how we halloween

it looks a little like this:
Our Halloween dinner tradition is......NACHOS!! And this is how we do them:
Spicy Homemade Chilihere is my "recipe"......you can decipher it however you like. 
happy, grass fed ground beef browned with lots of onion and garlickidney and pinto beanstomato saucediced tomatoesground chipotle flakeschili powdercumina hefty dash of unsweetened baking cocoas&p
all simmered

Moist Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

"When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam,

May luck be yours on Halloween."

~Author Unknown

Happy Halloween to you! A fun holiday indeed. I love dressing up for this delightful day. This year I will be here hoping to get at least one trick or treater. We've lived here five years now and every year we're prepared with the lights on, decorations and pumpkins adorning the porch, bowl of candy in hand, and not a one. We live in the country you see, so you'd have to walk a mile to reach just a few houses. So I don't blame them.

To celebrate in my own small way, I've made these apple cupcakes. Wow are these tasty. Full of shredded apples, they are moist, delicious, and with just enough spice. They aren't too sweet, so they pair perfectly with the sweet caramel buttercream.

Apples for garnish sliced on the mandoline, you need to get them really thin

I've garnished them with some sliced dried apples. Using a mandoline is important to get them really thin. If you don't have one, no worries. Just slice them with a knife as thin as possible. If slicing by hand, they will take a little longer to dry in the oven. Or don't use the garnish at all, they won't mind.

"When witches go riding,

and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers,

‘tis near Halloween."

~Author Unknown

"Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold."

 ~Judith Olney

"I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween."

~Author Unknown

The new addition to our family, Lucien the papillon

We've gotten a new dog! Lucien the papillon. As you can see, I really wanted to dress him up for Halloween. He doesn't enjoy the holiday like I do. I could barely get these pictures before removing the costumes.

For one of his Halloween costumes he was a chicken

His other costume, a cowboy. He doesn't like dressing up for Halloween

We chose the name Lucien because my husband really wants a doberman. Our next new dog, coming soon. We wanted to give the small dog a chance to become familiar with us before getting a large dog. This new doberman will be female. Her name will be Coco, like Coco Chanel. I looked up Coco Chanel's brothers names and there it was, Lucien. And after all, he's french, so I thought it was fitting. Not so easy to explain though at the groomer.

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Moist Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

makes 24 cupcakes

An original recipe by me, Melissa aka The Alchemist

Ingredients For the Apple Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups (250 g.) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick) (113 g.), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (265 g.) brown sugar if using sweet apples, if using tart apples you might increase the sugar to 2 cups (about 320 g.)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (61 g.) sour cream or yogurt
3 cups loosely packed  (447 g.) (about 1 lb after shredding) shredded apples - don't include the juice, just the loosely packed apples
 
 
Ingredients For the Caramel Buttercream
 
for pictures of the process of making this frosting, see this post- 
 Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Buttercream (for this version I've added less salt, and more powdered sugar so it's more fluffy for frosting cupcakes)

 1 cup (200 g.) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) water
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 sticks (339 g.) unsalted butter- at room temperature- or if you use salted, just cut back on the salt, (below)
1/2 tsp.- 1 tsp  fine sea salt (depending if you want salted caramel frosting) I used 1/2 tsp and I liked it that way.
3 cups (345 g.) powdered sugar


For the dried apple garnish

2 or 3 apples, cut in half, then sliced thin on a mandoline
 
Instructions

Start by making the Caramel Buttercream

First, get your mise en place ready for the caramel, it will go fast. Measure the cream in a slightly larger vessel than needed. Add the vanilla to it, and place it next to the stove.
In a saucepan where you can see the bottom, like stainless steel, (I used an off white color Le Cruset pan.)

This is important because you will make decisions based on it's color. So if you use a black pan for example, it will be harder to see the color. (I've done it, it is possible, but I don't recommend it.)
Over medium high heat, stir together the granulated sugar and the water. Stop stirring after the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.

