Mini Triple-Treat Cupcakes: Happy Halloween!

Aren't these fun? I thought you might like to try them if you're having a Halloween party. Cathy at Noble Pig posted them and I believe the recipe is from Everyday Food. I used half Reese's and half Hershey's dark chocolate Bliss bars. (as I prefer dark chocolate with a pb cookie.) But as you can see, Reese's works better 'cause you can push it deeper into the batter. (But the Bliss was sheer bliss!)

Mini Triple-Treat Cupcakes
From Everyday Food and Noble Pig

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup peanut butter

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

48 miniature chocolate peanut butter cups, such as Reese's (or anything else you'd like to try)

48 pieces of candy corn or M & M's, for decorating

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F, with racks in upper and lower thirds.  Line two 24-cup mini muffin pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together peanut butter, butter and brown sugar on high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in egg and egg yolk, scraping down bowl as needed.  With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture, buttermilk and vanilla until combined.

With the large end of a melon baller or a spoon, place 2 teaspoons batter into each muffin cup, then press a peanut-butter candy into each center until batter aligns with top edge of candy.  Bake until puffed and set, about 10 minutes, rotating pans halfway through.

Immediately place a piece of candy corn on top of each cupcake; let cool completely in pans on wire racks.  

And here's my Garden Club Halloween Table. I've already posted Monique's Little Acorns and will post the other three recipes soon. (I think the witch must have gotten into some hard cider. :) )

FDA: Black Licorice May Affect Your Heart

"Black licorice can lead to heartarrhythmias and other health problems when consumed by adults in large quantities, the FDAnoted in its pre-holiday alert.

Experts say that consuming 2 ouncesof black licorice per day for two weeks can set the heart stuttering insusceptible individuals. The culprit is a compound called glycyrrhizin, whichis what gives licorice its sweet flavor.

Glycyrrhizin causes the kidneys toexcrete potassium. And low levels of potassium can make the heart beatdangerously fast or out of sync, says Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor ofcardiovascular medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, School ofMedicine.

The compound also leads to salt andwater retention which can be a problem for people with heart failure or highblood pressure, Fonarow said.

It’s long been known in somecultures that licorice was more than just a sweet indulgence. In certain partsof the world, the chewy stuff is prescribed to treat everything from heartburnto bronchitis to viral infections. So far, though, there hasn’t been a studyproving that licorice can cure anything, the FDA alert noted.

Because licorice is abioactive food, which means it can tweak metabolic processes in the body,you also have to worry about interactions with medications, Fonarow said."

Source: msnbc.com

50 Women Game Changers in Food: #21, Ree Drummond

Do I really need to say anything about The Pioneer Woman? After all, her blog has more than 23 million page views per month and 4.4 million visitors! But if you'd like some extra skinny on Ree, check out this lovely article about her in The New Yorker.

Briefly, Ree grew up in Oklahoma and after college in California, planned on moving to Chicago to study law. Her plans got interupted when she met and married a cattleman and found herself right back in Oklahoma, this time on a cattle ranch in Pawhuska.
A familiar refrain, Ree started her blog for fun, not expecting it to lead to anything. She's a writer, photographer and home-school teacher to her four children; telling us all about her experiences on the ranch has led to a cookbook: The Pioneer Woman  Cooks and to top it all off, Ree is about to star in her own Food Network show.



I confess, I am not among the 23 million who regularly visit her blog. But someone gave me her cookbook a while back so I had already perused it. I completely agreed with a comment about it in a New York Times article: "Vegetarians and gourmands won’t find much to cook here, but as a portrait of a real American family kitchen, it works." 
And I think that's exactly what Ree wanted to do with her highly popular blog AND her cookbook: she wanted it to be the story of a real American family kitchen.

I chose a basic fruit crisp recipe from her cookbook to highlight our blogger game changer Ree. It's a nice recipe using lovely fresh peaches but what drew me in was the maple cream topping. I had some left over and used it over some baked apples (yum!), but what I'm going to pour it over next are Hannah's Whole Grain Pumpkin Pancakes! 

Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce
From The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond

Ingredients:

5 to 6  whole fresh peaches 

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter (1/2 Cup)

1/2 whole lemon

7 tablespoons real maple syrup, divided

1-1/2 cup whipping cream

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Method:

In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt using a 

fork or pastry cutter. Cut butter into small pieces and gradually add to flour mixture until evenly mixed. 

