Georgetown Cupcakes Gingerbread Cupcakes

One of my clients gave me a few of Georgetown Cupcakes (from DC Cupcakes on TLC) holiday flavors. Personally, I think their cupcakes are okay, I would never wait in that ridiculous line that you see on TV (although those lines are pretty much only there on the weekends). In fact, though I passed it everyday this summer on my way to work, I never once stopped in. All that said, their Gingerbread cupcake was one of the best cupcakes I have ever had. They were so good, I decided I would buy some to take to my families for Christmas. Then I thought about the logistics, I'd have to drive into DC on Christmas eve, buy a dozen, then get them down to Virginia Beach and hope they hadn't been smushed or something. I decided I would look for a recipe online to make them. Guess what?! It was one of the few recipes Georgetown Cupcakes has published. I thought for sure it wouldn't actually taste like the cupcake I had yesterday, but it did! If you like gingerbread cookies, be sure to try this cupcake recipe for Christmas.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS

2‑3/4   cups all-purpose flour

3          tablespoons ground ginger

2          teaspoons baking soda

1‑1/2   teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2       teaspoon ground cloves

1/2       teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4       teaspoon salt

1‑1/4   sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1          cup packed dark brown sugar

3          large eggs, at room temperature

1‑1/4   cup molasses

1          cup of hot water

For the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

4          tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

4          cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

1/4       teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6          ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2          teaspoons ground cinnamon

PREPARATION:

-Line a standard cupcake pan with 12 paper baking cups and preheat oven to 350 degrees     

-Sift together all dry ingredients and set aside.

-Cream together butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on high speed, 3-5 minutes, or  until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating slowly after each addition. Add the molasses, mixing until well incorporated.

-Add one-third of the dry ingredients, followed by one-third of the water, and mix thoroughly. Repeat with an additional one-third of the dry ingredients and one-third of the water, and then with the final third of each.

-Scoop batter into cupcake pan using a standard size ice cream scoop.

-Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Preparing the Frosting

    Place all frosting ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until well combined. Frost cupcakes using a pastry bag fitted with a large tip, and decorate with a fondant gingerbread man or your favorite holiday decorations.

NOTE: if you've ever had a Georgetown Cupcake, you know the frosting is whipped, and super light and airy. To get your frosting this way, whip on high for at least 5 minutes!

Enjoy :)

 

The Family Update

It is with both a heavy, sorrow filled heart and a grateful, praise filled heart I write this post. Today I  mourn the great loss of my 20 year old cousin, Grant, and celebrate the King who healed my dad.

Many of you have been aware of what our family has gone through for the past month or so, here's an update for those who were unaware.

About a month ago I received a call that my dad went to the ER after two days of serious abdominal pain. He arrived septic, in acute kidney failure, extremely high potassium level, and a tumor in his abdomen believed to be the size of a grapefruit. Just as I pulled into my parents drive way at 11pm that night, we got a call saying he would need to be put on dialysis. I arrived at the hospital around 11:30pm and stayed until 4:30am when they finished putting in the lines and started dialysis. Aaron and Kelli(my brother and sister in law) flew in the next day and we all took turns doing shifts at the hospital. Fast forward five extremely uncomfortable days and dad was stable enough for surgery. The surgeons removed a 9 lb, almost basketball sized, cancerous Sarcoma. He was sent back to the ICU for a few days and eventually made his way to the surgical floor. When he realized the surgical floor wasn't quite as... cozy as the ICU he made a huge effort to get discharged. He is doing much better and is getting back to normal. He is back at work and called to let me know the that house puked Christmas.

We're beyond grateful for those of you who prayed for my dad and family and who supported us during such a scary time. We sent out a specific list of prayer requests to a few people and it was absolutely incredible to watch God work in a way I'd never seen before. Need after need was met for our family. I was able to take almost 2 weeks off work to be with my family and was met with gracious and concerned clients, and helpful and understanding team members from Hush Hush Little Baby, who stepped in for me to care for the little babies.  Michael was able to stay with our family because the government closed because of Sandy. Aaron and Kelli were also met with gracious employers who gave them the week off.

My dad was released on November 4th, this was also the day my cousin was killed in a car accident. Grant had just celebrated his 20th birthday and was very active in the skateboarding community.  Michael and I attended his service the following Saturday in Virginia Beach, it was a very nice service with many in attendance. Following the service was a celebration in the Forbes home, their were SO many people at their home, there was hardly any room to move. Grant was loved by many, but please especially be in prayer for the Forbes family as they mourn the loss of their son and brother.

