Dad Cupcakes

My Kind of Coffee Cupcakes (front) and Mocha Cupcakes

So I was really pondering what cupcakes to make for my Dad on Father's Day. They needed to be just perfect. I was really running out of ideas when it hit me this morning.

Coffee.

I don't drink coffee, but it's a smell that I will always associate with my Dad. And I love the smell.

And I must say, the two versions of coffee based cupcakes were both divine (although I preferred the vanilla based).

Mocha Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups white sugar 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup hot coffee mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Put liners in cupcake pan.
2.	In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
3.	Bake 15-20 minutes.

My Kind of Coffee Cupcakes (lots of milk and a bit of coffee)

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups of sugar

Beat well, then add:

Add 2 large eggs
2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla
½ teaspoon of salt
2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
2 ½ cups of flour
1 ¼ cups of coffee/milk (mix the coffee and milk as strong as you like - I used 3/4 c coffee and 1/2 milk)

Beat well, fill cups, and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. You should get 24. I get 18, 'cause I'm doing something wrong.

The frosting I used is a recipe I've used before and, this time, it turned out absolutely perfect. I could seriously eat it by the spoonful. It tasted just like yummy, super milky, sweet coffee.

Coffee Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Makes enough to frost 16 cupcakes

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 tbsp hot water
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee

Put sugar, egg whites and salt into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees). Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes total. Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, stir 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee into 1 tbsp hot water until dissolved, then put it in the refrigerator or freezer until it comes down to room temperature. Reduce mixer speed to low and add coffee mixture. Continue beating 1 minute to reduce air bubbles.

What to do...

So I started this morning off just right. I had been planning to get Not-So-Ex football tickets for Father's Day. He's always wanted to take Hunt to see their team but we never seemed to be looking for tickets at the right time. But, this year, I checked into it and found out that they were going on sale today, the day before Father's Day. Not-So-Ex took Jake the Wonder Mutt to the vet this morning, leaving me home alone just long enough to get the tickets. He walked in the door just as I finished the purchase. And he was thrilled.

But, now that the gift giving is done, Not-So-Ex and Hunt are on their way to the mountains for a weekend of camping. And I'm wondering what I can find to get into.

I already have some plans. There are tons of movies to watch. I've been planning a new cupcake experiment to try. And I have some lovely, fresh produce from our little garden that I'm going to fix for lunch. All in all it sounds like a pretty good, relaxing weekend.

One more from the garden...

An awesome purple bell pepper from the garden!

Mary, Mary quite contrary...

So I have a ton of fresh lovely veggies available in pots in my front yard! We have carrots (which I'm sure will be all of 3-4 inches long cause of the potting), lots of banana peppers,

some quickly growing bell peppers,

cucumbers sprouting up everywhere, and zucchini.

Plus these will one day be little dwarf pomegranates.

I have to have strawberries (of course)

and there's a blueberry bush too.

And there's always Not-So-Ex's herbs, like dill.

And of course tomatoes everywhere. Big, little, green, red, we got em all.

I love my urban garden!!!!

Killer POM recipe #1

I waited to post this cause I was gonna take a pic. But it was gone before I even had the chance! LOL

So the folks at POM Wonderful sent me some pomegranate juice, which I LOVE to bake with. And, knowing that pomegranate juice is a veritable antioxidant treasure chest, it only made sense to pair it with another powerhouse fruit, blueberries (which also happen to be the ingredient for this month's Cupcake Hero). And the result was awesome.

If there's one recipe you get from this post, it should be this one.

Blueberry/Pomegranate Topping (based on this recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries 1/4 cup water 1 cup pomegranate juice 3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup cold water 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup of water, pomegranate juice, and sugar. Stir gently, and bring to a boil.
2.	In a cup or small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water. Gently stir the cornstarch mixture into the blueberries so as not to mash the berries. Simmer gently until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the extract. Thin sauce with water if it is too thick for your liking.

I made a simple Cheesecake Pie to serve the Blueberry/Pomegranate Sauce over, and it was pretty good, especially considering how simple it was.

Cheesecake Pie

1 graham cracker pie crust

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

Mix all the ingredients, pour into the crust, and bake 20-30 min at 350.

Aging sucks

So I live in an older townhouse that doesn't have air conditioning. We've put window air conditioners in the living room on the first floor and one in the kids' room on the second floor, but our bedroom only has a few fans and an open window. And this is the time of year when that begins to be a real issue.

Last night I couldn't take the room, so I snuggled in on the couch where it was so cool I even needed a blanket. But I woke up in severe back pain.

So I'm home for the day. Luckily, I called my mommy, who brought me some medicine so that I'm not in too much pain right this second. And I was able to get a bit of sleep post medication too. Hopefully the day will only get better from here.

Hi. I'm a filmmaker.

So, this weekend I went to the Flyover Film Festival in Louisville, KY. And it was awesome.

Our film, The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, showed Friday evening. We were after a film called High School, which was a super funny drug comedy. The audience for that film was a little small and we expected pretty much the same for ours. But when we went out for a brief intermission, we noticed a lot of people lined up outside. And sure enough, they were there for us.

Folks waiting for our film!

After the film, the producer and director always do a question and answer segment and, this time, they asked me to join them. In fact, they gave me an actual introduction which included the director talking about how I was brought on as an intern and then "made myself so completely invaluable that they had to make me associate producer."

The question and answer time

I'll admit that the experience was a bit overwhelming. On one hand, I felt lucky to be respected and recognized by the guys I had worked with. On the other hand, I felt completely out of place. I know that this is it for me. While it's great to meet all the other editors and directors and producers, I know that the contacts don't really matter. No matter who I met, I'd still be leaving the next day to return to life as a state employee.

But the part I enjoyed most was the response from the audience. As we were finishing up, a woman who was working as an usher in the theater came up to me and told me how much she enjoyed the film. When we were making our way to the after-party area, a few people who had seen the film stopped me to discuss it. And it was wonderful. I love when people actually are thinking about it well after the credits have rolled. And this film definitely is one that tends to make people think.