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Whoopie Pies
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Posted By: Allie
Nov 26th, 2010 |
Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies
Ingredients:
Cakes
3 Cups Flour
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Ginger
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
3 Cups Pumpkin
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 Large Eggs
Filling
1 Stick of Butter
1 8 oz Package Cream Cheese
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Teaspoon Maple Extract
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar, white sugar, and oil. Add the pumpkin puree and mix well. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix well. Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until combined.
Using a 1 tablespoon scoop or a 1/2 tablespoon measure, drop the batter onto a baking sheet (lined, if possible, but not necessary), leaving about 1" between the batter. Try to keep the batter as circular as possible. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the tops are done and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack.
To prepare the filling, beat the butter on high for 1-2 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, maple, and vanilla and beat until combined. Transfer to a large Ziploc bag and cut 1/2"-1" off the corner.
Flip the cakes over on a flat surface. Squeeze about 2-3 tablespoons of filling per large whoopie pie (less if you used a 1/2 tablespoon measure) onto every other cake. Top each pie with the remaining cakes. Serve immediately if possible; otherwise, these can be refrigerated in an airtight container. Makes about 30 large whoopie pies.
Whoopie Pies
Ingredients:
Cakes
1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
2 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup Water
Filling
1 1/2 Sticks of Butter Room Temperature
1 1/4 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla
1/8 Teaspoon Salt (Not Kosher)
2 1/2 Cups Marshmallow Creme
Directions:
For the cakes: Pre-heat oven to 375
Place two teaspoons in a small circle on to a baking sheet. Six cakes per baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove to cooling rack until ready to fill.
For the filling: With electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla and salt. Beat in marshmallow fluff until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Refrigerate filling until slightly firm, about 30 minutes. (Bowl can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
Dollop 1/4 cup filling on center of flat side of half the cakes. Top with the flat side of the remaining cakes and gently press until filling spreads to edge of cake. Serve.
(Whoopie pies can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 3 days.)
*There are a lot of recipes for more "homemade" pies. But I like that this one just uses a cake mix, it really simplifies things. And I loved the pumpkin pies, the maple flavor in the filling really goes great with the pumpkin cakes.
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Kinect for Xbox 360
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Posted By: Jared
Nov 17th, 2010 |
So I decided to get the Kinect for the Xbox which uses a camera device to record movement. This way you can play games just by your body movement and no controllers. It doesn't seem as accurate as the PSmove which is a similar device for the playstation 3, but was still quite fun. We played the game, 'Dance Central' where you have to mimic the dance moves shown on the screen. There is a freestyle part where you do whatever you want and it then records the video and speeds it up or something, anyway here are 2 clips of it.
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Bobble Stitch Hat. . .and some others.
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Posted By: Allie
Nov 17th, 2010 |
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Kaden's First Video Game
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Posted By: Allie
Nov 9th, 2010 |
| Kaden playing his first video game.
 
He has been playing Peppa Pig on the Wii and is very good at it. Mostly it's just "point and push A" type of things, but he absolutely LOVES it. Ha ha, look at the concentration on his face, he isn't even aware that i'm taking pictures.
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More Hats
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Posted By: Allie
Nov 9th, 2010 |
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| Heather Wrote: |
Nov 13th, 2010 |
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New Cocoa Flavors
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Posted By: Allie
Nov 3rd, 2010 |
I LOVE hot chocolate. If you look in my pantry right now you will find at least 10 different flavors, most of them Stephen's. I am always on the look-out for new kinds to try and was so excited when I saw these at Walmart one day.
Well, the Peanut Butter Cup flavor I think I found a Macey's in January, but it's still kinda new. It has tiny peanut butter cups in it and is pretty yummy, but it's not usually my first choice when picking a flavor.
I LOVED Pumpkin Spice, perfect for fall.
The French Vanilla Milk Creme was a little different, I didn't even see it on the Stephen's website. It is malted, which is why it tasted a bit different than the regular french vanilla. But It has been one of Jared's new favorites.
And the Caramel Apple Cider. . .I was very dissapointed. By itself(made with water), I could barely drink it, but if you heat up some apple juice instead of water, and then add the mix, it tasted MUCH better. I wont be buying it again though.
Then there is this Raspberry Cheesecake flavor from their website that I really want to try. I havn't seen it anywhere, I may have to buy it from their website or something. If anyone comes across this flavor, please let me know.
And a tip on making hot chocolate, always use milk instead of water, it gives it a much creamier flavor.
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Carving Pumpkins
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Posted By: Allie
Nov 2nd, 2010 |
All of our pumpkins this year came from our garden, I think it may be a new tradition for us, as long as the pumpkins will grow. Kaden really seemed to enjoy the garden, watching all the plants grow, helping pick vegetables when they were ready, and seeing the pumpkins change from green to orange. I'm so glad we grew one.
We had Kaden help carve his own pumpkin, he told Jared what shapes to cut out and where. He thought of it as a type of puzzle and when all the peices where carved out he put them all back in their places.
Kairi didn't enjoy pumpkin carving so much. She just started crying every time a knife went into the pumpkin, much too violent for her. Funny thing is, when we were digging up patches us grass for my new garden area, she cried every time the shovel went into the grass, and the other night when we watched Jared's Crash Team video of him crashing his car, she cried when she saw him crash into the trees. What a sweet girl. I can't remember Kaden being that sensitive.
     
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Crocheted Hats
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Posted By: Allie
Nov 1st, 2010 |
I've been in the mood to crochet again. I'm surprised I remembered how; it's been so long. But now that it's getting colder I wanted to make sure the kids had hats that fit them, some of their old ones are too small now.
I saw a cute hat for Kairi while shopping a few weeks back but thought the price was much too high, so I found some free patterns online and went to work. This white hat was the first one I made and I just loved it so much I made one for myself and for my sister-in-law Heather's little girl for her birthday.
I then made this pink brimmed hat which the pattern was a bit confusing and I feel like the brim is too big, so I found another pattern i'm going to try that I may like better.
 
I made another one for Kairi that doesn't fit right, so when I re-do it i'll add that picture. And then I made this hat for Kaden and a matching one for Jared.
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| Jamie Wrote: |
Nov 3rd, 2010 |
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The Living Planet Aquarium
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Posted By: Allie
Nov 1st, 2010 |
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