Owl and Bat Cupcakes

Halloween is such a fun holiday.  I'm not so into the scary, creepy and gross side of things.  But I do love to dress up, taking the Littles out Trick or Treating and of course the fun party at my sister's afterwards.  There is always great "spooky" food (think Mac a Boney and Cheese, Ghoulash, Eyeballs- deviled eggs with olives, etc.).  This year I was incharge of dessert. Yum!

My little family all dressed up and ready to get our Trick or Treat on.

I decided to go as a 1950's Housewife, not much of a stretch, huh?!

Our Crew:

My sister the witch, her husband the Inmate, their two devilish daughters and baby Lion.  

My husband the um, OSU tailgater (er, no costume, bummer!) his 1950's housewife and our great protector Thor and his trusty lizard.  

It was super chilly so we had to bundle up.  As a kid I always hated having to cover my costume with a coat.  Still do now!  

When I was put in charge of dessert I knew I had to make these adorable owl cupcakes that have been floating around blogland.  I am not sure who thought of it "first", probably Martha Stewart.... anyways they are so easy, no intimidating ingredients (i.e. fondant) and super duper kid friendly- I mean who doesn't love Oreo's and M&Ms?!!  I also threw together a bat because right now my Jackson is obsessed with super hero's.  I thought he would get a kick out of a few of them mixed in.  And goodness was I right.  When he got home from preschool and eyed the cupcakes he points at the bat and says "Mommy, this is amazing!"  Right then and there I knew I just went up a few notches on the cool ladder....


Sure I made these for Halloween, but they would totally be cute for birthday parties (animal, woodland, super hero, etc.) as well.

Owl and Bat Cupcakes

for the cupcakes: 
1 box devils food cake (or your favorite cake mix)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
18-24 cupcake liners

Prepare cupcakes according to box directions.  Allow to cool completely before decorating.

for the decorations: 
1 large package of Oreo cookies (You won't need them all, but it takes some practice to cut them.  You'll want extra)
1 bag of M&Ms (You only need the brown and the yellow, the rest is for you to snack on while baking) 1 toothpick
1 tub of your favorite chocolate frosting, homemade or store-bought
1 icing pen (I accidently bought a gel pen, but I kinda like how the details are subtle on the bats)

Smooth the chocolate frosting over the surface of the cupcakes.  Set aside.

To make the Owls:
Separate the Oreo cookies, keeping the white frosting intact.  These will be your eyes.  I found that giving them a gentle twist released them pretty well.  Have a butter knife on hand incase some frosting sticks to the opposite side.  It scraps off pretty neatly.  Then just press it back down where it goes and smooth out the crack with the knife or a finger.  Use your butter knife to very gently scrape the tops of the white frosting to remove the  brown cookie residue getting them as white as possible.  Gently press a brown M&M on the white frosting to make the iris of the eye.  If the frosting cracks a little just smooth it with your finger or the blunt edge of the knife.  If you run out of brown M&M's just use green or blue ones.  That would be cute too!  Set the eyes aside.

Now you want to cut the plain cookie tops in half to make the owls horns.  You can use a sharp knife, or what I found was that kitchen scissors worked nicely.  It is very difficult to cut the cookies in half without having one of the halves shatter.  No worries, you have a whole box right?!  (I used the imperfect ones to make the bat wings since I was trimming them up a bit with my scissors anyways.) Using your kitchen scissors, carefully clean up the edges to get the halves nice and smooth.  This was really easy to do.  I couldn't believe how will the scissors worked for this.

Now go get your cupcakes.  It is time to assemble!  I slightly smoothed out a flat section where the "eyes" were going to go to to give them a bit of support so they would sit somewhat nicely.  I thought they were going to slide off, but they surprisingly stuck rather well.  Now take two "horns".  On a slight angle, stick a point into the cupcake above-behind the eye.  Do this with both halves.  Take a little dollop of frosting and put it on the cupcake behind the horns to give them a little support so they don't fall over.  Take another little dollop of frosting and put it between the eyes below the horns to give a little "hair".  Take a toothpick and use it to make little points in the frosting creating the "hair".  Do the same thing with the toothpick over the surface of the rest of the cupcakes making them look a little fuzzy and cute.

