PrissyCook

My marathon Christmas trip back to Texas is over and I’m le pooped! I’m always glad to get back to my bed and my stuff, but always leave wishing I had more time with everybody.

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Tags: Blue Bell, Christmas traditions, Cookies

Cupcake Happy Hour! Its a new movement around my office I’m trying to pioneer. This is my second time announcing Cupcake Happy Hour via Twitter to my work Tweeps and I love it.

For the past two years, I’ve been bringing cupcakes to work, but I always wanted to share them with more than my immediate team, but I felt pushy I guess, asking people if they wanted a cupcake. Truth be told, sometimes the cupcakes don’t turn out all that great and I don’t want people to feel obligated to choke down a yucky cupcake and then politely say, “it’s wonderful.”

PLUS, I haven’t made a batch of cupcakes for the crew up in Scottsdale. I figured it was now time to hook up my new friends.

These cupcakes were Carrot Cupcake with Maple Syrup Cream Cheese. They were tasty. The carrot cake is Martha’s. Trust someone who has made and strayed from this carrot cake recipe: Don’t. This one is perfect.

I was a bit disapointed in the maple syrup frosting. The frosting was a delicous cream cheese frosting, but if you’re expecting a strong maple taste don’t rely just on pouring syrup into the frosting. Next time I might mix in syrup and maple flavored extract.

Other Carrot Cupcakes on the Web:

Martha Stewart: Carrot Cupcakes with Butter Cream

Smitten Kitchen: Carrot Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

52 Cupcakes: Ginger Carrot Cakes with Orange Butter Cream

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Tags: #chh, carrot, happy hour, maple syrup, martha

What I love about small towns, is that it was familiar to have the doorbell ring once a night with someone dropping a homemade batch of something and looking forward to your favorite treat to be delivered. My mom LOVES this Cheerio nut mix Mrs. Gold makes. So much so, that its placed in a cookie jar away from all the other treats, just so it doesn’t get consumed too fast.

I love my mom’s Pralines

My doorbell doesn’t ring so much in Phoenix, but I suppose that’s okay. I still make treats for friends. This year, it’s Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix. Enjoy!

Alton Brown’s Hot Cocoa Mix
Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
Hot water

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl (I used my food processor) and incorporate evenly. In a small pot, heat 4 to 6 cups of water.

Fill your mug half full with the mixture and pour in hot water. Stir to combine. Seal the rest in an airtight container, keeps indefinitely in the pantry. This also works great with warm milk.

Other Homemade Gift Ideas

Assemble a “Green Kit”
Homemade Shower Cap
Homemade Gift Tags

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Tags: Christmas, easy, homemade, hot cocoa, Howto, quick

Making marshmallows does seem pretty daunting, I must admit. The first time I had read about making them, they seemed so gourmet and advanced, I knew I was getting in over my head. But to my surprise, they turned out really tasty and weren’t that hard.

Messy and tasty.

Lesson (1) learned from last time, DON’T SKIMP ON THE POWERED SUGAR AND BUTTER. Marshmallows are really sticky and last time my kitchen looked like I had spun a web of whipped sugar goodness.

Lesson (2) a pizza slicer works better than a pastry cutter. And a metal one works better than one with a silicone blade.

Lesson (3) When pouring the marshmallows, to help even them out in the pan, wrap your hand in plastic wrap and spray it with cooking spray. It makes all the difference in the world.

Peppermint Marshmallows
Active time >45 minutes, Total Time 5 hours

3 Tbs. gelatin
1/2 cup water
2 cups sugar boil
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
Peppermint candies or canes

Blend 3 peppermint candy canes and powered sugar. Place peppermints and at least 2 cups of powered sugar in a food processor. Reserve.

Prepare 9×13 inch Pyrex with lots of butter and dust with peppermint and powered sugar mixture.

Soak the gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water for 10 minutes.I used the mixing bowl for soaking.

Boil sugar, corn syrup and water to 250°F

Pour hot sugar mixture into bowl with the gelatin. Using the paddle attachment, mix until fluffy, at least 5 minutes up to 8 minutes.

Pour into prepared Pyrex. This is where I used my plastic wrap glove to help even the mixture out in the dish.

Leave uncovered for 1 hour. At one hour, sprinkle top of marshmallows with peppermint powered sugar mixture. Allow to set for 4 more hours.

Remove from dish and slice.

Other Marshmallows on the Web:

Cooking for Engineers

Epicurious

My first marshmallow attempt.

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Tags: marshmallow, Peppermint

I used to color coordinate my closet according to a color scale ROY G BIV. It was a very simple system with only a few glitches: Mostly browns and grays. From a clothing perspective, I keep good order. I only allow myself one t-shirt drawer and follow a strict one in, one out rule. I mean, I think I follow the rules, but somehow once a year, I can purge a moving box worth of clothes.

