella.com/nutella-gl-theme/images/custom/Nutella.png

Favorite Scrambled Eggs Recipe

Hey everybody! Here is a super easy breakfast that you can make in about 10 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 small tomato (I used a really little one from my garden.)
2 eggs
salt
pepper
cilantro
onion powder (or fresh if you prefer)
cayenne
Perfect Pinch Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper (if you can't find this you can use something similar or substitute for fresh garlic and red pepper)

Directions:
1. Melt butter in the pan or whatever you prefer to use.
2. Put eggs in and stir some.
3. Add the seasonings and stir. Add however much you like. Here is a picture to show how much I used.

















4. Add tomato and stir. Next time I would probably chop mine up a little smaller.

















5. Add cheese.

















6. Cook like you normally cook scrambled eggs.


Here is the finished product.

Sorry it's sideways. I tried to fix it, but there is no option to rotate photos.

Hot Chocolate

Hello! The weather has started to get cold again as we move on farther into fall and towards winter. That means... *drum roll please* hot chocolate! Here are my favorite hot chocolate ideas for the chilly weather.

1. Caramel

One of my hot chocolate favorites is caramel flavored. Of course you can buy caramel flavored hot chocolate, but I like to just add a little caramel extract to mine.

2. Peppermint

Again, one of my favorites. Add a little peppermint extract and instantly make your hot chocolate a billion times better. Careful not to add too much. This has very strong flavor. I usually use somewhere between a 1/4 and a 1/2 a tsp. 

For some more ideas, check out this chart:

I found this chart here.

Tommy Bahamas Sanibel Chicken Copycat Attempt

Hey everybody! Sorry this is a day late, but I tried to make this last night and it took a long time. My Dad and I attempted to make a copycat version of Tommy Bahamas' Sanibel Chicken. It didn't turn out exactly right, but you can take this recipe and experiment with it.

 Ingredients:
2 roasted red bell peppers
2-4 cloves of garlic (depending on size)
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp. butter (melted)
salt to taste
crushed red pepper to taste
chicken breasts
Alouette Garlic & Herb Cheese (same used in restaurant)








Directions:
1. Chop up roasted red bell peppers and garlic. Blend with heavy cream.

2. Pour into a small-medium bowl.
3. Stir in melted butter, salt, and crushed red pepper.
4. Stuff chicken with cheese and grill.

5. Serve stuffed chicken with sauce and a side of mashed potatoes.

Fall Flavors Cupcakes

Hey everybody! Wanna spice up those plain old vanilla cupcakes? Today I have another original recipe for ya! You can add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, and apple pie spice to regular vanilla cupcakes to add a little bit of fall flavor.

I stirred up a small batch vanilla cupcake recipe I like that makes 2-3 cupcakes
 and added 1/2 tsp of apple pie spice, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, and 2 tsp of cinnamon. I would of added some pumpkin spice, but I didn't have any.



Of course, you would add more of each ingredient if you made a larger batch. Just add however much you think it needs. I didn't decorate these real fancy, but if I made these for a party or some other occasion, I would decorate them using some of the ideas from my post: Fall Cupcake Decorating Ideas.

Fall Cupcake Decorating Ideas

Happy Fall Everyone! I am super excited because fall is my favorite season! In the weeks to come there will be loads of new fall stuff on my blog, including new recipes, ideas, and more! Today I have some fall cupcake decorating ideas for you.

