Pistachio Cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day

I love holidays! They give me an excuse to come up with or try a festive recipe that I normally wouldn't attempt.  This usually translates in to a baked good of some sort because we don't eat a lot of sweets otherwise.  This year I zeroed in on some pistachio cupcakes and dressed the icing up with a little bit of green food coloring for St. Patrick's Day.  I really wanted to make an amaretto buttercream icing to top them, but since I knew most of them would end up at work for immediate consumption, I refrained.  If you're headed to a friend's this weekend for some St. Patty's fun I would definitely recommend the amaretto version of the icing (see notes below for how to make it).  Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I'd lke to say that I have even more respect and admiration for bakers and those in the cupcake biz after this experiment.  I tried to be fancy and ice my cupcakes using the whole frosting bag with a fancy tip set up...major fail.  Oh well, at least I tried. They might not look as pretty as they could, but they're absolutely delicious, and that's what really counts ;-)  Slainte!

Pin It

The Holiday Hangover

I'm not talking about the booze-induced kind. I'm talking about the post-Christmas haze devoid of anticipation of impending parties and celebrations, the dark empty space in my living room where my Christmas tree gleamed brightly a mere four days ago, and the fact that there are now 3 cold, gray months of winter ahead with no holidays in sight. And, please, don't tell me that the Superbowl is a holiday. 

What's a girl to do? I could live in denial and perpetuate the holiday season, but I think my fiance has that covered for both of us...he insisted that we listen to Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas album one last time during dinner last night. As much as I love it, it just didn't sound the same.

Instead, I think it's time to move on and kick off the New Year in an extremely stereotypical way:  by eating healthier. Before you stop reading allow me to clarify that I did not say that ugly four letter word "diet", I'm not about to do a juice cleanse and you won't find any recipes on here sans carbs, but let's face it eating around the holidays gets out of control. For the past month you've been at parties downing wine and beer and eating appetizers and desserts that put your daily caloric intake on overload. And don't tell me "Yeah but I work out so it's fine." or "I'll spend some extra time at the gym.".  There's not enough hours in a week to permit the gym time required to burn that excess. Now is the perfect time to get back on track and be a little more aware of our intake.