Tasty Tuesday - Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Ingredients (Makes 18)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for tins
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
3 oz (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for tins
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour standard muffin tins. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Warm milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat.
• Beat eggs and sugar with a mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Beat in dry ingredients.
• Bring milk and butter to a boil. With mixer on low speed, add milk mixture to batter, and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each halfway. Bake cupcakes until light gold, about 15 minutes. Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Let cool.
• Using a serrated knife, cut each in half horizontally. Spread 1 tablespoon vanilla cream on each cupcake bottom. Sandwich with top. Spoon glaze over each, and serve immediately

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Vanilla Cream

Ingredients (Makes 1 1/2 cups)
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

• Whisk yolks until smooth. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add milk in a slow, steady stream. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes.
• Pour 1/3 of milk mixture into yolks (this tempers the yolks), whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
• Pass vanilla cream through a fine sieve into a bowl. Press plastic wrap directly on surface. Refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.

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Chocolate-Ganache Glaze

Ingredients (Makes about 1 1/4 cups)
2/3 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped or use chocolate chips
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Directions

• Remove from heat, and add chocolate and corn syrup. Let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and let cool, stirring often. Use immediately.

Signing on Monday

After searching on foot and via internet I have found a house to live in! Yippee!! It is actually a townhome but a home none-the-less. I am very excited about it and will be moving in 2 weeks. I decided not to buy at the present time simply b/c it is too much paperwork and I need to get moved in and start to work ASAP. This home is currently empty right now and the homeowner lives in Korea so I would bet I could buy it at a later time if I decide to do so. I can't wait, can you tell I am excited? It is near Colbert Hills in Manhattan, KS. 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath and a 2 car garage! It sits on a corner lot with a little stream back behind it, which minimized the chance of having odd neighbors.

The outside of the house
The entryway
Laminate floors - I really like the style & color! In the living roomThe kitchenThe dining areaMaster bedroom The master bath that leads into the walk-in closet (and my friends Audra & Laura)The guest bath - the other 2 bedrooms are adjoined by the bathBedroom #2

Bedroom #3The laundry room, it is upstairs which is really nice!There are lots of pictures I should have taken but didn't, like the 1/2 bath on the main floor, pantry, hall closet, backyard, garage, etc... But I will post more pictures as the house comes together and filled with all my stuff.

Fun in the Sun

Thursday Audra, Lydia, Megan & I went across the street to my neighbor, Sue's house, to have a little pool time. Sue has a grand baby so she had all sorts of kiddie things for Lydia to use. It was a beautiful day to spend at the pool. Here are some pictures. I promise Megan was there, you won't see a picture with her in it, she is camera shy :)

Lydia checking out the kiddie pool Sue put up. That is Audra, her momma, in the background watching.

She liked the sun
Cheeser!
Floating in the poolWearing her sunsAnd the reason why you should put "little swimmers" on instead of wearing a regular diaper... Babys' got back!

Thirsty Thursday

When I was at the lake with friends for Memorial Day they introduced me to a great summer time treat, Sweet Tea Vodka by Firefly. Don't discount this if you are not a fan of sweet tea, it has a much different taste than sweet tea alone. There are lots of ways you can serve it, the way I had it and really enjoyed, is the Spiked Palmer.

SPIKED PALMER

1 part sweet tea vodka

2 parts lemonade

Serve in a tall glass over ice

Try it this summer. It makes a perfect summer drink b/c it is ice cold and lemony-sweet. (Yeap, I just made that word up).

As excited as a teenager!

Tasty Tuesday - Summer is here!

Last Sunday we had a pool party at the neighbors house. Word to the wise, buy a house next to people with a pool and be-friend them, you get to enjoy the pool without the hassle or upkeep! Not saying we would not be friends with our neighbors but it sure is a perk! Here are 2 recipes I made.


Fruit Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 (18 oz)package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 1 (7 oz)jar marshmallow creme
• 1 (8 oz)package cream cheese, softened
• Assorted fruit
• 1 squeezed lime
• 1-2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

Directions:

• On an ungreased medium baking sheet, smooth the refrigerated sugar cookie dough into a single layer approximately 1/4 inch thick. Bake as directed, or until edges are lightly browned and center is no longer doughy. Let cool
• In a medium bowl, blend the marshmallow creme and cream cheese. Spread the mixture over the baked crust. Top with assorted fruit. Squeeze 1 lime in a small bowl and mix in 1-2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar. Use pastry brush to glaze fruit to prevent browning. Chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Greek Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 box pasta - I used whole wheat pasta
• 1 pint grape tomatoes cut in half
• 1 (6 oz) jar kalamata olives cut in half
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese cut into small squares
• 1 cucumber cut into bite size pieces
• 1/4 cup minced basil
• Dressing: 1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette, you can buy this or make it yourself

Directions:

• Cook pasta as directed. Toss everything together and add dressing as desired. Salt & pepper to taste.
  

Trip to Tulsa

On Thursday last week I headed down to Tulsa with Audra & Lydia to visit Amber and her sweet family, Mike, Hadley & Jillian. It was the first time I would be seeing Jillian since she was less than a day old so I was REALLY excited for that, obviously. Sadly my camera only got used on the first day while at the park but I got some really cute pictures. It was nice to get to visit with Amber & Audra so much. It was also nice to get to spend more than an hour here and there with their kiddos.

Hadley & Lydia both love to swing!

You can tell by her faceLydia did not want to get out either

And this is what Jillian did while the older girls playedGoing down the slide - that is Audra her mom giving her a gentle shove :)I thought this was a cute picture Hadley didn't want to go down by herself but really loved to go down with help

High School boys 5A golf

Instead of going home to Winfield on Monday May 25, I swung up to Emporia to watch my little brother play in the Kansas State boys 5A golf tournament. I was in NW Arkansas before this so it was a little out of my way but worth it to see Jeff play on Tuesday. He did amazingly, even though he will say he could have done better, he shot 6 over par and had an eagle on the very last hole! He came in 31st place which was dissappointing for him b/c he wanted to be in the top 20. There were 96 golfers so 31st is great in my book! Here are some pictures of it.

Waiting around for his tee time

and more waiting....

The socks that Wilson's mom got the boys to wear.

Practice swings

Getting the instructions for the day

Pretty fairways shotWalking to his ballChipping it in

Marking his ballPutting it inNick & Nate came to watch with his mom DinaAshley's cart

Dina & NickAwe - Mikey & Sam are such good buddiesNate, Nick & Erin

Jeff's gallery Jeff getting bombarded by the gallery :)First Autograph!Playing around afterwardsWinfield High School 2009 boys golf team and their "coach"