Cruz's Smash Cake

This weekend I went down to Richmond for Cruz's 1st birthday smash cake photo shoot, which was my gift to his mom him. We discussed a few different outfit choices and landed on this super cute birthday outfit from Etsy. Now, if I couldn't sew, I would have been totally on board to pay the $52. Thankfully, I can and pulled together the banner, party hat, tie, and diaper cover for under $15. I purchased "Cats on Blue" by Robert Kaufman from Etsy (one of my favorite fabric sources) and used free patterns for the rest. I figured it would take a while but I was in my studio for less than two hours. He wasn't a huge fan of getting messy but he did manage to make it all the way through without fussing and I'd call that success. My cousin made the cute cake, so I can't take credit for that!

Party Hat Pattern

Toddler Tie Pattern

Diaper Cover Tutorial

For the banner I just cut out 3 different size circles and sewed them with a 1/4" in between :)

I can't believe it's already been a whole year,

Happy birthday, sweet boy!

Summer Update

I've been so bad about keeping everyone updated, sorry guys. Life around the Hunt Household has been busy as ever. We are settling into our new routines nicely and trying to adjust to the busy summer!

 I think we've traveled more this summer than during the last year of our marriage. We've had a wonderful time but be prepared for a long post I'll try to keep it short with bullet points :)

May 

• We spent a lovely weekend at Smith Mountain Lake with our wonderful friends Sarah and Gonzo. A few other great friends we're there on Friday and Saturday, too!
• Mother's Day weekend was spent with Mom and Dad Hunt in Lancaster, PA. We headed up a day early to explore and stayed in a quaint B&B. The had sheeps, lambs, and even a garden where many of our breakfast ingredients were picked from. This is the first trip we were able to take as a married couple, since we had to cancel our wonderful honeymoon. We took Mom on a train ride through Amish Country, got off half way through for a picnic and caught the next train back to the station. After the train ride we went to the Country Store and had ice cream and picked up some local treats to bring back with us. The highlight of our trip was going to see "Jonah" at the Sight and Sound Theater. The production was like nothing I had ever experienced and far surpassed my expectations. As a side note-- there were 4 young women sitting behind us who wouldn't stop talking. When the Zebra came through the aisle they said "Is that a painted donkey?!", they called the called the llama a camel, and spent a good 3 minutes trying to remember how to say "caterpillar" before settling on "capatiller". The production was incredible, for those of you in the area, I would highly recommend the 3 hour trip up.
•  I also took a month long temporary nanny position in NW, D.C. for 2 year old twin girls. The family was incredibly nice and it was so refreshing to spend time with children again. I am thankful I am not leaving the house at 5am but I do miss cheeky grins and tiny belly laughs

And then came June...

June has been so crazy- I don't even really know where to start!

• We spent our first weekend in June in Virginia Beach-- Michael's parents had graciously stored our  wedding cake for a whole year! We needed it for our FIRST anniversary.
• We spent our anniversary camping on the Eastern Shore at Kiptopeke State Park. Exactly where Mike proposed. It was too hot to hike, but we did get to explore Cape Charles and hang out at the beach.
• For Father's Day weekend we met Mom and Dad Hunt, along with Michael's brother, Vernon and his girlfriend at Richmond International Speedway to watch dad and Vernon drive a race car. Shortly before they we're set to speed off Vernon and Cari announced their engagement. We are excited for Cari to join our family!! 
• The fourth weekend was a glorious weekend spent celebrating with our good friends Catherine and Daniel as they got married. It may have stormed and been too nasty for a beach wedding, but it turned out great and will be something to remember forever.
• Somewhere in all the craziness of June, I got a job working with a newborn care agency called Hush Hush Little Baby! It's a great fit and has been wonderful so far.

Then it was July...

• Michael's 28th birthday was celebrated last weekend with a baseball game and a cook out with his family. He got totally spoiled rotten this year and got pretty much everything on his wishlist! Since I was too sick to do anything for him last year, I went all out with the decorations and made a brownie chunk cheesecake this year.
• My dad and Danny are coming to visit this weekend and we have big plans of power washing our side walk and fence :)

• Michael has been working hard to prepare for his qualifier for his PhD program at UMD and will be taking two weeks off of work in the middle of August to take his exam. I will be banned from the basement so he can get his work done and will only see him when he comes up for bed. It's going to be a long 2 weeks. Worth it in the long run, though. 