Oprah is hosting a series over the next few months designed to help you declutter your home. They showed examples of people with boxes and piles and stuff basically stuffed everywhere. I don’t live that way, but I do want just a little more breathing room. You know?

• I want more clothes that are multi-purposed, not just more clothes.
• I want to appreciate the things I have (which can mean remembering I have them).

One of the techniques shared in Oprah’s Clean Up Your Messy Home was about closet organization and purging. The idea was to set up a system that would show you what you wear and you don’t. At the end of six months, you should purge items you haven’t worn.

1. Pair like items together. Put knit sweaters with other knit sweaters.
2. Turn all your hangars around (as shown above).

As you wear clothes, turn the hangar to hang correctly. Ideally, you’ll know what you wear the most of because you can see the difference.

It’s going really well. This week I found myself wanting to wear clothes I haven’t worn in a really long time, because I didn’t like thinking about tossing them out in a few months! The result, quite a few compliments this week on how nice I looked.

Now, everything is not perfect (I know gasp!). I cannot and have NEVER been able to keep my shoes organized. They will always remain a blob on my closet floor.

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Tags: Clean up your messy house, closet organization, declutter, Oprah

When I was in the third grade, I invited all my third grade girlfriends to my birthday party. It was a My Little Pony birthday party. Nobody came. I was devastated. So to this day, I have panic and anxiety when hosting a party. IDK. This isn’t Dr. Phil, so I don’t want to get into it. So, when I sent out invitations to a Cupcake Happy Hour at work…I was a nervous wreck.

• I tidied up the stacks of paper on my desk.
• I made sure I had extra breakroom napkins.
• I placed the trashcan so it was easily accessible.
• I put on my favorite Pandora station (Debbie Gibson, Tiffany and NKOTB)
• and I waited…..

I hate it when people are casually, socially late. I think it was a full 3 minutes after the hour before people started trickling in. UGH!

I think my Cupcake Happy Hour was a success. I mean, my colleagues don’t need to know that I was sweating through my organic deodorant waiting for somebody anybody to show up!

Onto my cupcake experience: What was important to me and making a horchata cupcake was the flavor of almond and cinnamon. I made a batch of horchata with intentions of infusing that concoction more into the recipe much like was done on Chockylit, but I didn’t know how the flavors would stand up once mixed with the other ingredients and baked.

I decided to take a basic yellow cupcake recipe and substitute almond extract for vanilla and to add cinnamon. The consensus was that people liked them.

Horchata Cupcakes
Makes 12

12 paper liners
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking power
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk at room temperature

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl to aerate and combine; set aside.
3. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Beat in almond extract. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down after each addition, allowing each egg to be absorbed before continuing. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternately with the milk.
4. Divide batter evenly among cupcake wells. Bake for 18 minutes.

For frosting I used a premade vanilla frosting and I mixed in 1 teaspoon of almond extract.

For other Horchata cupcakes on the web:

Chockylit

Bake and Destroy

For my Sugar Skull experience click here.

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Tags: happy hour, Horchata, my little pony, office party, Sugar Skulls

The other day I was having a conversation with someone and he paused and said, “So, how many years were you class president?” I was shocked! Seriously, 13 years later, do I still ooze presidential? It’s possible.

I had a chance to go home recently for another birthday marathon and see my little sister in one of her last high school pep rallies. I took a stroll down memory lane, which is to say, I walked around my old high school. Lots of things are exactly the same.

My mom is still an American History teacher.

And I’m sure high school Juniors in Caldwell still dread when they see test announcements on her white board.

To set the record straight on my terms in office, I was class secretary 4 years and Student Council president for 2 years.

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I get the most amazing ideas. Some of them require a 65 mile treasure hunt.

A few months ago, my officemate mentioned horchata cupcakes. I remembered thinking that was an amazing idea. Off and on over the past few months I’ve experimented with making homemade horchata, only to realize, I don’t really like the stuff. I don’t get it, watery rice milk with almond and cinnamon.Yuck. But, the idea of putting almond and cinnamon in a cupcake, now that’s an idea I could get behind.

A few weeks ago, I was ready to start baking and get an early El Dia de los Muertos post up, when I had a great idea. Wouldn’t it be fun to put sugar skulls on top of the cupcakes? Little did I know that the next 6 hours of my day would be spent hunting down the plastic sugar skull molds I’d need to get started. Where did I not find sugar skulls?

