the thrifty crafter



When I think of springtime treats, lemon desserts and carrot cake are the first things that come to mind. So why not combine the two to give you the best of both worlds?  Since I prefer the individuality of cupcakes, especially when I am making treats for different groups of people, I used this delicious-looking and rave-reviewed recipe for carrot cake and adjusted the time down for cupcakes.  To top them off, I used the lemon cream cheese frosting recipe from my archives, adapting it so that is presentable and sufficiently stiff (cold cream cheese is the key!). The results were scrumptious!  The cake is incredibly moist and delicious and the lemon zest really ties it all together.  Just don’t make yourself sick licking the frosting off the beater!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes (makes 24):

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 4 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin pans with your favorite springtime liners.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and salt.

   

3. In another bowl, stir together the carrots (use a food processor for fast shredding!), chopped nuts, coconut and raisins.

   

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and oil together on medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one, and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear.

   

5. Gently mix in the chunky ingredients. Use ice cream scoop to portion into cupcake liners, filling until about 2/3 full (any more full and they will spill over!).
6. Bake for 20-24 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then gently run a knife around the sides of the cupcakes to transfer them to cooling racks.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (makes enough for 24 cupcakes):

• 16 ounces cream cheese, cold
• 10 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4.5 c powdered sugar, sifted
• zest of 2 lemons, grated
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Have the cream cheese cold and the butter at room temperature. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, lemon juice and zest until blended. Add sugar one-third at a time and beat just until smooth and the desired consistency. If frosting is too stiff, beat for few seconds longer. Do not overbeat.
2. To finish, use a piping bag to frost cupcakes. If you want a garnish, a toasted walnut half would be cute.

I never really understood the whole hype with Red Velvet cupcakes until I started baking a few years ago.  I always thought it was weird to eat something with such a strong artificial color to it, and was a bit averse to making them.  After some perusing, I found another baker with the same thought process, and discovered this recipe on Joy the Baker (a fabulous blog, if you haven’t yet stumbled upon it).  These Red Velvets have the delicious, lightly chocolate cake the type is known for, but are a subtle shade of rouge that won’t make you feel like you’ll be peeing red.

À la Martha, I tend to prefer Dutch processed cocoa for its milder flavor and use gel pastes for my food coloring, so those changes are reflected in the recipe below.  I finish it off with my trusty, pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting, adding a bit of cinnamon for a surprise and finally top it off with a cinnamon candy heart in honor of the holiday.  Enjoy and remember to share the love!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

makes 12 cupcakes

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 Tablespoons dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder (like Pernigotti)
• 1/4 tsp red gel paste food coloring
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 5/8 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Turn mixer to high and add  the egg.  Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
3. Add in cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring, mixing thoroughly until completely combined.  You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

   

4. Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk.  Add half of the flour and all of the salt and mix until combined.  Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour.  Beat on high until smooth.
5. Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar.  Turn to high and beat until well incorporated.
6. Scoop batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.

   

7. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

(makes 2 cups, more than enough for 12 cupcakes, maybe closer to 16)

• 8 ounces cream cheese, cold
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (measure, then sift into bowl)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Have the cream cheese cold and the butter at room temperature. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until blended. Add sugar one-third at a time and beat just until smooth and the desired consistency. If frosting is too stiff, beat for few seconds longer. Do not overbeat. Stir in cinnamon to taste.

   

2. To finish, use a piping bag to frost cupcakes. Garnish each with a cinnamon heart.

The continued cold weather here in Southern California prompted me to make a warming stew for dinner recently.  My husband and I, as a rule, try to stay away from starchy root vegetables like potatoes which are a traditional base in stews, so for this dish, I modified a recipe from my Mayo Clinic Cookbook to fit our needs.  The results were delicious, and oh, so warm! You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1/4 c almond meal, for dredging
• 1 pound boneless lean beef stew meat, trimmed of visible fat and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced vertically
• 2 large shallots, chopped
• 1/2 large onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 4 large carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 bunch swiss chard, stalk removed, leaves torn
• 1 container crimini mushrooms, quartered
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

Directions

1. Place the almond meal on a plate. Dredge the beef cubes in the almond meal. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the beef and cook, turning as needed, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove the beef from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. If using almond meal instead of flour, you’ll want to scrape the almond meal from the bottom of the pan before proceeding or it will burn (absolute blasphemy to throw away the browned bits, I know! To avoid this, just use flour).

