Have a Happy Hogmanay with boozy cupcakes!

I decided to share some of my favourite boozy cupcakes from March's Cupcake Hero challenge to celebrate New Year (Hogmanay to us Scots!).

The top picture is the strawberry margarita from The Picky Apple! They look totally tasty and if you click the link their is a recipe to make them - it looks quite complicated (lots of ingredients) but I'd say they look worth the effort!

The second picture is a White Russian cupcake by Zebe192 - I know this'd be Manny's favourite as it looks ultra chocolaty!!! Again there is a recipe after the link - again with lots of ingredients!

The final picture is an cupcake take on an old English favourite - the sherry trifle..yummy...made by the Cracking Good Egg. These actually look like the easiest to make of them all!

Anyways you can check out all the boozy cupcakes...all 45 of them...here.

Have a great New Year - don't drink too much or eat too many cupcakes!

Cupcake gifts...part two

As you can see I was lucky enough to get even more cupcake gifts...this time from Manny!

Picture one is an adorable cupcake purse and keyring set from Debenhams which I'd had my eye on, picture 2 is a cupcake diary, address book and notebook set which is totally cute, picture 3 is some super cute slippers from La Senza and 4 is a hot chocolate set from Next that I'd been lusting after since I first saw it! Now it turns out I'm not allowed to use it incase it gets broken so its an ornamental hot chocolate cupcake set!

I also got the book Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanna Fluke which I don't have pic of but you can read about here.

All in all as you can see I was incredibly spoiled over Christmas, I must've been a good girl this year ;)

Christmas gifts..part one

First up my gifts from Dennis in Ann Arbour :)

The first picture is of 4 cupcake desert plates which I think are super cute, second picture are Hello Kitty (as a cupcake!) napkins and matching table cloth and the third pic is Cupcake Fun by Wilton and these ultra cute silicone cupcake cases shaped like teddy bears...adorable!

I also got some silicone muffin pans shaped like snowmen and gingerbread men :)

Cake...it's the real thing!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas/Holidays and Santa was good to you all! I got some fab cupcake gifts (and some non-cupcake ones too!!), which of course I shall share in a post v.soon!

Although Christmas has now passed I couldn't resist posting these gorgeous cupcakes from Bakerella - how CUTE are they!?

Happy Holidays everyone!

ho ho ho.

Christmas Eve is TOMORROW!! It came soo fast this year! And let me tell you, I'm excited! I have been itching to blog lately and tonight I was debating going to bed or blogging and Isaac said "blog it up emma" so here I am, blogging it up.

Isaac had another tight party at his house at the beginning of the month.

Theme: JOCK JAMS.

So of course we had to dress according to the theme...

We like to move it move it.

A friend of Isaac's rapped. It was so cool, just look at all the people loving it.

Guess who else decided to show up to the party....

BOO. Way to ruin our fun police.

Me and my sweet boy.

Guess who went bowling. Me and Isaac. I'll be honest, WE HATE BOWLING. But all my friends were getting together at Fat Cats and we couldn't miss it! So our solution to our pure hatred of bowling was to bowl as one, as a team.

Well lookie lookie lookie who won.

IKE (we couldn't think of a good way to merge our names): 138.

Everyone else: LOSERS TO IKE

Who knew!! We will never bowl separately again!
PS - I tried sooo hard to get a pic of the screen without this "a new game please bowl" sign popping up but I could not do it!! Every time I snapped the pic that popped up. I am not the greatest, but hey, at least you can see our winning score!

We have had such fun attending Christmas parties this year!! We went to Isaac's family party, my family party, my work Christmas party, and a few friend parties. I love Christmas. After Isaac's family party we were driving back up to SLC and made a stop at Thanksgiving Point to see the lights.

Reindeer jumping. I bet its Rudolf.

FUN FACT:

Thomas Edison invented the string of lights on December 21, 1882.

I text Isaac that fun fact while he was at work yesterday and guess what his response was...

"Thomas is a jerk."

Jerk?! How dare he.

Of course he was joking, but he better be careful.

I don't take joking about the inventor of Christmas lights lightly :)

REAL LIVE REINDEER AT THANKSGIVING POINT!!!

hello Comet. hello Cupid.

Magical treeee.

Last weekend Isaac went to the bowl game in Las Vegas and I stayed here and celebrated Christmas with the gals.

Josh had an amazing fancy Christmas party with the most fab foooood. Its all about the food. Thanks joshie.

My favorite ladies.

So yes, thats about it. I am so excited for Christmas I could squeel! And I don't have to work! I have been working so much at the rehab I can hardly stand it. Literally. My back is about to break. Thank goodness for heating pads.