How about pumpkins? Pumpkins, along with falling leaves and cool weather, are the very essence of autumn. I love the idea of using pretzel sticks for the stems of the pumpkins. This can be done in such a large variety of ways. I think this would be best with pumpkin flavored cupcakes. This could also be done on cake or cookies.

http://cutestfood.com/8038/pumpkin-cupcakes-2/

Acorns! This would be super easy to make. Instead of trying to make acorns out of frosting, you can just use Hershey's Kisses, Nilla Wafers or mini Nutter Butter Cookies, and small chocolate chips or a little bit of frosting.

https://plus.google.com/113760158124285644800/photos

Finally, the thing most people think about when they think of fall: Falling Leaves! These would be a little bit more difficult than the others, but totally look cool enough to be worth the extra effort. I like the way the first tree looks better but I like the idea of adding some leaves to the tree in the second one. I think it's really cool to use leaf shaped sprinkles, too. You could also just use frosting and a small leaf tip.

http://www.cakechooser.com/james-e-marcia/ 

http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/2010/09/chocolate-fall-trees.html

I hope you enjoyed seeing these ideas I found. Tune in on Thursday for my new cupcake recipe which incorporates classic fall flavors.

Rustic Italian Bisque Recipe

Hi! For the first time I have created my own recipe from scratch. I wanted to share it with you guys!
This recipe is sort of a combination of minestrone and tomato bisque.

Rustic Italian Bisque

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of any type of pasta (I recommend rotini or elbows)
1 can of any type of beans (I prefer kidney or pinto beans)
2 tbsp of butter
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1 can of whole tomatoes
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
2 cups of heavy cream
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and crushed red pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Cook pasta. Follow the instructions on the box.












2. Let beans boil in a separate pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes after boiling.

3. Melt about 2 tbsp of butter in the pot you will make the soup in. Careful not to burn it.

4. Blend the can of whole tomatoes a little bit, but not too much, you don't want tomato juice.
5. When the butter is melted add the tomato sauce, blended tomatoes, and petite diced tomatoes.
6. Stir in the heavy cream until it is well mixed.
8. Add the balsamic vinegar. I say 1/4 cup but don't fill the measuring cup all the way. Fill it about 3/4 of the way full. Stir it in.
9. Add salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and crushed red pepper until you are happy with the taste. Keep in mind after the soup simmers, it will taste stronger.
10. Add the noodles and beans when they are finished cooking.
11. Let the soup simmer for at least 5 minutes. I let my soup simmer while I cleaned up the mess I had made in my kitchen.
12. Serve. I like to serve it with toasted bread or garlic bread.

I hope you enjoy my first recipe. This makes a large pot of soup. It could probably serve 6-8. You can also half or double this recipe if you want, or make adjustments.

Big Island of Hawaii: Favorite Meals

Aloha! I just got back from a trip to Hawaii and wanted to blog about a couple of really great meals I had while I was there.

1. Merriman's
Merriman's is a dinner restaurant on the Big Island of Hawaii. I ordered the lamb there. They serve lamb as a Butcher's Cut. This means the cut of lamb they have varies. While I was there they were serving lamb chops. I ordered them cooked medium and they were perfect. It was 3 lamb chops, served with jalapeno mashed potatoes and rainbow chard. The lamb chops were cooked to perfection, and adding jalapeno to mashed potatoes is absolute genius (and so delicious)! I would highly recommend this, however keep in mind they may not have the same cut of lamb when you're there. Two other members of my family tried the beef that is also different cuts served at different times. When we were there it was filet mignon. I tried a bite of it and would also highly recommend it. I will warning you though, that this restaurant is extremely expensive. Unless you are a millionaire, this is probably best saved for special occasions.

2. Tommy Bahamas
You may have heard of this one. Tommy Bahamas is primarily a chain of clothing stores. There are two of these on the Big Island and I think there are also some in Florida. There may be some on other islands or elsewhere that I do not know of. One of these on the Big Island also has a restaurant on the second floor. I am absolutely in love with their Parmesan Crusted Sanibel Chicken. It is chicken breast stuff with cheese, herbs, and red pepper, crusted with parmesan breading, and topped with a buttery, roasted red pepper sauce. It is served with cauliflower and potato mash, and brocolini (which is very similar to broccoli). It is to die for! Definitely one of my favorite foods ever. This restaurant is also somewhat expensive.

So that's my favorite foods on the Big Island of Hawaii. I would definitely recommend you try these, if you ever get the chance.

