Homemade (Maple) Whipped Cream

This really shouldn't even count as a recipe.

It's just a cool science trick you can do with heavy cream and some sugar/flavorings.

I made mine to go on waffles. Because waffles yesterday... waffles forever.

You know how it is.

Elvis Ice Cream Sandwich Waffles (With Candied Whiskey Bacon)

Hello, my loves! Happy Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Valentines, and St. Patricks Day! It seems I missed a lot of joyful celebrating in the blogosphere. Including one that occurred two days ago that you may or may not have heard about: International Waffle Day.

Yummm, waffles! I DID celebrate International Waffle day with waffles- I just didn't post about said waffles within the designated 24 hour period. 

I figure you guys don't mind though. Waffles are good all year long. Just ask Lesley Knoppe. Unlike other foods that associate with certain holidays (such as dyed eggs or candy canes), waffles never go out of style.

What Happened to B? Ice Cream Cake Pops...

Well, so. B never happened on Monday. I have no idea why, it was supposed to post. It just decided not to. Which is fine, I'll post it now. But, still.

And I don't notice because of that list. Pretty fun, right? 

My To-Do list is self generating at this point. And it's tragic because all I want to do is play SNES and eat pretzel M&Ms.

Or some of these guys. Yummmmm!

These pics are kind of old. /Really old. Remember that giant Hogwarts cake I made? Well, it was chocolate and massive. And so, after about 3 days of it taking up way too much space, I spooned it and smashed it into dixie cups topped with ice cream and made more ice cream cake pops again. 

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling: The Story of the Photogenically Unprepared Pies

Back from the beyond! And by "beyond" I mean, trips home and to California!

Good to see you too!

Once upon a time, it was the holiday season and I made a frack ton of holiday cookies for my house's holiday party and then for my dear friend, Sean's holiday party. Including these amazing amazing whoopie pies that got raved over, devoured, and were never seen again.

Screw the WORLD Brownies!

Here is the sentiment of the year thus far. I have committed to over a dozen things and am seriously thinking about adding one more doozey of a commitment despite the fact that this commitment to so many commitments is going to get me committed...

Things haven't been the easiest lately. Remember how in my last post I had a breakdown after biting off more than I could possibly ever chew? Good times. I know a lot of you have also been picked up in the whirl wind that is spring but, it seems as though things are always spinning out here in DC and I have come to realize I need to take some more (a lot more) me time and stop having this lovely pattern of "go go go!" and then a few days of zombie like exhaustion in which nothing gets done.

It's just funny because it's been an EXTREMELY fun 2012 because I have had these epic, jam packed plans, often with awesome visitors, every single weekend... but I feel so worn out on all sides I don't think I am even really projecting "happy" anymore. I feel like my tired is a living, breathing, thing that is just making me miserable to be around. I have noticed I am sharper than normal, more bitter wit than good natured. Also, due to the constant stream of amusing activities and then exhaustion, oh yeah, and MY NORMAL JAMMED PACK ROUTINE OF WORK/HOBBIES, I seem to have become a hoarder. 

Things an OCD personality does not handle the concept of very well: hoarding. But all these clutter piles from clue mystery dinner crafts, ball attending, brother visiting, friend touring, and lord knows what else need to go somewhere before I have time to clean them up so, I have two junk boxes and the hall closet hiding my shameful, shameful, mess/unfinished projects/unopened mail/that's not even mentioning the laundry and what has happened to 3 of my purses.

Somewhere hiding in the ever creeping mess is a 1 inch SD card that has the photos from my clue party. I really wanted to update this blog with THAT first (as it was my amazing valentines day project and I think you guys would appreciate it) but, they photos never got uploaded and now the memory card is missing.

That's right guys. I am in a living nightmare of mess and disaster and lost memory cards. This is how we have ended up here. With "screw the world" brownies. Check these babies out:

I agree. These should be illegal. You may be wondering how these brownies got their name. Well, I originally found them in a Taste of Home cook book and they had a boring name like "Peanut Butter Brownie Bars". While I GUESS that describes these bars, I don't think it even really begins to touch on the RIDICULOUS decadence of these treats. These are brownies, topped with peanut butter cups, topped with a rice crispies, all held together by a chocolate peanut crunch of joy.

No sane person would ever, ever, go into that much sugar, butter, and sheer peanut butter joy without taking a moment to pause and consider. But only the insane wouldn't respond with "Screw it, I'm having one!"