We have been having a great summer and are trying to soak up the last bit of it before we both head back to school :)

Hopefully, now that the craziness of summer is over, I'll be able to post updates more often :)

A good explanation!

So many of my friends and family have asked about what Michael does. I never know what to say. His job is so complex and I don't fully understand what he does so it makes it very difficult for me to explain. So for those of you who have asked, I am sorry for the poor explanation I probably gave you. I know the first part is a little confusing but stick with it and hopefully it will be a little bit easier to understand :)

  "I am currently employed as a Materials Scientist/Engineer. Materials science is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates elements of applied physics and chemistry. Like most scientists, my job requires me  to study and observe phenomena of the world around me. While biologist may study animals, or a chemist studies chemicals, I study materials that make up everyday objects.We interact with hundreds of objects every single day (cars, televisions, laundry basket, silverware) and every component of each of these objects was invented, studied, improved, or developed because of a materials engineer. At this point you may be asking "how?" The answer is each component is made up of a material and each material is made up of atoms, by manipulating (moving, restructuring, changing bonding, etc.) those atoms, it is possible to design (improve) a material to perform a specific function, like making a laundry basket stronger, lighter, tougher, or UV resistant. Once a materials engineer has designed (or improved it) other types of engineers will use that material to build new products. One of my favorite examples is Corning Ware, actually. As it turns out, an engineer at Corning accidentally left his glass in the furnace for too long. After analysis by a materials engineer a new type material (glass ceramic) was developed.  And people have been using Corning Ware ever since."

Life update!

We have been very busy around here! I'll be so excited when the semester is over and we can resume a somewhat normal schedule. Michael has been so busy working on his PhD and working. For now that means class twice a week at 3:30, which means he has to leave the house around 5:30am and head to work, leave work at 2:45 and head to class, he walks a full 20 minutes to class where he learns about stuff I can't wrap any part of my brain around, then starts his 2 hour commute home. Not to mention the homework he has on top of his job. He had to pull an all nighter last night, head to work this morning, to school this afternoon. I fed him dinner and sent him straight to bed when he got home tonight. I love that man so much and I am so grateful for his dedication to make a better life for his little family. He has a year or so of classes left then he'll do research for about 3 years. I'm so looking forward to that time. I have two papers, two quizzes, and an exam left. All in two weeks. 8 week classes. Smh. 

This year I'm trying my hand at gardening, I have planted my strawberries and have many growing. Some sneaky, sneaky critter ate the berry that was almost ripe, and I was so excited to pick and eat. The jokes on them though because I have a net now. Suckers. I also have lots of different peppers, herbs, romaine lettuce, cantaloup, watermelon, cucumbers and cauliflower. In the past I've had a black thumb but so far I've been lucky! I'm looking forward to harvesting some yummy veggies!

Next month we are going to see "Jonah" at the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA. with Michael's parents. I am so excited to get away for a few days. We are heading up a few days early and staying in a lovely Bed & Breakfast. This is our first real trip we've taking since we took our vows. Or any get away for that matter. I wrote here about getting sick the day after our wedding and had to cancel our honeymoon to the Caribbean. I am so looking forward to a trip with my very best friend :) 

Our first anniversary is rapidly approaching and I've been working away on an entry for it :) It seems like just last week Mike was down on one knee and I was anxiously awaiting the ring I knew he had in his pocket. It's been a wonderful year of learning, growing, and love.

 

Mrs. Hunt

How to Make Greek Yogurt

I fell in love with Chobani last fall. My wallet however, did not. At $1.50 a cup, I had to limit my intake to 4 per week, unless I happened to be getting something from Wegmans, where it was $1.00, I could get 5. If I had it my way, I'd be eating yogurt everyday. In addition to me, I was also sending yogurts in Michael's lunch box for a snack during the day. I did the math- we had been spending $55/month on yogurt. That's almost $650 a year! That's a lot of money to spend on yogurt! I needed an alternative. I did some research and found that yogurt is relatively easy to make. To make Greek Yogurt you simply strain some of the whey out of the yogurt. You need two ingredients- a few teaspoons of live cultured plain (like Fage or Chobani) and milk. It does take a good amount of time but it seemed worth it and it is!! I did the math for the homemade greek yogurt- here are the numbers:  $.21/cup, $1.89/week, $98/year.  That means we save $552 by making our own yogurt. It is so good and creamy. Wonder what I can do with that extra money!! I'll probably never go back to Chobani. 

