A High Hi 5 for the Bday girl!

Two gifts for the beautiful birthday girl, LPR (previously LJP).

1. The Hi 5* that keeps on giving:

2. And of course some homemade (magnolia recipe) cupcakes in the bday girl's fav hue.


* I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that looking at these sweet HI 5 mittens, actually caused me to go to wonder to whether this was the correct spelling; or, whether it was spelled as I previously assumed "High 5." It caused me to think it either/both as the gesture is both a greeting (as in "hi") and also elevated (as in "high")....wikipedia says correct spelling is High 5. I might just have to call it a Hi High 5 from now on.....

Happy Halloween!

Greetings goblins!

It's the the greatest holiday ever-- the one day dedicated to two of my most favorite things: costumes and sweets!

I've had several things a-brewing in my little apt turned sweetshop that I thought I should share...

Halloween Cuppie Cakes:

I used Martha's chocolate chip cupcake recipe with my (now standard and favorite) Billy's Bakery buttercream recipe to make them tasty.

Then I dressed them up for hallowen with these beautiful colored sugars and rings-turned-cupcake toppers from my new fav site BakeItPretty.com. They were a huge hit.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

These have been one of my favorite treats forever. Something about that mix of salty and sweet, crunchie and smooth, that just makes these absolutely irresistible. I've been wanting to try making them for a while, and this was my first attempt.

I looked up several recipes requiring a double boiler, which I dont have, then tried just doing it on low heat over the stove (actually a tried this, and consequently threw out 2 batches of burned chocolate, twice!) and finally resorted to the microwave version (god bless modern technology). I ended up having to add about 3 tablespoons of heavy cream to the chocolate nice and liquidy for dipping, but other than that, worked like a charm.

I sprinkled some reeces pieces on some of them for an extra snap of delish and halloween color.

Well, that's all for now, if those recipes don't suit your fancy-- you can check out last years'.

Back to Baking: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and Coconut Chocolate Cupcakes

Perhaps due to the cooling temperature, I've started heating it up in the kitchen in the past couple weeks. In case the east coast gloom is getting to you too, I am posting some yummy treat recipes today. Disclaimer: they are not my own-- I stole both, but added my own touch :)

First up: my personal favorite cookie of all time: oatmeal chocolate chip. You don't have to look far to find this recipe, in fact, it's probably in your cabinet already. The recipe on the underside of the Quaker Oats top, is by far my favorite cookie, as long as you substitute raisins with chocolate chips. These cookies are so chewy and delish you won't miss the chewy raisins, I promise. They are also excellent with butterscotch chips. Warning: There is a reason they are called Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies-- you'll want to consume these sans restrictive waistband...Enjoy!
The second recipe is a bit more involved. For Lara's birthday I mixed up something that combined her two favorite sweets: coconut and chocolate. I started with Martha's recipe for coconut cupcakes and then topped with this rich chocolate frosting.

I will admit that Martha's cupcakes are a bit laborious, but let me tell you, they are worth the extra beating, mixing and washing because they are just that light and fluffy. After trying various cupcake recipes, I think I've dialed in on her secret: what Martha makes you do that others don't is beat a separate batch of egg whites which you fold into the batter after the rest of the ingredients are mixed. This is quite a PITA, and it makes your beautiful shiny batter look gross, but after my testing, I have determined this extra step helps keep the cupcakes moist and light. YUM....and if you think you've made a mess, just imagine my dishwasher-less kitchen ;)

This frosting is a cinch (who uses that word?) to make and it's chocastically rich-- heavy on the milk chocolate flavor, which I much prefer to buttercream. It's basically the closest thing I've ever made to that awesome Duncan Hines frosting you grew up with. And, it stores easily too and is delicious by the spoonful (which probably explains why I haven't lost a pound despite the fact I'm logging 30+ miles a week for marathon training).

To top the cupcakes off (and remind coconut-haters to back away) I covered the top of some of them with coconut flakes.

Email of the Day

I woke up to this email and pic from Lauren's mom this morning. What a great email to wake up to on this glorious Good Friday:

Dear Natalie,

You inspired me!
Joan xo