some scenes from the weekend

Our weekend included some pretty fun stuff: yoga class (for me), a movie and date night (sushi!), a trip to farmer's market, the natural history museum, and Crushcakes. Big hooray for weekends. They are so important to me.  SO happy that we have a holiday weekend coming up!  Do you have plans for the 3-day weekend?  We do not, but will enjoy having an extra day so much.

We saw "Last Vegas" Saturday night.  What a sweet movie!  I highly recommend it.  I know it only got 2 stars from the critics, but I found it sweet and funny.  Ken and I were both freaking out about how good Mary Steenburgen looks at age 60!  And I loved the way they styled her.  I want to see About Time next. 

a few scenes from our Halloween

I'm honestly not a big Halloween person, so I'm thrilled to make it to November, as we now have.  Nonetheless, the boys had a great time and were especially thrilled that big brother Jacob joined us for the evening.  The boys these last few years have just painted their faces or gotten scary masks--no more cute costumes around here, sadly.  I've definitely thrown in the towel on that long ago.  The fancy cookies above were brought over by the neighbors (there are still a couple of our b-day cookies mixed in--I'm sure you can tell which is which!).

We had a wholesome dinner before heading out for trick-or-treating.  The way we handled the candy was to let them eat their fill on Halloween night and save out two pieces for later.  The rest was set out for the Green Pumpkin who exchanged it for the fabulous books seen above.

It was a sweet evening and we ended with an impromptu dance party, which was maybe the highlight.  We were totally cranking the music and swishing playsilks around!  How was your Halloween?

Orange-Blossom-Honey Cupcakes

I follow so many bakers and decorators from the Northern Hemisphere that it's sometimes hard to dis-entangle my thought process from their seasonal influences.
My Facebook and Blogger feeds are currently abuzz with all sorts of delicious apple and pumpkin creations: hearty autumn (fall!) treats that are so tempting to try.
(In fact, I've already succumbed to temptation - you may remember my butterscotch apple cake from a couple of weeks ago.)

 But today's recipe is veritably vernal

ver·nal

ˈvərnl/

adjective

1. 1.

   of, in, or appropriate to spring.

   "the vernal freshness of the land"

   
   

: )

The inspiration came from a jar of orange blossom honey that I bought a few weeks ago, then promptly forgot about until my husband took it out the pantry to use on toast. What was he thinking?! It was destined for greater things!

So, this one's for us - Southern Hemisphere friends.
But you're welcome to try it in the Northern Hemisphere - just remember to stir the batter counter-clockwise ; )

Orange Blossom Honey  Cupcakes
Recipe by Tea, Cake & Create

Preheat the oven to 180'C
Line a 12 hole muffin pan with cupcakes cases.

Ingredients:
125g butter
90g caster sugar
80ml orange blossom honey
1tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
120g flour
30g ground almonds
125ml sour cream
Zest of one medium orange
30ml fresh orange juice

Sift together the flour, ground almonds and baking powder.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the sugar and butter. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time; scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
Mix in the honey, vanilla and orange zest.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then the orange juice. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then the sour cream, followed by the last of the dry ingredients. Mix briefly.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cases and bake for 18-20minutes - until a skewer comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it.

The honey and orange flavours are so delicious and fresh that you don't want to overwhelm this cupcake with a too sweet, too heavy icing. So, swiss meringue buttercream is the perfect topping.


Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

5 egg whites
1 cup white sugar
1tsp vanilla extract (or 8-10 drops of Vanilla Girl vanilla extract)
300g butter at room temp, cut into cubes.


Put the egg whites and sugar into a mixing bowl, and place that over a saucepan of simmering water. The bottom of the mixing bowl must not be in contact with the water, and the water should just be simmering.

Whisk constantly, until the sugar granules have dissolved and the mixture is hot to touch.

Move off the stove and to the mixer.
Using the whisk attachment, whip until it forms a thick and glossy meringue.

When the mixing bowl feels neutral to touch, change over to the paddle attachment and add the butter one cube at a time, beating on low-medium speed.
It may curdle, but just keep whipping until it reaches a satiny smooth consistency and holds its shape. Add the vanilla extract.

(If you are having SMB issues, see this post by Sweetapolita)

Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Happy baking!

xxM

on date nights and going to the movies

Last spring I got really burnt out after a long string of weekends that lacked a proper date night.  I want and need some true downtime every weekend, and when I don't get it I get cranky!  Since that time I've been more aware of trying to make date night happen every weekend if we can.  We are fortunate to have my parents close by and especially lucky that they love to watch the boys and the boys love to go to their grandparents.  What a huge blessing that is!

Do you like to go to the movies?  I always have, but I've never really gone consistently.  Lately, though, we've been trying to go to dinner and a movie every date night.  You guys, it has been so fun!  There is something about seeing a movie on a big screen that is special and exciting.  And I think being entertained together as a couple is also very bonding.  I love talking about the movie with Ken and having something to ponder over the next few days.

