Chocolate Cupcakes

So!  I finally was able to go home and bake this weekend!!  I was so excited.  Not so excited that I won't be home until Thanksgiving, but still excited enough to bake!  So I make chocolate cupcakes with traditional buttery frosting.  I decorated them with green colored frosting and mini pumpkin peeps- yup they have mini pumpkin peeps!!  These cakes are moist, chocolaty and delicious!!

This recipe as written makes 22 cupcakes:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 1/2 full. (if you want to decorate them)
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Frost with your favorite frosting when cool.

The frosting is simple but you will definitely want to use a stand mixer.
1 cup butter
1 cup Crisco
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 lb bag of powdered sugar
1/4 cup of more of milk

Beat the butter and Crisco together until smooth.  Add vanilla and beat until mixed. Alternately mix in powdered sugar and milk.  The resulting consistency should be easily spreadable or your desired consistency.

Crockpot Pulled Chicken

Slow cookers are, by far, one of the best inventions in the field of cooking.  Talk about a perfect lazy Friday night, when you don't feel like cooking and just want dinner to be made already!  We made this last weekend and it was fabulous.  It may be blasphemy to say this, but I think I liked the chicken better than the pork. I know. It's that good.

One package of bone-in chicken thighs. (however much you with think you will need)
1/4-1/3 cup chopped onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
Barbecue sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray's)
Grilling seasoning (we used Apple wood seasoning but you can use whatever, or make your own)

Chop up the onions and garlic and add to the crockpot.  Place on high.

Take the skin off of the chicken thighs.  Lightly coat the chicken thighs in the grilling seasoning and rub in.  Place the chicken, one layer at a time, into the crockpot.  Between each layer, cover with a generous amount of barbecue sauce.  Continue this process for the rest of the chicken.  Let it cook for about 4 hours on high, or until you can easily pull off the bone. 

When ready to be pulled, take a ladle and spoon of about 1 1/2 or more of the liquid. This is mostly fat or unnecessary liquid that will make your chicken soupy. When tender and falling off the bone, take each piece out and pull the meat off the bone with a couple forks.  Do this until all thighs are pulled.  Put the meat back into the crockpot and add one cup of the barbecue sauce.  Put on low for about 15 mins to a half an hour.

Enjoy!  Especially good paired with sweet potato fries :)

Apple Pie

Apple picking again, this long weekend!  For those of you who don't know about my passion for apple picking are in for a treat with this new recipe!  We combined cortland and macintosh apples but you can use any good bakng apple that you usually use.  This is an older recipe that my mom has been using since I was born, and probably much before then as well.  It comes from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. It is probably the best cookbook hands down for traditional cooking.  Our copy is well worn, having it since 1980, it should be. 

Now this recipe, I will not ever change, try to sub the necessary fat, exchange whole wheat flour or anything else.  You can if you want to but this is the best, no substitutions.  So, if you do, don't say I didn't warn you!

For the crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Crisco
6 tablespoons butter
5-6 tablespoons or more of ice cold water

(It's important that all ingredients are cold for this to come together properly.  I suggest putting the Crisco in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes before starting it.)

In a medium bowl, measure out flour and salt.  With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut Crisco and butter into the flour until the mixture looks crumbly.

Sprinkle in cold water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing gently with a fork until the dough just hold together.

Shape into a ball and divide into two equal portions.

Take one dough ball and roll out on a flour surface until large enough to cover the bottom of the greased pie plate. Trim off extra overhanging dough.  Fill with the pie filling.

Roll out other dough ball and repeat process for making the top pie crust.   Make sure to seal the crust by folding around the edges and pressing in with a floured fork. 

Slit holes in the top, Brush with milk or cream and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake according to directions of the pie recipe.

For Blueberry Apple Pie Filling:
2 pie crusts
2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
6-7 cups thinly sliced, peeled, and cored cooking apples
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup blueberries, fresh or well rinsed frozen
milk

Preheat oven to 425.

Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon peel and juice, apples, and blueberries in a large bowl.  Mix until well incorporated. 

Dish into pie crust. Cut up butter into small pieces and sprinkle over top of filling.  Top with second pie crust.  Slit top crust and brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, lower oven temperature to 375 and bake for another 40 minutes or until golden brown and syrup has a thick consistency.