Happy Easter and a dessert recipe

Happy Easter!  I hope everyone is doing OK and is able to spend at least a little bit of today doing something fun and or relaxing.  We are going to have a nice dinner of ham, mac and cheese, asparagus, deviled eggs and black bottom cupcakes.  I made these for the first time probably 13 years ago.  They are easy to make a delicious.  Think of them as a nice chocolate cake with cheese cake in the middle.  Oh yeah!

Black Bottom Cupcakes:

Cream cheese filling:
8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese
1 egg room temperature
1/3 Cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cream all ingredients together. I use a mixer.

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 Cup Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Cup water
1/3 cup oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all dry ingredients.  Mix all wet ingredients.  Combine.
Pour into muffin tin lined with papers.  Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of cream cheese filling onto the cupcakes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

I have a large stash of cupcake liners.  I thought I would use the bunny ones for today since it is Easter.

Before baking.

Cool and Enjoy!

My Weekly W's

What's top of my mind:  So far, April has been a busy month.  Our 35th wedding anniversary was last Sunday.  Sadly, our road trip was postponed. Over the three-day weekend we ended up with over 9 inches of rain which isn't my idea of road trip weather. We still had a great weekend and did go to our favorite Italian place for a celebratory dinner.  Beside normal errands, and a fundraiser, we have been working on a few projects around the house along with getting the gardens ready.  In our new raised beds, we've layered about 3 inches of cardboard with two inches of leaves and sticks so now all we have to do is add all of the eggshells and dirt next weekend and start planting.

Where I've been:  We went to Market Days downtown yesterday after breakfast.  The weather was gorgeous, and it was so nice to sit on one of the park swings and just relax a bit after walking around all of the shops and vendors.  I'll take pictures next time because this new Commons area is really cool.  I picked up a few things from Kingdom Seasonings and did find a cute mat for the front door from a vendor.  It looks just like Binx.

Where I'm going:  Other than an appointment for a haircut, the week is pretty open.  I have a three-day weekend to celebrate Easter at home with the family so I'm looking forward to that. I'm hoping for a nice Spring weekend with no rain, but we'll make the best of it either way.

What I'm watching:  Con Mom was a documentary that was very sad and a bit infuriating. I just don't understand how some people can do such shitty things to people.  Prada to Nada was cute and The Life List was a feel-good movie with a nice ending.  All three are on Netflix.

What I'm reading:  Yesterday I spent an hour or so outside reading on the patio which is one of my favorite places to read and I finally made a good dent in Care and Feeding.  

What I'm eating:  

Thai chicken with rice and asparagus

BIG salad

Steak, baked potato and salad

Atlantice salmon, rice and slaw

Fried chicken sandwich and potato wedges

Pizza and salad

LO beef chili and garlic cheese biscuits

All of the soups, stews and chili are out of the freezer just in time for spring and summer.  I may make a batch of soul soothing chicken soup the next time I roast a chicken just because it is so good to have on hand.

Last week I made chocolate chip cookies and this week I made black bottom cupcakes and took some to work for a birthday lunch.  Everyone loves these.  They're a combination of a delicious chocolate cake with a cheesecake filling. Culinary Adventures with Lori: Search results for black bottom cupcakes

Who needs a good slap:  No one comes to mind.

What is making me smile:  Ann Ann's Snap Edit Scrap has been sending me happy mail each month for a while now.  Her cards are SO cute and always put a huge smile on my face.  I took one of my favorites to work to put on my desk.  It makes me smile every time I look that way.  Thank you, Ann for always sending me smiles!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!

My Week

Mother Nature is confused this year.  It does NOT feel anything like Fall here.  It's been 10-15 degrees above average all week.  Today is supposed to break a record at 87 degrees.  Needless to say, soup, chili and stews are going to have to wait a bit longer.  Next weekend does look like Fall may make an appearance with cooler temps. and I will welcome them with open arms.

The Birthday luncheon Friday at work was amazing.  Goat curry, chicken and rice.  SO delicious.  I made naan, hummus and black bottom cupcakes.  When we finished lunch we all needed a nap. I'm so glad I had already planned to leave a couple of hours early that day.

Friday night we ordered pizza because my kitchen turned in to a chocolate chip cookie factory.  The big guy was holding a testing Saturday and I agreed to make 80 cookies for the 40 students.  I stopped at Hobby Lobby and picked up a package of individual self sealing cookie bags.  For $1.50 for 50 bags you can't beat it.  Plus it makes it look more professional.  One person even asked where we bought the cookies.

This weekend I pulled out a number of Halloween decorations and my kitchen witch has been hung. She has been around for at least 20 years or more and  makes me smile every time I see her.

Dinners this week:

Fajita chicken, rice, roll ups

Sloppy Joes, oven fries

Chicken sausage, cabbage, potatoes

Egg rolls, rice

Pizza

BIG salad

Tonight we're having beef short ribs.

Picture with my hand to show how big these ribs are.  Local, grass fed beef is the best.  I will do a post this week showing what I make, how many meals we get from it and the cost per meal.  It isn't as expensive to eat local as some think. Not in our area any way.

We pulled out our collection of Halloween masks.  This is one I wore a couple of years ago with a solid brown t-shirt and brown leggings.  It was cute.  I won't be dressing up this year to hand out candy but I do have a number Halloween t-shirts to sport throughout the month.

Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Wednesday W's

Every week two of my favorite bloggers do their Wednesday W's and I really enjoy them so I thought I would start to tag along.  Sporeflections.wordpress and robzillanosd.wordpress I hope you don't mind me crashing the party.

What's top of my mind: My mother.  She has good days and she has really bad days. Dementia is such a cruel disease. I can't help but wonder if this too shall be my fate.

Where I've been: I actually went to a clothing store this week to buy some new pants.  Because of Covid you cannot try anything on at the store so when I got home I found out that all three pair of pants have to be returned because they are freakishly too long.  Now I'm worried if I'm shrinking.

Where I'm going: Besides returning the pants, nowhere but work.

What I'm watching:  The Great British Bake Off 's newest season.

What I'm reading: I'm still working on The Man Who Ate Everything.  It was a pretty rainy week last week and I noticed I didn't read as much since I couldn't go outside.  I need to remind myself to take the time to read even if it is inside. It's not like there aren't a dozen cozy places to curl up and read inside.

What I'm Listening to: Nothing much.  I enjoy the silence.

What I'm eating:  Friday we are having a luncheon for one of the doctors Birthdays.  It will be 'authentic" Indian fair made by one of the good doctors wives which I LOVE.  I am making the dessert.  I think I've settled on black bottom cupcakes.

Who needs a good slap:  Scammers.  I had a text message supposedly from Chase telling me my account needed validating.  It's sad that people do get caught in these traps. 

What I'm planning:  The big guy will be gone for most of the day Saturday so I am planning on having the house all to myself.  I have a number of projects I want to complete before the end of the month so this is perfect timing.

What's making me smile: All of my herbs and lettuces are still growing well so I will get another batch of pesto and more dried herbs before the end of the season.  

Play along in the comments and stay safe!!