Christmas Tree Cupcake Recipe

 

 

Here’s another adorable cupcake recipe that I found. 

The ingredients and instructions for this recipe is located at the Martha Stewart website.

Click HERE to figure out how to make this incredible treats.

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Mini Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcakes Recipe

 

 

Here is a delicious and easy recipe that I found at the Canadian Living website (with a few personal changes) which will make you never want to buy store bought cake mix again:

 

What You Will Need

Cupcake Mix:

–   1 ½ cups of flour

–   1 cup of sugar

–   1/3 cup of cocoa powder

–   1 tsp of baking soda

–   ¼ tsp of salt

–   1 cup of cold coffee

–   ½ cup of vegetable oil

–   1 tsp of vanilla

–   4 tsp of cider vinegar

Peppermint Icing:

–   1/3 cup of butter

–   3 ½ cups of icing sugar

–   ½ tsp of peppermint extract

–   ½ tsp of vanilla

–   5 Tbsp of powdered/crushed candy canes

 

What You Will Need to do:

1.   Preheat your oven to 350°F.

2.   In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

3.   Whisk in coffee, oil and vanilla; stir in vinegar.  Pour by 1 tbsp into paper-lined mini muffin cups.

4.   Bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes (test with a toothpick).

5.   Let sit for about 10 minutes to cool down.

6.   For the icing, in bowl, beat butter, icing sugar and salt until fluffy; beat in cream, 2 tbsp at a time, until smooth.

7.   Beat in peppermint extract and vanilla. Beat in 3 tbsp of the candy cane powder.

8.   Pipe or spread onto cupcakes. Sprinkle with remaining powder.

 

Three Pepper Hummus Recipe

This recipe is almost like the one I buy at Costco sometimes (unfortunately, I can remember the name right now):

What You Will Need:

–   4 cups of garbanzo beans (from the can)

–   1/8 cup of lemon juice

–   2 Tbsp of olive oil

–   2 Tbsp of tahini

–   7 minced cloves of garlic

–   2-4 slices of jalapeno peppers, chopped (depending on how hot you’d like the hummus but I usually only do 2 slices)

–   ½ tsp of pepper

–   1 ½ tsp of cayenne pepper

–   ½ tsp of cumin

 

What you Will Need to do:

1.   In a bowl, combine all the ingredients together. 

2.   Once everything has been combined, place in a blender and begin blending on low until everything is completely blender. 

 

25 Amazing Ways to Wear a Scarf

I have quite a few different scarfs but get bored with wearing them as I know only a few different ways to wear them.  I found this incredible video that demonstrates 25 different ways to wear scarfs.

Click HERE to check out the video yourself.

Raspberry Chocolate Gelatin Recipe

 

Here is an incredible recipe that I found at the Food Network website. with a few minor modifications.

What You Will Need:

–   3 cups raspberries, plus more for topping

–   1 cup sugar

–   6 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder (about three 1/4-ounce packets)

–   Cooking spray

–   2/3 cup half-and-half

–   2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

–   Whipped cream, for topping

 

What You Will Need to do:

1.   Puree the raspberries with 3/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water in a blender. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.

 

2.   Bring half of the raspberry puree to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle 4 teaspoons gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water in a medium bowl; let stand 1 minute. Stir in the hot raspberry puree until the gelatin dissolves, then stir in the remaining raspberry puree.

 

3.   Spray nine 5-ounce paper cups with cooking spray. Fill each cup about three-quarters full with the raspberry gelatin mixture. Refrigerate until the gelatin starts setting but the surface is still tacky, about 45 minutes.

 

4.   Meanwhile, bring the half-and-half and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the chocolate, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring, until smooth. Sprinkle the remaining 2 teaspoons gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water in a medium bowl; let stand 1 minute. Pour in the chocolate mixture and stir until the gelatin dissolves. Pour the chocolate gelatin mixture into the cups on top of the raspberry gelatin and refrigerate until fully set, about 3 hours.

 

5.   Unmold the gelatin: Invert the cups onto plates and carefully tear off the paper. Top with whipped cream and raspberries.

 

 

Apple-Pie Dumplings with Caramel Sauce Recipe

 

I found this recipe at the Chatelaine magazine website.  My plan is to make this for Christmas Eve dinner but I wanted to share this with you before then, just in case you would want to make this for the holiday season too.

