Happy Halloween!

*Disclaimer - This blog post has way too many pictures! But it's Halloween!! And I couldn't resist showing some of Autumn's glory...

So, today is my favorite holiday! I love dressing up, being silly, eating candy, and most of all, I love fall flavors! Halloween is a time to indulge in your inner-child, which is great, because it's the one day of the year that my usual behaviors are acceptable. That's right. I consult my inner-child daily and regret nothing. Nothing!

But onto the fun! I bought two tubs of candy corn - original and those tiny pumpkin 'mallow bites that are more addicting than Fritos. Just saying. And after a weekend of uncontrollably snacking on candy corn and crack pumpkins, I decided to use will power. Just kidding, I had to throw them away. Just kidding, I baked with them.

Okay - let's get down to business. You want to see the goods! I know it! Let's celebrate the sweet nectar of the gods by pouring them over espresso brownies. Yeah? Okay, glad we're all on board there!

The following night, I indulged my senses and drank a delicious beer. I'm a tried and true Shipyard Pumpkinhead fiend, but Shlafly's Pumpkin Ale is a VERY close second. I paired this with my chewy, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Oh my!

And of course, there was pumpkin carving! Like I could resist this... I drained the meat of the pumpkin, used the liquid in a sauce pan with some brown sugar, and made pumpkin syrup for my coffee. I'm giving you a run for your money, Starbucks!

Now, onto what I think might be my favorite. Speaking of inner-child, I bought a new (not-for-kids) toy! I bought myself a kitchen torch, and I am addicted. Addicted. It looks kind of like a laser beam!

This bad boy was first used to create my pumpkin cupcakes with toasted marshmallow frosting. And yes, they were a HUGE hit!

Last, but certainly not least, I whipped up a quick classic. I couldn't resist making these Rice Krispie Treats with candy corn sprinkled in. They were just too cute! Who else is hopped up on sugar right now!!?!?

And of course, what's Halloween without a good, solid costume? Naturally, we had a few. Here I am on Saturday night watching My So-Called Band with Justin (Where's Waldo?). I'm Carmen Sandiego. And together, we were the Elusive Couple.

 And for our Bo Dog. He was a t-rex. He looks unhappy in the first photo, but he really got to liking the costume after a while!! We dressed up with him today and handed out candy at Justin's office,  cj Advertising!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! 

Cheers to Breakfast!

I have been on a crazy breakfast kick lately! So yes, I'll cheers to breakfast. In the form of a delicious mimosa or bloody Mary. Like anyone can say no to that? My preferred breakfast beverage comes in the form of coffee (with TN Whisper Creek cream and Maker's Mark). It's a delicious Southern coffee, and being in Tennessee now, far fewer people are judging me.

But I digress...

I'm not actually posting about booze, I just got carried away. Today's post is brought to you by the British cookie counterpart - the SCONE. I've been deterred from scones for a very long time. Mostly because the dry crumb I had sadly tasted with crappy scones just never held a candle to a flaky almond croissant. Fortunately for me (and you!) I've revisited scones. They've become all the rage at coffee shops recently, so naturally I had to dig in and make some. I went with almond cream scones with blueberries, and those puppies came and went faster than I could order my Southern coffee!

Next up I went for a pumpkin scone with cinnamon chips. Those were equally delicious, and so fun to make because of the seasonal flair, and my ultimate love for all things pumpkin.

As if that wasn't enough goodness last week, this past weekend I delved into a much deeper place. A place filled with....well, butter. And flour. But mostly butter. I made my first ever batch of croissants. And they only took 3 days to make! Lo and behold, a buttery, flaky, time-consuming beauty!

Here's an up close and personal look at that flaky pastry...

Stay tuned for a delicious, Autumn post filled with pumpkin, candy corn brownies, and toasted marshmallow goodness!

Huffin', Puffin' and Making Muffins!

Well, today is your pretty typical post - lots of yummy treats! I realize the time span between posts lately has increased exponentially and for that, I apologize. Turns out, you can only do so much in 24 hours, and MBA homework and reading, traveling, and work frustrations have reared their ugly heads! Rawr.

Fortunately for me, that just means that I've been baking more and more. But lately there's been less time to tell you guys all about it! Fret not, I am still making a lot of forward progress! And with that progress came the realization that I hadn't really made muffins since LAST football season! Yes, I equate seasons to sports. Because that's how I know when to bake! Sunday morning baking followed by football watching and wing eating! But I digress...

