Spring training baseball games in Arizona, hiking Camelback mountain and patio dining are all hallmarks of Arizona spring. We trade 4 months of 110+ degree days for 6 months of crisp autumn nights and bright spring days. So, when it seemed that my whole Twitter posse was kite flying and bicycle riding yesterday, I had to join in.

We headed to Tumbleweed Park in Chandler, the ride is only a few miles away, and it’s close to the new recreation center that just opened early spring.

A Boston Cooler seemed to be in order when kite flying was over. Boston Coolers are like a Root Beer Float, but made with ginger ale instead. Some sources site that the Boston Cooler came first and companies like McDonalds followed suit with Coca-Cola and ice cream. In Texas we’d make Coke Floats and you can even order them at Dairy Queens in Central Texas (along with tacos, but that’s a whole other story) or we’d make my favorite Dr. Pepper Floats. Can you imagine how good a Cherry Dr. Pepper Float would taste?

Boston Cooler

3 scoops vanilla ice cream
1/2 can Vernor’s Ginger Soda

Preparation:
Put ice cream in a highball glass and slowly add the ginger ale. Enjoy!

 Black Friday. I’ve always heard about it, but quite honestly, I’ve never paid attention to it. My participation in Black Friday shopping was always watching people go crazy on the local news channel. I’ve never ever thought about actually leaving a kitchen full of left-overs to go shopping.

Part of my lack of participation could be that I’ve already got my tree up and presents wrapped.

This morning I’m enjoying a cup of coffee and slice of my favorite pie. It’s a recipe my Moo Moo gave me years ago and it quickly toppled over pumpkin, and pecan pies. I always fuss over my pie crusts. For whatever reason, I can’t seem to get the ridges on mine to fold evenly. I recommend a pie plate that’s pretty enough that you don’t have to do the work.

Buttermilk Pie

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick butter, melted
1 unbaked 10-inch basic pie crust shell

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, and lemon zest. Whisk in the eggs, 1at a time. Stir in the buttermilk and melted butter. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the pie shell and bake until the top is lightly browned and the center sets, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Slice the pie into individual servings.

Huzzah! That interjection of joy was given by yours truly when Blue Bell ice cream came to Arizona and the fact that we’re celebrating Blue Bell’s centennial it’s even better. I can remember my first tour of the Blue Bell factory with my BFF Sara.

Sara and I ran a lot in high school. Not only for the school, but in the summers we would trek off to University of Texas to track camp and we did countless fun runs. Two of our favorites were the 5Ks hosted by Amy’s Ice Cream and Blue Bell. Not to brag, but we were the reigning champs two years in a row.

She had come back to Texas for summer break our Freshman year at college and we took a road trip over to Brenham. Taking a tour that was geared for kindergärtners (like the umlaut over the A) as college freshman made us giddy and giggley.

And their motto really is “Eat all you can and we’ll sell the rest,” and we tried!

I guess what I’m trying to convey is that this little Blue Bell obsession I have comes naturally. I have more little stories and I might be feeling a bit nostalgic since I’m back home in Texas this weekend and it’s nice to remember these things.

Hmm. But there must have been a trigger. Something that made me recall these memories. I wonder if it was the four gallons of Blue Bell I found in my parents freezer this morning while rummaging around for breakfast!

Clockwise we have: Coffee, Dutch Chocolate,(Ja)Mocha Almond Fudge and Sugar Free Vanilla.

In Texas there’s a saying that if you don’t like the weather stick around for a minute. It’ll change. That’s not the case in Arizona. When you live in the desert one thing is very constant…the summer heat.

What makes it so bearable is knowing that at the end of summer is some of the most perfect weather anyone can ask for. Feeling inspired by Autumns first knock on my door and candy corn starting to decorate the store shelves, I started putting together my first fall cupcake.

Where to start! I make a mean pumpkin bread. I’m not ready to get that deep into Fall just yet. I wanted tastes of the season, but just a little taste. I found a recipe that read lighter than most traditional bread recipes and I thought I’d give it a go. It’s delicious. Check it out!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Prep 20 minutes Bake 20 minutes 350 degree oven

2 cups flour, all-purpose
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
15 ounces pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin purée.
4. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool.