Here is what we have seen lately:

:: Thanks for Sharing.  It's a movie about sex addiction.  I loved all the "addict" stuff and getting to see into that world of meetings and 12 step programs.   Great clothes & set design too.  Loved this.

:: Enough Said.  So much to think about here--about relationships and how women act.  Julia Louis Dreyfus is so great.

:: Gravity.  Stunning!  And not what I expected.  I've loved Sandra Bullock ever since Practical Magic.

::  Don Jon.  Another sex addict movie!  But different than the other one.  I loved this one too, and the ending surprised me.

:: Rush.  70's car racing drama!  Love love loved all the period details, the stunning visuals, and the exciting true story.  Don't miss this!  Hurry before it leaves theaters.  I felt so lucky that we just happened onto it at the dollar theater.

Usually I go into these knowing next to nothing about the movie, which is how I like it.  Ken scans the reviews to see what is good.   I like to see things that are uplifting--I don't like disturbing, dark or violent.

Do you like going to the movies?  What have you seen lately?

Fondant Ruches and Ruffles

One of the reasons I like vintage and shabby-chic is that it lets me get away with (I confess)... shabby?!

I really admire cake decorators who produce works of flawless perfection.

I'm thinking about 2 of my favourite cake-godesses: Jessica Harris (jessicakesblog.blogspot.com) and Sharon Wee (weelovebaking.blogspot.com), to name but two.
But I'm also completely intimidated by them, and just don't know if I've got such precision in me - insert sad face here.
So, if a project calls for lots of ruches and ruffles, I'll tackle it - knowing that I'll probably be able to hide the inevitable imperfections  - insert happy face here!

I based these (very do-able for mere mortals like me) ruffled flowers on a tutorial by Melissa Diamond over at mycakeschool.com  http://www.mycakeschool.com/blog/pretty-pink-flower-cake/

Happy ruffling!

xxM

family dinners

I continue to be super interested in figuring out family dinner.  My goal is to develop a core of simple, healthy, homemade, no-special-ingredient, tasty dinners that are liked by all of us (or at least each of us likes some part of it).  Here are five dinners that I consider pretty tried and true by now. 

Shown above--
:: stuffed peppers.  I love these!  The boys don't eat the actual peppers but will eat the filling (sort of--not Dieter so much).  Funny anecdote:  on the night I was making these particular peppers I cut myself on the lid of a can of tomato sauce and had to go to the hospital for stitches!  Major bummer, but Ken finished the dish for me, so we still got to enjoy them when I got back. 
:: chicken with cucumber-yogurt sauce.  So easy and fresh tasting.  We love this. 
:: meatball stroganoff.  So tasty!  From Everyday Food.
:: spatchcocked chicken with chickpeas (here).  I do this a bit differently than the recipe--the chickens are so large these days, it takes longer to cook than the recipe states.  I do 20 minutes, then add the chickpeas, and do 20 more minutes.  This is so tasty with cilantro and lime as the recipe suggests, but I also want to try serving it with mango chutney.
:: and finally, Moroccan chicken stew.  Everyone loves this and it is so quick and easy.  I buy a bag of sweet potatoes and a box of whole wheat couscous at Trader Joe's and they come out perfectly even to make this three times.  After the three times (spaced a few weeks apart) I retire the recipe for awhile.  I love doing it this way because I hate having ingredients left over.  I find I won't use them if they are just randomly in the pantry, so I avoid that now.  I love having a clean, simple pantry.

It is really easy to find organic ground beef and organic chicken at Trader Joe's so that is what I do.  We are fairly meat-centric these days.

 It is starting to feel fallish around here and I'm getting excited about making cool weather fare, chilis, stews, soups, and casseroles.  Yay! 

What are you loving for dinner lately?

Tiered Cookies (Cookie Stacks)

First, I'll make a quick trick brick stack

You'll have seen similar cookie stacks before, I'm sure. There are a number of variations out there. But aren't they all gorgeous in their simple perfection?
Mine aren't perfect - far from it. But the idea - oh, I wish I could come up with such things! Maybe one of these days. Until then, I'll blame my be-fuddled brain and its need to borrow inspiration on years of sleep deprivation and too much Dr Seuss...
; )

Then I'll make a quick trick block stack

Anyway - you too can make a quick trick cookie stack....


You'll need:
Paired biscuits in 3 sizes
Royal icing
Royal icing or gumpaste decorations

Outline and flood the biscuits - pay attention to the edge, as you want to outline relatively close to the edge but not flood over it.
Allow to dry.
Stack once dry - use a blob of icing in between the tiers to glue them together.
Pipe on some dots.
Finish off with a pretty iced flower (or gumpaste flower) on top.

You can make a quick trick chick stack

You can make a quick trick clock stack

Happy creating (or re-creating!)

xxM

(With sincere apologies - and appreciation! - to Dr Seuss, Fox in Socks)