I couldn't think of anything more seasonal and exciting than pumpkin muffins. Just to be sure it was perfect, I made about 10-20 different batches, all with a different combination of ingredients. Yes, that made for a lot of muffins! I tried mixing in chocolate chips to some of the batches, but I felt like it took away from the brown-sugary, cinnamon-y flavor of the pumpkin. And by golly, this last batch was dang delicious. But it didn't come without about 5 million trillion (I believe that's the technical term) muffins sitting around my apartment.

So, to promote early mornings - which I absolutely LOVE - and to pique the interest of breakfast foods that are a little more standard (wait, peach cobbler + ice cream isn't a legitimate breakfast?!?!), I bring you my delectable muffins with brown sugar crumble! The first few batches turned out to be a little gummy, as I attempted to be lower in sugar AND fat (boooooo). Turns out, the less I tried to combine multiple healthy alternatives, the better they tasted. Go figure. And you know what? They're worth every bite!

So, after huffin' and puffin' and many a-muffin, I bring you my favorite muffin yet! What's better than football and beer?? Nothing, duh. But these muffins take the number two spot, at least!

Oh hello, (pumpkin) lover...

These muffins were dispersed amongs friends and co-workers alike. And yes, every last muffin was eaten. Now what's for lunch??

Pink Mustaches & Breakfast Desserts

After days and weeks of traveling the country and the world, I'm back! No, wait. I leave again Friday! This time for Charleston, South Carolina for a bachelorette party of epic proportions. Not only is it one of my best friends, but it is my last trip out of town for at least two and a half weeks... and that's gotta count for something!

While my summer travels this year have and are taking me to Chattanooga, Pigeon Forge, Miami, Key West, Charleston, and Buenos Aires (Argentina), they have not taken me too far from Littlest Love.  Fortunately, I've still been able to focus my energies on Littlest Love. I have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow to speak with a business owner, and several meetings planned for early September to review my business plan, develop a marketing plan, and gain some financial insight into the world of baking. Not to mention, I am about to start website development! It looks like my new target is for the end of September, so keep that in mind!

In the meantime, I've been excitedly baking new concoctions and trying out seasonal flavor combinations! The latest are my pink lemonade sugar cookies - special for the Key West bachelorette party. Yes, those are mustache cookie cutters!

And let's not forget about the very last day of Peach Season! I got into town from Argentina, and was greeted by two bags of The Peach Truck peaches. So naturally, I made their peach cobbler. Look at those beauties!

Yum to peach cobbler with a scoop of Jeni's Loveless Biscuits & Peach Jam ice cream on top. Did I mention that this was my breakfast??

Stay tuned for more summery sweetness and the latest and greatest on Littlest Love's progress!

Tea Party & World Travel

I just so happen to have a wonderful group of friends that gets together once a month for themed dinner parties. As much as I'd like to dress up like a dinosaur or in a Princess Leia costume, this is more of a regional theme. Last month was Mexican (if you remember those deliciously light & tart margarita cupcakes I made), but this month was Asian. And the moment the e-mail went out that it was Asian themed, I just knew I would to finally re-use the matcha powder that has been sitting in my pantry for ages!

Lucky for me, that means a deliciously light and earthy cupcake. Which, if you didn't know, is code for "you better have one helluva frosting!" And lucky for me, my experiences with the Asian culture have left me with one major bit of knowledge: all sweets include coconut. Whether it be the flesh or the milk, it's used in almost every Asian dish that I love. So, I opted for a honey coconut frosting. And wow. Just...wow. The cupcakes were a huge hit at the dinner party, and since I ended up with so much left over frosting, I got to practice my rose piping on a plate. And the rest of it was a huge hit with my boyfriend and the spatula. No judgement, it really was that good!

This was the beautiful outcome of my rose piping practice. Not bad for a first timer.

And here we have the lovely cupcakes, all lined up and piped just right.

I couldn't resist the perfect opportunity to top each cupcake with a fortune cookie! After all, what better way to end a night than with talks of success, love, and life?

