Sunkist Cupcakes

There's a recipe in my Big Book of Cupcakes for Orange Soda Cupcakes and I've been feeling the need to make them. So, yesterday, I did. The recipe is really easy, but it lies about the "Makes 12 cupcakes" part--in reality, it makes 12 regular ones and about 12-16 minis. What's wrong with it making more than it says? Absolutely nothing, but it sometimes gets on my nerves that the 'yield' is always wrong. Anyways, they're quite yummy (some of the most moist cupcakes I've ever made), though I could handle them being more orangey (maybe add 1/2 a teaspoon of orange extract). It also suggests using any flavor of soda you like, so I was thinking of trying a soda shoppe selection, at some point. Here's the recipe, along with the frosting that I altered from another cupcake recipe. Enjoy!


Sunkist Cupcakes
Yields 12-18 regular cupcakes


Ingredients:
Cupcakes
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp orange zest
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup orange soda
2 eggs
1/2-1 tsp orange extract (optional)


Frosting
3 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 Tbl orange soda
1-2 Tbl orange juice


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pan with cupcake cups.
2. In large bowl, beat all cupcake ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl as needed, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide batter among cups.
3. Bake 20-25 minutes (12-16 for minis) or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pans, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat all frosting ingredients on medium speed until smooth and creamy. If frosting is too stiff, stir in additional orange juice 1 teaspoon at a time. Spoon frosting into decorating bag fitted with desired tip and frost the crap out of those lovely little cupcakes.

Ginger Ale Cuppycakes for Easter

I have a goal--to make most (if not all) of the recipes in Betty Crocker's Big Book of Cupcakes (as well as my other sweets cookbooks...that one is just on the top of the list because it has the prettiest pictures and some killer recipes). If you don't have this book, you should get it. The recipes are really fun and the cupcakes turn out really moist and delicious. 
For Easter, I wanted to try a new cupcake recipe and decorate it like a nest, with swirled frosting and a few jellybeans as Easter eggs. I went through the aforementioned cookbook to find a good recipe....I found 12. Needless to say, I had to narrow this down, so I did....to seven. It was clear I needed some help, so I asked Dave to pick the one he wanted to try the most and he picked the recipe titled New Year's Mimosa Cupcakes. Now, not being a big drinker (okay, I don't drink at all), I really have no idea how close these come to said drink (it's made from champagne and orange juice), but they were quite delicious. The recipe calls for either champagne or ginger ale and, being the cheapskate that I am, I went with ginger ale (I'm less of a cheapskate and more of a not-wanting-to-spend-a-ton-of-money-on-something-I-won't-ever-use-and-the-smell-of-which-makes-me-sick-skate). I also opted for mini cupcakes, or cuppycakes as I've been calling them since I started baking cupcakes, instead of regular size. I will now share this lovely little recipe with you.


Easter Ginger Ale Cuppycakes
Yields 36 cuppycakes


Cupcake batter:
1 3/8 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbl butter, softened
5/6 cup sugar
3 egg whites
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/8 cup ginger ale
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp orange zest


Frosting:
3 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup butter softened
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 Tbl ginger ale
1-2 Tbl orange juice
5 drops any color food coloring


Garnish:
about 108 jellybeans (3 for each cuppycake, plus more for yourself)


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your mini muffin pan with paper cups and set aside.
2. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In a small bowl, stir together ginger ale, orange juice, and orange zest; set aside.
4. In large bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating well and scraping bowl as needed. Beat about 2 minutes longer. Add egg whites and vanilla and beat well. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture and ginger ale mixture, beating just until blended. 
5. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
6. Bake 12-16 minutes (18-20 for regular size) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. 
7. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat frosting ingredients on medium speed until smooth and creamy. If frosting is too stiff, stir in more orange juice, 1 teaspoon at a time.
8. Spoon into decorating bag with desired tip attached (recipe recommends star tip, in case you care) and pipe onto cooled cuppycakes in a swirl pattern, starting from the outside and going to the inside. Place 3 jellybeans on each cuppycake to look like eggs in a nest. 


Voila! Enjoy your lovely cuppycakes! Here's how mine turned out.

The frosting was actually a very light green, though it looks white in the picture.