Next take a yellow M&M, turn it up on its side and stick it in the cupcake between the eyes.  This is your beak.

Ta-da!  You just made an owl!

To make the Bats:
There are two options for the bat wings.  1)You can smooth out your cut Oreo cookie halves to make nice clean edges and sharp points like you did for the owl's horns.  2)Or you can carefully cut little points in the flat side to create the points on the bat wings.  If you don't cut the points, that is fine, just draw them in with the icing/gel pen.  If you want to go with option 1, using your kitchen scissors make small "v" shaped cuts on the flat edge of the cookie half.  I found it pretty easy to do.

Once cut, using the gel pen draw the shape of the bat wing on the decorative side of the cookie.  Carefully on an angle stick the corner of the bat wing just off center into the middle of the cupcake.  Do this again with the other side.

On the brown M&Ms, gently draw two small dots to make the eyes.  Place the "head" in between the bat wings.

And there you go- you just made a bat!

I linked up on Sweets For a Saturday #43. Come find some other delicious sweet things :)

Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala Sauce

For my birthday this year I got to celebrate with not one but 3 amazing dinners!  On friday I went on a very special date night (our first since having Owen!) at Jonathan Sawyer's restaurant, Greenhouse Tavern down on East 4th Street.  It was cozy, special, and easily our new favorite restaurant.  We can't wait to go back! Saturday evening we entertained at our house with one of my lovely sets of in-laws, Sandy and Don (check back tomorrow for the wonderful Cioppino recipe!).  And on Sunday I celebrated my birthday along with my sisters at my parents home.  A fun tradition we have with my family is that on our birthday's we get to choose what our birthday dinner will be.  Bonnie and I collaborated and we came up with Chicken Marsala.  Neither of us have had this dish in ages but both just love it.  My mom and dad did a wonderful rendition of Giada De Laurentiis' recipe, Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala Sauce.  The addition of the mascarpone cheese made the sauce deliciously creamy and soooooo good.  Thank you mom and dad for yet another perfect birthday.  Love you!

Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala Sauce
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, each breast cut crosswise into 3 pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons butter, divided
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup dry Marsala wine
1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves, plus whole sprigs, for garnish
12 ounces dried fettuccine

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cool slightly.

While the chicken cools, melt 2 tablespoons of butter to the same skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 12 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until it is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir in the mascarpone and mustard. Cut the chicken breasts crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain. Toss the fettuccine with 3 tablespoons of butter and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Swirl the fettuccine onto serving plates. Spoon the chicken mixture over top. Garnish with parsley sprigs and serve.

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Cake Pops

For Jackson's birthday this year I wanted to do something a little bit different for his birthday cake, so when I saw these adorable cake pops on Bakerella's website I knew I just had to give them a try!  These just seemed like the perfect dessert: easy for little hands to hold and not a lot of cake left to waste. Plus for adults, who generally don't want a whole piece of cake themselves, can enjoy that sweet little end of the meal without feeling like they went overboard.

First you take a box of cake mix and bake as directed for a 9x13 pan.  After you bake the cake, let cool completely.  I chose to bake it in the evening and let it cool over night.  Once cool, crumble into a large bowl and mix with about 3/4 of a tub or store bought cream cheese frosting.  I use the back of a large spoon, but Bakerella suggests even using your fingers.  This can get a bit messy, but no biggie.  That is part of the fun in baking, right?!   Roll mixture into quarter-sized balls and place on a baking sheet that has been lined with waxed paper or a Silpat.  You should get anywhere between 50-65.

Chill for several hours in the fridge or about 15-20 minutes in the freezer.  Be sure not to freeze, you just want them to get super cold.  Meanwhile, melt your chocolate or candy melts in the microwave or double boiler according to package directions.  Dip the very tips of the lollipop sticks into the melted chocolate and insert them just past halfway into your cake balls.

I found this whole process worked best if I kept all of the cake balls in the fridge and just pulled out what I needed.  As they warmed up they softened and started slipping off the sticks.  Next is the fun part!  Very gently dip your cake pops into the melted chocolate while slowly twirling and tapping on the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate.  My first ten or so seemed to take me ages to get just right, but then I got a great system down and I flew through the rest.  Make sure you cover the ball completely and the very top portion of the stick to help secure it.