Oh, and did I mention I leave for Argentina TOMORROW?? I'm going with Belmont University's MBA program, and I couldn't be more thrilled. The trip is being led by the infamous Dr. Jeff Cornwall. I'm beyond excited to see Buenos Aires, eat gelato and alfajores, tour the VW plant, and pick the brain of one of the most talented entrepreneurs in Nashville. Not to mention, I've already found a few local bakeries nearby - like you had any doubts!

Lucky for my class, I baked these last week for our pre-trip meeting. Classic alfajores, light shortbread cookies filled with sweet and sticky dulce de leche. Mmmm, mm! See y'all in a week!

S'more Birthday Fun!

I'm going to get right down to business before I get into the fun in the sun action. After several iterations and help from friends, I have developed a very short, 10-question survey for each of you to fill out. It takes all of 5 minutes to do, and it is going to help me offer you the best products. I'm hoping that your input will provide me with some strategic insights so that I can begin baking in September! So please take a few moments and head on over to Survey Monkey!

Okay, okay, I'm ready to talk about the goods! This weekend was a festive one, filled with baking and birthday parties and sunshine! I was lucky enough to be able to bake for a wonderful friend's birthday party. Her only parameter: PEANUT BUTTER. My immediate reaction was to pair it with chocolate. But I held myself back and really thought this one through. After asking around on my Facebook page, I realized quickly that my options could be endless. People suggested Nutter Butters, blueberry jam, Nutella, bananas, and the list goes on and on. And believe me, those ideas will be used in many future recipes, but I had to narrow it down somehow. To really keep with the sunshine, summer and barbecue theme, I went with a play on everybody's favorite campfire food: S'MORES!

So in honor of the mild, perfect weather we've had all summer, I bring you... a peanut butter s'mores cupcake! The cupcakes themselves were crispy on the top and fluffy on the inside, giving them the perfect likeness to a graham cracker, without losing that light and airy cupcake charm.

And of course I filled it with something wonderful. What's that you ask? Any guesses??

If you said Nutella, you'd be spot on. I decided to bring out a more sophisticated flavor than just a simple chocolate ganache filling. Thus, I opted to bring out the nuttiness by using this perfect, chocolate hazelnut spread. The options with Nutella are endless, but the beauty of a s'more is the simplicity of the ingredients, so I just stuffed that bad boy with Nutella straight up!

And what a magical pairing it was.

I topped it with a pillowy, peanut butter marshmallow frosting and a mini Reece's peanut butter cup for good measure. And in all of the peanut buttery excitement, I added a little too much of it to the frosting, causing the oils to sweat out a little bit. Thankfully, they tasted delicious regardless. Next time, I'll be sure to stay calm and keep the ratios on point.

Speaking of ratios, anybody know the ratio of size and likability? If it were based on my friend alone, I'd say that it's inversely proportional, because I have a huge amount of love for someone so little and adorable! Only this southern belle could look this cute after sliding down a giant slip-n-slide while we all sang her Happy Birthday. Her reward/present for being such a trooper? A cupcake, of course!

The Three (Vegan) Amigos

So, I've gone and done it. I am officially working on a vegan cookie. Eventually I'll get to the gluten free option, and possibly pair it (which brings a whole new set of patience and learning material, both of which I've got). The problem with baking these cookies, is that I like to bake several in one night. And then I have to taste all of them!  The good, the bad, and the ugly. Even the chocolate avocado one that looked like a rock and tasted like sourdough bread. It was sad too, because the dough was scrumptious! Vegan cookies don't behave like other cookies in the oven. No, siree. They are far more precarious.

Anyways, I have found the base of the dough for a vegan chocolate chip cookie, and it's near complete. After a few more iterations, I think I'll have a pretty darn delicious cookie!  Want to see some of the more visually pleasing iterations?

Cookie Numbero Uno is a tiny chocolate chip cookie that did not spread. At all.  In fact, I think it even stubbornly looked at me through the oven door, crossed its arms, and said "I'm not moving!"  And move it did not!

Cookie Numero Dos was a little more easy going, and even got a crispy brown edge. It said to me "I see what you're doing. I don't agree with it, but I support you..."

Cookie Numbero Tres was clearly on its third glass of wine. Because he was all "Do what you want... this is great." And thus, he was the clear winner. He listened to me, he relaxed a bit, and he was pretty darn good! Boyfriend didn't even know he was vegan!

The three amigos all in a row!

Cookie Numero Tres, all lined up and ready to be eaten! Now where's that glass of almond milk??