happy haunting!

what halloween looks like at our house! have a safe and fun night of trick or treating!

Today is National Chocolate Cupcake Day.

read all about it in my latest article for examiner.com! this time, i actually posted recipes-imagine that!!!

this one's just for me

if you've been reading this blog for a while, you have heard me mention my flood damaged home. we were finally able to secure the financing to make the needed repairs and have begun to do just that. today, i had the pleasure of spending my day off at home while a crew worked on reinforcing the block walls of the basement. after turning my basement into a maze of plastic wrapped pathways, they began working. as i write this, i am still listening to a symphony of hammering, grinding and garbled spanish...

since i knew that the crew would be here all day, i did all of my laundry and chores yesterday so i could have some time to play in the kitchen today and play i did. this is not a recipe from the book but i did use one and rework it to come up with something new. who knows, maybe i will put it in the next book-stay tuned!

i love fresh apples; crunchy, sweet and juicy, i take one with me to the gym and munch on it as i drive home. every now and then, i like to make a cake with them. today, i grabbed two from the fridge, in front a golden delicious apple-green is the way i like them, and in the rear is a cripps pink or a pink lady-another great apple to snack on.

i decided to make an upside down cake with apples in the caramel and pumpkin puree in the cake:

butter, brown sugar, honey and cinnamon were boiled a bit

the caramel syrup was poured into the bottom of a tube pan

the pink lady was peeled and sliced and then carefully layered into the caramel, i ate the golden delicious-i couldn't help myself...

pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, vanilla and salt were whisked until smooth. some eggs were then whisked in too. the dry ingredients were sifted over the bowl.

man, i need a bigger work space. controlled chaos-i know where everything is...

all folded together with a little buttermilk and it is ready to go into the pan.

carefully pour it over the apples or they will move around and ruin the pattern.

baked and now it sits to let the caramel settle. then it is turned out.

pretty cake with caramel and apple slices over the top, mmmmmm......