• Michael’s
• Target
• Wal-Mart
• Joann’s
• Lee Lee Market
• Dollar Store
• Big Lots
• Bashas
• Albertsons
• Frys
• Hobby Lobby

Where did I find them? Well, there were plenty of places online where I could find them, but wasn’t helping my Saturday morning impulse to whip up a few Mexican inspired decorations. Finally, I found the molds at Suenos Latin Imports at 7th Street and Bethany Home. Thank Heaven!

The best howtos for sugar skulls I was able to find online were:

• Mexican Sugar Skulls
• Crafty Chica
• Suenos Latin Imports offerd me free Sugar Skull support hot line too!

When making the sugar mixture most descriptions will use the description, “sugar should feel like wet sand.” I remember mixing the sugar, closing my eyes and trying to remember what wet sand felt like. It was nice sensory vacation, even if it was just for a minute.

These little guys needed to cure for 8 hours and then they’re ready for hair and make up!

And I think they dressed up quite nicely with their royal frosting decorations. This one is Carolina.

It didn’t take me long to realize that decorating all these guys was going to take quite a bit of time. But I think it was worth it. As I was working on each one, I’d give them a name, make up their history and put them aside for the next one.

I should really write a novella, trust me, there was some drama in this group!

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Tags: Albertsons, Bashas, El Dia de los Muertos, Frys, Hobby Lobby, Horchata, Howto, Joann's, Mexican, Phoenix, royal frosting, Suenos, Sugar Skulls, tradition

I know lots of you out there have siblings. This one is mine. Let’s call her Liz.

There’s a solid 14 year age difference between Liz and me. What that means is that we lived together for only 3 or so years before I was out of the house in college. So, we’re sisters, but not the same kind of sisters who fought over mirror space, but sisters who have a totally different kind of relationship.

That’s not to say there aren’t some sibling rivalries. For example, she’ll toss in my face the 2 or 3 times I ever got in trouble in high school and I’ll remind my parents that she shouldn’t get to stay out past 10:30pm. It pretty much evens out.

In my parents golden years, I feel they have waned from their previous reputation of being the toughest parents around and have allowed young Liz to stray away from what is good.

For example, Peppermint Ice Cream from Blue Bell is good. I spied this ice cream on their list of “What’s Crankin” and I couldn’t wait to see it show up at the stores in Arizona (Basha’s, WalMart or Albertson’s)

Imagine my squeal when I opened the lid and saw real chunks of red and green peppermints! The website did say “sprinked with zesty candies” but I didn’t think they meant real pieces of peppermint actually mixed in the ice cream!

Allow me to repeat. THE PEPPERMINTS ARE ACTUALLY CANDY PIECES MIXED IN THE ICE CREAM! The ice cream has the same basic characteristics of Blue Bell, it was smooth and buttery. It paired perfectly with a warm milk chocolate brownie.

I’m still trying to figure out how Liz ended up with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s. I heard my mom say something about a hurricane and the freezer going out, but I’m not buying it just yet.

Other Blue Bell Posts:

Moo-llennium Crunch

Banana Split

Southern Hospitality

Blue Bell Heritage

My favorite ice cream blog:

Ice Cream Ireland

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Tags: ben and jerry's, Blue Bell, Brenham, Brownies, ice cream, Peppermint, Texas

I’m fairly confident that I have the most extensive Blue Bell Ice Creamreviews than any other blog in existence. I’ve done Google, Twitter and Stumble Upon searches to seek out other Blue Bell lovers, and my friends, I have to tell you pickins are slim.

I’ve actually been a friendly sparing match with Wayne over which ice cream truly does reign supreme: Blue Bell (aka The best ice cream in the country) or Ben and Jerry’s (aka The hippie ice cream). Erica even suggest we have a little ice cream throw down. One that I’m taking seriously enough, that I’ve started spring training…in October!

Now, take into consideration I’ve been engaged in an ice cream battle while living in Arizona. I’m constantly:

• meeting people from other parts of the US and have to educate them on what Blue Bell is.
• discussing with people why their choice of ice cream is wrong and why they should convert.
• telling people which Arizona groceries stores they should shop in to get the best selections of Blue Bell.

Its tough work my friends. That’s why when I go home, I can let my guard down. I know that I’m going to be in the Mother Land, so to speak, and not have to worry about any new fangled ice cream concoctions.

Times are changing.

This is what I found in my parent’s refrigerator today. As I understand it, it belongs to my sister. Needless to say, my mom and dad’s parental stamina has been weakened by the 14 year age difference between us.

What’s next Mike and Debbie? Kansas City style BBQ?

Other Blue Bell Posts:

Moo-llennium Crunch

Banana Split

Southern Hospitality

Blue Bell Heritage

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Tags: BBQ, ben and jerry's, Blue Bell, Brenham, Caldwell, ice cream, Kansas City, Texas, Vermont