Must Love Cupcakes - Desserts and More

Lonely road

2011-04-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

You always here about the truckers life being a lonely one and the long and lonely road. But what about the truckers wife?

My husband started his truck driving career last Sunday night, I dropped him off at the bus station at 11pm on Sunday 4/10 and here is it Monday 4/18 and we talk every day but it's usually only for a few minutes right before he has to go to bed or before he takes off again.

I miss him, and the giant king size bed we bought is awfully lonely at night with just me in it!

I know this is a good thing in the long run for us because he's working and the money should be good, but I believe I'm allowed to miss him. I mean after all we've only been married for 10 months. We are practically still newlyweds.

Well that is my sad story for now. He should be home in about a week so I should see him for a couple days then.

Demolition and Moving

2011-02-24T07:39:00.000-08:00

I know I said I would be better about keep up with my posts but it's been a crazy time. We are almost ready to move. We've already moved about 3 car loads of boxes in my SUV and one in my uncles massive pick up truck. This Saturday we take the rest. It's hard to tell we've done that much because the place is a mess! It always amazes me that every time I move I find out just how much stuff I have and I never knew where most of it was!

In the midst of moving all these boxes and totes full of things we are also demo-ing the kitchen and bathroom and building my office in the basement so it's craziness down there. I've got some pictures to post of some of the before and during stages. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more but with my nieces running around I just haven't had a chance to take a lot of pictures.

I decided to paint my kitchen yellow because at first I only had 1 small window in the corner of the kitchen but in order to get me more cabinets my brother has to block that window with the cabinets so I am now not going to have any natural light. I wanted a nice bright color in there. So far we've painted half the kitchen because they are still moving the plumbing on the other half to my washer and dryer aren't next to my microwave and my stove on the other end of the kitchen :)

Here are the before and during shots:

KITCHEN BEFORE

KITCHEN DURING

I promise I will be back with more pictures as soon as I finish painting the kitchen and we get the walls put back together. Also I will get some pictures of the office up hopefully before I get it full up stuff but right now it's just 2x3 studded walls. Not much to look at. For now there will be pictures of the rest of the house as is before it's furnished and decorated on facebook.

Paprika chicken with egg noodles

2011-01-27T08:46:00.000-08:00

I made this before and I really like it. The orignial recipe called for peppers and onions and you can always add them in if you like but since I don't eat either I made it without. Also the recipe originally called for more stock but I've found both times I've made it that if you use the whole 2 cups it ends up very soupy so I think next time 1 1/2 will be better.

Ingredients:
Salt
1/2 pound extra-wide egg noodles
2 tablespoons EVOO
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken, dark or white meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
Black Pepper
Poultry seasoning
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
2 round tablespoons ground sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup chopped cornichons or baby gherkin pickles

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt the water, and cook the noodles to al dente.

2. While the water is coming to a boil, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Season the chicken liberally with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning and brown the meat for a few minutes on each side.

3. Add garlic, season with salt and pepper, cook until just fragrant (if your going to add peppers you would remove the chicken and add the peppers and onions now cooking them until tender about 7-8 mins)

4. Stir in the paprika, allspice and stock. When the stock comes to a bubble, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 more minutes. Turn off the heat and stire in the sour cream.

5. Drain the egg noodles and return them to the hot pot. Toss with the butter, dill and chives to coat.

6. Ladle the chicken over the noodles in shallow bowls and top with gherkin pickles.

I know you're probably thinking pickles on my noodle and chicken dish?!?! Because when I first read that I thought the same thing, but trust me, it's actually really good!

Summer Corn Fettuccine

2011-01-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

I decided to make this recipe with a spin, it's not summer (obviously if you check out the snow outside) but I substituted corn on the cob for frozen corn and it came out very good.

Here are the list of Ingredients used and then I will give the step by step instructions with pictures I took while making the dish.

Salt
1 pound fettuccine
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
6-8 slices bacon, chopped
6 ears corn on the cob (or 2 lbs frozen corn)
3 shallots, finely chopped (optional)
black pepper
1 cup half and half
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup chicken stock
nutmeg
a couple handfuls of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Heat a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Salt the water and cook the pasta to al dente (about 10 mins)

2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet with a drizzle of EVOO over medium to medium-high heat. Add bacon and render its fat.

3. Add three quarters of the kernels and liquids to the bacon. Add the shallots and season liberally with salt and pepper. Cook until tender, 5 to 6 minutes.

4. Add the remaining corn (about 1 cup if frozen) to the food processor and puree with the cream.

5. Stir in the thyme and the stock into the corn mixture in the skillet, reduce for a minute, then stir in the corn-cream mixture. Reduce the heat to simmer. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, to thicken.

6. Grate in some fresh nutmeg just a few grates)

7. Drain the pasta, then toss with the sauce, parsley, and a couple handfuls of cheese, about 1/2 cup.

Pass the remaining cheese at the table.

Now just sit back and enjoy the praise! It really was a good dinner and wasn't too hard to make in my opinion. I hope you enjoy and I hope this helps if your not too handy in the kitchen.