While the chocolate is still warm add your sprinkles, candy crunches or whatever you want on the outside for extra yumminess.  Insert stick into a large piece of styrofoam and let harden in the fridge.  The first few I did I was letting them cool on the counter and they got a white spottiness to them.  Once I moved them to cool in the fridge the candy melts hardened smooth and silky.

Once they are completely cool, they can be stored in an airtight container for a few days on the counter or even longer in the fridge.  

Enjoy!

These were a huge hit and I am already thinking of other reasons I have to make these again!  There are so many different options and flavors you can do.  Be sure to check out Bakerella's website so you can see all of her recipes and the many amazing pictures of her own Cake Pops- they super inspiring!

 I think these would be the perfect dessert for a baby shower, don't you?!  So ladies, start popping out those babies so I have another reason to make them!  *wink, wink*

*Because of being so super busy in preparation to Jackson's birthday parties I didn't get an opportunity to post this past Friday's, Feasting with Friends.  Please be sure to check back this week when I start up again to hear all about my wonderfully amazing friend Adrianne Bailey.  

Apple Dapple Cake

Our first apple of the season from the trees in our yard.

Since it is my birthday today I thought it would be most fitting to post the recipe to one of my favorite cakes-  The Apple Dapple Cake.  I found this recipe last year when I discovered what suprisingly delicious apples we have on the two trees in our backyard.  I didn't want them to go to waste so I made a point of picking just about every single one as quickly as I could before the deer and birds beat me to it.  Well, this left me with a heck of a lot of apples!  I needed to get creative, and fast!  So right away I made quite a few batches of different types of applesauce (I will give you my favorite recipe in another post later on).  But being the fall I was in the mood to bake.  After a little surfing on my favorite cooking websites I stumbled across The Apple Dapple Cake. I loved the name and the recipe was super easy so I thought I would give it a try.  One word- Heaven. Even Jackson, who isn't a dessert kid looooooved this cake. It is sticky and moist and the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of coffee. If you want to be super decadent, a scoop of real french vanilla ice cream makes this a little taste of perfect. It never lasts long in our house, so I have been taking to freezing half of it right away in single servings so we can pull it out whenever the mood strikes us.  It freezes wonderfully and keeps us from eating the whole thing in under a week!

Apple Dapple Cake

Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups raw apples, peeled and chopped fine

Grease a tube or bundt pan (I like to use Pam or Baker's Joy).  Mix oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Sift together flour, salt, soda. Add to first mixture. Fold in pecans and apples. Bake in prepared tube pan at 350 for 1 hour.

Sauce

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup margarine (1 1/2 sticks)

Mix and cook 3 minutes after it begins to gently boil, stirring constantly. With a butter knife, poke holes all over the cake- seriously, go ahead.  The more the holes you poke the better.  Carefully pour the sauce over hot cake while cake is still in pan. All that wonderful sauce is going to sink into the holes you just poked.  Let cake cool completely before removing, at least one hour.

The sauce is what makes this cake so fabulous.  It will looks like a crazy amount of sauce when you first pour it on the cake, but it will sink into the holes and the cake will soak it all up resulting in the moistest cake you will have ever tasted.  

As a birthday present to me, bake your family this cake and let me know what you think. You wont be disappointed I promise.




I linked up my recipe on Mom's Crazy Cooking!

Birthday Dinner at Bar Symon

On Friday night Scott and I went out to dinner with our amazing friends, Matt and Adrianne.  Matt and I celebrate our birthdays two days apart from each other, so they suggested we all go out for dinner. This is something we never do together.  Don't get me wrong, we all love going out to restaurants.  But we usually have our children in tow, and it is just easier going to one another's house so the kids can play and be put to bed so we have adult time later.  This is always super fun, and we have tried out lots of cool recipes on each other.  But variety is the spice of life, right?!  So we got the babysitters all lined up and out we went.

For dinner we head out to Avon Lake to try out one of Michael Symon's new restaurants, Bar Symon.  Having dined at two of his other ventures, Lola's on E 4th downtown and Lolita's in Treemont, and loving each of them we were pumped to give this one a go.  Symon is known for his love of the pig.  In fact he even sports a few tattoo's of them including a "Got Pork"one on his chest above his heart.  So when we were headed there I knew immediately that would be the meat I would have to try out this time around- it could only be fabulous.  

