3rd Place Award at Cupcake Wars

A few months ago, my mom sent me an e-mail telling me about the Decadent Dreams Chocolate Festival Cupcake Wars! I signed up and decided to make Ganache filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream. Although I had a minor setback this morning- my first batch of cupcakes fell- I whipped up another batch! There were 21 contestants in the cupcake wars, and I came in 3rd place! I wish I had pictures of the step-by-step process for y'all, but I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time. My best friend ever in the entire world, Carrie, loves raspberries, and she's coming home over Thanksgiving break, so I will probably make them then! Thank y'all for all of your support, and I hope to be entering many more competitions! 

Pumpkin Bread

Get ready for tons of pumpkin recipes because I have 10 cans of pumpkin puree. TEN. I got freaked out a few months ago when I decided to make some pumpkin dog treats for my loves and I couldn't find any pumpkin. ANYWHERE. It was as if canned pumpkin had completely disappeared from South Carolina. Which is basically what happened: due to a pumpkin disease/shortage/something in 2010, Libby's had less pumpkin than usual. So, rationally, when I saw pumpkin back on the shelf a few weeks ago, I grabbed as many as I could. Now I'm paying the price. P.S. Pumpkin isn't my favorite. I have no idea what I was thinking! This was a delicious loaf bread though, the taste of pumpkin wasn't overwhelming and it was extremely moist. This recipe makes three loaves: enough to freeze, give as gifts, or hoard all winter long.

Halloween Blondies

Tomorrow is Halloween! I'm so excited, although I still don't have an entire costume yet. If anyone wants to donate one before tomorrow, please feel free! As of right now, I'm a cross between a dark angel and a vampire. Anyways, I am not a huge fan of blondies, but my blondie-loving friends declared this recipe a huge success. I thought they used to have blondie mixes at the store, so I went to check for y'all, but I couldn't find any. Also, if you wanted, you could alter the design of the Reese's Pieces to show a pumpkin, ghost, or anything Halloween-themed.

I mixed everything together in the saucepan to avoid piling up unecessary dirty dishes, and it worked fantastic! I'd suggest using a slightly deeper pan than I did though because I had to very carefully mix to avoid getting flour everywhere.