Cook with me.....and Rachael Ray

2011-01-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you but I get really bored with dinner. I find myself making the same things over and over and over....well you get the picture. :) I ask my husband what he wants for dinner and it's always "I don't know whatever you feel like making" Really? Sometimes I just want to smack him! But I regress...

Now, I know that I am a picky eater so making things that I will eat is not an easy task and I now understand how hard it must have been for my mom as I was growing up. But I can usually throw something together that I like that comes out pretty good. It's actually quite rare that I have ever put together something that has been completely inedible. Someday I might tell you about an incident involving me, cube steak and a Teflon frying pan when I was a teenager that didn't end well.

To try and spice up dinner, both literally and figuratively. I got Rachael Ray's Look + Cook Cookbook and have already made some recipes from it that came out really good. But that and the movie Julie & Julia got me thinking...

I'm going to do my best to cook my way through the Look + Cook cookbook while putting my spin on her recipes as I always do. For each recipe I make I will not only take a picture of the final product but I will also try to take shots as I am making the meal and put up my adaptation of the recipe. I have a friend that is always saying I need to teach her how to cook, and who knows, maybe this will help!

I'll keep you posted! Wish me luck.

New Years Resolution

2011-01-20T05:58:00.001-08:00

So I don't usually make New Years Resolutions, mainly because I'm really bad at keeping them. :) but I've decided this year to make one and do my absolute best to keep it.

I'm going to do everything in my power to be a better blogger. I am not very good at this but everyone always says practice makes perfect and if I just give up well then I'm going to continue to not be very good. I look at my friend Amanda's blog http://itchinstitchin.blogspot.com/ and I'm envious because it's so awesome and she's so talented and I think, "man I really need to get her over here to work on mine! LOL"

It's going to be a long couple of months ahead. My parents are in the process of trying to buy a house and if all goes well me and my hubby will be moving into the apartment we will be building in the basement. Provided everything goes through (which we should find out any day now) I will have before pictures up soon.

Well I guess that's all I have to say for now. But I promise I will be back soon. No more 6 month sabbaticals for me!

Little baby bundle of joy!

2010-08-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give a very warm (and yummy) welcome to Baby Zachary. Now he's not actually here yet but since it was his baby shower I wanted to make sure he knew that his "auntie" was thinking of him.

This is a half sheet cake that was made with French Vanilla cake on one side and Devils Food on the other. Covered in cream cheese frosting and butter cream borders.

And the blocks were made from Red Velvet cake with Cream cheese filling covered in fondant and I spelt out BABY ZACHARY on the tops and sides of the blocks. I also hand molded a rattle, safety pin and bear out of fondant.

White Chocolate Mousse Elmo?

2010-06-28T07:16:00.001-07:00

I was asked to make a birthday cake for my friends son Liam's 1st Birthday. Her only request that it tastes good (duh) and it had Elmo on it. I know it may seem like a strange combination; white chocolate mousse filled cake with Elmo designed on top but really the cake was for the adults and I made the birthday man a special jumbo cupcake that he could smash to his delight. I also make regular cupcakes for the kids at the party. Well the cake went so fast, the only part left was a little frosting from around the edges of the plate and a little bit of mousse that squished out the middle. :)
So I cut the cake and it was all served up, I go outside to see how everyone liked it and I see that Liam (the 1 year old birthday boy) is enjoying it immensely! Who needs their own special cake when he can have extremely sugar filled white chocolate mousse! He must have been running crazy on a major sugar high.
Oh well, the cake was good, everyone loved it, but most important, my friend was happy and she's handing out my business cards to her family!
Thanks Melissa

Cherry Cupcakes

2010-06-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

I decided to try and create a new flavor cupcake for Father's day/birthdays. We have a very busy June with father's day and 3 birthdays all within about 5 days of each other.
I picked up a cherry extract a while back that I never had reason to use and at one point I bought a package of dried Cherries. So automatically my first thought was to try and create a cherry cupcake.
For a first try I think I did pretty well. They have just enough cherry flavor so that they aren't overpowering but they still taste like cherry. I even made cherry frosting which my mom said she likes better than regular butter creme frosting. :)
Since this was my first foray into truly making my own flavor cupcakes I guess I'll keep it up and try some new ones.

White Chocolate Berry Shortcake Torte

2010-06-18T13:24:00.001-07:00

I was in the grocery store the other day and saw this Bavarian Shortcake and thought, hmmmm what can I do with this? I didn't really want to do the normal Strawberry shortcake, then I saw blueberries and decided that I would just combine them. Like most people I love chocolate and strawberries so right away a white chocolate pudding came to mind as a filling. This is the final product and it was absolutely delicious!

Just getting started

2010-06-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

So I've been cooking for years. Honestly, I can't remember the first time I started baking but I know it had something to do with an Easy Bake Oven! Everyone has always found it funny that I love to cook so much because I don't really like to eat. Most people eat when they are stressed or nervous. Not me, I cook. My husband loves it though, because he's never without something to eat!

I've decided since I love this so much that I should probably try and make it my career. So starting slow I've done some birthday cakes for friends kids, plus the cake for my own Jack & Jill. I think they came out pretty good. I don't know that I would be able to do a fancy wedding cake but if you want fancy cupcakes, now that I can do!