   

2. Add the fennel, onion and shallots to the pan over medium heat and saute until softened and lightly golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper, the thyme sprigs and the bay leaf.

   

   Saute for 1 minute. Return the beef to the pan and add the vegetable stock and the wine, if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer gently until the meat is tender, ~45 minutes.

3. Add the carrots and mushrooms. The liquid will not cover the vegetables completely, but more liquid will accumulate as the mushrooms soften. Simmer gently until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes longer. Add the swiss chard and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until wilted.  Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Stir in the parsley and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Ladle into warmed individual bowls and serve immediately.

   

My final Christmas post…whew!  I don’t know how the craft bloggers of the world do one post a day, unless that is their primary job. As a practicing dentist, wife, and mom of a not-so-independent dog, 12 days in a row is certainly a commitment for me! But, I digress.  For our last Christmas-inspired project, I’ve created some napkin rings for your festive holiday spread using oversized buttons and silver jewelry cord.  Paired with bright red linen napkins and set against crisp white porcelain, these little sparklers certainly pop!

Here’s what you need:

• stretchy metallic beading cord, like Dritz
• oversized buttons (mine were found at Joann’s)
• hot glue gun and scissors

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut your jewelry cord into 12-inch pieces.
2. Feed one end of cord through button opening and tie ends together in a double knot.  Snip excess.  From end of loop to base of the knot, length should be around 5.25 inches.
3. Use hot glue gun to secure knot to backside of button, making sure to seal off the ends of the cord.
4. Use loop end to wrap around napkin and over button.

I was incredibly lucky to marry into a family who really celebrates tradition at Christmas.  Of our traditions, these delectable little bites of heaven are lovingly placed in our stockings by a Mrs. Claus who is so busy baking and wrapping gifts throughout the day, she often does not sleep on Christmas Eve. While the flavor and the crunch of these pretzels is divine, its the love that goes into making them that you can taste the most.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Ingredients:

• 1 c butter
• 2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp maple flavoring
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 24 oz mini pretzels

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Divide pretzels between two foil-lined rectangular pans.
2. Heat butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and maple flavoring in saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until bubbly around the edges.  Cook for ~5 minutes, then remove from heat.  Stir in baking soda.

   

3. Pour maple mixture over pretzels.  Mix until well coated.
4. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
5. Allow to cool, then package as you wish and spread the love!

Here’s an easy and inexpensive way to dress up your coffee table for the holidays.  Varying sizes and sheens of paper doilies are layered together in a seemingly haphazard fashion to create a simple, festive table runner.  The Dollar Tree carries paper doilies in white, silver and a bronze-y gold in 8, 10 and 12-inch diameters that work well for this project.

What you need:

• paper doilies in varying diameters and colors
• photo mounting squares

What you do:

1. Lay out your doilies in a pattern that is pleasing to your eye.  I wanted mine looking asymmetric and almost thrown together.
2. Use photo mounting squares to delicately adhere your doilies together in their final position.

   

Need a new, festive cocktail for your annual holiday gathering?  Sweet-tart raspberries and a splash of rose water add some holiday flair and interest to this classic gin-lime juice-club soda combo. Hendrick’s is a Scottish gin infused with cucumber and rose petals, and is a natural choice to bring out the flavors in this recipe.

Ingredients:

Shopped at Trader Joe’s lately and noticed their holiday paper bags? Gorgeous white winter illustrations on brown paper bags inspired me to reuse them as a decorative band on my smaller Christmas gifts this year.  Add some simple red embroidery thread and you’ve got yourself a pretty, environmentally friendly wrapped present without lots of fuss!

Here’s what you need:

• Trader Joe’s holiday brown paper bag
• scissors
• iron and ironing board
• red embroidery thread (or some other decorative ribbon)
• tape
• gift box

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut out graphics from bag in wide columns.  Fold edge over and iron flat.

   

2. Wrap band around gift box, securing with tape.  If you box is too large, use pieces from the bag to piece together the back (no one will see it).
3. Use embroidery thread to add a bow.  Embellish with a written gift tag.

Thrifty Tip: I was able to decorate three lingerie-sized gift boxes using only one bag!

