Guest Post! Hosting Your First Thanksgiving and Why It All Hinges on Fennel

Editor's Note: Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! If you happened to read my last post you could probably feel my anxiety about hosting Thanksgiving this year at our house, but I'm happy to report that all went smoothly and aside from a minor grease fire we fed and spirited everyone until we had to roll them out the door.

Today's post is a little different. Because Kevin was in charge of the turkey, and because it tasted amazing, he's writing the post today. I know, I know - but sometimes we need to sit back and let others have all the glory. For an amazingly easy and delicious turkey recipe read on my friends!
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Hello, Spouse here!  When Danielle started Yeah, I'd Bake That I figured that at most I'd get a few tasty treats (which I was already accustomed to) and that would be that.  What I didn't expect is that this blog was actually the start of a pattern in our house -- a pattern that led to a new word, "Pinteresty".  I come home from work and Danielle will say something like "Kevin, I need a pallet" or "Kevin, do we have a tomato cage in the shed, I want to make a Christmas tree." I happily say to her, "Ok, lets go steal a pallet, and yes I do believe there is a tomato cage back there."  I've quickly learned not to ask questions because the answers are never as good as her final project, and I am not skilled in her Pintresty ways.  So when she says to me "...find as many shoebox lids as possible and if you happen to see a window shutter somewhere pick it up." I do it, because I know the house is going to be better for it.

Mini Pumpkin Filo Pies

A while back we talked about spectacular failures. That feeling you get when you realize your house smells like a broken fire extinguisher factory. The moment when you look at the garbage can and think, "no one has to know I even attempted this". Websites like Pinterest and Brit & Co give us access to anything. We convince ourselves that we can turn large men's shirts into cute little dresses. We live in this crafty delusion where if we can just get our hands on 59878 buttons we could make a really, really awesome lamp.

And I fall for it every time.

Bite Size Apple Pies

I've been a little lax on my posting lately, I can't seem to get back on my old schedule and when I want to write about something I forget what I want to write about immediately. Pretty soon I'm going to turn into the lady I met at Goodwill yesterday- buying memo boards to keep all of my notes to myself in one place. Just, without the purple lipstick. And hopefully without the velour jumpsuit.

On the Road with YIBT: Apple Pie Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

You did it! You made it through Thanksgiving! With any luck your body has starting working against the tryptophan and the cranberry sauce that's coursing through your veins, and you can finally sit down and read something without falling asleep. I'm so proud of you.

This post is a special one because it's our first (say it in the Oprah voice) travel edition post! Yeah, I'd Bake That packed up (which is an understatement I will explain later) and hit the road to a bigger and better kitchen!

Last week I committed to making these apple pie cupcakes, and hit the grocery store to pick up some supplies. I thought I was being responsible, picking everything up ahead of time so I wouldn't have to run out when we got to Jersey. I was even going to measure out everything I was bringing from home, pack my icing gun and the new cupcake corer I had yet to use. It was a nice thought.

We were 5 traffic miles and 45 minutes away from the house when I realized that I forgot everything. EVERYTHING. Not only did I forget to bring all of the supplies, I had completely neglected to pack any of it. So when we got to Jersey I called myself an idiot the appropriate amount of times and went back to the grocery store.

These cupcakes were fun to make because I actually had counter space to work with. Real counter space. When I'm in my own kitchen I use the top of my dog's crate as part of my work space (which enables me to act like I'm a guest on a talk show, pulling out the ingredients or finished product from down below) but it's not ideal. In the Jersey kitchen (which I'll so fondly refer to it) I could move around and actually do things. So much room for activities!

This recipe is extremely easy. The actual cupcake parts tastes more like an apple bread than a sweet cupcake. The insides are filled with apple pie filling, and the icing is a light whipped creme icing that makes the whole cupcake taste like a real apple pie. I would HIGHLY suggest them, and they're perfect for the upcoming holidays.

Apple Pie Cupcakes with Caramel Icing

http://www.justputzing.com/2011/10/caramel-apple-pie-cupcakes.html

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 cup of milk

1 stick of butter

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 pinch of nutmeg

1 pinch of ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling: 2 cups of apple pie filling

Frosting:

2 cups heavy cream

3 to 4 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 cup caramel sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350. Put your cupcake liners in

2. Heat milk and butter in small saucepan or in microwave until butter melts

3. In medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder cinnamon and salt together

4. In separate bowl, beat eggs and sugar until really thick for about 5 minutes. Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated

5. Add the milk and vanilla mixture and mix until blended

6. Put batter in cupcake tins about 1/4 full

7. Bake 16-18 minutes. Cool in pans for 5 minutes and then move cupcakes to racks to cool.

8. When cool, use corer or knife to scoop out a hole in the center of the cupcake. Fill the hole with apple pie filling.

For the icing: Beat whipping creme and powdered sugar until thick.  

 Then you just have to drizzle caramel sauce over them!

Final products:

At the end of the day, I had a full batch of Apple Pie Cupcakes and a full batch of Red Velvet. I hadn't intended on making the red velvet ones, but I figured since I had the room and I was already buying the ingredients again I might as well. Red velvet is a post for another day!

If you were at the party and tried the cupcakes, leave a comment here and let me know what you thought! 

Source: Just Putzing Around the Kitchen

URL: http://www.justputzing.com/2011/10/caramel-apple-pie-cupcakes.html

Southern Apple Crumble

October 5th was a weird day around here. I was running around the house like an idiot trying to clean up because we had friends coming over to watch the Phillies game. It was also the day after Apple announced the new iPhone 4S, so while everyone I knew was complaining about the lack of features and general coolness the new phone had and lacked,  I was in the kitchen slicing up real apples. 

That morning I found a sweet recipe for a slightly different version of apple crisp and I was going to make it because we had people coming over. It was actually just a lame excuse to bake because school had been draining the life out out me and leaving me with no time to bake anything. Every time I walked in there I remembered when I covered the whole room with corn starch. I antiqued it. The memories. 

The recipe - Southern Apple Crumble - is from Betty Crocker. Before I used it on my test audience it had already gotten rave reviews online so it was clearly a no brainer. 

So while there were rampant squirrels running across the Phillies' chances of getting into the World Series, I was telling my friend Ben that Apple Crumble only went to the people who appreciated it. It was a tense moment. I'm not proud of it.

The weird part of the story is that as we were all cramped in our tiny living room, watching the squirrel and eating Apple Crumble when we found out that Steve Jobs died. This is why the word apropos was invented. So while I may be 13 days late in saluting a legend, this Apple Crumble Yeah, I'd Bake That post goes out to Steve!

I mean, face it. This is apple season, and this is the recipe you want to use to impress your friends who also love apples. Here's the recipe:

Southern Apple Crumble

Link: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/southern-apple-crumble/d3c36ab1-55f3-4221-a114-b32c49b489e5

Filling:

3 large apples, peeled and chopped (I'd use 4 next time, but 3 is good too)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter or margarine, cut into small pieces

Topping:

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker Oatmeal Cookie Mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup of chopped pecans

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of 8-inch square glass baking dish (which I clearly failed at) with cooking spray. In large bowl, toss filling ingredients together. Spread mixture in baking dish.

2. In the same large bowl, stir cookie mix and belted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling.

3. Bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle with pecans. Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown. 

Serve warm and probably with ice cream! Try it out my friends!

Source: Betty Crocker

Link: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/southern-apple-crumble/d3c36ab1-55f3-4221-a114-b32c49b489e5