Wordless: Amy's Birthday 2014

Super Bowl XLVII King Cupcakes

Super Bowl XLVII - The San Francisco 49ers play the Baltimore Ravens in New Orleans. The football part, we're not really into. The New Orleans part, however, is another story since Amy used to live there. And this time of year, when Amy thinks of New Orleans, she thinks of King Cake. Particularly, King Cake stuffed with Creole Cream Cheese. Yummmy. And that is why, when neighbors D and J asked us to bring "dessert" to their Super Bowl party this year, we were determined to make cream-cheese-stuffed King Cake Cupcakes. 

The ingredients

Cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract for the filling

Cinnamon and sugar

We knew the weekend would be a busy one, since our own Mardi Gras Madness bash is next Saturday, and so we searched for an easy recipe to inspire us. We got lucky with this one by Amanda, of The Virtuous Wife, because it seemed pretty easy, and is only "semi-homemade." Perfect for a busy weekend.

Cut the crescent dough on a floured surface

Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar

Cover with the cream cheese filling

Roll together, pinch the ends and fold

Place in a greased cupcake tin

Because Amanda's cupcakes both looked and sounded delicious, and because the recipe was pretty much exactly what we were looking for, we followed Amanda's instructions just about to the letter. Using only a few ingredients, we created these magical desserts, inspired by the city of the Super Bowl, and decorated in the colors of the teams that will play tonight.

Powdered sugar, lemon juice and water...

...make a tangy glaze the sugar can stick to.

Hot out of the oven

Thanks, Amanda, for the great recipe (click here to get it), and we hope everyone enjoys tonight's game!

Glamping: The Rest of the Story (with recipes for Chocolate-Orange Campfire Cupcakes and Garlic-Scape Pesto)

We teased you with a quick look at our weekend "glamping" (glamour camping) adventure the other day, but today we'll give you the rest of the story, including two recipes. Amy's idea of camping is staying in a 2-star instead of a 3-star hotel. So when good friends T and J came over for a glass or two of wine a few weeks ago, and the subject of camping came up, Amy and J (girly-girls to the end) decided we'd do it as long as it was glamping. Bug-proof tents, blow-up mattresses, hot showers, flush toilets, and most of all, foodie food.

J and T prep our first glamping dinner

We met T years ago when he was working at Williams-Sonoma, so we knew the foodie food was going to happen. He assured us that he had everything we could ever need to create all types of dishes at a campsite. That promise, and Chris's two-burner propane set-up, was hard to resist. Next thing we knew, we found ourselves, with two cars filled to the brim with "gear," at the Barton Cove Recreation and Camping Area in Gill, Massachusetts. Since it was all about the food, we had decided beforehand which couple would take which meals, and now glamping was a go.

Glamping Meal #1 - Iberian Mussels

For our first glamping meal, T and J created an "Iberian Mussels" dish, served over brown rice, spiced with smoked paprika and chorizo sausage. Dessert was "Glamping S'Mores" - a tortilla stuffed with mini-marshmallows and dark chocolate, wrapped in foil and heated in the campfire. How brilliant is that? Let's just say, it was an incredibly tasty start to the weekend.

Leftovers frittata in a makeshift "oven"

In the morning, Chris made a frittata using the leftovers from the night before. When Amy saw T's camping toaster, she had to giggle. This was some serious stuff! After cleaning up the site, we got a call from (Chef) Lise who had plans the night before but was joining us for the rest of the weekend. While she set up, the two couples set off on a two-hour kayaking tour. Amy and J went in a two-person kayak while the boys set off on their own. Turns out Amy and J aren't that good at kayaking, but we had a fabulous time nevertheless.

Charcuterie for snacking

Hungry from all that paddling, we headed back to camp. Lise put out some cucumber, tomato, and onion sandwiches and Amy made a quick charcuterie platter while we prepped for dinner. At home, we had made a garlic scape pesto (recipe below), and the plan was to make a fresh pea risotto topped with the pesto. Lise sauteed some shrimp to go along with. It was a fantastic meal!

Ingredients for the risotto

Chris making the risotto

Lise added some sauteed shrimp

Dinner number two - Pea risotto with garlic scape pesto and sauteed shrimp

For dessert, Amy, having done a little glamping research beforehand, borrowed an idea from the blog Campfire Chic. It was an interactive dessert - everyone grabbed an orange and hollowed it out (saving the juice for Sunday morning mimosas, naturally). In the meantime, Amy made a dark chocolate cake batter and we filled the oranges with it. We wrapped them in foil and baked them in the campfire. If you love those chocolate oranges, or just the taste of chocolate and orange together, you have to try these!

How to make "Chocolate-Orange Campfire Cupcakes"

Step One: Hollow out an orange (keep the top!)

