The Time I Made 150 Cupcakes For My Own Engagement Party

Don't forget, we are collecting your favorite cookie recipes for the Virtual Cookie Swap! Email them on over to theavidappetite [at] gmail [dot] com, we'll start posting them later this week!

This time of year, particularly the weekend after Thanksgiving, always takes me back to one of the best celebrations I've ever attended - Shaun and my engagement party, which took place on the Saturday following Thanksgiving in 2007! Since we had decided to get married on a beach in Aruba, where surely many friends and family would not be able to attend, we were lucky enough to have a huge engagement party thrown by our parents at my parents house. With about 150 of our closest friends and family. Had we not gotten married in Aruba, I would have loved to get married in the fall. Rich, deep colors and breezy cool weather has always been my favorite time of the year! So instead of planning a fall wedding, we planned a fall engagement party! I thought it would be fun to relive this as the last weekend went by and share it with all of you!

Though it was long before the blog days - and pre-cupcake obsession days to boot - I knew that I wanted some fun and festive touches to mark the occasion. I wanted fall-themed cupcakes. After researching well-known Manhattan confectionaries, including Crumbs and Magnolia Bakery, I someone had the genius idea to simply make the cupcakes myself. Why?

Well...

In hindsight, I do not know.

I'm not going to lie to you (remember how I hate that?), it was a lot of work. And so I spent the week before the party baking cupcakes, freezing 'em and making lots and lots of frosting in deep, fall tones. I do know, however, that icing 150 cupcakes with a piping bag can injure your hands to borderline carpal tunnel syndrome. You were warned.

But aren't they pretty? My mom and I devised the entire tablescape and I couldn't have been happier with the outcome. Mom picked up Fall tableclothes and giant styrofoam pices that we covered with fabric. For the cupcakes themselves, we chose vanilla cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook along with both vanilla and chocolate buttercream.

In addition to the glorious cupcake display (which, by the way, only about 75 of them were eaten, so we had a veritable freezer's worth of cupcakes for months...), I thought I'd take you on a little tour of the party! The house was so jam packed with guests that at times it was tough to move! We had set up tables in the kitchen, dining room and family room.

So many friends and family joined us to celebrate and we considered ourselves the luckiest people in the world to have such wonderful people in our lives!

And you know it wouldn't be a party in the Cannon house without an overload of food! In addition to a catered buffet, we also had some hors d'oeuvres trays, veggie crudite and some other desserts, including cheesecake made by my mother-in-law!

We even set up a bar (with bartender...who I think we pushed out of the way so we could get in there at the end of the night) in the entryway between the living room and my dad's office. Here's a bunch of us toasting a great night with great friends!

It was also so wonderful to have all of my bridesmaids together. I was thrilled to have my sisters Christine and Kimberly, along with my long-time besties Jen, Catherine and Lindsey as part of the wedding. Now we all live so far apart and it's so nice to look back at a time when I could be with all of them together on this great evening!

And can we take a moment for this guy?

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I just had to include this great photo of my dad and me (can you tell we're related?). I always regale you with tales of my mom here on the blog, and Dad usually doesn't make an appearance. But I have to tell you. My dad is the best ever. In fact, he was the first one rejoicing when we announced that we wanted to get married in Aruba (he loves travel, warm climates, and making his 3 daughters happy :)). Since I was a child, he has always told me that I could do and be anything I wanted and I doubt that I would have even had the guts to share this blog with the world if it weren't for him. And...oh alright. Now I need to share my favorite throwback photo of Dad and me...

I'm sure my mom would want me to mention that she has since removed the floral wallpaper in her kitchen.

But I digress. It really was the best party, and only the beginning of so many happy times to come in Shaun and my life together. 

And as I sit on the couch typing this article, with my beloved playing Christmas music DJ and tickling my feet as I try to swat him away while giggling, I look back on that night as one of the best of my life - the night I celebrated with all of my friends and family, basking in happiness that I was about to embark on a new chapter with the man I loved.

Oh and I almost forgot the whole point of this article. The cupcakes were pretty good too.

You Asked, We’re Answering: Our Go-To Pantry Staples

After many requests for a roundup of things to always have in your kitchen, we’re happy to bring you a rundown of those things we always have on hand here at Chez Humiston. When I originally started writing this article, I had intended it to be a Top 10 List of things to always have in the kitch. However, I realized that I was avoiding this article altogether because it seemed so daunting to pick a mere few items from my filled kitchen. Whenever I’d sit down to work on it, I’d realize that I had all of these other tasks to distract me - the bathroom needed cleaning or bills needed to be paid (even though that’s Shaun’s job) and you know that battery in my Crest spinbrush wasn’t going to change itself. So when toilet duty sounded more appealing than whittling down my kitchen picks, I knew that Houston, we had a problem.

