Check out this article and my "food for thought"....

Mass-schools-give-outdated-food-to-jails


This article is entertaining....especially the last paragraph. NONE of the food served in our schools is fit for human consumption, regardless of the expiration date. This will not change unless people take a stand and actually start caring about what children are eating in schools! Yes, I’m clearly a big fan of Jaime Oliver’s ‘Food Revolution’.

There is of course an instant fix you can start at home. MAKE YOUR KIDS’ LUNCHES!

Many will argue it’s too expensive and too time consuming to prepare healthful, possibly even organic food for their growing little ones.

While I agree, it is more expensive to eat a primarily organic diet, and it does take a little extra time to prepare a child’s lunch at home, neither of these ideas are completely out of reach.

What if that bi-weekly manicure appointment occurred on a less frequent basis? I think I recall a time when we actually painted our own nails. Does the hubby really need the newest release for his gaming system? That morning stop at the coffee shop adds up as well. Maybe try dusting off the coffee maker at home? What if the smokers out there bought one or two less packs of cigarettes a week!?!

Just as smokers are showing their children an unhealthy, toxic habit; the same can be said for those who teach children poor eating habits. As we all know, children learn by what they see.

Anyway, I digress. But I think my point is clear. We all have expenses that can be modified and/or eliminated in order to promote a more healthful life for young children everywhere.

Parents with several children may say that there’s no way cutting out a pedicure would make this affordable! Well, you may be correct. I’ve always thought that after having a child, it must become pretty clear, pretty quickly, just how expensive raising a child can be. Do some parents feel they are “cheaper by the dozen”? I’m not sure, but I do know that we all need to be responsible and accountable. In order to raise healthful, well-rounded, and educated children…it’s going to be a huge expense. If you can’t afford it, then for the sake of all involved, know your birth control options and please, do not hesitate to use them.

However, if you find yourself in a large family and eating organic is financially out of the question, you can still play an important role in your childrens’ health. Sliced block cheese and crackers, celery with peanut butter, yogurt, almonds, etc., are all healthy snack options. Factor in the savings of reusable bags/containers in their lunches and you may be surprised how easy it can be!

The parents of picky eaters may be tempted to chime in here as well. If your kids won’t eat the good stuff, let them go without. I assure you it won’t last long. Have you ever been on a really restrictive diet? After a few hours or maybe even an entire day, shoelaces start to look delicious! I assure you, they will eat. Cruel to let them go hungry? I dare you to challenge that my approach is any more cruel than allowing children to consume foods that are “cleansed” with ammonia, injected with synthetic growth hormones, covered in pesticides and well, just plain old by-products.

We of course, have the “too busy to make lunches” segment of the population. Whether they are single moms, single dads or two-parent homes…. If you’re reading this, then you’re obviously online. I promise you, facebook, twitter, and blogspot will still be there during your 10 minute absence to make a few healthy bagged lunches.

Now, before anyone tries to criticize me for having such strong opinions without actually being a parent….well trust me, I’ve been there and I’ve done that. My point? It can be done. Period.

P.S. Chicken, in it’s natural form, is not breaded and in the shape of a mini dinosaur.

It's the little things....

I found it! The one little trick to making the smoothest frosting ever! Like the title of this post implies...it's the little things, people! I found this tip on the same page as the recipes I tried out.

Now that I feel SO proud to have learned something new that I can share, I'm asking myself- what if everyone else already knows this information??? Well, if that's the case, feel free to skip to the recipe below for more "enlightening" information.

But, if this is also new to you...then welcome to the world of lovely frosting! Here's the tip I found: only add your confectioner's sugar in very small increments to the creamed butter. That's it, so simple! Apparently, adding only a few tablespoons of sugar at a time helps avoid a granular look to frosting. I must say, it worked! I made the smoothest, tastiest frosting today and couldn't wait to share!

Obviously, I was at it again. The cupcake saga continues! This weekend's culinary adventure happened to include one of my favorite beers...Guinness! I wanted to do something with a St. Patty's Day theme, so I hit the internet in search of a frosting recipe that included Bailey's Irish Cream. Not only did I find this, but I also found several recipes for Guinness chocolate cake! A lovely chocolate ganache center added just enough sweetness and depth to balance the Irish Cream frosting and Chocolate Stout flavor of the cake.

I found this recipe on http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/. This is also the site that shared the frosting tip. I also noticed MANY other recipes here that I would love to try, so I fully recommend checking out her site, she has great ideas!