Thus the name of the treats was created. These brownies are to be made in truly dire circumstances. When you've been dumped, devastated, or have no idea what else to do but have a small pity party and savor. These can really knock your taste buds back in gear and make you feel the chemical reactive joys of chocolate and sugar. Plus the "Screw him, screw this, screw THE FRIGGIN WORLD, AT LEAST I HAVE THE MOST MAGICAL BROWNIES ON THE PLANET" thing can be very therapeutic.

Happy Belated Birthday Sarah!: Inception Pops (Pie-Cake-Ice-Cream Pops)

OKAY! These are Inception Pie-Cake-Ice-Cream-Pops! That is, pumpkin pie, within german chocolate cake, within cookie dough ice cream. They are a dream, within a dream, within a dream. 

Get it? 

They were not supposed to be what I posted on today. At all. That was supposed to be cupcakes. For Sarah's birthday. Not an homage to Inception. Clearly, this is not what happened. Let's start from the beginning. 

So, for those of you who live in DC, you listen to the KANE show.

If you don't, I judge you. It's on 99.5 FM in the mornings and makes my work drive cheerful. It's on iheartradio too if you guys who don't live in the area want to listen with the cool kids. 

Anyway. So for those of you who listened today, you know that besides the usual news and general shenanigans the KANE show team discusses, it was a bit of a celebration. Or at least, it was mentioned with many positive comments and cheers every few moments. 

It was Sarah's birthday.

Now, I may not KNOW Sara but, I had really wanted to make her some cupcakes for her birthday. That had been the goal of today on top of some other plans and agendas. I guess it may not make sense to some people, making cupcakes in honor of a stranger... but these guys are so much more than that. I suppose no public figures are really strangers but, Sammy, Sarah, and Kane really do make my morning drives better. I am more awake listening to their fun and energy. Or at least, happier to be awake so I can be entertained by them, with them, for that window of time.

A lot of KANE fans can surely relate. I listen on my drive, park my car, time it for a commercial, and practically run to my cube to plug my headphones into iheartradio before they come back from commercial, and am in my cube until 10 when they are off air.

Or maybe that's just me. 

I highly doubt it though. The show is instant entertainment and cheer in the mornings. You just want to grab a cup of coffee with them and continue to be charmed.

Well, anyway. So I clearly am a BIG fan. And as I had said, I had wanted to make cupcakes in honor of Sarah's big 3O. She had talked recently about Pinterest and how she is threatened by what some people whip up and I wanted to make something easy in honor of her that she could make whenever. From one kitchen clutz to another. I love Pinterest, I really REALLY do, but I knew what she meant. A lot of these people just HAVE to have a background in cooking. Or I am lacking a gene somewhere. So the goal was also something simple but, pin worthy. And that had been the plan this morning.

But, then again, a lot of things had been the plan this morning.

Girl Scout Brownies

Once upon a time, I had a box of brownie mix, 3 boxes of girl scout cookies, and a dream. Below, you'll see the results of that dream.

Meet my Tag-along brownie cups. Baked in a cupcake pan, I simply poured some brownie batter (boxed, as I was pressed for time/lame), put a tag-along in, and then topped it with more batter.

Then, being truly sinful, I swirled it with peanut butter. 

Yes, it is indeed as delicious as you'd imagine. 

Here we have the Samoa version. Same idea, just this time I topped the combined cups with not peanut butter swirls but rather, coconut and caramel.

I know, I'm pure evil sometimes. But you know it's so so tempting...

This is a deconstructed Samoa brownie cup. Because  I couldn't help myself.

And then, finally, there were my favorites. The Thin Mint brownie cups. 

I didn't top these with anything but powdered sugar, and I did that after they were done baking.

But oh my gosh, so good. The minty crunch held within cakey brownie. You need to make these now.

Make any of these now. I promise you, you'll thank me. As the girl scout cookie orders start rolling in, you're going to want to keep this in mind :)

Thanksgiving Post 3: Pumpkin Cake

This was my favorite Thanksgiving recipe of all this year. 

Pumpkin Dump Cake. 

I don't know if I would even call it a cake. It was like... pudding pumpkin pie bars. Yet cakey. And with a crumble. It's dessert of joy. It's the crack of pumpkin. 

Look at this. 

What is it about pumpkin that can make me swoon?

And this? This was seriously the best pumpkin thing I have ever tasted. 

I have seen variations of this but, I honestly think this one is the best. Check it out:

http://bugaboominimrme.blogspot.com/2011/10/best-pumpkin-dessert-ever-bar-none-none.html

I used a can of pumpkin and then added a teaspoon of cinnamon instead of pumpkin pie filling.

But I am weird like that.

We liked it anyway. I mean, clearly. We aren't dessert people. I should say:
We didn't like this one either, ha.

