Mars Alien Cupcakes not Pluto

Have you seen any aliens lately? I figure I'll see a few next week on Halloween. Well, my sister made these aliens and brought them over. My daughters thought they looked adorable. I'll remind them of their comment when if we are invaded. Cute? Not scary?

One thing about these aliens are they are tasty. I know some people are into trying strange cuisine but I don't think I'll ever try real alien in my lifetime. Would you if they were edible? Or would you be finicky and only prefer aliens from Mars but not Pluto?

Alien Cupcakes
24 cupcakes
2 cups of frosting
1 package of candy melts
4 strings of black licorice, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 black food pen or candy or sunflower seed (for the eyes) 

1. Crumble 12 cupcakes in a bowl.
2. Stir in 1 cup of frosting into the crumbled cupcakes. Mix well.
3. Roll the cupcake mixture into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls.
4. Place the balls on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
5. Take the cake balls out of the freezer and add a little frosting to the bottom of the ball. 
6. Place the frosting side down onto a cupcake. Press well.
7. Place the cupcakes with the cupcake ball into the freezer for at least 1 hour or overnight. 
8. Add water to pot with a heat proof bowl on top of the pot to make a double boiler.
9. Place the candy melts in the heat proof bowl and stir until melted. Remove from burner.
10. Take a few of the cupcakes from the freezer.
11. Dip the chilled cupcake upside down into the bowl quickly into the melted candy to coat. 
12. Carefully place the cupcake onto a plate to cool. Be careful not to remove to many of the cupcakes from the freezer at a time of the cake ball will fall off the cupcake. 
13. Stir the melted candy melts between cupcake dips. If the candy starts to harden, reheat or make goblins or crazy looking aliens. 

Recipe adapted from Hello, Cupcake! cookbook by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson.

One year ago...........I made Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes.

Did you already know...
-Currently, Mars can be seen low in the southwest at dusk.
-The surface of Mars can be seen in detail from Earth.
-This month, NASA's rover Curiosity is taking samples of soil on Mars and analyzing it.

Halloween PB Cookies

With this cookie, I was trying to make it look like the back of a stegosaurus. I think I failed. When I asked the kids what it looked like, I was told a flower by my son. Yes, my son did said a flower. My youngest daughter said it looked like a scary mouth and teeth. My oldest daughter said witch's warts. At least the girls was thinking spooky. My husband was the only one who said stegosaurus. What do you think? Stegosaurus?

My husband declared these are one of his favorite cookies. Yes, they are that good. I made several with the jelly in the middle like the original recipe called but I didn't like how the jelly turned out. My husband still liked them especially since he isn't a peanut person even if he loves peanut butter. My youngest daughter brought one in for her lunch and her friend saw it. She traded a piece of gum for a piece. After trying it, she traded my daughter another piece of gum for more. In the end, my daughter gave her cookie to her friend who loved it. Don't feel bad for my daughter since she had another one for snack after school. 

PB Cookies with Honey-Roasted Peanuts aka Spike Cookies
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup honey roasted peanuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter until fluffy.
4. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Mix until incorporated.
5. Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
6. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined.
7. Using a 1 3/4 inch scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Space the cookies at least 2 inches apart. 
8. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
9. Remove from the oven and carefully place the peanuts vertically into the cookies about half way through.
10. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen cookbook by Rebecca Rather. 

One year ago.............................I made Onion Dip. 

Did you already know....
-Stegosaurus dinosaurs name means roofed lizard.
-It is thought the stegosaurus brain was the size of a walnut.
-The cluster of spikes at the end of a stegosaurus is called a thagomizer.
-The thagomizer was first named by Gary Larson in his Far Side Cartoon.

Pretzel Dogs

Near our house, there is a bike path for bikers and walkers. While I was out walking, I passed a tiny woman pushing a stroller. Inside the stroller, there was a Pit bull bigger than her. I couldn't help but smile. He is one spoiled puppy.

Every year, I make the mummy hot dogs for my children. This year I wanted to try something different. So, I made Pretzel buns with bratwurst inside. I knew my husband would love it and I was right. I just wasn't sure about the kids. I shouldn't have worried since they have asked for me to make these mummies again. I will say I was surprised by how sweet the bread tasted but it was still a nice combination.