The recipes I followed from the link listed above are easy enough, even with a few added steps. I did not include the suggested whiskey in the ganache. I also went in a slightly different direction for the decor as well. I really wanted to capture the "Irish coffee" essence, so I lightly (and I mean very lightly) dusted the tops of the frosted cupcakes with instant espresso powder....yummmm! I also chose cute edible glitter to "sprinkle" a little St. Patty's day cheer. I will say, any and all time spent on these is well worth it. They turned out exactly as the recipe indicated.

Ok, here's the recipe and a few photos I took after completing them. ***Please note: in order to frost the cakes heavily, you should double the frosting ingredients. Otherwise, there is only enough to skim each cake. I don't know about you, but I like me some tasty frosting!

"Irish Coffee" cupcakes
While the Guinness in the cake gets mostly baked out, the Baileys is fresh and potent, so if you’re making this for people who don’t drink — ahem, nobody I know, but I hear such people exist — you’ll probably want to swap it with milk.
The Baileys frosting recipe makes a smallish amount of frosting — enough to just cover the cupcakes. Because they were so rich and this frosting so sweet, I felt it only needed a little. Double it if you want more of a towering effect.
Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes
For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
Ganache Filling (Updated to double it, based on many commenters suggestions — thanks!)
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)
Baileys Frosting (see Recipe Notes)
3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)
Special equipment: 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer and a piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work)
Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.
Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your “tasters”. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
[This is a fantastic trick I picked up while working on the cupcakes article for Martha Stewart Living; the test kitchen chefs had found that when they added the sugar slowly, quick buttercream frostings got less grainy, and tended to require less sugar to thicken them up.
When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
Ice and decorate the cupcakes! You're done!

Elegant and Simple...does it get any better than that?

After a yummy and successful batch of cupcakes, I was feeling even more inspired. My next mission was to find a fancy cupcake recipe with some sort of infused cake or frosting. I recently baked a pine nut tart with rosemary infused whipped cream and it was to die for! I will have to make it again soon and post pics and the recipe because it is definitely worth making. Anyway, back to my obsession with infusion. I just think it is so darn gourmet, you could make a flip flop sound fancy if you throw in the word "infused". OK, maybe that's a stretch but I think you get the idea.

You must be wondering what on earth I cam eup with. By "you", I of course, mean the visible fans of my blog (*sigh). I'm banking on my own little mantra here: If you bake, they will come. Uh huh.

Anyway, here it is....the moment you've been waiting for (*drum roll fluttering in the background)... Lavender-Blackberry cupcakes with lavender infused frosting. OH. MY. GOD. They were so tasty and so easy. They were almost too pretty to eat!

I did deviate from the recipe a tad. Instead of using fresh lavender (couldn't find any) I went with food-grade dried lavender I was able to find in the bulk spice section at Whole Foods. The recipe does require some planning due to the need for the blackberry curd filling and lavender water needing to cool. I'm a little sleepy and figure I'll let the recipe speak for itself, so if you have any questions that either myself or the recipe do not address, please ask away!

I found the recipe while googling "infused frosting". Here is the website: http://agrrlswrrld.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/lavendar-blackberry-cupcakes/.  This site has several intriguing recipes...check it out!

Without further ado.....here's how they turned out and of course, the recipe follows below.

Lavender-Blackberry Cupcakes with Lavender-Infused Frosting
½ cup evaporated milk
½ cup cold lavender infused water *
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
Lavender water: basically lavender tea made by pouring boiling water into a large measuring cup with lots of chopped fresh lavender.  Place the “tea” in the refrigerator and allow to cool.  This will be mixed (in equal parts) to the evaporated milk to create lavender-infused milk.  You could just heat milk and add lavender and let it cool, but I find this way much easier, and you can make a lot of lavender water and just store it in a jar without having to worry about shelf life.
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, baking power and butter, and beat on low to combine everything.
Mix ½ cup of evaporated milk with ½ cup of cool lavender water and pour into the flour mixture, and add the eggs.  Beat well until all the ingredients are combined and there are no lumps in the batter.
Scoop batter into lined cupcake pans and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow the cupcakes to cool on a wire cooling rack.
Blackberry ‘Curd‘
1 cup blackberries, fresh or frozen
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup water
1 small jar blackberry jam
¼ cup cornstarch + ¼ cup cold water
In a medium saucepan over a low heat, bring the blackberries in water to a simmer.  Mash the berries with a fork to break them down.
Add the jar of blackberry jam and mix everything together.  Remove from the heat and strain mixture into a clean bowl (or another saucepan) with a medium strainer, stirring the mixture through the strainer making sure to remove all the seeds.
Discard seeds and any remaining berry pulp.
Combine cornstarch and cold water and set aside.
Place the juice/jam mixture back on the heat, add the lemon juice, and bring to a boil. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture, and remove from heat, continuing to whisk until the mixture begins to thicken.  Set aside and allow to cool.
Filling the cupcakes.
Fill a frosting bag (equipped with a round tip) with the cooled blackberry curd.  Insert the decorating tip deep into the top of the cupcake and squeeze the curd into the centre of the cupcake.  I get more filling in the cupcakes when I swirl the tip around inside the cupcake a bit. Gently pull the tip out as the curd fills the cupcake.  Continue this until you have filled all of the cupcakes.
Lavender frosting
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3 cups icing sugar (plus more depending the on consistency you’re going for)
¼ cup evaporated milk
¼ cup cold lavender infused water *
Purple food colouring
In a large mixing bowl beat together 2 cups of icing sugar and the butter on medium speed.
Slowly add the about half of the milk/water mixture. And beat on high.  Add the remaining cup of icing sugar and mix well.  Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy  – the longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.  If you want to thin the frosting a bit, add more of the milk; similarly, if you want a thicker frosting, add more icing sugar. It’s up to you!
Pipe or spoon the frosting on to the cupcakes and top with a fresh blackberry, a few sprigs of fresh mint & a little sprig of lavender.