 Happy Thanksgiving, a week late :)

Thanksgiving Post 2: Two Ingredient Pumpkin Cake with a Nutella-Chocolate-Swirl

The other recipe I made this Thanksgiving was for my brother for his birthday. 

I WAS going to make him the traditional yellow cake with chocolate icing that he always is so keen on.

But my mom called dibs and made it herself! Upsetting, ha. I already had a cake mix and some of the ingredients and wasn't sure where to go from there.

And then I remembered a pin of mine. 

A cake made with just two ingredients. 

Could it be possible? 

When I had both in my pantry and was flush out of ideas?

Oh yeah. It's possible. 

Check it out: http://pinterest.com/pin/307299764/

I adapted it slightly. I swirled nutella and fudge into the top instead of dealing with icing the cake. I also added a bit of cinnamon to the cake batter for flavor and a bit of gingerale into the batter to make it fluff up. 

Worked like a charm.

We didn't like it at all, ha

Best try and make a better version yourselves and let me know what to do next. 

The Best/Easiest/Best Cupcakes Ever. EVER.

Happy my birthday to you! 

Last Wednesday that is. The 12th. But still! Imma keep on celebrating.

I present, the BEST friggin' cupcakes I have ever, EVER had. And trust me when I say, I have had a LOT of fridgin' cupcakes. 

Like, a lot. 

It's pretty much a large part of my charm/curves.

And yet despite my cupcake history, I can tell you: these are the best. When this recipe is made into cake, this is the best cake. It is delicious, spongy, not too dry, not too crumbly: it essentially just rocks. 

I found it on a blog I love to follow: Cupcakes and Sprinkles. It was a recipe for "The Best Chocolate Cake" and as soon as I read it, I knew I wanted to make it. However, at the time, the reason I was even LOOKING for cake recipes was for my little brother's birthday. 

And he has very specific tastes. 

"Yellow cake with chocolate icing" he insisted for the hundredth time. 

"What about chocolate cake? With vanilla icing?" I pleaded. 

"I mean I guess..." he eventually said. "I just like yellow cake with chocolate icing more..."

Ha, great. As if I could do what I wanted to do NOW. When he was being all nice and adorable. So, I decided I could still make this recipe. Just with some yellow cake adaptations. 

Which meant, instead of the called for chocolate cake mix and chocolate pudding, I was going to bust out a yellow cake and butterscotch pudding.

Oh yeah? Didn't I mention? This uses cake mix. 

For all of you who I just lost by saying the words "mix"- I am going to have to BEG you to try this recipe. It is really really worth sacrificing to semi-homemade-ness. Please give it a try, just because it has so much delicious to it that you will never, ever, regret it.

Please and thank you :)

The Best Cake EVER

Recipe Source: kevinandamanda.com & cupcakeswithsprinkles.blogspot.com
 

1 box Cake Mix
1 pkg Jell-O Instant Pudding
1 cup Sour Cream
1 cup Vegetable Oil
4 Eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
(If chocolate cake, add 2 cups Mini Semisweet Chocolate Chips) 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. In a very large bowl , mix together everything except chocolate chips if attempting chocolate cake. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan(s) of choice. 

3. For cooking time, use the cooking times on the back of the cake box as a guide and usually add 10 mins to whatever it says. Then do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, check on it every 5 mins after that.

*I made a yellow cake with yellow cake mix and butterscotch pudding. The recipe originally called for devils food and chocolate pudding. I really want to make a cherry cake with french vanilla pudding or a carrot with butterscotch. So many options! Let me know what you guys try but, whatever you do: MAKE THIS CAKE!

Frosting for the Cause: Pineapple Dump Cake

I don't know if you know about Frosting for the Cause but, it's amazing. It's a truly amazing group of food bloggers- organized by one REALLY amazing food blogger- Paula. I did this post, the following post for her site and wanted to share it here on my page as well. I waited a month before doing so in order to not steal the thunder of Frosting for the Cause by sharing the recipe here. I hope you guys enjoy it and will go join Frosting yourselves. Love to you all:

I had several options to choose from while writing this post as to an inspirational person in my life who suffered through cancer as I have had several loved ones go through the very particular horrors of the disease. While most were surviving, not all were so lucky. As I sat down to begin outlining this post, I found myself struggling to pick the story of just one, a single person I love, a single person who fought what always seems like the losing battle, just one person who won, or who lost, who inspired me.

As I am sure many of you know, choosing one story can be difficult. Especially if you are so deeply entrenched in the lives of so many amazing survivors or loved so many who are no longer with us. This was my exact pondering as I scribbled in a notebook a little over a month ago trying to come up with the story I wanted to tell. Oh yeah, and a recipe to go along with it.