Pull up a chair, you're going to sit and watch this for about 6-8 minutes, till it turns light golden.
During this time, don't stir it. Right when it gets to this point, remove it from the heat. You can swirl the pan a little if you feel like you can't see the color well. You must, I repeat, you must catch it right at this point. If you let it go any longer, it will turn to black in what feels like an instant.

As soon as you remove it from the heat, add the cream/vanilla mixture and stir. It will boil and sputter up. (is that a word?) The sugar will turn to a hard rock, basically. You will feel like you have done something wrong. You haven't.
Continue stirring until the sugar dissolves and becomes homogeneous with the cream. If you feel like it's not happening fast enough, go ahead and put the pan on low heat to help it along.

Using a fine mesh strainer placed over a heat proof bowl, pour in the caramel to remove any bits of sugar remaining.

Set the caramel aside until it's cool to the touch. About 1 1/2- 2 hours. You can also make this part the night before, and let it cool overnight.
While it's cooling, start making the cupcakes. (recipe below)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, (or a large bowl with a handheld) mix the butter and salt (start with 1/2 tsp., add more later when finished to taste) on medium high speed until very light and fluffy. About 4 minutes.
Add the powdered sugar. Beat well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Then mix again. Add the caramel while the mixer is going on low. After all the caramel is in the butter, turn mixer to medium high and mix very well, until very light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Taste it and see if it needs more salt for your taste. (If you want salted caramel frosting.)


To make the cupcakes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, 180 degrees Celsius, or Gas Mark 4.
 
Get 2 (12 count) muffin pans ready and line them with cupcake papers.
 
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves, set aside.
 
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar till fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again. Add the sour cream (or yogurt if using) and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and beat until all is incorporated. Fold in the grated apples by hand. Make sure they are all incorporated.
 
With an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into cupcake papers filling 3/4 of the way up.
 
Bake for 23-25 minutes, until they pass a toothpick test.
 
Finish making the caramel buttercream if you haven't already. And frost cupcakes.
 
 
To make dried apple garnish.
 
Place the thinly sliced apples into a bowl with water and a few tablespoons lemon juice to prevent them from browning. Let them soak for 10 minutes or so.
 
Dry then off, and place them on baking sheets lined with foil, and bake for 2 hours or so on 200 degrees Fahrenheit, 93 degrees Celsius, or gas mark 1/4. Turn the apples over after 1 hour. Bake them until they are very dry.
 
Apply them to cupcakes by bending them in half (as if to look like a butterfly's wings), then place them into the frosting of the cupcake.

These cupcakes are best at room temperature. If you refrigerate them the buttercream will become hard, (like butter does) so bring them to room temperature before serving.

a pig and her pumpkins

I decided to post a super special weekend post juuuuussssttt in case you woke up this morning in a cold sweaty panic because "tomorrow is Halloween and I don't have a costume for __________"
This costume is about as simple as they come, and could work for any man/woman/child. In fact, I dare a grown man to wear this costume--that would  be pretty awesome.
What you need:-long sleeve pink shirt (

Halloween Sparkle ♥

Who says ghosts only live in scary basements?

Maybe they like to eat Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Or go on wild shopping sprees for an eternity?

My Beautifully Scary Cupcakes.

I piped chocolate spiders onto parchment paper.

Then I covered them in Hologram Silver Disco Dust.

Now they are crawling all over the cupcakes, and looking quite pretty instead of creepy!

This one reminds me of a piece of jewelry!

In my world,  ghosts are always made out of fluffy sparkly cream cheese frosting.

In my world, ghosts feel guilty when they scare, so they wear pink bows and delicious sugar dots to make everything all better.

If you saw a ghost with a pink sparkly bow, would you be afraid?

Vanilla Cinnamon Poached Pears with Spiced Caramel Sauce

"It is, in my view, the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption."

-Edward Bunyard, 'The Anatomy of Dessert'

So I had an abundance of pears. This is one of the many recipes I made using the delicious fruit. I've made many varieties of pear jam and pear butter lately, and a pear crisp. This is up my alley because I'm in love with all things caramel.

cut the bottom off the pears so they stand up easily

Especially spiced caramel sauce such as this. The flavors of cardamom and cinnamon really shine through.

