Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

 First, I must give credit where credit is due! I found this recipe here.  I have to say of all of the recipes I've tried from Pinterest, this is my favorite.   I've been seeing pumpkin recipes all over the place but I think for a sweet pumpkin recipe, this takes the cake! I've taken these cupcakes to all kinds of gatherings and I've never had any leftovers to take home.  And they get some pretty rave reviews!   I use to make pumpkin rolls during the fall but these are so much easier to make!

 2 Dozen Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 (15-oz.) can pure pumpkin puree
• Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below) 

In a mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a separate bowl combine the salt, oil, sugars, eggs, milk and pumpkin puree.  In the original recipe it says to blend the oil and sugars together until fluffy, then add the rest of the wet ingredients.  I never reached a 'fluffy' consistency in doing this so now I just put all of those ingredients in a bowl and mix it up and it turns out just the same.  Why complicate things? Just make sure if you're using a mixer that you scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined. Ta-Da! Pour the batter into the cups, filling them about 3/4 full and bake on 350 for 20 minutes.  While they are baking you can make the icing...

 Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
       *This recipe makes A LOT of icing.  You will have plenty to liberally ice all 24 cupcakes!

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 7 1/2 to 8 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 In a mixer (or with a handheld) blend the cream cheese and butter until creamy.  With my Kitchenaid stand mixer I usually let it mix on level six for about two minutes, scraping the sides a few times. Mix in the vanilla and cinnamon. Add the confectioner sugar one cup at a time.  I use right at 7 1/2 cups of sugar. 

It's VERY IMPORTANT that you let your cupcakes cool completely before you ice them. The icing has butter and cream cheese in it! If your cupcake is hot the will melt and slide right off! If you're impatient like me just throw them in the fridge for a few minutes!

I have a few piping bags and tips but I HATE cleaning them.  I'm lazy, what can I say.  So I just use a gallon size Zip Lock baggie.  *My experience is that the off brands bust pretty easily*  I cut a very small tip in a bottom corner and put my icing tip in nice and tight and fill it up with icing.  When I'm done I take out the icing tip and throw the dirty bag away.

 

Dining Room Shelves & Decorating for Halloween

One thing I really miss about our old house is our fireplace.  In the winter there were very few days we didn't have a fire going.  Our house was small enough that the fire would just about warm up the entire place.  And I love the coziness of a fire.  You can't recreate that, but I have attempted to recreate another aspect of the fireplace, the mantle.  The fireplace was the focal point of our last living room and the mantle was usually decorated for the season.  I was inspired by Shelley at House of Smiths to build my own shelves to decorate.  It just so happens that she built the cafe shelves that I wanted from Ballard Design, for much less than they were at BD. I was really happy with the way they turned out.  They are easy to build and less than $100! You can't beat that.  They are up in our dining room and ready for Halloween!

HomeGoods is usually my go-to place for decorating, but I also find some great things at World Market, garage sales and flea markets. 

I made this plate using my Silhouette.  Whenever I see a unique plate or dish on clearance I usually grab it. You never know what you might be able to do with it.

You see the strip running across the bottom of my shelf?  That wasn't there originally and I am a little bummed you can see it, but it turns out there's a large metal air conditioning vent running behind the wall where I was going to hand the shelves.  I had to get creative and find a different way to hang the them and this seemed to be my only option.  

I don't normally do skulls but I was feeling it this year...

A view of the shelf from underneath.  If anyone is wanting to build one I think this picture sums up how I did it....I think... I took some pictures to document the process.  I will try to post them soon!

Thanks for dropping in!

Landscape & Living Room Update

I've had so many people ask for updates and pictures of the house so here's a few! And we still have a long way to go!  We really wanted to save and pay cash for our projects as we go so it's going to take some time, but we are okay with that! 

Let's start with the yard. yikes! We had our work cut out for us.  Here's the yard when we moved in in May... It looks as though the hubs did a few wheelies on the lawn mower! Ooops!

