Whole Wheat Carrot Cupcakes with Bourbon Maple Buttercream

What's more Easter then bunnies? And what are bunnies favorite food...carrots! Whether it be in cake or cupcake form, a carrot cake should definitely grace your easter table. This is a deliciously moist carrot cake recipe with a sinfully delicious bourbon maple frosting. I happen to love baking and cooking with bourbon; here are a few other recipes that I've used bourbon in.  I have to say though, the frosting is not an intense bourbon flavor. I actually had my coworkers try to guess the icing flavor one day and only one got it right. It's more like a sweet tang that you get from the bourbon, a perfect companion to the carrot cake. A little healthy, a little naughty, these cupcakes are a must try.

Whole Wheat Carrot Cupcakes with Bourbon Maple Buttercream

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp & Asparagus

Bacon makes everything better. It's salty, meaty, greasy taste is inexplicably delicious. My husband and I's one great indulgence, other then a scoop of ice cream every night, would be bacon. We definitely eat more bacon then we should. Breakfast, sometimes lunch, and even sometimes with dinner. I know, I know, it's really terrible for you. But we just can't get enough.  For this dinner, I tried to mimic a favorite meal I order at an Italian restaurant near our home. They use prosciutto and mozzarella cheese to wrap the shrimp, but I only had bacon and muenster so thats what I used. I added the asparagus because I felt it needed a vegetable and frankly it's also what I had on hand. I dressed the pasta with only a little bit of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese to keep it simple since most of the flavor comes from the bacon wrapped shrimp & asparagus.  It's a simple, yet delicious dish, that puts on a pretty fancy presentation too. 

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp & Asparagus

Chocolate Drunken Strawberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

You know it's a good time when the strawberries are getting drunk. I'm not Irish so my idea of embracing the St. Patrick's Holiday is using Guinness in as many recipes as I possibly can. Given that the dark ale has a deep, thick almost coffeesque taste to it, it really lends itself nicely to any type of dessert recipe. These cupcakes are a spongy, moist chocolate guinness cake, filled with macerated strawberries that have been soaked in Guinness, and topped with rich white chocolate buttercream. Delicious from the first bite to the last. It's a well balanced cupcake given that the cake is not very sweet, but the frosting fills in where the cake is lacking. The strawberries add a slight bitter, texture component to the cupcakes that give them great depth. This is definitely one of my favorite cupcake recipes to date that I've made and will make again and again. 

Chocolate Drunken Strawberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

Guinness Braised Turkey Meatball Hoagie

Come close. Closer. OK thats good. 

Want to know the secret to life's problems? Sorry can't help you there, but I do know the secret to moist, flavorful turkey meatballs...BEER! I know I surprised you there. You thought I might have said beef which is what I always thought. But no, a good old bottle of pale or dark ale is all you need for consistently moist, never dry, turkey meatballs. This day I went with Guinness for my beer choice, since St. Patty's Day is right around the corner. Why not celebrate the best way the Irish know how, with a pint of Guinness. And maybe if your not a fan of red meat, instead of only eating the cabbage this year, you can make these festive turkey meatballs instead. 

This recipe is as simple as can be, using staple ingredients, a cup of your favorite beer, and a little shake of the pan. These delicious meatballs can be eaten anyway your heart desires; appetizers for a party, thrown on top of pasta with gravy, or as we like to call it in jersey, on a hoagie. A long bread roll, smothered with butter, garlic, and cheese, then toasted till the cheese is melted, and the bread is golden brown. Then spoon on freshly sauteed spinach, a helping of turkey meatballs and a drizzle of that fine au jus that is left in the pan after the meatballs are done cooking. My mouth is watering just thinking about this meal. Move over beef, there's a new meatball in town! 

Guinness Braised Turkey Meatball Hoagie

A few of my favorite things...

So what do you ask are a few of my favorite things? Well puppies and flowers of course! Not just any puppies though, mini dachshund puppies named Eva the Diva. She hasn't been seen in the blogsphere for a while now, as she's been hibernating for the winter, but now that the flowers are beginning to bloom and the birds are chirping once again, she is back to her regular schenanigans. And we even had a visitor, Ducki! 

Caramel Mocchiato Fudge Brownies

What would you do for a brownie that tastes like the delicious caramel mochiato drinks you can get at the local coffee shop? Would you burn your finger on boiling sugar, would you feel the heat of the open oven on your face, would you stand guard over your mixer while the eggs and chocolate combine to make a fudgy fantasy of deliciousness? Well if you would do all that, then this is the recipe for you. It's definitely not a walk in the park type of recipe, but I wouldn't expect it to be with an outcome like this. As you take your first bite, there is an explosion of flavors on your tongue; the cool bitter taste from the sour cream topping, mixed with the sweet tang of caramel and lastly the intense, rich flavor of chocolate and coffee. It's a coffee lovers dream come true. 

 Caramel Mocchiato Fudge Brownies

Short Rib Shepherd's Pie

Short Ribs are one of my favorite ways to eat red meat. It's the meat thats next to the rib bones and when you slow cook it, it becomes this moist, shredded meat full of flavor. I've cooked short ribs many ways, but this night I thought why night combine it with a comfort food staple, shepherd's pie. Shepherd's Pie is pretty much an entire meat and potatoes meal in a casserole. Really a genius idea if you ask me. I love a good casserole. All the flavors seem to meld into each-other as it bakes creating a cohesive flavor combination. Short ribs, that are slow cooked with carrots, celery, onions, and red wine, topped with garlic mashed potatoes; this casserole has a nice crunchy top and a soft, moist bottom layer. It begins in the slow cooker and ends in the oven and ultimately, happily in your belly.  It takes a few hours to make, but only about 10 minutes of it is hands on and trust me, it is so worth it; you're so worth it. 

Short Rib Shepherd's Pie