For years, my mom has made a sugar cookie with peppermint frosting as the holiday treat that is made for family functions or boxed and given away as gifts.  Nothing compares to the gently spiced sugar cookie topped with a refreshingly minty, yet rich, buttercream frosting.   So, since I love to make cupcakes, I decided I’d try to recreate the cookie in cupcake form just for fun.  The results were equally delicious! I used Billy’s Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes recipe (as seen in my March ’09 post) as a rough base and did some tweaking to get the right flavor.

Brown Sugar Cupcakes:

makes 24 cupcakes

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine brown sugar and butter, mixing until pale and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.

3. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat.

4. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full.

5. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cupcakes have cooled, pipe tops with peppermint frosting.

Peppermint Frosting:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• scant 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 16 peppermint candy canes, pulverized to a powder in a food processor

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the sifted powdered sugar.
2. Mix in vanilla, then add milk until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency (you often won’t use the entire amount).  Beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Stir in crushed candy canes until well mixed, adding more milk if frosting becomes too stiff.  Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy with a tall glass of milk!

Thrifty Tip: The bright and shiny cupcake liners were found at Crate and Barrel in the after-Christmas clearance section last year.

Almost as exciting as receiving greeting cards in the the mail are the arrival of holiday catalogs from my beloved home stores.  I love to flip through them slowly, dog-earing my favorite pages, and take in all of their holiday goodness.  In particular, Pottery Barn catalogs are filled with lovely ideas and I especially love their use of reindeer moss for decorating. For today’s craft, I’ve created a truly simple and elegant, nature-inspired ornament.

Start with a glass or plastic ornament, insert some reindeer moss as a soft base, add a clipping from your tree trimming, and gently scatter mini pine cones.  Do you hear the pine needles crunching under your feet as you walk through the forest?

Here’s what you need:

• glass or plastic clear ornament
• mini pine cones
• reindeer moss
• tree trimmings
• long tweezers (or something else to help insert your filler –  I used dental cotton pliers)

No instructions needed!  Finish off with a long piece of twine and tie into a bow to hang.

Tips: Everything Christmas is on sale at Michael’s.  The ornament and mini pine cones were $2 total after discounts and I had leftover reindeer moss from this project.

Previously, I crafted a felt rosette wreath that I absolutely adore and use as a decoration at both Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day.  I love the texture of the felt clusters and thought it would make a pretty ornament for our tree this year.  I picked through my scrap fabric bin (I always keep my leftovers!) and had both white and red felt pieces that I used for this craft.  The instructions are the same as for the wreath, except you are pinning the folded circles onto a craft foam ball instead of a wreath form.   Finish it off with a twine hanger and you have a lovely peppermint ball!

Here’s what you need:

• 2-inch diameter craft foam ball
• box of straight pins
• scrap fabric
• stamp pad (i had a green one from a previous project)
• a roughly 3-inch diameter glass/lid (really, whatever size fits your stamp pad)
• scissors
• twine for hanging

Here’s what you do:

1. Use glass to stamp circles onto felt.

   

2. Cut out circles.
3. Fold each circle in half, then in half again and insert straight pin at the corner.
4. Pin each folded circle onto foam ball, clustering tightly to create ruffle effect.
5. Fluff felt after adding a few and continue adding until all visible surfaces of ball are covered.
6. Knot a piece of twine and use straight pin to affix to foam ball.

   

Tips: Using a smaller diameter circle would give you a smaller ball, you’d just have to cut out more circles! The finished diameter here was ~ 4″ – definitely a larger ornament!

I adore photo greeting cards during the holidays.  Being the crafter that I am, I tend to shy away from the printed, postcard variety you can order and like to get photos printed myself and dress them up.  This year, I had 4×6 pictures printed at Costco after using Photoshop to add a festive greeting, purchased green cardstock from Michaels on a super 4 for $1 deal and bought value packs of cards from Target to use as a base – 18 cards for only $5! The cards themselves were a little silly, but had a gorgeous, bright red background that I knew would work well with the photo I chose.  Trying to make your own cards from scratch with colored envelopes and cards from craft stores can get a bit more costly, so starting with the value packs is a great way to make your holiday cards your own without spending a lot of dough.

Here’s what you need:

• boxed cards with good background color or print
• coordinating cardstock
• printed photos
• photo mounting squares (Big Lots has ’em cheap, cheap!)
• paper trimmer or ruler and scissors

Here’s what you do:

1. Use your paper trimmer to cut out three 4.5 x 6.5 inch rectangles from each  sheet of 12×12 cardstock.

   

2. Use photo mounting squares to affix photo to cardstock, then cardstock to face of card.

   

3. Add your own personal greeting, sign, seal and deliver!

Cost: $18 for 36 cards! Only $0.50 per card…not bad! Photos were $5 at Costco, cards were $10 total at Target and cardstock for 36 cards was $3 at Michaels.