-Ally

Father 's Day Cupcakes

Hey everybody! Sorry there haven't been any posts in a while. I've been pretty busy. Anyway, Father's Day is right around the corner and what's the best gift for a Dad? One he can eat of course! So here's some ideas to get you started!

http://www.cupcakedecoratingideas.org/cupcake-decorating-ideas/father%E2%80%99s-day-cupcakes



http://todaysmama.com/2012/06/fathers-day-cupcakes/

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2009/06/fathers-day-cupcake-roundup.html

http://www.familyholiday.net/cupcake-cake-ideas-for-fathers-day

http://dessertdiners.com/fathers-day-lawnmower-cupcakes/

Food Coloring

Hey! Isn't it great to make cakes and cupcakes pop with a little bit of color. You can color the batter or the frosting or both. The three main types of food coloring are liquid, gel, and powder.

• Liquid: Liquid food coloring can be found at most grocery stores. Obviously they can also be found at baking supplies stores and some craft stores like Hobby Lobby. Liquid food coloring may be the most common and easiest to find type, but since liquid food coloring is highly water based, it can change the thickness of batter, frosting, and especially chocolate and fondant. It is okay for batter, but I don't recommend it for frosting, chocolate, or fondant.
• Gel: Gel food coloring can be found at baking supplies stores, some grocery stores, and some craft stores. I buy mine at Hobby Lobby. I also prefer Wilton brand. Because it is less water based, this works great for batter and frosting and also works for chocolate and fondant. When used for fondant it will make a mess though.
• Powder: Powder food coloring can be found at some grocery stores and craft stores and at baking supplies stores. This is the best type for making chocolate and fondant. It's also less messy for making fondant. It can also be used for batter and frosting, but it is unnecessary because gel food coloring works just fine.

If you don't want to buy a bunch of different colors or you're not sure which colors you will need, then you can just buy the 3 primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) plus brown and black. You can mix any colors you want with primary colors except brown and black.
Here's a chart to shows how to mix some different colors:

Hope you enjoy coloring batter, frosting, chocolate, fondant, and anything else you want.





Bake Cake in an ORANGE?!

           Hey! I found this really cool idea here: http://www.darlingdoodlesdesign.com/2012/08/orange-cake.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+DarlingDoodles+(Darling+Doodles) Baking cake in oranges! Click the link for the full explanation, tutorial, and recipe.
          This looks super cool! I hope I get a chance to try it out soon. These would be really cool with orange flavored and/or colored cake and frosting! The orange also looks so cool when you serve them.
          It helps cut down on the mess too. It is less messy to eat them straight out of the orange with a spoon or fork instead of bothering with cupcake liners and loads of crumbs. You also don't need a cupcake tin. One less dish to wash!
          Hope you decide to check these out and make these. I have never seen this idea before and I never would have thought to bake cake in an orange!




Here's a picture from the blog post that I linked to above!

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Summer Treats!

Summer is finally here! Warm weather, swimming, ice cream, did I mention warm weather? 
Here's a list of some cool treats for you to enjoy this summer!

1. Homemade Popsicles
Make these with yogurt and any fruit you like!

http://www.cateringbyedge.com/blog/2014/8/13/healthy-summer-dessert-ideas

2. Chocolate Dipped Fruit
These can also be made as kebabs or decorated with drizzled chocolate, sprinkles, candy, or all of the above!

https://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/32300/chocolate-dipped-fruit-kabobs/





















3. Stuffed Strawberries

Take off the top and scoop out the middle then, fill them with frosting, cream cheese, yogurt, marshmallow topping, or whipped cream. These can also be decorated with chocolate, sprinkles, etc.

http://www.theluxuryspot.com/yum-alert-leftover-frosting-stuff-it-in-a-strawberry/

4. S'mores Brownies
Graham cracker crust, chocolate brownie middle, and melted marshmallows on top! Mmmm!

http://www.dishmaps.com/s-more-brownies/5642

These summer treats look amazing and would be great for parties, or just to enjoy for no particular reason at all!