Peel peaches into a bowl. Add the zest from half a lemon. Squeeze juice from lemon half and stir in with peaches and zest. Add 2 tablespoons real maple syrup to peaches, stir well. 

Pour peach mixture into a small pan (8” or 9” square) and cover evenly with crumb topping. 

Cover with foil and bake at 350ºF for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until crisp and brown on top.

Maple Cream Sauce: 

Pour whipping cream into a saucepan. Add 5 tablespoons real maple syrup, 3 tablespoons corn syrup and stir over moderate heat until thickened and reduced by about one-third, approximately 15 minutes. Refrigerate mixture until it is cold and thick, or set the saucepan into a small bowl of ice (the ice will melt and turn into ice water). Stirring your mixture, it will cool and thicken in about 15 minutes. Drizzle sauce over peach crisp.

Serve warm.


Join Mary from One Perfect Bite and all the other participants in this fun series.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets 
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Kathleen Van Bruinisse - Bake Away with Me 
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Martha - Lines from Linderhof
Amy - Beloved Green
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda
Nancy - Picadillo
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen

How to Make Your Home Healthier (by Dr. Oz)

I stumbled across this very insightful article and couldn't wait to share this with EcologicalMom readers. Check out these great tips from Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen on  how to keep home contamination to a minimum:

The Kitchen 
Garbage disposal: A veritable whirlwind of bacteria sprays up each time the disposal is on, leaving a germ-heavy mist hanging over the kitchen. Make sure the disposal opening is properly covered before flipping the switch.

Sponges and dishrags: These fertile breeding grounds contain more than 100,000 germs per square inch. Microwave wet sponges (not dry—they’ll catch on fire!) for two minutes when they’re particularly dirty. Ideally you’d do this every day to kill bacteria. You can also just use dishrags cleaned in a dilute bleach solution.

Cutting board: Wood cutting boards are in fact safer than plastic. In one study, bacteria on a wooden board dried off in three minutes. Bacteria remained on the plastic board overnight, and multiplied. Wood appears to have a natural, bacteria-killing property that glass and plastic do not.

Countertops: You can’t control all the bacteria in your house, so relax about that. Antibacterial countertops are useless. Clean off your counters with warm, soapy water after preparing food and dry thoroughly. If you’re cooking with potential bacteria (meat, fish or poultry), kill those germs with bleach or an eco-friendly alternative, like vinegar. Do the same in your freezer and refrigerator.

The Bathroom
Toilet: Toilets contain a bacteria line just below the water level, called a biofilm. This bacterial biofilm if very difficult to remove, even with household cleaners. Once airborne, these microdroplets land on everything within the flush zone: toys, cups, toothbrushes, etc. Gross, right?

Some of these pathogens live for a week on surfaces. Each toilet flush creates an unseen mist detectable at head height, which can travel 15 feet from the toilet bowl. This is known as the aerosol effect. Putting the toilet seat down before you flush the toilet will prevent some fecal particles from floating and landing on every bathroom surface. Keep your toothbrush covered or in the medicine cabinet!

Cleaning solutions: All surfaces should be cleaned regularly. This includes the door handle, toilet, sink, faucets, floor and shower/bathtub. Clean inside the toilet at least twice a week with a disinfectant. To avoid transferring germs, clean the sink and toilet with separate cloths.

Showerheads. Occasionally remove your showerheads and soak them overnight in a commercial cleanser or vinegar. This removes the mold and mineral residue that clog the head and contaminate shower water.

The Bedroom
Mattress: We all sweat during the night, up to a half pint of moisture. This goes into the mattress, which is an ideal environment for dust mites.

Add this to the skin we shed as we sleep (up to nine pounds per person per year), giving mites something to eat. These little buggers can irritate your skin and cause swelling. The scary statistics: The average bed is home to about 10,000 dust mites, which can cause hay fever, asthma and other things.

Every six months, turn the mattress over. Vacuum it monthly and replace it every ten years. Use a latex cover or a 1-micron filter sheet cover.
Pillow: Each night you inhale the waste of dust mites that live in the pillow. Use a 1-micron filter pillow cover or a latex cover.

Sources: Dr. Oz & Dr. Roizen, and Yahoo.com

10 Reasons to Convince You to Drink Water

Do you drink enough water? If not, check out the reasons below.... they should be good enough to convince you this time! 
Researchers estimate that half of the world’s population is chronically dehydrated. And in America, that level is even higher at 75 percent of the population.