Running out of room on your fireplace mantel, or just looking for a new way to display the holiday well-wishes from your nearest and dearest? Try this frame made of only twine and push pins to create a focal point for all of your lovely greeting cards.  Shaped like a tree itself, this spirited display lends even more festivity to your holiday decor.

All you need:

• jute twine
• push pins
• scissors
• hole punch
• twine or yarn or twisty ties to fasten your cards

Here’s what you do:

1. Start with the trunk of the tree and create a loop at the free end of your twine.  Use push pin to secure in place.
2. Place another push pin to mark the apex of your tree, loop and knot twine twine, cut and secure.
3. Place third and fourth pushpins to mark the base of your tree.  Starting with a new loop at the apex, wrap around one corner, pull taut and wrap second corner, finishing at the apex.
4. Loop and knot free end of twine and secure.
5. Use a hole punch at the top of your cards and use twine, yarn or twisty ties to secure to twine tree.

   

A while back, I made a reversible dog bandana that fastened with velcro.  While it is a great accessory that can significantly cut down on your doggie accessory stash, this Slip-On Bandana is so fast and easy to make, I couldn’t resist posting another one.  No pins required, just some fabric and a sewing machine.  So get crafting and fashion some pet holiday flair!

What you need:

• scrap fabric (I used a holiday print)
• sewing machine with matching or contrasting thread
• scissors

Here’s what you do:

1. Approximate how large of a bandana you would like on your dog’s neck. My little pup is a Jack Russell mix and is about 20 pounds.  I made his bandana to a finished 5.5″ at the base and 5″ tall from the folded base to the point.
2. Fold your fabric in half and cut a out a pentagonal shape with right angles at the base, making sure to put the base along the folded edge (one less edge to sew!). My original dimensions were 6 inches at the base, 4.5 inches along the parallel sides, then 5 inches on each side that makes the point.

   

3. Turn fabric inside out and sew along all edges, leaving an opening to turn it right-side out.
4. Turn out and press, then fold remaining edge in and top-stitch shut.
5. Fold base edge over (this is the slip-on part so make sure your collar will fit) and stitch.

   

Cost: I purchased my fabric quarter from Joann’s in the clearance bin for $0.50.  Can’t get a thriftier craft than that!

Ever wanted to throw a fall dinner party that isn’t a full-on Thanksgiving or host something the weekend after Thanksgiving, when, in your mind, it is still a bit too early to decorate for Christmas?  If you’re like me, who celebrates the bountiful holiday at someone else’s home, you have all of these beautiful gourds and pumpkins that haven’t yet their moment in the spotlight.  So, what’s a girl to do for decor between major holidays?  Try mixing some silvers and purples into your existing fall color scheme and see what you get.  You might be pleasantly surprised!

This table setting was inspired by some clearance napkins I found at Cost Plus World Market in the summer (again, the key to entertaining thriftily is thinking ahead and always being on the lookout for deals!).  They have a gorgeous mix of plum, deep purple, natural white, burnt orange and woodsy browns:

When I saw the napkins, I immediately thought of the plum table runners I’d made for my wedding a few years earlier that were still sitting in storage at my in-law’s house.  Since I prefer to use placemats as opposed to runners, I thought, how easy would it be to convert a few of these gorgeous runners (that I’ll almost never use again) into placemats?  Even if you don’t have table runners that you no longer have a need for, it is quite easy to make your own placemats, since they are basically two rectangles sewn together!

What you’ll need:

• 1.25 yards of interesting, textural fabric (I used a weave from Ikea)
• 1.25 yards of plain backing fabric (I used a simple broadcloth from Joann’s)
• matching thread
• sewing machine
• scissors
• long ruler or measuring tape

Here’s what you do:

1. Iron material prior to cutting.
2. Pin fabric together.
3. Cut out six 13×19 rectangular pieces out of pinned fabric (if your fabric is the standard 45″ you should be able to measure 19″ from the end, then cut out three 13″ pieces with ~6″ of  leftover scrap, repeat a second time for a total of six placemats).
4. Thread machine with matching thread and sew 3 sides of rectangle with 1/4 – 1/2 inch margin.
5. On fourth side, start from one end and stitch until left with a 3 inch unstitched area.
6. Turn fabric out and iron edges.
7. Turn unstitched area in and sew closed (you could also do this by hand with an invisible stitch, if you wanted, though it takes longer).

