Key Lime Cupcakes

Last week was my 36th birthday. I had big plans to try out a new restaurant with friends for lunch, then go out to dinner and dancing with my honey and friends, plus Scott gave me a hot tip about a gift all my kids had saved up to get me that I had wanted for a while and I got all excited about that. So what happened? Tessa, my 3-year-old, ended up getting asthma so I needed to stay home with her. Which brought to my immediate attention how badly my house needed to be cleaned, but it was just too depressing for me to be cleaning all day for my birthday. Then my girls had said they would make dinner, but I just didn't feel like supervising that when I would rather just eat some cereal and make things easier on everyone. Then my kids seemed like they were arguing more than usual after they got home from school. SOOOO, Scott came home from work to find me in my room, reading my latest copy of Cook's Illustrated and crying. Plus, that same weekend, I had to call my parents and tell them we couldn't go on a cruise with them that we had previously said we could. ANYWAY, long story short, I was still feeling a little sorry for myself when I logged on today to catch up on blogs that I hadn't looked at through the weekend. There's a blog I follow called Yaya Stuff. Yaya(aka Alicia) is a women who has been trying to either have a baby or adopt for the past 7 years. She also happens to be one of the funniest people ever! She posts herself doing these crazy dances for anything from getting a new toothbrush to trying to get her husband's attention(in a funny-definitely-not-questionable way). She wrote a post last week about how they had finally gotten word that a birth mother chose them to adopt the baby she was going to have. Over the weekend, Yaya posted that the birth mother had decided to rescind the adoption and keep the baby. Needless to say, she sounded crushed. Wow, let me tell you, it made me rethink my bad attitude about this past weekend. So my birthday didn't go EXACTLY as planned; boo-FRIGGIN-hoo! I mean, so what if I couldn't go out to lunch: I'm grateful to have good friends. So what if I couldn't go dancing: I'm thankful to be in good health and able to dance. So what if I had to turn down a cruise with my parents: I'm blessed to have such amazing parents. So what if I got a sewing machine instead of the automatic floor-cleaning machine that I've dreamed of: I've needed a sewing machine for 15 years. Plus, my husband took us all out to dinner when he got home, and even took me out for an "official" birthday dinner the next night, because he knows I love going out to eat. I LOVE MY KIDS AND MY HUSBAND. I even made cupcakes for my birthday, and they may be my favorite of all time. I got the recipe from Bon Appetit magazine online here. The fresh lime flavor combined with creamy cream cheese frosting is an unbelievably scrumptious combination. I had a little mishap with the food coloring, so I'm posting the picture from their website, along with the recipe. The only thing I did differently was to add a few tablespoons of Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice to the batter and one to the frosting.

These vibrant green cupcakes match the chartreuse walls at Buttersweet Bakery in Atlanta. They also reflect the fun, laid-back vibe of the shop. "We call it retro funk," says owner Charlita Varner.

MAKES 12
Photograph by José Picayo

Recipe by Buttersweet Bakery

September 2008
Ingredients
CUPCAKES
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/4 teaspoon neon-green food coloring
3/4 cup buttermilk
FROSTING
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
CUPCAKES
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled). Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Spoon scant 1/3 cup batter into each liner.
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.
FROSTING
Beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Spread over cupcakes

Santa Fe Style Rice and Beans

Do you, by any chance, know my friend Reeni? I say my friend not because we've ever met or even talked, but because every time I go to her blog, I feel like I've just come home. Her pictures, her recipes, and her style of writing just take you by the hand, sit you in the overstuffed chair, and hand you a cup of hot chocolate flanked by some homemade dipping cookies. I'm always inspired to cook after I've visited her. Isn't that exactly what a friend does? Inspire you? Comfort you? Feed you? It was on one of my visits to her blog that I saw this little gem. Santa Fe in the title? Oh yeah, I'm cookin' it sister. It turned out just how I imagined it: major comfort food. The rice was a little nutty-tasting from its saute and fragrant with spices, the beans were firm but creamy, the chiles and tomatoes contributed zest and spice, and the sour cream and cheese topping added both creaminess and crustiness. Now I did do it a little differently from Reeni's original recipe, so if you'd like to see her post, click here. Or, if you'd just like to browse, go check out her blog, Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice.


