I would like my blog to have a slight face lift, so I worked up a few new header image ideas.
What do you think? Any thoughts? Opinions? Other ideas?
And, as a side note, I took all of the pictures at the beach house tonight. So, I’m not ripping them off from anywhere. 
Idea #1
Idea #2
Idea #3
The final product. Yum.
I decided to attempt a new pumpkin recipe. With all my internet searching I couldn’t decide on just one, so I made a hybrid of two recipes that I discovered. Before you get too far into the recipe, I will just say that next time I make these I will skip the cream cheese filling and just ice the cupcakes instead. For some reason the cupcakes caved in, and I think I could solve that problem, and not sacrifice any of the amazing taste, by leaving out the cream cheese filling.
I’m combining the two recipes below (part from Patent & the Pantry; part from Wilton).
Pumpkin Cupcakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
Preheat oven to 350.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and the spices. In another bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and eggs. Add dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Then whisk in pumpkin puree. Line the cupcake pan with liners and fill each about halfway with batter. [This would be where I did a little bit of batter, a dollop of the cream cheese filling and then more batter. I won't be doing that next time.] Bake until tops spring back when touched and a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely before icing.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling/Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
With mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients until smooth and creamy.
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
This recipe has been a staple in my holiday eating for several years. For the last couple of years they have been the Thanksgiving Day breakfast of choice at the beach house. This year is no exception. This afternoon I made miniature muffins, medium-size muffins, extra large muffins and a thin loaf of bread. They are so good. Perfect for breakfast. Or a snack. Or breakfast and a snack.
Here you go…enjoy!
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
1 2/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 TBS pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup plain pumpkin
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350°.
Grease or line muffin cups. Thoroughly mix flour, sugar, pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Mix eggs, butter, pumpkin and whisk until well blended. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes.
On Sunday, Paul and I visited MGM Studios (now known as Hollywood Studios). I can’t bring myself to call it by its new proper name, so MGM it is. I think the last time I was at MGM was during college, so there were a lot of things that were new to me. We checked out the Narnia exhibit, The Little Mermaid show, Tower of Terror, Playhouse Disney show, The World of Animation (which includes meeting Mickey…thank goodness), Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, the Car Stunt Show, the Toy Story ride and Rockin’ Roller Coaster.
I have a new favorite ride now–the Toy Story ride! It is so much fun! I think I would like to ride it for an entire day. It’s similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride at the Magic Kingdom, but about 1000x better! The ride takes you through several different corridors that contain 4-D carnival-type games. You pull the trigger on your little gun and hit the things on the screen for certain designated points. At each area, your gun shoots out different things (balls, darts, rings, etc) depending on the scene and the virtual balls, darts, rings, etc follow the trajectory of your gun. It’s pretty cool! I want to ride it again soon!
Me and Pam.
A big hug for Mickey!
The Toy Story ride!
Some weirdo with some weirdo from The Incredibles.
Obviously not a real card...
I am now a Disney Annual Passholder and Universal Seasonal Passholder. After five years of saving Disney Dollars on my Disney Rewards credit card, I had nearly enough to purchase the Annual Pass! So, yesterday, after doing the necessary research to earn the title of “Disney Genius Bar” from Pam Kuhl, I cashed in my $330 Disney Dollars and purchased my Annual Pass! As silly as it sounds, I’m kind of excited about it! I know there will be plenty of opportunities to stop in for a visit to Mickey’s house. I love the option of being able to just go for a few hours on a weekend, rather than feeling it necessary to get the maximum out of the $75 one-day ticket. So, if you’re paying a visit to Mickey’s house and want some extra company…let me know!
Oh, and not that I am promoting credit cards, but if you’d like to get your own Disney card, let me know. I believe that if I refer you, we each get some extra Disney dollars!
I know, I know. I have baked twice this week, posted pictures and then not posted the recipes. So…here we go. Knock yourselves out.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
I’ve used this particular recipe for a couple of years now. I found it online a while ago, and it is allegedly supposed to taste like the Cheesecake Factory’s Pumpkin Cheesecake. I have never tried their pumpkin cheesecake, so I cannot compare the two. I do know that this recipe seems to be a crowd pleaser and it’s pretty simple! Give it a try. Oh, and just in case there are any skeptics…this picture was taken with my iPhone prior to the eating of the cheesecake. My sister did the impeccable pumpkin placement.