It's a simple and elegant dessert as well. Perfect fall flavors. You can choose to add hazelnuts, or don't. Either way is delicious.

The caramel before turning color

This is the amber color you are looking for to tell you it's ready to add the cream

The finished caramel

It's almost Halloween! How about something pumpkin?


Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Thai Pumpkin Soup

Or what about some

Caramel Corn Clusters

Vanilla Cinnamon Poached Pears with Spiced Caramel Sauce


For the Poached Pears

6 pears, ripe but firm, peeled
2 or 3 (4 inch) cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, split and scrape out seeds
6 cups of water


For the Spiced Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons salted butter
5 cardamom pods
1 whole clove
2 (4 inch) sticks cinnamon

For topping

Chopped hazelnuts-optional

A day in advance or at least a few hours, measure the heavy cream into a container that will keep in the fridge. Add the cinnamon sticks and clove to the cream. Using the back of a spoon, break open the cardamom pods a little and place them in the cream. Let this mixture steep for at least a few hours or overnight.

When you are ready to make the caramel, get everything ready. Take the cream out of the fridge and strain out the spices and discard the spices. Place the cream next to the stove. Measure the butter and cut it into 4 or 5 pieces and place it next to the stove. In a medium heavy saucepan that has a light color or stainless inside, (don't use a black on the inside pan, or you won't be able to see the caramel turning color) place on medium high heat and add the sugar and water and stir just until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring and bring to a boil.

When it reaches a boil turn the heat down to medium and stop stirring. This is important because this can burn very easily. I mean turn black in what seems like a second. Boil the sugar until it reaches an amber color. Pour in the cream, now you can stir. This will make the sugar seize up. No worries, this is what should be happening. Keep stirring and put the pan on low heat and it will all come together. Add the butter and keep stirring till smooth. If you want the caramel sauce to be thicker, you can boil it again at this point, stirring constantly on medium heat for about 5 minutes and it will thicken up. Set aside and stop stirring, or it can become grainy.

To poach the pears: Place all of the poaching ingredients in a saucepan big enough to hold the liquid and your pears. Bring it to a boil, then keep it at a simmer until your pears are tender. The time will depend on how firm your pears are. Mine were a little soft so I just cooked them for 10 minutes or so, then turned the heat off and let them sit for an hour or so to soak up the flavor of the liquid. If the pears are more firm, they will need more time cooking.

To serve, place a pear on a plate and top with the warm caramel sauce. Top with chopped hazelnuts if desired.

Luke......I am your.....mother.

I present to you:Luke Skywalkervia Hanes Her Wayin 5 minutes. 
REALLY! 
Easiest costume ever, and quite possibly the happiest moment of my little Jedi's life was the moment he slipped it on and transformed into character.And BONUS: No sewing needed. I mean....I guess you could hem it if you really wanted to. But I am lazy time efficient in a rush, and the boy didn't care.Cut a small v-neck into

Chewy chocolate chip cookies

Scroll down for English text!

Chocolate chip cookies är en sån kaka som jag nästan inte skulle klara mig utan. Inte för att jag äter dem speciellt ofta, men jag vet ändå att de finns där om jag skulle bli sugen. Det är ungefär som med kanelbullar. Ibland är det enklaste det allra bästa i min värld. Dock är det ju ganska tråkigt att göra kanelbullar tycker jag. Chocolate chip cookies däremot är både enkelt och går snabbt. Perfekt att slänga ihop när man är sugen eller har ont om tid.
Förresten har jag tänkt på en annan sak, bara så där out of the blue. Vissa recept är ju helt omöjliga att översätta från engelska till svenska, som i detta fall "chocolate chip cookies". Vad skulle man översätta det till? Chokladknappskakor? Näe, det funkar ju inte alls!


Det här receptet är verkligen mitt i prick. Lagom mjuka, en aning sega och fulla med choklad. Nästa gång kommer jag nog använda en finare chokladsort, men denna gången fick det bli chokladknappar av ren lathet.
Perfektion!