Santa Fe Style Rice and Beans

2 cups long-grain rice, uncooked
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 can black beans, drained
1 can red beans, drained
1 can chopped green chiles
1 can corn
1 can Rotelle diced tomatoes with jalapenos
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp red chile powder
1 tsp oregano
2-3 cups shredded mozzarella
1-2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle bottom of hot pot with olive oil, then add onions. Saute until beginning to soften. Add rice and stir until fragrant and starting to turn golden. Add garlic, curry and turmeric and stir for another few minutes. Add black beans and 4 cups of water, stir, and let cook uncovered until water level is below rice. Turn heat to low and cover; cook about 15 minutes until rice is done. Spray 9x13 pan with baking spray. Add green chiles, red beans, corn, and tomatoes to rice mixture; season well with salt and pepper. Mix well, and pour into baking dish. Whisk together sour cream, milk, chile powder, oregano, salt and pepper, and pour over the rice. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until cheese is browned. I did mine more than a little browned so that it would have a nice crust on the top; if you like your cheese more melty, keep an eye on it and take it out sooner.

Jeweled Citrus Salad

I'd been sitting here trying to figure out what to write about this salad, when my four-year-old came up to me to argue the sanity of the tooth fairy. She had a tooth pulled today, and the dentist's parting words to her(after giving her a sparkly little tooth-shaped necklace containing the pulled tooth) were "And don't forget, the tooth fairy is going to visit you tonight and leave you double since you were such a good girl!". Since the sedative was still taking her for a ride, she didn't think to bring it up until now, when she asked me what the tooth fairy does. "She takes your tooth and leaves you some money." "No she doesn't! She gives you another tooth! I'm going to have two teeth! YAY!!!" "No, she doesn't give you another tooth. She takes your tooth, but she gives you money for it." "But I don't want her to take my tooth. Why does she do that?" Oh, why indeed, Ms. Next-Time-Limit-Your-Parting-Comments-To-Something-About-IceCream-Pedodontist!

ANYWAY...I was asked to come up with a salad this past weekend that would go with Raspberry-Walnut Vinaigrette. Mmmm, citrus of course! I love fresh citrus in salads; they look so colorful and festive, especially when paired with plump red craisins. Sweet, salty and juicy is just my kind of salad. I do wish I had thought to add in some red onion, to add a little spice. Next time....


Jeweled Citrus Salad

1 bag mixed salad with raddiccio and spring greens
handful pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 handfuls Craisins
2 oranges, segmented and chopped
2 red grapefruit, same
shaved Parmesan(or you can substitute feta, Gorgonzola or bleu cheese)

Mix all ingredients. Serve with Raspberry-Walnut Vinaigrette

Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Caramel Pecans and Bananas

There are mornings when the ol' protein shake or bowl of cereal just won't do. Mornings when something from deep inside is telling you that this is a morning to spoil yourself, just because you can. This is the breakfast for just such an occasion. The only regret I had after indulging in such a decadent treat masquerading as breakfast is that I didn't have any whipped cream to top off with.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Caramel Pecans and Bananas

1/2 bag mini-chocolate chips to add to pancake batter
(see here for recipe)
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
4 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs butter
dash of cinnamon
pinch of salt
splash of milk or cream
1 banana, sliced

For the caramel pecan sauce, add brown sugar and butter to pan, and stir over med heat until bubbly. Add cinnamon and salt. Stir in milk(be careful-it will bubble vigorously!); check consistency, and add additional milk if too thick. Add in pecans and stir for a minute until bubbly. Make pancakes per recipe. Serve pancakes topped with caramel pecan sauce, sliced bananas and maple syrup(if you like). Don't forget the tall glass of ice cold milk.

Fajita Fettuccine

Is it Tuesday already? That snuck up on me. Could it be because Halloween weekend was crazy busy?

Or that yesterday was Tessa girl's 4th birthday, complete with a house full of friends and a cake big enough to feed them all?