Now for the centerpieces!  I was inspired to make something fun when I saw some Styrofoam balls that I found at Tuesday Morning for much less than craft store retail prices.  What I ended up doing was using a combination of things I had (excess muslin from previous craft projects, twine, and Indian corn husks) and new materials (preserved leaves and dried pinto beans) to create natural-looking, fall-into-winter centerpieces.  All of my materials incorporated colors that are in the napkins.

Here’s what you need:

• two sizes of Styrofoam balls (Tuesday Morning or retail craft stores)
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
• scissors
• craft spray glue
• preserved leaves (Michael’s)
• jute twine (Big Lots or 99 Cent Store)
• muslin (retail craft store or Walmart)
• purple Indian corn husks (local grocery store in produce section)
• 2 bags dried pinto beans (Big Lots $1 per bag)
• galvanized or silver rectangular trays (I used my trusty tart pans again!)

Here’s what you do:

for leaves:

1. Remove leaves from their stems.
2. Use hot glue gun to secure leaves to styrofoam ball in an overlapping fashion until ball is covered.  In my example, on one large and one small ball, I displayed the waxy side of the leaf and on another two, I displayed the underside.

for muslin:

1. Rip fabric into 1-inch strips
2. Cut strips into 1×1 inch squares
3. Use hot glue gun to secure fabric squares to ball in overlapping fashion until ball is covered.

for corn husks:

1. Remove purple corn husks from Indian corn, being careful not to tear or rip the husks.
2. To soften and use the inner, shiny side of the husk, heat some water to boiling in a tea kettle and lay husks over opening to relax leaves with steam.
3. Use hot glue gun to apply corn husks to styrofoam ball in an overlapping fashion until ball is covered.

for twine:

1. Secure twine to one pole of styrofoam ball with hot glue.
2. Apply craft spray glue in sections and wrap twine around styrofoam ball.
3. Once ball is completely wrapped, secure end of twine to opposite pole with a spot of hot glue.

Note: As you move from a smaller diameter to a bigger one, this wrapping is easy.  However, as you hit the equator and start to move from a larger diameter to a smaller one, this craft can become frustrating as the twine will want to roll toward the smaller diameter pole.  Have patience, or if you don’t, you can always snip, glue end and start wrapping from the opposite pole and have your twine meet in the middle.  I prefer the uninterrupted look, myself.

Finally, pour pinto beans into trays and arrange your covered ball decorations to your liking!

Last Halloween, my husband and I hosted a themed dinner party, with a menu full of rich foods like aged french mimolette cheese, lemon-mascarpone stuffed dates wrapped in prociutto, and lacquered short ribs.  For dessert, I wanted to finish with something a bit lighter and more refreshing, and opted for gingerbread cookie ice cream sandwiches, filled with smooth and delectable Dreyer’s Pumpkin Ice Cream. This year, since the pumpkin-gingerbread combo was so delightful, I’ve scoured my cookbooks and favorite websites to put together this gingerbread cupcake with pumpkin cream cheese frosting.

This recipe is not for the faint of heart – the flavors in this cupcake are strong and decadent.  If you prefer something a bit more mild in terms of molasses, or maybe you’re a busy mom and want something a little easier, try Trader Joe’s boxed Gingerbread Mix and top with the same pumpkin cream cheese frosting.  Most of these ingredients were purchased at Trader Joe’s, which makes for nice, one-stop shopping! Enjoy!

Chocolate Gingerbread Cupcakes (a combination recipe adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts and Martha Stewart’s Cookies):

makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c pumpkin puree
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 c unsulphured molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1 TB freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 1/4 c unbleached flour
• 1 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 c boiling water
• about 6 oz dark chocolate, cut into 1/4 inch chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Line muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a bowl, combine flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cocoa powder.

   

3. In an electric mixer, beat pumpkin puree, sugar and fresh ginger until well incorporated.  Add molasses and egg and beat until smooth.
4. In a separate cup, dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water.
5. Add half of flour mixture to mixer, mixing just until combined. Beat in baking soda mixture, then finish with the other half of the flour mixture. Stir in chocolate pieces.