Time for some trashy TV! Yes, I love me some Teen Mom. Watching that show can make just about anyone feel a little bit better about themselves. Well, that and walking into Wal-Mart. I mean, I know that other fairly normal people like myself frequent such a place, but where the hell are they when I venture out!?! The freaks
must wait for me to pull into the parking lot. No?
.

Boy, have I been busy! In an effort to get in touch with my creative side in a fun, not so expensive way, I have been recipe searching and then baking like a mad woman. My coworkers are not exactly complaining. I am dieting and my boyfriend is not a major "sweets" person, so I've been fattening up anyone within 10 cubicles of mine.

I was charged with bringing a dessert to game night at a friend's place Friday night, and she is absolutely obsessed with anything chocolate and peanut butter. Typically, it takes the form of ice cream, but she is open to try other creations. So, Thursday evening I made chocolate chip peanut butter cup cupcakes! I found this tempting recipe online and knew I HAD to try it.

Here's a picture of how they came out:

They turned out fabulous! I did make a few modifications though. I added two teaspoons of instant espresso to 1/4 of the 3/4 cup of water required in the recipe. This really brought out the chocolate flavor without the heaviness that can be typical of cakes rich in chocolate flavor. These cakes were light and fluffy and oh so chocolatey. After filling each lined cup with the batter, I placed a mini PB cup in each. I really wanted to get that PB cup feel. Well, although it was tasty, they sank to the bottom of each cake while baking and hardened upon cooling. I think this took away from the fabulous texture of the cake itself and the frosting holds enough PB clout all on it's own, no filler required! :)

I found these recipes on a site called fakeginger.com. Not sure how I got there, I think it was when I googled Choc. and PB recipes. Anyway, the recipe follows and according to this source, they are both Martha Stewart recipes.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes from Martha Stewart
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water  ***I took 1/4 c. of this amount to mix the 2 tsps. of instant espresso powder
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.


Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
from Martha Stewart
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add salt and peanut butter, and beat to combine.  Beat in vanilla.
In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-speed, whisk cream until medium-stiff peaks form.  Fold cream into peanut-butter mixture.  Use immediately, or refrigerate, covered tightly, up to 2 days.  Before using, bring to room temperature and stir with a flexible spatula until smooth.

Happy Baking!

Here goes!

Well, this is it. My first blog posting! I've given this quite a bit of thought. I had to have the perfect blog name of course, had to have something interesting to say, and being as type A as I am, had to talk myself into posting something without having perfected my blogs "look" just yet. Yay for me in the self help area!

So, while my blog may appear a bit plain for now, the title will remain. This part, in and of itself, was an undertaking! How was I to come up with the perfect title to best reflect me and what my blog will represent!?! Since I am officially "Taking off the Mitts"  in any way one could interpret such, I think it fits.  Whether I'm referring to committing to a weight loss plan, tackling a project around the house, or a fabulous recipe.....the mitts are coming off! I plan to share my triumphs and failures and hopefully offer posts that provide entertainment and a little "learn something new" value.

I follow a few blogs right now and they have definitely inspired me to let the creative juices flow! So, here's to my new blog! I hope you enjoy it....

 Sorry for the lengthy post, but a girl has to have a nice intro, right!?!  :)

~Holly