the latest art form

Is it me or are the things they can do with cupcakes out of this world?

I offered to make cupcakes for a friend's Halloween party. I wanted to something memorable, so I started perusing the web for some inspiration. The things I found floored me. I knew they were some crazy-looking cupcakes out there, but WOW!

The two I would like to attempt are the adorable owl cupcake and the oh-so-fitting Jack Skellington cupcake.

They seem relatively easy when you consider how cool they look. But things that look this cool and look easy never are. And considering my deadline, I fear I might not have the time to make them at all. I'll give it my darndest, though.
The one I will never attempt however:

Looks awesome, right? But anything that requires TWO cupcakes to make one and has piece that isn't edible is off-limits for me.

If you like what you see and would like to try your hand at the art, yes I said art, that is modern day cupcakes. I suggest Hello, Cupcake. I haven't researched the cupcakes books out there and I'm sure that there are many, but the ones I have seen haven't had such creative ideas. Unfortunately for us Canucks, it seems that cupcake-craze hasn't fully emerged in the Great North as it has in the US. I'm sure it's coming. Making it a tad challenging to find all the cupcake implements.

If I say the word cupcake one more time!!!

...CUPCAKE!

I couldn't help myself.

the smell of halloween

At this very moment, I'm waiting for my pumpkin scones to finish baking. The smell of the pumpkin mingling with the spices, with my Jack O’ Lantern burning brightly right by me and my (black) cat rubbing up against my legs while I type this makes for a wonderful fall evening. I don’t even mind the cleaning-up phase that always seems to follow so closely on the heels of baking.

I don’t know what these scones are going to taste like. I went about the recipe very willy-nilly. Well 3 recipes, to be honest - I really didn’t have a choice to be willy-nilly under those circumstances.

And once these are done, I’ll be making something I definitely can’t screw up: pumpkin seeds! The fun never ends at Halloween!

It seems so silly to buy a pumpkin,  carve it and not toast the seeds. That's poopycoock!

I'm glad to say Rob's a big fan of my willy nilly scones.

scone saturday

Yesterday, my mom and I had a grand time making traditional British scones. We used my Nana's recipe and my mom is right; they just don't know how to make a proper scone here. It's been years since I had a real scone (roughly 13 years ago - last time I was in jolly ole England), but I knew that the "Canadian version" was off - kind of tasteless and always too dry.

Ours were delicious, if I may say so.

It was a fun, messy, sticky experience and a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon! I can't wait to try making my own variation of the recipe.

the best pizza ever

Maybe it's because we made it from semi-scratch - we don't make dough - but this is the best pizza i've ever had!

This whole meal stemmed from a desire to use my basil plant - pun intended. I'm so proud of not only keeping my plant alive, but actually having it grow and flourish. I had to use the fruits of my labour at least once before the cold settles in. I figured pizza was as good a choice as any.

I put everything I could think of on it and it was the perfect amount.

I skipped the tomato sauce and put fresh spinah leaves instead, sprinkled some mozzarella and goat milk mozzarrella (a revelation), mushrooms, more of the two cheeses, red onions, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, some more cheese, garlic, ham and walnuts (yes, walnuts - from here on out I'm putting walnuts on everything I eat), some more cheese, for good measure. I topped it of with - surprise, surprise - some more cheese only this time I used some parmesan I forgot I had. Stuck it in the oven for 12 minutes, or you can do it on the BBQ. Once it was all finished, I added the fresh basil leaves (which I almost forgot). And voila!

Perfection.