Fall Fun

S'mores Cupcakes

Even though I've been ridiculously busy lately (obviously), I decided to take the time to make some S'mores cupcakes for Halloween. I'd made these a few years ago when I was helping my mom make a ton of cupcakes for some event, it was an idea I thought of on the spot because we just happened to have chocolate cake mix and mini marshmallows. They were great, but not nearly as good as they could have been, so I took the idea and elaborated on it by making a quick whipped chocolate ganache topping, and garnished them with the marshmallows and some graham cracker crumbs.

I think, if I make them again (and find my culinary torch), I'll top them with a toasted jumbo marshmallow instead of the minis.

Early Autumn Skies

Nailed It

As much as I really don't like having my nails painted, I can't seem to stop myself from layering on polish when I get bored. Plus, I've got to wear down my obnoxious collection of colors somehow!

Here are some neat things I've done earlier this year...

First time wearing fake nails (it was awkward, and they promptly got clipped way down).

Ignore the yellow stains on my nails (my favorite shade of green is also the worst nail polish I own).

Hot Veggie-Noodle Soup

A while back, I was at the grocery store, and the garlic was two for a dollar, and I really love garlic, especially fresh garlic, so I grabbed two and decided that I needed a recipe to go with them. I also picked up a can of organic vegetable stock (not condensed), some carrots, celery, an onion, and some wide egg noodles. I wasn't quite sure of what I was going to make, but these ingredients are what I'm familiar with when it comes to making soup (plus they just sounded really delicious). 

Because this was kind of an experiment, I didn't take the time to measure anything, I just did what seemed like the right thing to do. I boiled some water in a pot and threw the noodles in (the entire 12 ounce bag). While the noodles were cooking, I chopped up all the vegetables. I used two large carrots, one too many stalks of celery (I think two big ones would have been better, rather than four or so), 1/4 of a white onion, and three cloves of garlic, minced. When the noodles were done, I drained about half of the water, put it back on the burner, and added the vegetable stock, garlic, carrots, celery, and onion. I also threw in a pinch of dried rosemary, about a teaspoon (give or take) of garlic powder, an accidental half teaspoon of cayenne powder (if your mouth can't handle that much, only add a careful 1/4 teaspoon maybe), and salt and pepper to taste. I added maybe a little over a full teaspoon of salt, because the stock I used didn't have any, and it seemed like a good amount, not too salty at all. I simmered the mix until the carrots were tender, which didn't take long. After dishing it out, we topped our servings with some garlic and cheese croutons, and it was delicious  filling, and a little spicy. The leftovers didn't last long at all, either, even though it was enough to last me for a week, everyone else in the house couldn't seem to get enough! 

All of the ingredients (not including the croutons) were maybe $10-$15, and it didn't take long at all to cook, so this soup will be my go-to recipe for Fall and Winter. All that and it's super versatile! You could add chicken, tofu, dumplings, different veggies, etc. I'm already craving more!