We really weren't sure if we wanted to try to salvage some of the bushes or get rid of everything and start with a clean slate...

We decided that everything must go.  We ripped everything out and currently have black plastic, similar to heavy duty garbage bags, that we have put down over the entire bed that probably won't come up until next spring. Hopefully the weeds will be dead and the soil will be ready for us!

And then there's the living room.  Here's the room when we took possession of the house in May.

After a few coats of paint, carpet pulled up and the hardwood refinished, here's where we were at.

 

 

And here's where we are at today.  It's still not finished but we are closer.  I'm still in search of the perfect rug, something to put up along the back wall and can lighting put in the ceiling. It works for now though!

In a perfect world I would love some pretty chairs and a small loveseat but in reality, we have a lot of people over and for now this is our only entertaining space.  It didn't make sense to only be able to seat 4-5 people in this room so we went for a BIG sectional.  I have to say I LOVE this sectional.  It sits quite a few people, it is super easy to clean, the cushions have kept their shape and the reviews were GREAT.  The reviews were actually what convinced us to buy this sectional.  It's from Macy's and we got a great deal on it during one of their big sales. 

 

We also got an entertainment center form Ikea that we love.  We are still waiting on the bridge that goes across the top.  I love that it has so much storage and it was really affordable!    

 

  

Please ignore the random items behind the glass.  I have yet to put everything in its place.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm actually STILL unpacking boxes. 

 I'm really happy with the way the space is coming together! Thanks for stopping by and to friends and family in the area, our home is always open and we would love to have you as our guest!  I can have dinner on the table in a matter of minutes! :)

Avocado Chicken Salad

I know some people might really be turned off by green chicken but holy guacamole! This stuff is GOOD! AND healthy! And EASY! It's a winner all the way around!

This is a recipe I saw someone share on Facebook.  I usually just pass over them but my sister in law had recently mentioned she wanted to use avocados more and so I thought this might be a perfect fit. 

You only need a few minutes and a couple ingredients! 

Here we go! 

2-3 chicken breast (boneless skinless OR bone in, skin on, it IS cheaper!)

1 avocado

1/2 yellow, white or purple onion, whatever you prefer 

juice of 1/2 of a lime

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

pinch of salt

Cook the chicken breast.  I boiled mine but you can cook it however you like.  The original directions I had said to let it cool but I just threw it in some cool water with ice after I boiled it. Then I used 2 forks to shred it. In a separate bowl mash the avocado and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.  Add the chicken and you're done! 

I really enjoyed my chicken salad on a toasted piece of artisan bread but it would also be yummy topped with pico, in a tortilla, with tortilla chips or even by itself!

Yum! Enjoy!

The Perfect Pie Crust

Pie crusts can be a tricky thing.  If you search online you'll find all kinds of different recipes and it's hard to know which ones are worth making.  Luckily, the lovely Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, did some pie crust testing to find what is truly THE BEST pie crust, and it's pretty easy too! 

Here's what you need-

1  1//2  Vegetable Shortening, like Crisco

NO BUTTER NO BUTTER NO BUTTER

3 cups AP Flour

1 egg

5 Tbsp cold water

1 Tbsp White Vinegar

1 tsp salt

With a pastry cutter work the vegetable shortening into the flour.  I was at my mom's house when I made this and she didn't have a pastry cutter so I used a fork.  It takes a lot longer but you can do it.  This was about half way through.  When it's ready it will looks like a "course meal", according to Ree. 

Once it's ready add the beaten egg, vinegar, water and salt. GENTLY stir this together until it's just incorporated. Divide the dough into three balls and put each into a gallon size baggie.  Gentle roll it out just a little and freeze 15-20 minutes to firm up. When it comes time to roll it out don't forget to flour your surface and rolling pin! Roll out to about 1/4 inch to make your pie crust! 

 Strawberry Pastry