Pumpkin Ghost

This was my birthday cake this year.  The inside is pumpkin and the exterior is cream cheese frosting.  I've used this cake pan before, but this is the first time the decoration actually fit the shape.

My littlest nephew was supposed to help me decorate it, but he backed out at the frosting stage. He shed some tears when he realized the cake got decorated without him, but I made it up to him. No, I did not take the 2 chocolate espresso beans and fun size Twizzler off the cake and let him redecorate it! But, I did let him put faces on the mini-cupcakes (not pictured) that were pumpkin chocolate chip (inspired by Charm City Cakes list of flavors.)  He might still be mad at me.

2012 Fall Television Schedule

Since last fall I've gotten another TiVo with a dual tuner so I didn't color-code my schedule since everything will be recorded! (or watched live!) Something new to the list are the shows I watch every weekday.  Here's what I'm watching this fall.

Plan your own lineup here:

Weekdays

7:30 PM

Jeopardy! (CBS) 

11:00 PM

The Daily Show (Comedy)

Monday

7:30 PM 

Adventure Time (Cartoon)

8:00 PM
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Bones (FOX)

9:00 PM
2 Broke Girls (CBS)

9:30 PM
Mike & Molly (CBS)

10:00 PM
Revolution (NBC)

Hawaii Five-O (CBS)

Tuesday
9:00 PM
New Girl (FOX)

9:30 PM
The Mindy Project (FOX)

10:00 PM
Chopped (Food)
Covert Affairs (USA)

Wednesday
8:00 PM
Arrow (CW)

9:00 PM
Modern Family (ABC)

10:00 PM
Nashville (ABC)
South Park (Comedy)
The Soup (E!)

Thursday
8:00 PM
Last Resort (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Beauty and the Beast (CW)

9:00 PM
Person of Interest (CBS)
The Office (NBC)
Burn Notice (USA)

10:00 PM
Elementary (CBS)

Friday
9:00 PM
Grimm (NBC)
Degrassi (Teen Nick)

10:00 PM
Blue Bloods (CBS)

Saturday

10:00 AM

Green Lantern (Cartoon)

10:30 AM
Young Justice (Cartoon)

Sunday
8:00 PM
Once Upon A Time (ABC)

9:00 PM
Masterpiece (PBS)
The Next Iron Chef (Food)

10:00 PM
Iron Chef America (Food)

I'll be adding Community, Cougar Town, Psych and maybe some more shows later.  I think there are like 5 show I don't watch.

Boston Creme Pie Cupcakes

These were desserts for a Labor Day barbecue  I've never made a Boston Creme Pie, but I was inspired to make these when I was flipping though the "Our Favorite Cupcakes" slideshow on Martha Stewart's website.

The whole gang! 

Artsy picture, courtesy of Quinn.

I'd recommend watching the video before making these cupcakes since the recipe isn't quite as specific as it could be. For instance, the cupcake recipe should be made with the whisk attachment of the mixer.  Also, the main recipe links to a recipe for the vanilla cream filling, but doesn't specify that you need 3 cups of filling (a double batch) for 2 dozen cupcakes.

Pure Cupcakes

Based on Sweet Revenge's Pure Cupcakes. I didn't use the parchment method, although it is a fun twist on the basic boring liners.

Heavily frosted

Split open to show texture, but photographed poorly so that all detail is obscured.

The crumb on the cupcakes was heavy, yet light. The taste was eggy and very vanilla-y! The gals who helped eat them are big custard fans so they approved of this variation on a yellow cake. I've discovered that frosting like this buttercream that uses a little shortening has a better consistency than butter alone. I've taken to adding a tablespoon or two to my other recipes as a result.

Peach Hand Pies

I wanted a portable dessert for a couple of Cleveland Orchestra concerts at Blossom Music Center.  These little pies were the perfect solution!  

Peach Hand Pies.

  

I followed the filling recipe as written.  In hindsight, I would have peeled the peaches and cut them smaller to release more juice.  I made home-made pie crust but since I was out of AP flour I used self-rising flour, which made the crust a little biscuity.  Different, but delicious!

iPhone photo

I got the peaches from the farmer's market that morning, and they were ripe but not very soft. The vendor said they would be fine for baking but, ideally, I would have waited a day or two.  I'll have to plan better next time.  I'm glad I made these since Ohio peaches have been wonderful this year!

Bug Party

My littlest nephew's 4th birthday had a bug theme. It gave me a chance to wear my sparkly spider t-shirt, ladybug ankle bracelet, and scorpion necklace and ring. It also gave my sisters and me a chance to make fun creepy crawly desserts.

Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes with "The Best Frosting I've Ever Had" and topped with giant plastic bugs.

The frosting was dyed light green, which is a little hard to see in the pictures.

Beautiful butterfly cookies (Grandma Kookoo's Swedish Sugar Cookies.) 

The birthday boy's brother helped decorate these.

Oh, it's a caterpillar! How clever! So cute!

Ladybugs. She don't know I'm a boy.

Profile

I'm not turning this into a political blog, but this Daily Show piece that is narrated (and sung a little) by Leonard Nimoy is too good not to share.  I completely cracked up around the 2:30 mark.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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