And then I took a peak inside my pantry cabinet and realized that we really have a problem. But that mess is a problem for another time (just don't tell my mom that my cabinet looks like this:)) So I changed it up a bit and today am starting with Our Go-To Pantry Staples and down the line we’ll round up Our Go-To Fridge Staples and beyond. Does that work for you? Ok good, because I’m not sure how much more stovetop cleaning I could bare. Ready?

Our Go-To Pantry Staples
1. Tomato sauce/Diced tomatoes/Crushed tomatoes
Usually one big can of each and some small tomato sauce cans always grace our pantry shelves. I can always find something to whip up using these, be it tomato sauce atop pizza dip, diced tomatoes thrown into whole wheat pasta or crushed tomatoes included in a ground beef/pasta or rice casserole. And I’ve also been known to make a quick skillet chicken parm or two with it.

2. Pasta
I always, always, always have dried pasta in the house. I’m not sure if it’s my Italian upbringing or my pure and simple love for carbs, but whole wheat spaghetti, whole wheat penne and at least two boxes of orzo can always been found here. And on a side note, I could eat orzo with butter and parmesean everyday for the rest of my life and be happy. Just sayin’.

3. Beans
They’re a quick and easy side dish to any meal, not to mention a great base for dips. We also love them in a quick casserole with rice, green chiles and cheese. Yum! I like black beans, red kidney and cannelini.

4. Chicken Broth
Oh chicken broth. It’s so versatile and a must every time I grocery shop. We will often cook brown rice in chicken broth rather than in water to add some extra flavor. It’s also a great base for gravy and other sauces. I always get the low-sodium variety so that I can control the salt content. Oh and recently I tried making my own turkey stock from my leftover turkey breast carcass, despite those ‘she’s crazy’ looks from Shaun.

5. Brown Rice/Quinoa/Couscous
We always have at least one, if not all of these things in the pantry. They are always solid options as side dishes for proteins, like curried shrimp, pineapple chicken, a Mexican casserole, or even a quick breakfast!

6. Honey
I love honey. It’s a great sweetener in tea, Greek yogurt or oatmeal and an easy peasy way to snazz up a giant wedge of cheese. I also use it in my balsamic chicken and added to some Dijon mustard for a quick honey mustard dip!

7. Granulated Sugar, Confectioners Sugar, Flour
I’m a baker at heart, so I’m never without these baking staples (along with baking powder, baking soda and vanilla extract, but more on that when we get to Our Go-To Spice Cabinet Staples)...that is unless you count Saturday morning when I was mid-holiday cookie baking and ran out of flour. But aside from that, I have 4 giant Tupperware storage containers that my mom gave to me at my Bridal Shower.

 

That baking gene doesn’t come from nowhere! And if you don’t bake? I still recommend having flour on hand for thickening soups and gravies or making the perfect Bechamel for a decadent macaroni & cheese. And sugar? Yup, still recommend this too for tomato sauces or morning coffee. Or for guests who take it in their coffee.

8. Coffee & Tea
This might seem obvious, but we are always armed with coffee and tea. I store my coffee in a sweet mason jar, Red Rose tea bags in a big glass canister from Ikea and my specialty loose tea in Teavana canisters.

9. Splenda brown sugar blend
I love this stuff! It might seem like a splurge (and it is), but it lasts a very long time and is a great substitute for real brown sugar or even real sugar. I use it in my pumpkin spice coffee syrup and in my oatmeal each morning. I have also used it as a substitute in my roasted pears with sweet ricotta cream - you can’t tell the difference!

10. Bread crumbs
I like 4C seasoned bread crumbs. My mom always used this kind in her chicken parm and it saves from having to season it yourself. Though I occasionally dabble in the homemade kind since it’s super easy in the food processor, these are fantastic! I use them to bread and bake chicken or in my spinach & ground turkey meatloaf. 4C recently started making the whole wheat kind which just had me doing the happy dance when I came across them!