The semester is finally over!! I successfully got through finals and am very pleased with my grades so far, hopefully they continue to turn out well. I promise to blog it up allllll Christmas break, afterall, I have 3 weeks off!! Thank you University of Utah.

Merry Christmas!

Champagne Shrimp and Pasta

Ingredients:


8 ounces angel hair pasta
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 cups champagne
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
freshly grated Parmesan cheese



Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 6 to 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan. Cook and stir mushrooms in oil until tender. Remove mushrooms from pan, and set aside.

3. Combine shrimp, champagne, and salt in the frying pan, and cook over high heat. When liquid just begins to boil, remove shrimp from pan. Add shallots and tomatoes to champagne; boil until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 8 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup cream; boil until slightly thick, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add shrimp and mushrooms to sauce, and heat through. Adjust seasonings to taste.

4. Toss hot, cooked pasta with remaining 1/4 cup cream and parsley. To serve, spoon shrimp with sauce over pasta, and top with Parmesan cheese.

And now for something completely different...

Sick of all these frosted Christmas cupcakes...how about some meat!

With its endless variety of pies, cakes, and tarts, the bakery is a wonderland of delicious possibility, undermined only by the fact that none of its goods are made of meat. Baking up some protein, The Meatloaf Bakery.

Loaf's a four-seat takeout nook serving a motley armada of gussied up meatloaves, showcased in a pastry case, and formed in the shape of cupcakes, tarts, cakes, bread loaves, bite-sized “loafies”, and pies that'd make mincemeat outta mincemeat.

They look great - not sure about the taste however!

Thanks to today's Cakespy email for the heads up on this, and also to Thrillist for the picture! Maybe I should ask my friend in Chicago to pop along and try one!

More Christmas cupcakes...

Yesterday we had a career's assessment at work and after a day of hugging and drawing my feelings I decided to treat myself to a coffee and a mini cupcake at Primrose Bakery's new Covent Garden store. However when I walked in the door their Christmas cupcakes spoke to me and yelled "buy us!!!"

Who could resist them - look at that little baby deer cupcake!! I was really worried she was fashioned from sugar and I'd have to eat her but thankfully she was plastic and is now sitting on top of my Alessi canisters in my kitchen!

So back to the cakes .....they were F.A.B! Moist, yummy with lashings of scrummy frosting!!! Seriously one of the best cupcakes in London! And beautifully decorated - it looks just like the little creatures are sitting on snow topped cupcakes!

Also I was really impressed that they are charging no extra for the Christmas cupcakes than their normal, which at under £2 each are some of the cheapest in London! And they don't scrimp on ingredients or frosting that much is for sure!

All these cupcakes are making me festively plump..well more so!! Only Buttercup and Hummingbird Christmas ones to check out now and then I'm on a cupcake free diet for a month or two!

BTW the other two non-festive cupcakes are a rose one (gorgeous - the petals on top were really tasty and the rose flavour came through in the frosting...although when I gave Manny some his flavour guess was 'trifle'...random!!!) and a chocolate coffee frosted one for Manny which he happily devoured so I assume he liked it!*

*I blame the elf for possessing me and making me buy lots of cupcakes ...he is a bad cupcake elf!

Its Christmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!

And the festive cupcakes just keep coming!

Last weekend I ventured out on possibly the coldest and wetest day of the year and went to Partridges Market as I knew it would be my only opportunity in December to pick up some Crumbs and Doilies flavour of the month - which are Christmas flavoured.

Our Christmas Cupcakes were one of our most popular flavours of the month last year, so it seemed only right to bring them back for Christmas. A light but festive sponge made with organic cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, muscovado sugar and golden syrup and topped with real brandy buttercream icing. It’s Christmas, in a cupcake!

And that is EXACTLY what they tasted of...Christmas! They were light and moist with a lovely spiciness to them and the frosting was just fantastic!!

And as usual they had the best sprinkles! I'm loving the trees!

Chilled Shrimp Fettuccine

Ingredients:


8 ounces uncooked fettuccine
8 ounces frozen peeled
and deveined cooked medium
shrimp -- thawed and drained
1 tablespoon
lemon juice
3/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/4 cup
chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion (about 1
small)
1/4 cup fat-free Italian dressing
1 teaspoon Creole or Cajun
seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper


Procedure:

Cook and drain fettuccine as directed on package. Rinse with cold water; drain. Toss shrimp and lemon juice in large bowl. Mix remaining ingredients. Add mayonnaise mixture and fettuccine to shrimp; toss. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours to blend flavors.

i'm one lucky girl.