Gandolfo's NY Deli

Every Wednesday, I drive about 20-30 minutes to Murray (it doesn't seem that far, but the traffic sucks and makes it take that long) for some seriously scrumptious sandwiches. The lovely people at Gandolfo's NY Deli in Murray make us some enormous, stuffed, and tasty sandwiches for half price and I look forward to it every week. The only things we haven't tried on the menu are the vegetarian sandwiches, salads, and hot dogs (not just any hot dogs--Nathan's hot dogs! My favorite kind!) and the only reason we haven't tried those is because everything else is so good, we can't bring ourselves to miss out on meaty sandwiches. Yes, they have everything else on them, but it's the combination that's magical. Gandolfo's has high quality ingredients, fresh baked bread, and so many things to choose from, you'll have to eventually try everything to be satisfied. Oh, and did I mention  that they serve their delectable breakfast sandwiches all day?! Yeah, all day. Sorry, I get really excited when I find places with good breakfast all day....I love eggs....anyways, I have three favorite sandwiches there (though honestly, everything really is good...especially if you add avocado to it) and they are the Meatball Hero, Buffalo Bill, and Urban Cowboy. Dave's favorites are the Westside Story and the New York Jet. I'll describe them, but you might want to get a napkin to wipe up your drool, first.......got it? Okay, here they are.

Meatball Hero: some fist-sized fantastic meatballs, mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, yummy marinara sauce with onions and stuff in it, and some fresh tomato slices on a hero roll (long white bread).

Buffalo Bill: pieces of moist chicken cutlet, shredded lettuce, fresh tomato slices, cream cheese, and buffalo sauce on sourdough bread.

Urban Cowboy: chicken cutlet, shredded lettuce, fresh tomato, barbecue sauce, cream cheese, turkey, bacon, pepperjack, and mayo on a hero roll (I usually take off the bbq sauce and add avocado....actually, I add avocado to everything..)

Westside Story: turkey, lettuce, tomato, green chiles, mayo..and Dave can't remember what else is on it, but it's fabulous and comes on a wheat hero roll.

New York Jet: tasty roast beef, pepperjack, feta, lettuce, tomato, onion, pepperoncini, mayo, and olive oil on a hero roll. 

Now, get over there! Here's a picture of a Buffalo Bill just to tantalize you.

Thai Delight Cafe

When I was 18, my family went to a family reunion in North Carolina, but instead of returning to Utah with my parents at the end of it, I went to spend the rest of the summer with my Aunt Andrea and Uncle Joe's family in Georgia. On the trip there, I had my first taste of Thai cuisine--it was love at first bite! I'd always wanted to try it because I love spicy foods with a fiery (pun intended) passion and had heard that curry was just that. Needless to say, I was hooked. Once I got back to Utah, I had a need and the only thing that could fill it was more curry and coconut soup. 
Now, more than five years later, I've tried many of the Thai restaurants in the valley and the only one I return to is Thai Delight Cafe on 6271 South and Dixie Drive just west of Bangerter Highway (there is also a second location on 1407 West and 9000 South that they recently opened). Dave and I started going there the first week it opened and suddenly, there was another member of our family. The restaurant is small and quaint, with tons of Buddah figures and stuff everywhere (granted, it's not the fanciest place I've ever been in, but that's not really what I look for when deciding where to eat). The service is great, with quick drink and rice refills and we never wait too long for our food. The price is also quite reasonable--we usually spend about $30 and take home half the food. Now, to that food. One word: fan-freakin-tastic! Best Tom Kha Gai (coconut soup) and Panang curry I've ever had! Everything we eat there is fabulous, but those are the two dishes that we get the most often (we get the coconut soup every time). I love the Pad ke Maow (spicy noodles), too. I can never get the smell out of my head. Ooooo, and their sticky rice with mango slices! *drool* Crap, I need a towel. Oh oh, and the Thai lemonade! Man, I was just there on Saturday for my birthday and I want it again! 

Tom Kha Gai

 Tom Kha Gai in my bowl

 Panang Curry

Panang Curry in my bowl

 Pad ke Maow

Food is my drug of choice.

Millie's Burgers

Last Tuesday, I ate at Millie's Burgers on the corner of 2092 S 1000 E with my husband, sisters, little brother, and some cousins. It's quite small and in fact, the menu is bigger than the actual restaurant. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Dave and I ordered the Jalapeno Swiss Bacon Burger, some fries, fried mushrooms, the Millie Cheeseburger, and a blueberry cheesecake shake. The jalapeno burger quite good, though I've had better beef patties (like at Five Guys). The fries were actually the most disappointing thing we got. They weren't the worst I've ever had, but they could've been crispier and had more flavor, so they were just standard fries. The fried mushrooms were quite tasty, but be careful when you bite into them because you might get a bit of hot water that was in the mushroom (which is always the case with fried mushrooms). We had those with ranch--my standard fried-things dipping sauce. The Millie cheeseburger was simple, but tasty. If you want a cheeseburger without a ton of frills, get that. Now, the best part of the meal was that blueberry cheesecake shake. Sufferin' Sapho, it was good! There were tons of cheesecake chunks in it and it was very blueberry tasting and a very good size. So, good food at a good price. I recommend going there at least twice so you can try a few of the things that look good on the menu (there were at least five other things I wanted).