   

6. Use scoop to portion batter into cupcake liners.  Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating once, until the cupcakes are slightly springy to the touch.  Cool for 3 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack.

Note: the original Moosewood recipe calls for 1/4 c of butter, which I completely omitted and substituted canned pumpkin for in an attempt at a slightly healthier version.  You don’t miss the butter at all, and the canned pumpkin really keeps things moist.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, cold
• 5 TB Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter
• 1 TB softened butter
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (measure, then sift into bowl)

Directions:

1. Have the cream cheese cold. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, pumpkin butter, and regular butter until blended. Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time and beat just until smooth and the desired consistency. If frosting is too stiff, beat for few seconds longer. Do not overbeat.

   

2. To finish, use a piping bag to frost cupcakes.

Halloween is quickly approaching and I wanted to share some costume ideas that we used last year. After a discussion with a friend who introduced me to the idea of a “conceptual” costume, my husband and I decided we wanted to be clever in our costume undertaking.  These creative costumes are derived from popular phrases and take a relatively abstract idea and conceptualize it.  Best of all, they are easy to make from items you may already have at home and are super inexpensive and thus, very thriftycrafter friendly.

My husband was a chick magnet.

Here’s what you need:

• Black shirt and pants
• Plastic Barbie dolls from the Dollar Tree or 99 cent store
• Magazine cut outs of hot chicks (from Maxim/Stuff)
• Safety pins

Here’s what you do:

Use safety pins to attach barbies and magazine cut-outs to your man, who is dressed in black.  Voila!  Easiest costume ever! In addition, you could spray paint a shoe box black and attach it to his back so the magnet concept is more obvious, but most everyone understood and loved his costume without it!

Cost: $8 for 7 barbies and a box of safety pins at the 99 cent store

I was a deviled egg.

Here’s what you need:

• white strapless dress (I used a white terry cloth beach cover-up I already had)
• large piece of yellow fabric (I used leftover felt)
• devil’s horns and tail (and a pitchfork, if you have one)
• safety pins

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut out a large oval shape from your piece of yellow felt to represent an egg yolk and use safety pins to attach to the front of your dress.
2. Wear devil’s horns, pin a tail on, wear some red patent heels and go wild with your hair.  Voila! Still kinda sexy and clever…a powerful combo!

Cost: Free! (because I used leftover scrap fabric from making my dog’s costume)

Note:  If you don’t already have devil’s horns or tail, but have red scrap fabric, pillow stuffing and a headband like I did, you can very easily fashion these items on your own.  Here’s how:

1. Draw out a horn shape on a piece of paper first, then copy to your fabric (I used leftover red felt – something less stiff would be easier to turn out but might not stand up as well) .  Cut out two. Then, flip your original shape horizontally to mirror your design, trace and cut out two more.
2. Stitch each horn along outside edge, leaving bottom portion open.  Turn out and stuff with pillow stuffing.
3. Hand sew the base of each horn closed, then spot tack one horn to your elastic headband.  Look in a mirror to check spacing and angulation, then sew the second one on.
4. For the tail, fold your fabric in half and draw a tail shape onto your fabric.  Pin and cut out two tail shapes.  Stitch tail along outside edge, leaving base open.  Turn out and stuff with pillow stuffing.
5. Hand sew the base of the tail closed and use a couple of safety pins to attach to the back of your dress.

These costumes are only two ideas, but the opportunities are endless!  Time to get creative!

My recent book club read, Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende, inspired me to host a themed book club last month.  Set in the mid 19th century, it is the story of a young Chilean girl, Eliza Sommers, who is raised by a well-to-do British family in Valparaiso, Chile.  At 16, Eliza finds her first love in Joaquin Andieta, a young man who, like many Chileans at the time, takes off to California to seek his fortune in the gold rush.  Months later, Eliza follows him, and in an elusive search for her lover, embarks upon a journey of self-discovery.

This novel is full of inspiration when it comes to hosting a themed book club evening.  There are many images and elements from the story to draw upon: Chile itself, the Victorian clothing of the period which incorporated lace, gold to symbolize the Gold Rush, luxuries to Chileans at the time, including chocolate, and the fact that our heroine is an incredible chef and baker and resourcefully makes empanadas while in California as a means to a living.

For our meeting, I served Chilean wine, empanadas, and an olive and spanish cheese plate with marcona almonds and black grapes.  We finished the evening with Martha’s devil’s food chocolate cupcakes with a velvety smooth dark chocolate ganache frosting. While the idea of topping my cupcakes with a sprinkle of edible gold leaf was divine, the $28 price tag from Sur la Table didn’t make it thriftycrafter friendly, so I had to omit it!