Chocolate chip cookies
Cirka 40 st

5 1/4 dl mjöl
En nypa salt
1/2 tsk bikarbonat
150 gram smör, smält och avsvalnat
2 dl farinsocker
1 dl socker
1/4 tsk vaniljpulver
1 stort ägg
1 stor äggula
150 gram knappar av mörk choklad
150 gram knappar av mjölkchoklad

Värm ugnen till 160 grader. Smält smöret.
Sikta mjöl, salt och bikarbonat i en bunke.
Vispa samman det smälta smöret, farinsocker, socker och vanilj. Tillsätt ägg och äggula och vispa till en jämn smet. Rör ned mjölblandningen och rör eller knåda till en deg. Tillsätt chokladen och blanda tills jämnt fördelad. Rulla lagom stora bollar (det blir 2-3 plåtar) och placera på bakplåtspapper. Se till att lämna tillräckligt mellanrum mellan varje kaka eftersom de kommer sjunka ut i ugnen. Grädda 10-13 minuter.

Click to view larger images!








In English
I would be very sad to live without chocolate chip cookies. Not that I eat them on a regular basis, but it's comforting to know that they're there, no matter what. The same goes for cinnamon rolls. So simple yet so delicious. I really hate making cinnamon rolls though. So boring and time consuming!
Chocolate chip cookies are both easy, and quick to make. Perfection!

Living With Amy Pink Strawberry Margarita Cupcake Demo!

I took out the Tequila and the Margarita Mix on Living With Amy yesterday-and it was before noon! ♥

We made Pink Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes together in the kitchen!
She loved that my bowl of Margarita Cupcake batter smelled like a *real* margarita! ♥ And that 10% of my pink cupcake proceeds sold at Cronie's in Waupaca are going to the Susan G Komen Foundation ♥

You can see for yourself on this video demo with the recipe too:

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes: fox11online.com

This is the "altered couture" cupcake corset wrapper Amy & I made together.

Here is my hand drawn template you can use to make an already pretty cupcake into a couture cupcake!

Make sure the template is printed out at 8 1/2" wide and trace/cut out onto heavy cardstock ♥ (I like to use sparkly cardstock because it is more glamorous!)

I have added: Brooches, Old Jewelry, Sequins, Beads, Feathers, Lace, Sparkly Gems, Ruffles. Yay. ♥

Living With Amy Fox 11 Pink Swirl Cupcake Demo!

I appeared on Fox 11's Living with Amy yesterday.

The theme was *pink* for Breast Cancer. I demonstrated how to make pink and white vanilla swirl cupcakes! I let Amy sprinkle the sparkles on my cupcakes!  One of my favorite parts was when she had to eat the frosting off of her hand when the cupcake started to fall. Yep, another example of a kitchen where Amanda is more like I Love Lucy than the Martha Stewart show! But that's what I love.

Video and recipe on how to create pink &white swirl cupcakes:

(and of course..Amy sprinkling sparkles on an Amanda Cupcake cupcake!)

Pink and White Swirl Cupcakes: fox11online.com

little letters

Dear Little Tiny Moments like this one,You are the best.
Dear 32°,I am on the lookout for you. Watching for you--the one who will turn my tomatoes to mush--around every corner. So far, you haven't shown your ugly face. But just so you know, when you do decide to come, I will have picked every single green tomato right off the vine so you can claim no victims.
Dear Self,Why. O Why. Do you always

The Best Biscuits

Oh, good morning.

You look like you could use a biscuit.

Not just any old biscuit... the best darn biscuit I have ever had.  

Now I know it's only Tuesday, but lets start planning a weekend brunch, shall we?
Let me start by telling you these will take you maybe seven minutes longer than busting open one of the cans of biscuits from the grocery.  Seven minutes of extra work for the most amazing homemade goodness you could imagine on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

Why wait?  Let's make your Thursday one to remember.

I am pretty convinced cream is essential to the best baked goods.  I had a hunch when these scones turned out so well and it was definitely confirmed with these biscuits.  A little bit flaky, a little bit creamy... a little bit perfect.

My preferred way of eating... doused in honey.