At least once a week I’ll submit a Google query that looks something like:

recipe, cake, lemon, fluffy

That’s when I don’t want to go to the grocery, but at the same time I want to *do* something in the kitchen. This evening the results were a Lemon Chiffon cake and after careful research I thought the best pairing was a good old fashion lemon butter cream frosting.

Everytime I bake a batch of cupcakes, one cupcake will go streaking. That’s what I call the one cupcake that gets enjoyed naked right out of the oven. It’s important quality control!

Lemon Chiffon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

For the Lemon Chiffon Cake
Prep: 20 minutes Bake: 18 minutes per batch
325 degrees

 2 cups flour
 1 1/2 cups sugar
 1 tablespoon baking powder
 1 teaspoon salt
 3/4 cup water
 7 egg yolks
 1/2 cup vegetable oil
 Grated zest of 2 lemons
 2 teaspoon vanilla
 8 egg whites
 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 325°. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center; add the water, egg yolks, oil, lemon zest and vanilla. Whisk the dry ingredients into the yolk mixture until the batter is blended and smooth. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar at medium-low speed until foamy. Gradually increase the speed to high and beat the whites until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Gently fold 1/3 of the beaten whites into the batter with a rubber spatula just until blended. Fold in the remaining whites just until combined. Pour the batter into lined cupcake pan.

For the Lemon Buttercream Frosting
Prep: 5 minutes

1 cup unsalted, softened butter
4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest from one lemon
lemon juice

Two different cupcakes on the same day! Yay! I walked into our Tempe office and I was greeted with a batch of cupcakes. Nothing is better than a cupcake for breakfast.

Then I headed over to Gilbert. And Dollar Hotdog guy, he and his mom (I know, weird that a grown up guy is making cupcakes with his mom over the weekend) had a surprise for me.

A CUPCAKE MONSTER made in one of those cutsie silicone cupcake cups with the feet. It’s a Wilton brand, so you can find them at any Michael’s or Target. And let me tell you, his mom wasn’t messing around either. The frosting was very smooth and the cake, was a deliciously moist white cake.

Thank you Dollar Hotdog guy’s mom. This was great.

I’m loving the Couture Cupcakes article in this quarter’s Donna Hay (volume 27), so when were were invited to Quarter Poker Night at the Cantoni’s I wanted to take a little treat. This couple is so nice. JT moved to Phoenix in October of 2004 and I was in town in November looking for houses and they had us over for dinner after looking at houses all day. Their house is exactly how I thought Arizona houses should look, they live on South Mountain, have a huge adobe style house, the desert landscaping looked perfect and they hosted a great dinner. I’ve seen them a few times since then, so I was excited they were having a party. (Oh, here’s a picture of our other dog, Bidi looking especially cute with her bone.)

On Thursday, Hubby had a happy hour to go to, so it was me and my season premiers; My Name is Earl, The Office and Grey’s Anatomy. I love TiVo or I might have missed something. Thumbing through the Donna Hay, deciding which cupcake to make, I spotted what they called the Black Cupcake. I decided that’s what we’d take over for poker. They’re chocolate with a coffee icing,(hey Donna, it’d be catchier if you called them Mocha-Choca-Latte Ya Yas). The cake recipe is really simple:

Black Cupcakes from Donna Hay

125g butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 1/4 cups plain flour 1t baking powder 2T cocoa powder 1/4 cup milk 100g dark chocolate, melted; coffee icing 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup water 1/4t cream of tartar 2T instant coffee 3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 320. Place the butter and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift over the flour, baking powder and cocoa and beat until combined. Fold through the milk, stir in the chocolate and spoon the mixture into four 12-hole mini-muffin pans lined with paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on wire racks.

To make the icing, place the sugar, water and cream of tartar and coffee in a saucepan over high heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Place the eggwhites in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until soft peaks form. While the motor is still running gradually add the sugar mixture and beat until thick and glossy. Makes 48.

Hubby is usually a reluctant tester (he doesn’t like sweets so much), but when he walked in and tasted one of them I got the best compliment. He said, “Now that’s what a chocolate cupcake should taste like.”

Do you like this container? I found it at Arizona Baking Cake Decorating (ABC) on Indian School and 28th Street. It’s convertible into three different types of carriers; cake, standard cupcakes and mini-cupcakes. For $20 some-odd bucks, I think it’s a great deal.

Have a fun weekend!