Gold chargers, crisp white plates and black lace adornments decorated the table and super easy to make hand-fashioned wine charms (this is, after all, a wine, er, book club!), marked our glasses. Finally, I made a simple garland out of leftover gold Christmas ribbon and white paper doilies from the Dollar Tree.  Thanks to apartmenttherapy.com for the inspiration!

First, the crafts!

Wine Charms

Here’s what you need:

• cardstock
• eyelet stickers (alternatively, you could use a stamp or these great rub-ons from Paper Source)
• compass with pencil
• scissors
• hammer, nail and wooden block
• jewelry ear wires
• gel pen or other marker for writing

Here’s what you do:

1. Use your compass to create circles on cardstock.  I made mine with a radius of 5/8 of an inch.

   

2. Cut out circles and adhere lace stickers to cover just more than half of the circle.

   

3. Cut excess edge of sticker and write your characters’ names below the arc.

   

4. Use hammer, nail and wooden block to pierce tag where you want your ring to go.

   

5. Use wire bending tool to bend end portion of your hoop up to create lock and feed through hole in tag.

   

Cost: less than $5!

Doily Garland

Here’s what you need:

• paper doily pack
• stitch witchery
• iron and ironing board
• 1/2 inch width ribbon or thicker
• scissors or Fiskars paper trimmer

Here’s what you do:

1. Use scissors or paper trimmer to cut doilies in half.

   

2. Rip stitch witchery in pieces that measure the diameter of your doily, place between the ribbon and doily, and use iron on low setting to adhere.

   

3. Repeat until desired length of garland is achieved!

Cost: less than $3!

Adorned Cake Plate

Here’s what you need:

• cake plate
• strip of lace, in the measured circumference of your cake platter
• Zots

Here’s what you do:

1. Adhere Zots to cake plate rim every 1.5-2 inches.

   

2. Starting with one end of your strip of lace, press lace against zots, keeping correct amount of slack, until lace band encircles your platter.

Cost: less than $5!

Now, onto the food!

I used an empanada dough recipe found on Epicurious.com for my mini empanaditas, a beef filling recipe from Susan Feniger (of Border Grill and Ciudad fame) and a pork filling recipe from Food & Wine Magazine.

Empanada Dough:

Doubling the recipe made just under 4 dozen 3.5 inch empanaditas

Beef Filling:

Makes enough for 4 dozen mini empanadas (I halved the recipe to make two dozen)

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/3 cup toasted almonds coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup dark raisins
• 8 Italian Roma tomatoes
• 3 serrano chilies
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. In a large heavy skillet, over a medium high heat, saute the ground beef until the meat is browned, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain off the excess fat.
2. Add the onion and saute 2 minutes. Then add the garlic, almonds, and raisins, and saute 1 minute.
3. Place the tomatoes, chilies, lime juice, salt, and pepper in a blender and puree until smooth.
4. Add the puree, cumin, cloves, cinnamon and salt and pepper to the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes to get rid of any excess liquid. Cool.
5. Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each circle of pastry. Fold over the pastry and seal the edges. Let the empanadas rest in the refrigerator 1/2 hour or freeze immediately. (Bake the frozen empanadas without defrosting.)
6. Empanadas may be glazed (1 egg and 2 tablespoons milk, well beaten) and baked until golden in a 400 degree oven, for about 15 minutes.

Pork Filling:

Makes enough for 4 dozen mini empanadas (I halved the recipe to make two dozen)

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large white onion, very finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin, finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup amber beer
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon Chinese chile-garlic paste or sambal oelek
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 jalapeño, seeded and very finely chopped
• 3 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped
• 6 pitted kalamata olives, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon golden raisins

1. In a medium skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is browned, about 8 minutes longer.
2. Meanwhile in a large skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chopped pork, season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until the pork is golden brown on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Stir and cook until no pink remains, about 3 minutes longer. Stir in the browned onions, beer, soy sauce, paprika, chile paste, cumin and jalapeño and cook for 1 minute. Transfer the filling to a large bowl. Stir in the hard-cooked eggs, olives and raisins and season with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°.
4. Brush the empanadas with the egg wash. Bake them for about 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the empanadas are golden brown, then serve.