I can't believe November has come and gone!! Guess where I went on November 22, 2008...

coldplay!

Best concert ever. They played song after song that I loved. Isaac and I had a fab time with his parents. How I didn't get a pic of us is beyond me, I never let that happen...seriously.

Thanksgiving. Loved you. I had to work in the morning, not great, but after I went and had dinner with my family at my Aunt's house. My cousin came home from Oregon with her sweet babies. I love that baby Max soo so much.

After dinner with my family I met Isaac and his family in Park City to spend the night. Isaac and I went to the outlet mall at like 10:30 pm prior to the midnight madness and a bunch of the stores were open early.

sweet deals + not too many people = jackpot.

The next day we spent the day in Park City shopping and then to SLC to see the lights turn on at Temple Square. Guess who got interviewed to be on TV!!! ME (plus isaac, ryan, and erin). Guess who actually was on TV!! Erin. Yeah, I was a little bummed I didn't get my big break that night...but Erin did a fab job. And guess what actually happened when we were being interviewed. The lights turned on. Yeah. I was so excited to actually be there to see them turn on and then all the sudden I'm distracted by the idea of stardom and the lights come on.

Great.

JUST GREAT. ;)

I love this one of us laughing. Please view it zoomed in below.

Zoomed.

We had such a great weekend.

Guess what is on it's way!!!

CHRISTMAS!
look who's ready.

are YOU?

Red Pepper Eggplant Chili

If you like your meal hot, as in chili hot, then examine the recipes below and re-invent your own. Adjusting is the key.

Description:

This is a spicy chili made with eggplant and cannellini beans.


Nutrition Info per Serving:

Calories 319; Carbohydrates 65 gm; Protein 13 gm; Fat 4 gm; Saturated Fat 0 gm; Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 1972 mg; Fiber 16 gm


Ingredients:

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 large eggplants, peeled and cubed
1 16-oz can low-salt stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 4.25-oz can chopped black olives, drained
1 8-oz can low-salt tomato sauce
2 tbsp red chili powder
Red pepper flakes, to taste
2 tbsp dark molasses
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 19-oz cans cannellini beans (white kidney beans), undrained
Garnish: Sour cream and sliced black olives, if desired


Directions:

In a Dutch oven, sauté onions, red peppers, and eggplants over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until tender, about 4-5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients except cannellini beans. Mix well. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 1 hour. Stir occasionally.

After 1 hour, stir in cannellini beans. Cover and continue cooking 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with sliced olives sprinkled on top, if desired.

Steamed Shrimp with Garlic Oil

Here is a simple and healthy (since it's loaded with garlic!) shrimp dish that is extremely simple to make. Just chop off the eyes part of the shrimp head, make a slit down the back, remove the vein, steam and then top them off with heaps of garlic oil.


Ingredients:

10 head-on shrimp
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 stalk scallion (chopped)
1/8 teaspoon of salt
3 drops fish sauce
5 drops sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine
1 1/2 tablespoon of water
1 dash of white pepper powder
3 tablespoons cooking oil



Instructions:

Heat up the wok and add in the cooking oil. Lightly fry the chopped garlic until they turn golden brown. Set aside.


Chop off the eyes part of the shrimp head, slit the back and deveined. Pat dry and place all shrimp on a plate. Season the shrimp with the ingredients above. Steam for 5 minutes. Top the shrimp with the garlic oil and garnish with chopped scallion.

Hass Avocado Shrimp Cocktail

This version of an old standard has a contemporary twist. Fresh avocado in crunchy, spicy sauce makes a cocktail sure to be a taste pleaser for those in search of flavor.
Nutrition Information per Serving: 170 calories, 12g of fat, 55mg of cholesterol, 160mg of sodium, and 8g of protein.


Ingredients:

2 Tbsp thick, chunky tomato salsa
2 Tbsp seafood cocktail sauce
2 Tbsp chopped onion
2 Tbsp diced seedless cucumber
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Hass Avocados (1 pound), diced
30 large (21 to 25 count per pound), cooked shrimp with tails
6 lime slices for garnish
6 sprigs cilantro for garnish


Instructions:

1. Thoroughly combine salsa and next 5 ingredients; gently fold in avocado.

2. Chill mixture 1 hour to marry flavors. (Mixture is best served the day it's made.)

3. To serve, divide avocado mixture among 6 stemmed glasses.

4. Hang 5 shrimp, tails outside glass, around each rim.

5. Garnish each with 1 twisted lime slice and 1 sprig cilantro.

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