11. Pineapple
I buy the canned kind. It’s great for a quick pineapple chicken dinner or even as a quick snack.

12. Artichokes
Also canned. I love having these on hand to toss into pasta with a can of diced tomatoes or to whip up a low fat dip. They are also great atop chicken breast with a lemon sauce (also where the chicken broth and flour come in handy). Mmmm.

13. Fat free Cream of Chicken & Cream of Mushroom Soup
I know this probably sounds very unglam. However, these are great flavor boosters in lean (read: unflavorful) dishes. I added this to a ground turkey sheppard’s pie (stay tuned for that coming up) as well as a ground beef mash up packed with pasta and veggies. I also think these would be great atop a simple chicken dish on a weeknight for a quick meal.

14. Quaker Quick Oats
This is my favorite weekday breakfast. Prepared with some unsweetened vanilla almond milk, a tiny scoop of Splenda brown sugar blend, a handful of sliced almonds and a dash of cinnamon, quick oats are a great, protein-packed, filling breakfast. Especially on those cold winter morns.

15. Libby’s Pumpkin
This probably isn’t a shock to you, but around this time of year my cabinet is fully stocked with canned pumpkin. You know, in case I’m in dire need of pumpkin pie at a moment’s notice. Last year there was a shortage of pumpkin, so as soon as I found it in the grocery store this year, I loaded up the cart. In fact, I once ditched Shaun while he waited in line for cold cuts so I could seek out the baking aisle and get my pumpkin fix. Not like I was fooling him since he tracked me down and caught me red handed...Anyhoo, I love it in pies and cakes or mixed with Greek yogurt, honey and pumpkin pie spice, or even as a low fat baking substitute.

16. Balsamic Vinegar
We always have this in our avid kitchen. It’s always great over salad and I use it for my balsamic chicken and mushrooms, one of my favorite quickie weeknight dishes.

17. Olive Oil

Olive oil is such a staple that I almost overlooked it. This is a must in our kitchen. We sautee and roast just about everything in olive oil. I use it drizzled over asparagus or sweet potatoes, which are then roasted (along with kosher salt and pepper) for the most flavorful, carmelized veggies. I also sautee all chicken in it, or use it to lightly grease the bottom of a baking dish. I don’t really use cooking spray, so olive oil is a great substitute.

So there you have it. A roundup of our go-to pantry staples that we tend to never be without. I should also mention that I’m certainly not telling you to run out at this moment and purchase all of these items (!!). These are the things that work for us and our kitchen and become the basis (along with our fridge & spice staples) for some delicious meals here at the Humiston house. So what I want to know is: what are your pantry staples? What items always grace your shopping list? What can you just not live without?

Holiday Cookie Swap + My Etsy Shop

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I'm feeling severely under the weather today and I'm continuing to give thanks that I have this guy in my life...

...since he has not only cleaned up the joint after our game day feast, but voluntarily picked up my tissues, made me tea and went out to get us lunch supplies for the week while I blog and watch The Muppets Christmas Carol. True story.

Anyhoo, I have already begun my holiday baking! Though I save most of my cookie making for later in December with my mom and sisters, I thought it would be fun to try out some new recipes and have some pretty cookie trays as hostess gifts from now until New Year's.

And since I've been making so many, I recently opened up an Etsy shop, where you can purchase holiday cookies for all of your party needs! We are shipping anywhere in the US, however, if you live in Manhattan or Jersey City/Hoboken, we can arrange a pick up if you wish and can include more custom orders like cupcakes since they won't be damaged during shipping. If you're in the market for some holiday cookies, head on over to The Tiny Red Kitchen to check them out. Oh and as always, feel free to email me with any questions!

Holiday cookie tray featuring Eggnog Snickerdoodles, Chocolate dipped Shortbread, Chocolate Snowcaps, White Chocolate Cherry Chunkies

Now that that's out of the way, here's what I really wanted to discuss with you. Since I'm such a cookie fiend around the holidays, I thought it would be fun to organize a virtual cookie swap here on TAA. From now until December 23rd, I'll be collecting your favorite cookie recipes and posting them here on the site for all to see, bake at home and enjoy! Oh and if you don't celebrate Christmas, that's no excuse since, hey who doesn't like cookies regardless of the celebration?

So if you have a recipe to share, please email it over (theavidappetite@gmail.com) along with a photo (the photo part is very important since we all eat with our eyes before our mouths!) and I'll try to publish as many as I can. So what do you say? Are you up to the challenge? By the time Christmas rolls around, we could have an arsenal at our disposal for all things cookie baking!