More than two-thirds of your body weight is water. Without adequate water your body’s biochemical and electrical (yes electrical, read on!) processes begin to break down. The list of reasons your body needs water is as plentiful as the functions in your body, so due to space limitations, here are 10 good reasons to drink more water:

1. Your blood is over 80 percent water and needs water to make healthy new blood cells.
2. Your bones are over 50 percent water and, you guessed it, need water to make healthy new bone cells.
3. Drinking more water actually helps lessen pain in your body by getting your lymphatic system moving. The lymphatic system is a network of nodes, tubes, vessels, and fluid that move waste out of your tissues. It requires water to function properly.
4. Water helps to eliminate wastes and toxins from your body through the lymphatic system, kidneys, and intestines.
5. Water lubricates your joints and helps reduce joint pain and protect against wear and tear.
6. Water regulates your metabolism so if you’re overweight chances are you may need more water.
7. Water balances body temperature.
8. Water helps to ensure adequate electrical functioning so your brain and nervous system function properly. Your brain and nervous system send out electrical signals to function properly. Researchers estimate that your brain gives off about the same amount of electricity as a 60 watt light bulb. So, there’s some truth to the image of a light bulb going on when someone has a good idea.
9. Water alleviates dehydration (and I’ve already mentioned that most people are chronically dehydrated).
10. Every cell and organ in your body requires adequate water to function properly.

Sources: Care2 Green Living and Yahoo!Green

No-Sewn Clown Costume Made with a Pillowcase

If you haven't found a Halloween costume for your kids yet, here is a great and easy one for you: a no-sewn clown made with a pillowcase!

Need:

1.           Colorful Pillowcase

2.           4 Big Colored Pom Poms

3.           Elastic cording or 1/4 inch elastic

4.           Craft glue

5.           Scissors

6.           1 large safety pin / 4 medium safety pins

Dollar Store accessories

What To Do:

7.           Iron pillowcase to remove creases andwrinkles first.

8.           Fold pillowcase in half, lengthwise, andthen cut a small opening, on folded side, for the neck .  Unfold and thencut a slit down the back, only, about 5 inches long from the neck opening.

9.           Across from the neck opening, at each sideseam, cut away a 1/4 inch slice for the arm holes.

10.        Dab a bit of white glue onto the cut edgesto prevent fraying, if desired.

11.        Cut a piece of elastic that will fitaround your child's thighs, adding about 6 additional inches. 

12.        Cut a small slit on the inside of thedouble thick bottom border, making sure not to cut into the front layer offabric.

13.        Attach the large safety pin to one end ofthe elastic and then insert this into the opening of the border.  Makingsure to keep the other end free, weave the safety pin through the entireborder, gathering as you go.  Tie off end, leaving a short tail and pushinto border.

Attach Pom poms to the center front of thecostume or attach with hot glue if desired.  You can either make a big bowfrom a piece of fabric, folding over ends and tying in middle (attach to frontof costume) or we found our clown nose, gloves and bow tie at the dollar store.

Source: ziggityzoom.com

Monique's Little Acorns

Monique from La Table de Nana posted this super little fall recipe a while back. I knew I was having my Garden Club for coffee this week and thought this would be perfect on the table. Don't they look great in my pumpkin bowl? And they're delicious, too. (Find the acorn mold HERE. Or HERE.)

A bench note: my first batch turned out too light. I raised the oven temp to 370 and increased the time to 12  minutes. Don't take them out until they get golden brown on top; then the bottom will be the perfect color. Luckily, there's lots of batter so you can experiment with oven temps and time a bit.

They were a hit at the coffee!

Acorn Pound Cake
From King Arthur Flour via Monique

Ingredients:
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
3-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
1/4 teaspoon almond extract 
5 eggs

Method:
Preheat oven to 350. (I heated to 370)
In a mixer, beat the first two ingredients until there are no lumps left.
Add the salt, sugar, flour and baking powder. Mixture will be quite thick. Add the extracts and the eggs, one at a time. The mixture will now be light and fluffy.
The key for perfect acorns, according to Monique:
A combination of cooking spray and flour. The cooking spray coats all the nooks and crannies and the flour adds a thin layer of non-stick protection that results in a smooth as silk finish on the outside of your baked goods. In this case, less is definitely more. Filling the wells too full will result in acorns that puff and flow over the sides of the well. Surprisingly, just 2 to 3 teaspoons of batter is plenty. A teaspoon scoop proved to be just the right size and made scooping a breeze.
Bake the acorns for 8 to 10 minutes ( I baked longer) or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the nuts comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for about 2 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.