This coming Saturday my community is holding a pre-Thanksgiving celebration for families in need.  I will be in charge of teaching the children how to bake and decorate cupcakes.  This is the recipe I came up with along with the finishing decorating look that screams the colors of fall.  Note to reader: These cupcakes are friggin’ delish and a perfect alternative to pumpkin pie for your T-giving dinner!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley 

Ingredients for Pumpkin Coconut Mini Cupcakes:

3 – cups of sugar

4 – eggs

1 – 15 ounce can Libby’s Pumpkin Puree

1 – cup vegetable oil

2/3 – cup water

3 1/2 – cups all purpose flour

1 – teaspoon salt

2 – teaspoons baking soda

1 – teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 – teaspoons ground ginger

1 – cup shredded sweetened coconut

Ingredients for Cream Cheese frosting:

8 – ounces cream cheese (room temperature)

1 – cup butter (room temperature)

1 – teaspoon vanilla extract

2 – cups confections sugar (powdered sugar)

Optional:

1/2 -cup dried cranberries

1/2 – cup pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Line mini cupcake sheet with cupcake baking cups. Set to the side.

In a mixer combine sugar, eggs, Libby’s pumpkin puree, vegetable oil and water. Mix until well combined about 2 to 3 minutes.

    

Meanwhile in a medium bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger together. Once all dry ingredients are combined add in coconut and mix well.

Now add flour/coconut mixture to the pumpkin mixture a little at a time with the mixer set to medium low. Make sure to mix well.

    

Fill each mini cupcake baking cup with 1 tablespoon of mixture. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Once cupcakes cool…. make the cream cheese frosting.

In a mixer combine cream cheese and butter, and mix for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add vanilla and mix till combined. Last add in confectioners sugar a little at a time till completely combined.  Spread cream cheese frosting on top of each cupcake and decorate with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds for a festive holiday look.  ENJOY!

Makes 72 mini cupcakes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you remember all the great commercials on TV when we were kids?  Okay, maybe I’m dating myself by admitting this but every commercial had a catchy tune to it in the 80’s. “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid” or for you local Angelinos “Go see Cal, go see Cal, go see Cal.”  Then there was, “I’m a pepper, he’s a pepper, she’s a pepper, we’re a pepper, wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?” Ahhh memories…..

The one song that has taken up residence in my mind lately is that old ditty for milk….. “Milk it does, Milk it does the body, Milk it does the body GOOD, pass it on….What you say?  Pick you up anytime of the day.”  These are words I lived by growing up and I want to make sure my 2 year old son does too.  Milk is already a sure fire hit with him, he drinks 3 to 4 servings of milk daily in his sippy cup.  At a certain point I have to draw the line and incorporate milk in some other form.  What does a mom do?  Make Arroz con leche of course (Mexican rice pudding).   I certainly ate my share as a young girl and still do. Today I introduced arroz con leche for the first time to my boy and the results were better than great.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

Ingredients for arroz con leche:

4 – cups water

2 – cinnamon sticks

1 – tablespoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 – long grain rice

1 1/2 – cups whole milk

1/2 – cup raisins

1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 – teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a medium sauce pan (with a lid) over a medium high flame add water, cinnamon sticks and vanilla.  Bring to a boil. Then add rice and mix well, bring water to a boil again.

   Once boiling lower flame to low/simmer and cover pan with lid.  Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from flame.

In a separate sauce pan heat milk and raisins over a low flame for 8 minutes.

Once rice is fully cooked add warm milk/raisins and mix well.

Last add the sweetened condensed milk and ground cinnamon. Mix well.

Serve warm or place in the refrigerator over night and enjoy cold. Either way works.

I’m so thrilled by my arroz con leche. The fact that my son is loving it leads me to share this news with the Master of the Glass Half Full, Simon Felix.  Lets find him on facebook here.  Or get really wild and tweet him on twitter here.  He brings great positivity into my life day after day, I think he’ll be pleased to hear this milk report.  Who knows? Maybe he’ll let other friends know about this arroz con leche recipe… A mom can only hope.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor’s Board and Latina Mom Bloggers. The recipe and opinions are my own. 

Last year my Mom , my Auntie Rosie, and I made candy wreaths for Christmas and we used Lindt chocolates to give our wreaths a red accent.  I love spending time with two of the most important ladies in my life, but the truth is we had to go out and buy more Lindt because we couldn’t stop eating the chocolate.  Yes we love to eat and pass our Sunday afternoon in project mode.  I thought to myself how am I going to recreate that feeling of closeness again this year?  What could we do?  We wouldn’t want to make the same wreaths.  That’s when I found out about this super fun contest Lindt is having.  I know a ton of my readers LOVE CHOCOLATE, and I know a bunch of you enjoy baking too….. Naturally I want to share this tidbit of info with you.

Lindt is giving chocolate lovers a chance to submit an original recipe to their Fall Recipe Contest from now to Nov 7th, 2011.  The only rule is you must use Lindt chocolate in your recipe…  Want me to tell you what the prizes are?

– A year’s supply of Lindt Chocolate

– A brand new KitchenAid 7-quart bowl-lift residential stand mixer

– Lindt gift cards ($100 & $50)

– Lindt chocolate passion recipe book

This lady will not only tell you about the contest she’ll show you the prizes too.

Want to enter? Click HERE to submit your recipe!

Once your all done with that…. you might want to look at the rules. You can click HERE for the regulations.

So back to what us girls will be doing this holiday season….  I think my Mom, my Aunt and I will make chocolate tamales.  I don’t know if we will end up submitting them to the recipe contest or not.  We are such tragonas (big eaters), the chocolate will probably never make it into the recipe. 🙂  Good Luck Friends!