Red Velvet Cupcakes

I had the urge to bake something this weekend, so I look through my new Barefoot Contessa cookbook I had gotten for Christmas from Steve, How Easy is That? .   I love a good cupcake, so I wanted to try Ina's recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  It really was simple to make and I had all the ingredients at home, so I fired up the mean green Kitchen Aid mixer and got to baking.  Ina did not disappoint yet again.  This frosting is soooo good.  There was some leftover and I considered just eating it plain right then and there, but decided to just throw it in the fridge for something else I can make later...maybe some pumpkin muffins from a pre-made mix thanks to Trader Joes.

This recipe made only 15 cupcakes which is a good amount.  I am planning on bringing some into work to share with my team as a early Valentine's Day treat!

Cupcake Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 extra large eggs at room temperature

Frosting Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature  (I told you this frosting is to die for)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Cupcake Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa power, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In a large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla.

In a electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 1 minute, until light.  Add the eggs one at a time until combined.

With the mixer at low speed add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients alternately in 3 parts, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Stir with a rubber spatula to be sure batter is mixed.

Scoop batter into the muffin cups with an ice cream scoop or large spoon (almost 3/4 full).  Bake for 25-30 minutes (**I am not sure if it was the foil liners I used or my Williams Sonoma Gold Touch muffin pans, but mine were ready about 23 minutes in**), until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean.  Cool completely and top with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting Instructions
Place cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on medium speed until just combined.  Don't whip!  Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I have had this recipe since November 2008 and never had a chance to make it.  It is from the first issue of the Food Network Magazine and is their attempt to copy the Cheesecake Factory's pumpkin cheesecake.  I was very excited to make this for my family's Thanksgiving, but June Bug had other plans.  I was so sick for 48 hours straight, there was no way I could have made this!  So I decided to make it for my family's Christmas Eve celebration.

Everyone loved it and it was relatively easy, but time consuming, to make.  I have made a cheesecake before, but this one required the pan of water to bake it in, which the one I made previously did not.  That was my only complaint with this recipe.  That part was kind of a pain.  Another side note, I am sure sure if I didn't press the crust enough or if my springform pan was 9" rather than the 10" they recommend, but I had some extra batter.  I apologize for the low quality picture...It was one I took with my phone and I never went back to take one with my real camera later!

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I chopped them up in my food processor)
2 3/4 cups sugar
Salt
2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
1 15 oz. can pure pumpkin
6 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger (I just used Pumpkin Spice for this)
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves (again, just used the Pumpkin Spice for this)
Whipped cream (optional)
Toasted pecans (optional)

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325.
2. Brush a 10" springform pan with some of the butter.  Stir the remaining butter in with the graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup of the sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl.  Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan packing it tightly and evenly.  Bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.  Cool on a rack, then wrap the outside of the pan in foil and place inside roasting pan.
3. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.  Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth.  Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups of sugar and beat until just light, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beaters as needed.  Beat in the sour cream, then add the pumpkin, eggs and vanilla, 1 teaspoon of salt and spices and beat until just combined.  Pour into the cooled crust.
4. Gently place the roasting pan in the oven (don't pull the rack out...this is what they say, I had to.  I was pouring water all over the inside of my stove) and pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes about halfway up the side of the springform pan.  Bake until the outside of the cheesecake sets but the center is loose, about an hour and 45 minutes.
5. Turn the oven off after the hour and 45 minutes, and open the door briefly to let some of the heat out.  Leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour then carefully remove from the roasting pan and cool on a rack.
7. Run a knife around the edges, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
8. Bring the cheesecake to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.  Unlock and remove from the springform pan to serve.
9.  Add whipped cream and toasted pecans if desired.

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

I don't sing, (outside the privacy of my own car or a kareoke bar in Asia after a few Tiger beers or sake bombs) but I do like to spread cheer putting up Christmas lights outside!  I was able to get them up on a warm-ish November day and I am glad I did before the super cold arrived!

A new house, a new challenge with lights.  There is no outside plug, so I had to run a long extension cord from the side of the house to the front.  It is bright orange for now (since that is what we had), but I would like to look for a green one if I can snag it post-holiday for 50% off.

The set of two pre-lit trees I got at Target around mid November.  I saw in the weekly ad that they were on sale for $30 for the set and Steve had gotten a $5 gift card for buying body wash or something, so I got my two cute little trees for $25!  We placed them in my planter pots with dirt because I learned early on, they blow over really easily with the wind.  I had purchased some "old fashioned" bulb lights last year (you know, the orange, white, red, blue, green big glass bulb ones?  I love them because they take me back to our Christmas lights as a kid) and put those on our little holly bushes.

Looks pretty cute if I do say so!  In fact, our neighbors directly across the street must have thought so too because they bought the same pre-lit trees and put them on either side of their door last week!

Because I had the extra strands of lights and I thought it would be fun, I decorated two of our larger bushes in our backyard.  It is nice to look out and see some Christmas cheer as we sit in the family room every night.

The stockings were hung by the mantle with care...

I cannot express how happy I was to move into a house that had a fireplace and a great mantle!  It is already kind of full with all the stockings for our 20 Paws, so when June Bug is here next year, we will have to make some room!  The question will be...will it be a green stocking with a red cuff for a boy or a red stocking with green trim for a girl?  Hmm...

I found the glitter trees and "Be Merry" stand at a Hallmark near my work 50% off last post-Christmas sale and I just love them.  They are my new favorite piece of decor.

The glass jars on the right are what I had my gourds in for the fall.  I put some inexpensive bulbs from Target in them for the holidays to add some balance to the mantle.

Across from the fireplace is our couch.  I found the large red snowflake pillow and green reindeer pillows at Target and the long "Ho, Ho, Ho" pillow at Pier One this season.  Love them all!!  

I was lucky enough to inherit a some of a Christmas village that my dad had painted in ceramics nearly 20 years ago from my grandparents, as well as purchasing some of my own over the years.  However, having cats and putting these under the tree never worked out so well, so they have been in boxes for at least 5 years.  I was very excited to have room to display them this year and am looking forward to adding on with some post holiday deals this year.  Steve spotted a casino and beer garden and would like to add those to our "city".  Oh boy. :)

Christmas is here...our trees!

I had a weekend back in mid November where I had a ton of energy, didn't feel nauseous and was motivated to decorate.  So our decor has been up for about 3 weeks now and I have been really enjoying decorating our new place.

I had forgotten about some of the deals I had found post Christmas last year and was giddy with excitement going through my boxes this year.  We finally have a house big enough to put out all my stuff!  Well, except for the ornaments.  I need a bigger tree!

I had to make some decisions as to what was hung this year and what didn't make the rotation.   My parents have gotten me an ornament every year since I was born and on top of working at a Hallmark for 5 years of my teenage life, it equals a lot of ornaments.

We have two trees up this year.  Our main tree in the living room and a mini tree in the family room that has the 20 Paws ornaments...of course they all have their own!

I will post our trees today and other parts of the house this week.

Benny in his favorite spot...knock on wood, there has been no ornament casualties this year!

Close up of the top of our tree.

Tree with lights on

Tree without the lights on

The tree for the 20 Paws