Sunday, August 29, 2010

Gimme S'more

As an We're-sorry-we've-left-you-with-subs-so-much-lately gift for our Sunday school class, we brought S'mores Cupcakes.

Oh my gosh. So good. We'll be making this again.

Recipe:
(Martha Stewart recipe found here)

Ingredients
 2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
 1 teaspoon salt
 2 large eggs
 1 cup whole milk
 1/2 cup vegetable oil
 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
 1 cup boiling water
 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)
 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
Sift 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together on low speed.
In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add boiling water and stir to combine; set cake batter aside.
Place graham cracker crumbs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl; stir until well combined.
Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Reserve remaining graham cracker mixture for topping.
Place 2 teaspoons chocolate in each muffin cup. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until the edges of the graham cracker mixture is golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup three-quarters full with cake batter. Sprinkle each with remaining chocolate and graham cracker mixture. Return to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.

*Note: She used a seven minute marshmallow frosting. This recipe was a bit time intensive, so I wimped out on the homemade frosting and went with canned whipped Vanilla, topped with toasted marshmallows.


  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.




  • Sift 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together on low speed.




  • In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add boiling water and stir to combine; set cake batter aside.




  • Place graham cracker crumbs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl; stir until well combined.




  • Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Reserve remaining graham cracker mixture for topping.




  • Place 2 teaspoons chocolate in each muffin cup. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until the edges of the graham cracker mixture is golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup three-quarters full with cake batter. Sprinkle each with remaining chocolate and graham cracker mixture. Return to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.






  • 2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar




  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour




  • 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)




  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder




  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda




  • 1 teaspoon salt




  • 2 large eggs




  • 1 cup whole milk




  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil




  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract




  • 1 cup boiling water




  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)




  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted




  • 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped






  • 2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar




  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour




  • 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)




  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder




  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda




  • 1 teaspoon salt




  • 2 large eggs




  • 1 cup whole milk




  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil




  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract




  • 1 cup boiling water




  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)




  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted




  • 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped



  • Wednesday, August 25, 2010

    Thoughts on food storage

    Hans and I are getting started with food storage, but it's a little overwhelming! We're starting with 72 hour kits and then we'll work up. Unless any of you have a tried-and-true, stress-free method to getting started?
    (Not ours... I wish).
    But my real question is this: Where to keep food storage?
    a). In one of the guest closets upstairs
    b). In the Harry Pottery closet under the stairs
    One of us argues that upstairs is not preferable because a Texas tornado would take the top story right off. The other of us argues that downstairs is not preferable because of Texas's penchant for flooding.
    Help us out - where do you keep your food storage?

    Tuesday, August 24, 2010

    Good read recommendation

    It's been a while since I've had a book worth recommending. Part of that is from the fact that I've been re-reading old favorites lately (various Harry Potters and Jane Austens) and the other part is because I just finished watching Lost all the way through.

    But I recently finished The Passage by Justin Cronin and it was so good! I couldn't put it down.

    If I would have read about this book online or the jacket at the book store, I probably wouldn't have read it. Hans heard about it some how and he's the one who bought it. Actually, we went and saw Justin Cronin speak about it at Book People and he autographed our copy for us.

    The premise is vampires. No, stop groaning. We're not talking twinkling, romantic vampires. We're not even talking Dracula. This is a very different spin on vampires. In The Passage, the US military is playing with a new strain of virus that has the potential to give human beings extra human strength and near-immortality (it simply slows aging to a fraction of our normal rate). In their quest to perfect the virus, they test on death row inmates. Most of their initial attempts end disastrously and the inmates end up as vampires - they grow claws, and fangs, and glow green and drink blood.

    The book takes a post-apocalyptic turn when the inmates escape and begin eating and/or infecting the entire country. It's broken into two parts - how the outbreak occurred and 93 years later how the world is.

    Structurally, it jumps around quite a bit and can be hard to follow. It feels a little disjointed at times. But the plot, premise and characters are inventive and detailed, making it an enjoyable read.

    And yes, I did have nightmares about "virals" the night I finished reading it.

    A good mail day

    A good mail day is:

    • A letter from your brother from the MTC
    • A letter from your favorite elder in the field, Elder Banda
    • And an $8000 check from the IRS.
    Too bad it's already all earmarked for things. At least we can pay those things off now!

    Monday, August 23, 2010

    More cheap wall art

    We have many bare walls. And I'm finding that cute wall art can add up fast, even those from my go-to-stores like Hobby Lobby and HomeGoods.

    Then we stumbled upon this little beauty.

    Cute, right?

    It's a greeting card. From Target. We were actually looking for a card for Aaron and Karina's wedding. It caught my eye and made me laugh, so we bought it.

    It says:
    "God, grant me the serenity
    to accept the fact
    I cannot fit into some jeans;
    the courage to wear the jeans I should;
    and the wisdom to know the difference."

    The frame was clearanced at HomeGoods and fit perfectly.

    Total cost?
    Card: $2.59
    Frame: $6.99
    Wall art = $9.58

    Sunday, August 22, 2010

    Elder Gudmundsen at the MTC

    I'm finally getting around to uploading some pics my brother sent me from the MTC. He's doing great but I miss him so much! You can read his letters home here.

    Tuesday baking day

    This was my Tuesday.

    (mint chocolate chip with mint chocolate icing)
    (snickerdoodle with vanilla icing)
    (Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting)

    Turned out we didn't need 14 dozen cupcakes, but they were fun to make and oh-so-tasty.