 Pretzel Buns with Bratwurst aka Mummy Dogs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey
1 packet active dry yeast
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, grated
3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup bread flour
8 links of Bratwurst sausage
3 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 
2. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, 1/2 cup water, sugar, and honey until the mixture reaches between 105 to 110 degrees F.
3. Slowly, add the milk mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
4. Sprinkle the yeast mixture over the milk mixture and let rest for 15 minutes for the yeast to bloom.
5. Wipe out the small saucepan. Add the butter and garlic over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. 
6. In another bowl, combine the all purpose flour with the bread flour.
7. Add the flour to the yeast mixing bowl with the melted garlic butter.
8. Mix the flour and garlic butter into the milk mixture on medium speed for about 5 to 7 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic plus pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
9. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured clean surface and form a ball.
10. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place onto the parchment paper lined baking sheets. Cover and place in a warm place to rise for 15 minutes.
11. Roll out each ball into a log and place onto the baking sheet to rise for another 30 minutes. Make sure to cover and place in a warm place. 
12. While the buns are rising, heat the bratwurst in a small skillet over medium heat with 3 Tbsp water and 1/2 tsp vegetable oil until golden brown. Set aside to cool. 
13. Cut each bratwurst in half and set aside.
14. With a sharp knife, slowly and carefully cut each bun down the middle vertically but leave one bun alone.
15. Place the cooled Bratwurst in the center of the bun and press the dough together. Continue with all the buns until the one bun is left.
16. Take the last bun and cut off about 1/2 tsp of dough. Roll the dough into long, vertical pieces. Continue making long pieces until all the dough of the last bun are just pieces of dough like . Secure the pieces of dough over the buns with the Bratwurst inside. Cris-cross the dough over each other and press down to flatten. 
17. Sprinkle with the sea salt if desired.
18. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place one oven rack high and the other in the low position.
19. Place the baking sheets into the oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure to rotate the baking sheets halfway through baking so the top sheet is on the bottom rack and the bottom sheet is on the top rack.

Recipe adapted from Jeff Mauro of the Foodnetwork. 

One year ago...........................I made Chicken Enchiladas.

Did you already know...
-Other names for the Pit Bull is the American Pit Bull Terrier.
-The Pit Bull usually weighs between 22 to 78 pounds.
-Some dog associations do not accept blue eyed or merle coats for a Pit bull into the registry. 
-The Pit bull was first bread to be an all around farm dog.

Crab Rangoon

Are you scared yet? Are you scared of all this fried food? I don't like to make a lot of fried foods. I refuse to buy a deep fryer but we have a cotton candy machine. We know what is important in this house, right?

If you are going to fry, you might as well make more than one recipe like the Sausage Dumplings. I don't keep the grease since I don't want to encourage it in our daily meals. We make these recipes once a year or every other year even if my oldest would make these monthly, weekly, or even daily. They have a soft, creamy filling with a crisp shell. Oh, they are so delicious that I'm glad we rarely make them. If you like the restaurant versions, you will really like these homemade fresh ones.

Crab Rangoon aka Witch's pouches
2 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
2 scallions, chopped finely
1/2 cup of crab meat or imitation crab meat
1/2 tsp sugar
1 package of wonton wrappers
2 cups vegetable oil

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, scallions, meat, and sugar.
2. Place 1 Tbsp of the filling in the center of the wonton wrapper.
3. Lightly dampen finger with water and dampen the edges of the wonton wrappers with finger.
4. Fold the wonton wrappers so the opposite corners touch. Press down firmly to seal.
5. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat until the back of a wooden spoon bubbles.
6. Gently add the crab rangoon into the hot oil. 
7. Fry each side for about a minute or until golden brown before flipping.
8. When the whole crab rangoon is golden brown, remove from the oil and place on a paper towel covered plate.
9. Allow to cool before serving.

Recipe given to me with permission by Mary.

A year ago I made ..........Cheddar Bay Biscuits (my oldest favorite).

Did you already know...
-Imitation crab meat is surimi seafood.
-Surimi seafood is fish protein from Alaska pollock or Pacific whiting.
-Imitation crab meat has Omega-3. 

Fried Sausage Dumplings

I was trying to think of scary names for these sausage dumplings.  So, I asked the children if they wanted to help. I provided some examples but they didn't like any of them. Then my son said the dumplings name was Red Goblin Noses. I suggested how about just Goblin Noses but my son said it had to be Red Goblin Noses. I said but there is no red. My son replied so. Who am I to argue with such logic?

The first time I made sausage dumplings were over ten years ago. I can't even believe it was that long ago. I had never heard of a blog. I would watch a lot of Food Network for recipes. I learned how to make egg rolls from my Dad but I wanted to make some dishes with it when I saw this Oriental Pork Wrappers recipe. My pork was raw inside. I tried several other ways to cook the wrappers. When I served them to my family, they liked them. Well, my daughter really wanted to cook up some dumplings and crab rangoon (recipe posting soon). I think she did a pretty good job.

Fried Sausage Dumplings aka Red Goblin Noses
1 lb. ground pork
2 stalks of scallions
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 package of wonton wrappers
2 cups vegetable oil

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, brown the pork for about 3 minutes over medium heat. 
2. Add the scallions and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Remove the skillet from the heat and mix in the hoisin sauce.
4. Add salt and pepper and incorporate well.
5. Place about 1 Tbsp in the center of the wonton wrapper. 
6. Moisten the edges of the wonton wrapper with water and fold over to form a triangle. Press securely to seal.
7. In a large Dutch oven (large pot, deep fryer) , heat oil until the back of a wooden spoon bubbles.
8. Carefully add the sausage dumplings one at a time without over crowding. Cook until golden brown and flip about a minute per a side.
9. With tongs, remove the dumplings and place on a plate lined with paper towels.
10. Allow the dumplings to cool for a few minutes before serving.
11. Serve with a dipping sauce if desired.

One year ago I made..........Pork Chops with garlic and herbs.

Did you already know...
-The word Goblin is derived from the Greek word for rogue.
-Some goblins reside in grottoes which are caves if not your house.
-One of the most famous goblins is Rumpelstiltskin.