Or maybe because the kids are STILL not back at school yet with STILL no return date?!(see why here) Hmmmm, at any rate, time is flying by. Hello November! Honestly, I'm getting butterflies in my stomach thinking about all the lovely, yummy food that I get to cook in the next few months. All the people I get to feed. All the new menu and treat ideas I get to sniff out from shiny, new cookbooks and tantalizingly lovely food blogs. Ahhhh, it's finally and officially holiday season.

We had a really yummy dinner last night, and the colors in it just looked like holiday food to me. I like my pasta the way I like my salad: with lots of stuff in it. This dish certainly fit the bill.




Fajita Fettuccine

1 lb fettuccine or linguine
1 onion, cut into strips
2-4 handfuls mini-peppers, cut into strips
1 rotisserie chicken, deboned and shredded
1/2-1 lb grilled churrasco (see here)
1 stick unsalted butter
2-4 cups heavy cream, depending on taste(or you can substitute half-and-half)
Tony's creole seasoning
granulated garlic

Cook pasta per directions in salted water. Drizzle hot frying pan with olive oil. Add onions and peppers; saute until tender crisp. Add in chicken and steak, season with creole seasoning and garlic, and saute until hot. Drain pasta, then add back to pot along with butter, cream and creole seasoning. Stir gently until butter is melted and cream is hot. Add in veggie/meat mix. Sauce will thicken up as it cools. Ready to serve

Chewy Crunchy Sweet n' Salty Bars

I'm afraid there's not a whole lot more to say that the name doesn't cover. I found this recipe on the back of the Kraft Caramel Bits bag, and my daughter was in a food mood, so she churned these out in no time. We had different things than it called for on the bag, so I'm gonna post how we did it and what I would change next time.



Chewy Crunchy Sweet n' Salty Bars

10 graham crackers
2 pkgs Kraft Caramel Bits
4 Tbs. milk
1 cup whole pecans
coursely crushed pretzels, about 4 handfuls
1 small bag candy corns(I used caramel apple flavored, hence the red)
1 small bag mini-white chocolate chips
1/2 bag chocolate chips

Line 9x13 pan with parchment paper, extending over sides. Grease. Line bottom of pan with graham crackers. Microwave caramel bits and milk in bowl on high 2 minutes or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Pour over grahams. Top with nuts, pretzels, candy corns and white choc chips. Melt the chocolate chips. Drizzle over the top. Sprinkle a VERY sparse amount of kosher salt over top. Refrigerate until set. Using paper handles, remove bars from pan and cut into bars with a pizza cutter.

SO, the next time we do this, this is what I would do differently:
1. Use a nice, crunchy salted nut, like almonds or peanuts, and more of them.
2. Leave out the candy corns; it's sweet enough without them.
3. Leave out the white chocolate chips: ditto.
4. Throw in some mini marshmallows for a nice texture addition.
5. Maybe try another crunchy option, like Fritos.
6. Put them in a bigger pan so they're thinner.

BBQ Short Ribs

Well ladies, this is the first time that I have ever made short ribs. With my 36th birthday looming near, it just goes to show--you're never too old to learn! (HA! You were expecting me to say something about old dogs, weren't you??) My family loves ribs, and Scott asked for some for his birthday dinner. These were at--you guessed it!--Costco, so I picked up a pack. I used the recipe for Zesty Short Ribs from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book as a guide, and now have a new family favorite. The meat was so tender and flavorful, and with no bones to slow us up we devoured them! I barbecued them, but if you want to make them in the oven, just do the simmering bit, then put the ribs on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. Brush with sauce, and broil 4-5 inches from the heat for 10-15 minutes or till heated through, turning often and brushing with sauce.

BBQ Short Ribs

4ish pound pack of boneless beef short ribs
steak seasoning
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup molasses
3 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs mustard
garlic powder
salt and pepper

Cut ribs into serving size pieces. Place in pot and cover with water. Generously season water with steak seasoning. Cover and simmer about 1 hour until tender(pierce with fork). Drain. Mix sauce ingredients in a big bowl(be sure to taste for seasonings). Add in ribs and mix until coated. Grill on medium heat grill until heated through, about 20 minutes, turning and brushing occasionally with sauce.