First impression was very cool.  It has a kind of warehouse feel to it, but yet warm and cozy at the same time.  They don't take reservations except for parties of six or more.  Being as there were only four of us we had an hour wait even coming after eight o'clock in the evening.   They have a great bar and their Beer Menu is very extensive.  But be warned, check the menu prices before ordering.  On tap they can go as high as $11 a pint and their bottles reach up to $65!  But don't worry the prices start low- $1 for a P.B.R. and many are quite reasonable, I just don't want you to be shocked at your bill.

As an Appetizer we had an order of the house chips served with a three cheese fondu and chives and also an order of the Pork Cracklings.  We always hear about how awesome cracklings are on our food shows, along with Michael Symon, these are one of Anthony Bourdain's favorite snacks.  We just had to give them a try.  They were crunchy, a bit salty and with the Malt Vinegar they serve with it, absolutely delicious.  We are converted.  For dinner Matt and I both enjoyed the Slow Cooked Pork Shank which sat on top of soft polenta (which was the creamiest and most delicious polenta I ever tasted).  The pork was beautiful, and with just a light touch from the fork, fell right off the bone.  Neither of us could eat it all and were lucky enough to have doggie bag's to take the rest home.

Slow Cooked Pork Shank

Adrianne decided on the Dortmunder Lake Perch Fish Fry.  It was served with house chips and a crunchy slaw.  All of it was crisp, delicious and just plain yummy!!!  She also was quite pleased with the House Pickle Tarter Sauce for dipping. She said that it tasted homemade and not at all what you would get out of a bottle.

Dortmunder Lake Perch Fish Fry

And lastly Scott ordered the Duck Paprikash.  It was a duck confit, served with dumplings, turnips and paprika. The duck itself was super tender and went lovely with the sauce.  He said the turnips, although what seemed like a strange addition actually worked together really well with the dumplings and gave a nice earthiness to the dish.

         

Duck Paprikash

We all decided that Bar Symon is a definite Do-Again.  There were lots of dishes that each of us wanted to come back to try, and the atmosphere is really great.  Next time maybe we will bring along a few more friends so we can make reservations.  But honestly though, for a Friday night it isn't anything that you wouldn't expect anywhere else.  Especially a place with food that is so delicious.

Later that evening we made a stop off at Fat Head's Brewery and Saloon in North Olmsted.  It is relatively new in the same location that Danny Boy's used to be.  We hear the food is great, but after such full bellies, we just wanted to try out some of their home crafted beers.  Matt had the Fest Bier.  He said it was very smooth and just a good drinking beer.  Scott ordered the Head Hunter IPA.  It was a good thing Scott ordered this one and not me.  One sniff and the Hops just about knocked me off my chair.  This was a very strong beer, very full bodied and lots and lots of Hops.  Although I personally didn't like this one, it was right up Scott's alley.  He completely liked the aggressiveness of it.  I ordered the Weizenbock.  This was hands down the weirdest beer I have ever had in my life.  It is described as being an unfiltered wheat, with a spicy aroma that hints of raisin, clove, banana, and bubble gum.  Yes, you read right- bubble gum.  I don't know what possessed me to try it in the first place.  I guess I was intrigued.  I figured now how much bubble gum would you really taste.  It is rare when I can actually pick out all of the flavors that a beer is supposed to "hint" at.  Well this one was 100% bubble gum.  That is all I smelled and all I tasted.  Think Double Bubble or Bazooka.  I felt like I had a huge wad of gum in my mouth the entire time I was drinking it.  Halfway though it got a little better after my mouth got used to the flavor.  But I can tell you one thing, I wouldn't order this again.  But on the other-hand, the Bumbleberry Honey Bluberry Ale is calling my name for next time.  Being as Adrianne is a beautiful five months pregnant, there was no beer for her tonight.  But instead she enjoyed some bread pudding for dessert instead. It is made very different then any of us had seen before, it was made more like a loaf instead of the more chunky style we were all used to.  Due to this, it was very dense.  But the coconut and pineapple that was mixed in made for delicious flavor.  Yum!

Friday was a great night out with best friends, delicious food and fun drinks.  A perfect way to spend a birthday if you ask me!