- It’s Autumn! There’s so much to do to get ready for friends and family and all the gatherings going up so soon! Make a tablescape to wow them all using pumpkins, fall leaves drape ribbons and candles. I love making the house “autumn” so that the transition from now thru halloween and into Thanksgiving is as easy as plucking up a pumpkin and adding a jack o lantern and changing our some ribbons.
- Make a bunch of fleece blankets and in a box in your car add another box filled with ziplock baggies filled with a small toothbrush, soap, gum and a bottle of water. Drive around Houston and give out the blankets ad the baggies to the homeless so they are ready for the colder nights ahead.
- Plant all new lettuces, collards and tomatoes. Pull up old herbs and replace with new fall plants to last you through the next four months. Stuff a scarecrow with the children for the fall garden too!
- On my nightside table now…. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George.
- Make a batch of cinnamon play dough and keep around for when the children are bore and for some QT sculpting time at the kitchen table.
- Buy or bring down from the cabinets two game boards and designate a family member to divide the house into teams. Name the teams and pick a night that there will be no TV and just games. Keep score and at the end of the month treat everyone to a movie night out!
- Volunteer to work at the local food pantry. Serving others often is more rewarding than anything else we can do in our communities. Bring the children along so they can help too and understand how fortunate they are.
- Go thrift shopping and see if you can find something spectacular to use as a theme for your front door. I once found a old bench and by adding a “home” sign and some foliage my entrance to my casa rocked!
- Make my apple cupcakes and breakfast casserole! (see recipe below)
- Most of all have fun! Commit a random act of kindness and leave others better off than they were before they met you! That is the best gift you can ever give or receive!
Auntie Alisa’s Homemade Apple Cupcakes
For the Frosting:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
12 tablespoons (6 ounces) butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar
For the Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons buttermilk
1 1/2 cups shredded apple, peeled
For the Frosting:
Stir sugar and water together in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. (You can stir it up until the sugar dissolves but then DO NOT STIR while it boils or else it will form crystals). Let it boil for 5-6 minutes or until it starts to turn a light caramel brown color. Remove from heat and slowly stream in the cream while stirring. Stir in the vanilla. Let it cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes).
Meanwhile, make the cupcakes. (This is also when I take the butter out of the fridge for the frosting.)
Once the caramel is cool, in a standing mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat the butter and salt together for 3 minutes at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix it in starting with a low speed. Add half of the caramel (reserve the rest for drizzling) and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy (scrape the sides of the bowl as needed).
Place frosting in a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Drizzle with caramel and serve.
For the Cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degree F and line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake paper liners.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger together. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture a little at a time until just combined and then add the buttermilk and mix until combined. Fold in the shredded apple.
Spoon batter into cupcake liners filling them 3/4 full (about 1/4 cup). Bake for 22-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Let cupcakes cool for a few minutes in the tin and then remove onto a rack to cool completely before frosting.
