Hummingbird Cupcakes

Hummingbird cupcakes are a delicious recipe my daughter Kendyl found in one of many cupcake books she owns. Its a household favorite and though we all love them, we don't like them to be made too often as they quickly disappear and can be seen on our asses and hips straight away!

The following recipe makes a dozen large-top cupcakes. 

Ingredients for cupcake batter: 

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup canola or corn oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinammon
• 1/2 cup mashed banana (1 banana)
• 1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple in its own juice, drained
• 1/2 cup (2oz) pecans, finely chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Prep: 

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners. Set aside. 

Cupcakes: 

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sale into a medium bowl and set aside. 

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg, egg yolk, and sugar until thickened and lightened to a cream color, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended. Mix in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. Mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter is smooth. 

Add the cinnamon, mashed banana, pineapple, and pecans and blend into the batter. Fill each paper liner with about 1/3 cup of batter, to about 1/4 inch below the top of the liner. 

Bake just until the top feels firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan or on a wire rack. Remove the cupcakes from the pan onto a wire rack and let cool completely. 

Frosting: 

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the powdered sugar, mixing until smooth, about 1 minute, then beat on medium speed for 1 minute to lighten the frosting further. 

Spoon the frosting into a large pastry bag fitted with a large tip. Beginning at the edge of each cupcake, pipe swirls of frosting to cover the top of each. Serve, or cover loosely and refrigerate. 

(Quick) Chicken Vegetable Soup

We had snow this weekend, which was the perfect time to make a huge pot of chicken soup for the family to munch on while snowed in. I like my chicken soup thick with veggies and rich with chicken and flavor. Here's my recipe (sort of) for future reference.

• 4 large fresh chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, trimmed).
• 6 quarts of water
• 12 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder (or 12 cubes)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 2 cans green beans
• 3 c frozen sweet corn
• 6 stalks celery, thick sliced
• 5 red potatoes, chopped
• 1 pound fresh carrots, thick sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup fresh chopped parsley
• 1 large white onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions sliced

Sautee chicken breasts seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and fajita seasoning mix until cooked through. Shred with forks and set aside.

Bring water and boullion to a boil. add all above ingredients and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat, let slow simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are slightly firm but cooked through.

We like to eat ours with fresh sliced buttered french bread.

Spinach Quiche by the Nyholm's

For Valentine's Day, Eka and I tried our hands at a spinach quiche, with some Swedish shantrelle mushrooms his mom brought us last fall. While we would have preferred to pick them in the woods ourselves, we are happy to have had them canned.

Here's our recipe if you care to check it out:

Veggies: (All sauteed in butter)

• 1 onion 
• 1 bunches fresh spinach
• 1 lg clove of garlic chopped
• 1 small can Shantrelle Mushrooms, drained (or if you can get them fresh, yee haw!)

Filling Mix:

• 2/3 c 2% milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 c cream
• 1 1/2 c mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/2 c sharp cheddar cheese
• salt & pepper (to taste)

We didn't take the time to make our own pie crust pastry this time - we simply used a 9" refrigerated pie crust bought at the grocers.

Line a 9" pie pan with the pie crust. Mix all the sauteed ingredients with the filling mix. Pour into pie crust and bake at 375 F for 45 - 50 minutes.

Slice into heavenly goodness and enjoy!