Archives For November 30, 1999

These cupcakes are super easy (we cheated, using a boxed cupcake recipe, much to my husband’s protests– there’s only so much time in a day!) and we winged the recipe for the filling, and they turned out awesomely good.

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 box yellow cake mix (and ingredients for mix, usually eggs, oil, water)
  • 1 cup whipped chocolate frosting
  • 1 cup whipped butter cream frosting
  • 1 cup peanut butter (we used Jif all natural)
  • 1 cup whip cream
  • cupcake pan and cupcake paper inserts
  • piping instrument (to inject cupcakes with pure yum)

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Egg Baskets

Ashley Walton —  November 5, 2012 — Leave a comment

This is one of my favorite breakfasts ever. Though it looks fancy and complicated, you’ll be shocked and no longer impressed once I’ve revealed the recipe (that’s how most of my dishes go). It’s so simple, I’m infusing this post with lots of pretty pictures to make it seem more interesting/impressive. Okay, ready? Here’s what you need: 4 ramekins, a roll of Pillsbury croissant dough, and 4 eggs. That’s it. Here’s a visual reference to emphasize the simplicity:

If you don’t have ramekins, you can use a muffin tin. Just put half the dough in each muffin slot and cook for a shorter amount of time.

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Halloween Party Details

Ashley Walton —  October 29, 2012 — 1 Comment

On October 27, 2012 the Nay-Walton household transformed into a creepy crawly Halloween hovel, complete with cobwebs, skulls, pumpkins, and tasteful blood accents for our annual Halloween bash. We made cake pops, taco soup, witches’ brew, bloodbath punch, and friends brought apples with dip, Halloween donuts, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and other goodies. We cranked the Oingo Boingo and basked in the company of our delightful friends.

(eyeball cake pops)

(table decorations)

(table detail– the tablecloth was gauze with blood stains)

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If you’re looking for cookies that make you weep with happiness, this is your lucky day. These whoopie pie cookies with a creamy to-die-for pumpkin cream cheese filling will leave you a blubbering wreck. Side note: if you want to avoid people giggling every time you say “whoopie” you can call them sandwich cookies, everything an Oreo wishes it could be in its wildest dreams.

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the cookies:

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of kosher salt

For the filling:

5 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

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After poring over the prolific section of Wally World dedicated to Halloween sugar cookie supplies, I decided on this cookie cutter set (mostly because it comes in a coffin box). I also picked up some blessed pre-made Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, food coloring, and a couple fine-tipped frosting applicators in black and orange.

I make my own frosting (since it’s easy as pie). Just take some powdered sugar, add a touch of vanilla extract, and add a tad of water until it’s the consistency you’d like. Done and done.

This is the result of my second batch. Word of warning: it turns out Pillsbury sugar cookie dough needs quite a bit of flour added to it. My first batch spread out way too thin, making all my cookies turn out as amorphous blobs (which I frosted and promptly ate). I added about a cup of flour to the second batch, and they turned out pretty well.

I can’t wait to make other Halloween treats! I’ve been compiling lists of recipes to try out, and I’d love to hear suggestions!

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Ashley Walton —  September 11, 2012 — Leave a comment

Now, here’s a meal that’s actually healthy to boot, for those times when we’ve had too many dinners in a row smothered in gravy. It does happen eventually.

Here’s what you’ll need for lemon garlic chicken:

1/3 C chopped Italian parsley

1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano

1 Tbsp grated lemon peel

3 cloves garlic

3 Tbsp butter

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 C chicken broth

Salt and pepper

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Deadly Good Sundae

Ashley Walton —  September 4, 2012 — Leave a comment

It’s a good night when you have an awesome dinner and then your significant other says, “Let’s go get stuff to make some half-baked cookie sundaes!” We promptly ran to the store, picked up some vanilla ice cream, Pillsbury chocolate chunk dough, and marshmallow cream topping and added it to something special we bought from Froma in LA: chocolate raspberry cabernet fudge.

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One of the secrets of ComicCon: the nearby hotels are some of the coolest places you can hang out. We spent several evenings lounging in the Marriott Marquis and Marina bar, surrounded by bustling attendees and celebrities, and we loved taking a break from the Con to lunch at the Marina Kitchen, also located at the Marriott.

For lunch, we couldn’t help but start with their warm potato chips, which are covered in cheese and crispy prosciutto, with a chive crème fraiche on the side. The warm housemade chips in and of themselves were excellent, but add all that other goodness? Forget about it. It was love.

(warm potato chips)

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We love chicken thighs. They’re usually pretty inexpensive, and it’s a nice, rich piece of meat that’s difficult to screw up. They’re also smaller than chicken breasts, so they cook faster and you can get more of a crispy surface area on the outside.

Here’s what you’ll need for chicken thighs with a mushroom wine sauce:

1 1/2 Lbs boneless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 clove garlic
3 Tbsp flour
1 C chicken broth
1/3 C chardonnay
1/2 C cream
1 Tbsp parsley (or Italian seasoning mix)

Take your pretty chicken thighs and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add chicken and brown the outside (about 2–3 min a side) until it has a gorgeous golden crust. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside. Brown mushrooms in skillet and then add the garlic. Stir in flour until blended. Then stir in chicken broth and chardonnay. Add that chicken back to the skillet, reduce to low heat, and simmer for 20–30 min. Stir in the cream and heat through. Sprinkle with parsley or Italian seasoning before serving. Get ready for a party in your mouth.

*Note: we served this with baked asparagus. So easy: place asparagus with salt, pepper, and olive oil on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for 15–20 min. Done.

After a long first day at Comic-Con, we debated whether to brave the superhero-clad crowds in the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego or just call it a day and order room service. Let us tell you, we were so glad we decided to go out and experience this awesome thai food.
The atmosphere was dark, nice, and romantic. Large french doors opened to a cool night patio and the place was doused in lots of warm, inviting colors. And the best part: it wasn’t too crowded, and the service was fantastic.