Coming in 2014 - The 50 Sweets of America

I can hardly believe tomorrow is the first day of December, which means Christmas is only 25 days away. Yikes!

It's been a while since I've done anything theme-related on this blog, though the Cupcake of the Month has continued here and there (and I do have one more cupcake I plan to whip up this coming month). Recently, I was putzing around the internet and stumbled across a couple sites that listed semi-official, if not official, sweet treats and desserts from different parts of the United States. So I decided, "Hey, that'd be a fun theme to play with on the blog!"

But I need help, readers! I'm looking for input on official (or semi-official) state treats from across the country, and I'd like to have a list compiled by the end of December. And yes, I do plan to bake said sweets in alphabetical order according to state.

As such, you have from now until December 31st to either leave a comment on this post or email me with your suggestions for state sweet treats from across America!

Spinach & Broccoli Quiche with Pepper Jack Cheese

Normally I'm not a huge fan of quiche. I'm not a huge fan of eggs to begin with, and most quiches taste like eggs. So I was pleasantly surprised upon trying my friend Andrea's recipe, which is a bit of a "whatever veggies you happen to have in the fridge" sort, how much I liked her version of this breakfast dish.

My attempt didn't taste quite the same as hers, and I think it may have been due to the cheese (hers was a lot spicier than what I procured).

Anyway, it's really easy, and here's how you do it. Remember, you can really put any veggies in that you like - red peppers would be another great addition, you could use kale instead of spinach, maybe kick the whole thing up with a few dashes of Tabasco.

Apple Cinnamon Empanadas

The sixth-grade team, of which I am now a part, has developed a little bit of a "let's order/make awesome lunches once a week" custom going on now. This week, the two gentlemen on our grade level team decided to make lunch for the ladies, and they settled on Mexican as the theme.

To go along with the chips and salsa and quesadillas, I decided to whip up a Mexican dessert to share. As it's also apple season, I decided on these delicious apple cinnamon empanadas from Diana's Desserts.

Okay, so empanadas aren't much more than single-serving hand pies or turnovers. Main course empanadas (meaning those filled with meat and/or cheese) are often fried, but can be baked as well, just like these dessert empanadas.

Here's how I made them!

March of the Fondant Penguins

Wow, sorry for the super sporadic posts of late. Can I blame work? I've been just staying above the Common Core waters of late, and my focus has been elsewhere.

Anyhoo, I have something fun to share today. Not a recipe per say, but a fun way to play with food.

My sister got married about a month ago, and her theme was penguins. She really, really loves penguins.

Really loves penguins.

And she wanted her cake to look like a big ice hill with penguins playing and sliding and otherwise looking adorable on it. She found a cake topper on Etsy, and then asked me to make a whole bunch of fondant penguins to match. I agreed, though I wasn't sure exactly how this would all work out. But it would give me a chance to play with all the fondant tools I bought when I took the Wilton Method fondant and gum paste course a few years ago. I also made my sister help.

Fortunately for me, Wilton makes rolled fondant that's already dyed black. Otherwise it would not have been fun tinting white fondant.

We started off by making all the bodies. Sixteen of them. Most standing, but three sliding on their bellies.

Then we formed all the teeny tiny pieces and parts. Tummies, eyes, wings, beaks, and feet.

I made a fondant glue (a pea-sized ball of fondant dissolved in 1/4 cup of really warm water) and started assembling. And three hours later - voila! Penguins! (Sorry he's so blurry!)

Sixteen dang adorable penguins of all kinds!

They sat for a week to dry. Then we brought them to the baker who was making the cake, and he arranged them on the cake. And it looked awesome.

Cookies & Cream Mini Cheesecakes (Cupcake of the Month #14)

It's been a really long time since I've shared a Cupcake of the Month. There was a molten chocolate concoction I attempted in June, but it needs a little perfecting before I post about it.

The September 2013 cupcake however, needs no perfecting. Just repetition because it's awesome.

It's a cookies and cream mini cheesecake, with an Oreo cookie as the crust!

I've had bad luck with sinking cheesecake cupcakes in the past, but not so with these babies. I think the use of the cookies sort of helped keep them from sinking. These are a Martha Steward recipe, but try as I might, I can't seem to find a link to the original recipe right now. While it says you can get 30 cupcakes out of this, I made 24 regular sized and still had enough batter for 24 minis.

Anyway, here's how I made them!

Sweet & Spicy Shrimp

Some of my best stir fry happens when I'm just playing around in the kitchen. A while back, I came up with this shrimp dish that rated "highly edible" on my husband's food-tastiness scale.

It's very easy and, like most stir fries, quick to cook and serve.  Here's how.

Unplanned hiatus of sorts...

I realized the other day that I've only posted once since getting home from our fantabulous vacation earlier this month. And then I felt really bad, because one of my long standing blogger goals is to post at least four recipes a month. Of course, if you look at the archives, 2013 hasn't gone much in that direction. Geez, I even missed Julia Child's birthday!

So what's the deal with my unplanned hiatus? Well, like I said, the hubs and I took a great vacation to New England, which involved the eating of lobsters and the watching of whales. And there's a place in Newport, Rhode Island, called Cold Fusion, which has the best gelato I've had on this side of the Atlantic. It's seriously up in the air whether or not the gelato I had in Italy was better because I was eating it in Italy.

Plus I'm moving to a new grade level this year. And a new building. So there's the prep for that. Plus lots of training on the new Common Core curricula for ELA and math. Busy, busy, busy.

I do have several recipes on the back burner, and though it sounds counter-intuitive, once school starts and I can get myself back into a regular routine, the tasty things will return. Promise.

In the meantime, I offer you this Buzzfeed article in which you can drool over lots of frosting being swiped, piped, drizzled, and poured over myriad confections.