From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy. 

The Best Biscuits

Adapted from James Beard’s American Cookery via Smitten Kitchen

Recipe Notes

To make these especially quick in the morning, pre-measure all ingredients into a ziploc bag.  When ready to make, dump dry ingredients in a bowl and add the cream.  

Ingredients

3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the surface
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

parchment paper

honey, jam or butter for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt butter and set aside. In a large bowl, combing two cups flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Fold in 1 1/4 cups cream. Mix until cream and dry ingredients are just combined.  If the dough is not soft or easily handled, fold in a little bit more cream.

Turn dough onto a floured surface, mound it into a ball and, using your hands, press it to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. Cut into rounds, 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Gather dough scraps and continue to make rounds. Dip entire biscuit into melted butter and arrange on the baking sheet about an inch apart. Bake until edges are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. 

To Freeze:  Freeze unbaked, un-dipped biscuits for up to one month.  When ready to bake, dip in melted butter and bake straight from frozen on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Add a few additional minutes for baking. 

Makes 10 to 12 biscuits. 

over the weekend.....

this is what it looks like when three moms try to act like gangsters......we just look incredibly, painfully, awkward.over the weekend I: -grabbed a few friends-quoted 1,027 Arrested Development lines-wore my favorite cut-offs (yes, to run in)-ran a few hundred miles across the Nevada desert-lived to tell about it. 
I will post more details shortly.......there just may be a video in the works (

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake Love ♥

I look at Los Angeles (Burbank really) as my home away from home in California. This is where my free spirit took off and I discovered it was okay to be the true Amanda.

People ask me why I moved back to Wisconsin from California last year. And how in the world I adjusted? Especially moving from a melting pot of millions (including transplanted palm trees!) to my hometown of 6000 (including 6 feet of snow last winter!)

This giganto pink cupcake card of cupcake love from Waupaca Middle School tells me why.

I made chocolate peanut butter cupcakes for the Waupaca Middle School Dance team a few weeks ago, requested by the very amazing & gifted dancer Hanna Henrich Waller.  ♥ They looked like this:

with blinged out peanut butter cup jewels:

And this is all the love that was returned to me:



Hanna was the cupcake card messenger.

I could barely hold back the tears of joy while reading this jam packed card full of adoration for my glittery peanut butter chocolate cupcakes!

Never before in my entire life had I ever felt more like I was doing the right thing. 

♥

I always thought I had to run really far away to distant lands to meet my calling.

♥

And I did run away for awhile..

♥

But sometimes a new chapter is all you need to start your own storybook adventure.  And it doesn't matter where you are.

The storybook adventure of Amanda Cupcake..including sparkly pages and delicious recipes!

My Recipe for Glittery Peanut Butter Frosting:

(photo of my heels & cupcakes by Dan Woolf Photography) 

You will need:

• Some Nicki Manaj to dance to (inspired by the dance team).
• A large dramatic bowl (preferably in a colorful Kitchen Aid Mixer).
• Hologram Gold Disco Dust
• A spoon because you might just end up eating the frosting by itself.
• Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

The Sparkly Fluff:

6 oz. cream cheese
2 C confectioners’ sugar
1/2 t salt
1 C creamy peanut butter (try not to use natural peanut butter since it is extremely oily)
1/2 t pure vanilla extract
1/2 C heavy cream

1.  In your Kitchen Aid Mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy.

2.  Gradually add peanut butter, salt, and vanilla.

3. After these ingredients are blended add powdered sugar (I add even more than this sometimes if I want my frosting to have texture and be thick-no matter what the frosting never seems to be too sweet!)

4. Add heavy cream.

If the frosting gets too soft at this point, you can always add more powdered sugar to thicken.

I use a 8 or 9mm rounded cupcake-ing tip to swirl on the pb frosting.

I use a sharp knife to cut my peanut butter cups into little squares..

and sprinkle my magic sparkly gold disco dust on top of the cupcake. ♥

I add more love by adding a sparkly heart cut by hand out of glitter cardstock. If you want to make it more special you can add a gumdrop like this one.