You guys all make it look so easy ;)

However, I was seriously struggling. I had a lot of stories to tell but, none stuck out in that moment. Couldn’t I just tell them all? Write a novel for each one? That’s what my Grandpa Moylan, Aunt Karen, Aunt Peggy, Kendal, Kara, and John deserved. So, I sat. Scribbling in a notebook on the DC metro. (Read, drawing comics aimlessly and worrying about what to write). On my way to some dinner thing my coworker helped put together. A benefit, you know the type. An auction and fancy cocktails followed by some speakers with a dinner.  

At the time, this meant I had worn a dress to work and that I had to wear my work heels for approximately 4 more hours than I normally like to. Little did I know that what it would come to be the inspiration for my post that I had been searching for.

The benefit was a sponsored Camp Kesem event. I had never heard of it either, no worries. George Washington students organized the “Camp Kesem GW’s 2011 Share the Magic Benefit Dinner” and raised $11,000 in just that one evening auction and meal as they told one of the most inspiring stories I had ever heard.

 

Just to be clear, these are students, guys. I was a student not to long ago. While in undergrad, I worked two jobs, worked toward my two hard earned degrees, did a LOT of goofing off, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, did Relay for Life committees each year, and probably spent 1/3 of my life on Facebook. Things I never, ever, even kind of did? Threw benefits. Organized expensive events. Wrote to speakers for their time. Got donations. Organized, marketed, publicized, and budgeted entire summer camps.

If you ever want to feel like a slacker, talk to these students at GW and so many other campuses who are a part of the Camp Kesem Summer Program.These GW Students worked so hard on this event and SO MANY OTHERS to raise money to have a summer camp for the children of cancer patients.

Did I mention? It’s for free. A week long summer camp, entirely free to the families and child. $0.  For as many kids they can get to sign up. I mean, that’s insane. That’s a LOT of fundraising. Not to mention work. And yet, this students work like dogs throughout the entire school year to provide a week of summer paradise to children they don’t even know but who are dealing with cancer in their family.

Cue inspiration flowing freely through my notebook.

 

I found myself moved to tears as a young camper who’s camp nickname was “Pasta” described what it meant to her to have that week every summer with kids who were all going through the same things. Kids who understood. What it meant to have some time to be a kid and goof off at a camp, away from the hospitals and worry for her parent, but also a place where she could talk about those exact fears and have a group who understood and could laugh with her,  pray with her, for her, and above all be there for her.

Cake Batter Pancakes

Seriously. You think I'd learn.

Blogger = Evil. Do not plan to schedule posts. Check and make sure all posts are up and running. Don't count on things to just work as they should. And yet. This was supposed to be up last night at 12:01. And it clearly was/is not. I miss the days when my blog was all organized, all the posts lining up on Mondays at midnight. Or at least on Mondays. Maybe I'll try posting Sunday's at 12:01 again, that way it's actually updated on Mondays and all.... Anyway, I'll figure that out. I bet you just want to know what that delicious picture is portraying. Let's talk pancakes.

So. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pancakes got me in a griddle place.
And then I was grocery shopping. And I found these.

I mean, seriously! We make cupcake CEREAL now!? So proud, America. So very very proud. It was clearly a sign. Cupcakes for brinner (which is, for those who don't know, breakfast + dinner). Which brings us back to this recipe.

Just so fun. On every level. Even the batter is fun. Look at all these sprinkles! How awesome is that??

Prettiest batter ever. Probably. I made two kinds of topping for these cake-flavored pancake gems. One was chocolate ganache with almond extract. The other was vanilla ganache with raspberry extract. 

Both were AMAZING. Gosh, these pancakes were like a dessert. But a dessert that's allowed all the time! They were really rich though, probably shouldn't eat more than 3 or you may get sick. (Like I definitely did. Carrots and water for the rest of the day to kick the sugar out of my system.)

Cake Batter Pancakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup yellow cake mix

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 cups milk 

assorted sprinkles- LOTS!!!

Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add 1 cup of milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth and proper pancake density. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed. You don't want runny pancakes that spill everywhere and are too thin, nor do you want thick, paste like ones. Find a balance for pancake nirvana. 

Heat your skillet or griddle. I used an electric griddle at 350 degrees but, I'm a pancake professional (that's such a lie, I burnt myself 5 times. Be careful if you decide to use a hot skillet like idiot me). Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more.

Serve with frosting or glaze or what have you. Syrup'd or plain or iced- these babies are divine.

Make and enjoy :)