 

What You Will Need:

FOR CRUST:

–   2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

–   3/4 cup grated old cheddar

–   1/2 tsp salt

–   1 1/3 cups  cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

–   3/4 cup sour cream

–   1  egg, separated

 

FOR FILLING:

–   8 small firm crisp apples, such as Gala or Crispin

–   2 tbsp lemon juice

–   1/2 cup packed brown sugar

–   1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

–   2 tsp cinnamon

 

FOR CARAMEL SAUCE:

–   1/3 cup unsalted butter

–   3/4 cup packed brown sugar

–   1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

–   1/2 tsp salt

–   3/4 cup 35% cream

 

What You Will Need to do:

 

1.   Combine flour with cheddar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 1/3 cups butter in a food processor. Whirl until coarse crumbs form. Add sour cream and egg yolk. Whirl just until dough comes together. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Form dough into a ball, then divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each into a disc, then wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 3 days, or freeze up to 1 month.

 

2.   Preheat oven to 425F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Slice about 1/2 in. from tops of apples. Trim bottoms of apples so they’ll sit flat. Peel, then scoop out cores with an apple corer or small paring knife and discard. Brush apples with lemon juice. Stir 1/3 cup brown sugar with pecans and cinnamon. Set aside.

 

3.   Remove dough from refrigerator. Roll each piece into a 9-in.-wide circle. Set an apple in the centre of each. Fill hollowed core with brown sugar mixture. Brush edges of pastry with beaten egg white. Gather edges of pastry to the top of each apple, forming pleats and scrunching seams together at the top to seal. Repeat with remaining dough, apples and brown sugar mixture. Arrange dumplings on parchment, keeping them about 1 in. apart. Brush with more egg white, then sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp brown sugar. Spray the underside of a piece of foil. Lay over dumplings.

 

4.   Bake in centre of oven until pastry is golden, about 35 min. Remove foil during the last 5 min of baking.

 

5.   Melt 1/3 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium. Add 3/4 cup brown sugar. Bring to a gentle boil, whisking occasionally. Cook for 3 min. Stir in vanilla and 1/2 tsp salt until dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand 1 min. Whisk in cream until sauce is smooth. Transfer dumplings into serving dishes and drizzle with caramel sauce.

 

 

Raisin Pecan Sticky Toast Recipe

 

This is a weekend family favourite.  I always try to make something extra on the weekend, when there`s more time to make something a little less pain.

What You Will Need:

–   4 slices of raisin bread

–   2 Tbsp of melted butter

–   1 Tbsp of honey

–   2 Tbsp of brown sugar

–   2 Tbsp of chopped pecans

What You Will Need to do:

1.   Preheat your oven to 425°F.

2.   Place the bread on a baking sheet.

3.   In a bowl, mix the butter, honey, brown sugar and pecans together.

4.   Spread the mixture from the bowl onto each piece of bread.

5.   Bake for about 5 minutes or until the top begins to bubble and the edges are toasted.

 

Frugal Tip ~ Getting Rid of Garbage Disposal Odours

I use to have a non-winning battle with the garbage disposal and smells.  I started pouring some baking soda down the drain while running warm water.  The baking soda does a great job getting rid of any odour that might be found with the garburator.

Frugal Tip ~ Best Time to go Shopping for Sales

The best time to go shopping, in anticipation of a big sale, is usually about 6:00 p.m. the night before the sale starts.  Most (but not all) stores will already have the products out and registers programmed for the next day sale prices.  This is a perfect way to go shopping, save money and avoid the stress or crowds.

 

 

Merry Holiday Crunch Mix Recipe

Here is a great recipe which I’m sure you’ll have problems keeping the bowl full.  This recipe is originally by Jell-O with some personal modifications:

 

What You Will Need to do:

–   7 cups of popped popcorn

–   1 cup of small pretzel twists

–   1 cup of cashews

–   ¼ cup of butter

–   ½ cup of sugar

–   1 regular package of Jell-O Black Cherry flavour (you can pick any flavour that you like)

 

What You Will Need to do:

1.   Preheat your oven to 300°F.

2.   Line a 15x10x1”pan with waxed paper.

3.   Combine popcorn, pretzels and nuts together.

4.   Now cook the butter in a saucepan on low heat until it is butter.

5.   Add the sugar to the butter and the Jell-O mix.  Stir and cook for about 2 minutes.

5.   Once everything has dissolved, let simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

6.   Now pour over popcorn mixture.  Add this to the prepared pan until everything is spread evenly.

7.   Bake for 10 minutes.

8.    Once you take it out of the oven, break into small pieces and enjoy!