Here’s the RECIPE:
Pumpkin Cheesecake
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 TBS butter, melted
1 cup, plus 1 TBS sugar
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Whipped cream
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and 1 TBS sugar in a medium bowl. Stir well enough to coat all of the crumbs with the butter, but not so much as to turn the mixture into paste. Keep it crumbly. Press the crumbs onto the bottom and about two-thirds of the way up the sides of a springform pan. You don’t want the crust to form all the way up the back of each slice of cheesecake. Bake the crust 5 minutes, then set it aside until you are ready to fill it.
In a large mixing bowl combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy. Pour the filling into the pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes. The top will turn a bit darker at this point. Remove from the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool. When the cheesecake has come to room temperature, put it into the refrigerator. When the cheesecake has chilled, remove the pan sides.
Peanut Butter Munchies
Let me start by saying, I’m not a fan of the recipe’s name. So…if you end up trying these yourself, help me think of a new name. I don’t make these very often, but they are very good. They can be a tad bit labor intensive, but nothing you can’t handle. These are perfect for those of us who love the chocolate and peanut butter combination. Be careful though…it’s easy to eat several at once. They’re just that good! And, in case you were wondering, yes…that picture was taken with my iPhone as well. Enjoy!
Here’s the RECIPE:
Peanut Butter Munchies
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1/4 peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 TBS milk
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and the 1/4 cup peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for about 30 seconds. Add sugars; beat until combined. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour mixture. Shape into 32 (1.25″) balls. Set aside.
For filling, in a medium bowl combine powdered sugar and the 1/2 cup peanut butter until smooth. Shape into 32 (.75″) balls.
For each cookie, slightly flatten a chocolate ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape chocolate dough completely around filling; roll into a ball. Place 2″ apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass. Sprinkle with additional granulated sugar. Bake about 8 minutes or just until set and slightly cracked.
Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack; cool.
Pumpkin cheesecake. Fantastic!
A few weeks ago I saw a cute “Merry Christmas” fabric banner on etsy.com and I thought, “we can do that!” I sent the picture to my sister and we set out to create a “Happy Thanksgiving” banner in bright fun colors appropriate for the beach house. We got pretty ambitious and decided to make the banner double-sided so that my mom could use it for other parties as well. So, the other side says “Welcome to the Beach!”
I think it turned out very cute! It was simple, but a lot of work, so we kind of completed it in stages. Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product.
What do you think?
Have you ever “GoodShopped?”
You may have heard of or used GoodSearch where each time you use their search engine, powered by Yahoo!, they donate a penny to the charity of your choice (assuming that charity is registered with GoodSearch). It sure doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up very quickly! My family was introduced to GoodSearch a little more than two years ago when we started GoodSearching for PKU organizations. (Not sure what PKU is? Check out my sister’s blog.)
Anyhow, the great people at GoodSearch started GoodShop. The concept is similar: when shopping through GoodShop at some of your favorite retailers (Target, Apple, Amazon, Ebay, iTunes, etc, etc, etc), a certain percentage will be donated back to the charity of your choice. Sounds easy enough, huh? So, while doing your Christmas shopping online at places you would normally buy from, why not GoodShop and let them send a percentage of your purchase to your favorite cause. If you don’t have a “favorite cause,” I would recommend: MACPAD or Place of Hope (Palm Beach Gardens).
Speaking of Place of Hope…why not GoodShop at Target and bless a foster child in their care with a great Christmas. The cottage parents at Place of Hope have taken the time to set up a gift registry at Target with items that the kids in their care would love. Each set of cottage parents at Place of Hope cares for six kids, and there are seven cottages on their campus in Palm Beach Gardens. Imagine that–Christmas shopping for more than 40 kids! Alone it would be an impossible task, but with a few quick clicks from people like us we can help give these kids a great Christmas. There are gifts ranging in price from $1.87 to $449.99, so each of us can easily do something. So, let’s venture on over to the Place of Hope registry and start flooding their mailbox with gifts for their kids. We’ve all been given so much, and we know ’tis better to give than receive.