Step Two: Make a batter from store-bought chocolate cake mix

Step Three: Fill the empty orange about 3/4 of the way full

Step Four: Put the top back on the orange

Step Five: Wrap the orange in aluminum foil

Step Six: Place the oranges in the embers of your campfire

and cook for 20 minutes

Step Seven: Carefully remove, let cool, and serve with a spoon!

The next morning, as we wrapped up our glamping adventure, J made an amazing breakfast of scrambled eggs with fried onions, bacon, toast and silver-dollar pancakes. We feasted, broke camp and played a quick game of bocce before heading home. It was a great weekend filled with amazing food and fantastic company. Amy might even consider going glamping again!

Garlic-Scape Pesto

Ingredients:

1 bunch (7-8) garlic scapes

1/4 cup marcona almonds

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon lemon-infused vinegar

olive oil, enough for desired consistency

In a food processor, chop the garlic scapes finely. Add the marcona almonds and continue to process. Add the parmesan cheese and vinegar and continue to process. Finally, drizzle in the olive oil and puree until you've reached your desired consistency.

Cupcake "Red Velvet" Cupcakes

Are you surprised? We readily admit it: we're not known for our baked goods. But when we tasted Cupcake Vineyards' "Red Velvet" wine, all we could think about was making cupcakes with it. So we did. The idea stems from last year's vacation to Maine - last summer, Amy had copied a recipe from People Magazine for "Zinfandel Cupcakes" and we never made them. This recently-discovered wine, coinciding with an upcoming meeting of Amy's book club, was the inspiration for us to try them now. Seriously - doesn't every book club meeting need wine and cupcakes?!? How about killing two birds with one stone?

 

About the wine: "Red Velvet" wine is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Syrah. It has a pronounced taste of chocolate/mocha in itself, particularly on the finish. There is also a lot of fruitiness to it, mostly cherries and blackberries, as well as a hint of coconut. Perfect for cupcakes, right? 

 
As we often do, we played with the People recipe (just a little bit) and came up with our own version which we tested on the neighborhood. They were a big hit there, where we heard of couples sharing bites on their porch swings in the early summer evening sun. We'll be making them again next week for the book club. And we probably won't change a thing...

Cupcake "Red Velvet" Cupcakes

adapted slightly from People Magazine, "Trista Sutter's Favorite Cupcake Recipe"

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

24 maraschino cherries, stems removed

1 box devil's food cake mix (we used Betty Crocker Super Moist)

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup Cupcake Red Velvet wine

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the glaze:

6 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 stick salted butter, softened

1/2 cup baking cocoa (we used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup Cupcake Red Velvet wine

Special equipment: non-stick cupcake/muffin pan with a spike in each cup

Note: We only have the one cupcake pan, so we did this recipe in two batches.

Preheat oven to 325 (350 if your pan isn't non-stick). Place cupcake (muffin) liner in each cup of a regular (12-cup) cupcake pan. Place a cherry on each spike (or in each cup if yours has no spike). In a large bowl, pour cake mix, water, wine, oil and eggs. Mix together as directed on the box. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into lined pan, filling cups about half way. Bake for 20-23 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, then remove cupcakes from pan onto cooling rack. Cool completely. Repeat process with second batch. In the meantime, make the glaze. In a large bowl, beat together powdered sugar, butter, cocoa and salt using an electric mixer on low speed. Beat in the wine. When cupcakes are completely cooled, cover them with the glaze.

Pizza Night with Chef Elizabeth

We don't have kids. We're both teachers, which means we actually do have kids (teenagers, in fact) - about 100 (each) for seven hours a day. On Chris's side we have eight nieces, four nephews and one great-nephew; on mine we have one niece. Almost all of our married friends have kids too, and the neighborhood is full of 'em. All of which is to say, we have plenty of kids in our lives, so we'll stick with having kitties instead of kiddies.

But this post is about our beautiful niece on Amy's side, Elizabeth, who is turning five. Auntie Amy is trying her best to make Elizabeth a chef-in-training, so the other night we had a pizza party!!! Although Uncle Chris had to toss the dough in the air (only because he's so good at it), Elizabeth put on the sauce, cheese and lots of pepperoni (keeping her hands very clean all the while). While the pizza was baking, Elizabeth very intently stirred up a quick batch of cupcakes for dessert (after making a handprint in the dry batter first, of course). Here are some photos of Chef Elizabeth at work. We hope enjoy your weekend and get to spend some time cooking with the ones you love!!!

Putting on the sauce while singing "Pizza is the sauciest"

Can't have dirty hands when you're cooking!

Handprint in the sand cupcake mix



Mixing up the batter