Here's the process

Equipment:

2 qt batter bowl

Accurate food thermometer

Whisk 

Bouillon Strainer

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon milk

a few tsp live culture yogurt

Here's how you make it. 

It's best to start early in the morning or late in the evening as it takes about 13 hours to make.

Step 1

Fill a 2 quart batter bowl with milk and microwave (or use a double boiler) til milk reaches 180 degrees. My microwave takes 17 minutes. Stir milk a few times during heating to prevent skin from forming. If one does form just skim it off.

Step 2

Allow milk to cool to 110-120 degrees. It should take about 30-40 minutes, just let it sit on the counter. If you're in a hurry you can stir it a few times.

Note: if your yogurt is above 120 degrees it will kill the bacteria

Step 3

Whisk in a little yogurt, some sites say 1-2 teaspoons, some say 1/2 cup. I've done both and everything in between and it's always worked for me.

Step 4

Incubate your yogurt for 8-12 hours. There are many, many ways to incubate yogurt. The most common is the oven. If your oven does not set to 100-110 degrees you can turn it on for 3ish minutes to 145 degrees, then turn it off. Cover then wrap your batter bowl with a towel. Place in oven. Do not open your oven to check as the heat will escape and make it too cold.  I tried my oven and it didn't really work so I moved on and tried using a heating blanket. Much to my surprise, it worked! Yogurt should stay between 108-112 degrees.

It will look like regular, plain yogurt when its done. The only liquid you should see should be the whey on top, everything else should be slightly solidified. 

Going from Regular to Greek Yogurt

Strain yogurt to reduce volume by about half with a very fine mesh strainer over a separate bowl. Start with a few scoops then you can dump the rest.

You should have about 4 cups of whey left over. You can discard it or save it for other recipes.

Dump yogurt in bowl and whisk until smooth. Add desired amount of milk back to the yogurt to get the preferred texture.

I put about 5 oz. into a 1/2 pint mason jar and then put them in the fridge.

To flavor:

We mix in something different almost every day!

Stevia, vanilla bean paste, low/no sugar jam, instant coffee, honey, crushed pineapple, fresh fruit, sugar free cookies...

Hope you (and your wallet) enjoy!

A week full of goodness!

What a great week! Last weekend Michael's parents came up for Easter! On Saturday we went down to Occoquan and had dinner on the river at Matigans. 

 They enjoyed stuffed mushrooms, crab and asparagus stuffed chicken, lobster mac n' cheese, and I had dirty chicken. It was beyond good :) We walked around and ended up at "Mom's Apple Pie Bakery" where we picked out a Raspberry Peach Pie and headed home!

 

 Michael played at all 3 services and closed with the youth group. Love being married to that man! We came home and I made Feta Stuffed Lamb Burgers (poor lamb) with red wine and rosemary. So yummy!

My parents and little brother came up on Monday. Danny has officially past me in height and at 5'11" I am now the shortest of the siblings. They went in to DC on Tuesday and I stayed home and got some stuff done around the house. Wednesday was spent at IKEA, Home Depot and in the yard.

and then this happened....

  

Yesterday we spent HOURS at Mt.Vernon.

 I had previously been when I was in 9th grade but we didn't spend much time there. We were able to see everything yesterday! In addition to general admittance, we did the "Behind the Scenes: The National Treasure Tour" which was based on the movie. We were able to go down into the basement and a few doors were unlocked for us to peek into. I was beyond fascinated with plantation.  The mansion (which isn't really that big by todays standards, but still pretty big) had 10 bedrooms, parlor, informal and formal dining room, and the Presidents office. The kitchen was detached from the house (which was common standard for that time). The formal dining room, which was very large, was the size of a standard house. Can you imagine eating dinner in a dining room bigger than your whole house?! The plantation had many separate buildings on it to keep the property running.

 Slave quarters (87 slaves worked on the mansion property), a washing room, overseers quarters, green house, smoke house, store house, coach house, blacksmiths shop, shoe making shop, necessaries (outhouses), spinning house, salt house, just to name a few.  It was practically a small village. They also have a special "Cooking with the Washingtons" exhibit where they had a few of Martha Washington's recipes. One cake recipe called for 40 egg whites and 4 lbs of butter!! Whoa. I had two favorite parts: the view from the mansion (overlooking the Potomac) and guess what?! Spring= baby animals!! Lots of baby lambs and piggies! 

Way too cute! It was such a good week :)

Oh Yea--

First Strawberry of the season!