Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes #Recipe and #Book giveaway from @DarylWoodGerber

Welcome to Mystery Lovers Kitchen's Christmas Week...a week filled with recipes for the holidays and good cheer!


I love this week. We all come up with some of the most fun meal and dessert items. I've made many of the recipes shared by my blogmates.

By the way, do you know there will be at least 7 books out by all of us between December and March? Actually, it might be 8…or 9...hmmm.

Krista, Cleo, and Victoria (MaryJane) all just had a release in December. Krista hit the New York Times paperback with her Murder, She Barked. Congrats, Krista!!!

Sheila, Lucy, Peg/Meg, Avery/Daryl will have books out in February and March. We're hoping we can have some of that magic rub off on us.

No matter what, we all need our sugar and/or chocolate to keep us going!

By the way, I'm having a giveaway today, so remember to read to the end. :)

When it comes to Christmas, I like getting the kids involved. How else can you build memories? 

It's important to me that kids like to cook. It helps them with chemistry (measuring); math (learning those fractions); and art (they have to make masterpieces with the sprinkles). They learn what flavors they like. They learn how lo-o-o-ong it takes to cook something and, thus, appreciate you more when you do slave over a hot stove. 

Sometimes we put on Christmas music and sing. Most importantly, we laugh. 

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT-FILLLED CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix (regular or gluten-free)

1 pkg. chocolate instant pudding

4 eggs

¾ cup safflower oil

¾ cup milk

1 teaspoon peppermint oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Dump all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix. How easy is that?!! 

Pour into cupcake holders, about 2/3 full. Do not overfill or the batter will rise out the top. Cook  12-15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. The top should spring back if pressed lightly with your finger.

Cool 10 minutes.

To fill with icing:

Cut out the center top of a cupcake. Fill a pastry tube (or you can make your own by using a large baggie and cutting a small tip at the end) with the icing. Squeeze about a tablespoon of icing into the hole. Put the top of the cupcake back on.

Frost as you normally would. Sprinkle with peppermint or colored sugar.

Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes.

Peppermint icing

Ingredients:

(Frosts 2 dozen cupcakes)

1/2 cup butter (8 tablespoons)

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil

Directions: Mix all the ingredients until creamy using a mixer, whipping on high. I made mini-cupcakes, as well, but I didn't put frosting in the middle. Perfect size for little mouths! I'm sure you could. To print this recipe, you can get them from my website (click the pictures): Giveaway: What's your favorite holiday food?? For one commenter today, I'm giving away a stocking stuffer book!  Your choice of one of the first four Cheese Shop Mysteries or the first in a Cookbook Nook Mystery.  For one other commenter, I have a special sneak preview Advanced Reader Copy of Inherit the Word, the second in the Cookbook Nook mystery series. REMEMBER TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL IN YOUR POST SO I CAN CONTACT YOU!! Merry, Merry!

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TWO NEW BOOKS COMING IN EARLY 2014!!

Days of Wine and Roquefort Feb 2014, preorder here

Inherit the Word March 2014, preorder here

If you haven't done so, sign up for the mailing list 

so you can learn about upcoming events, releases, and contests! 

Smoothie Banana Shake from Pretend Soup Cookbook

From Daryl aka Avery

Say hello to my new puppy, Sparky!!

A ten-week old golden doodle rescue! Just got him yesterday and my husband and I are very excited! What a bundle of energy and new lessons for "mom." LOL

His arrival came on the heels of taking little ones to their schools.

What little ones?

I had two little cuties over this past weekend, their first time staying overnight with us. [My stepson's children, 3 and 5. Darling, inquisitive, active!!!!]

We laughed, we went to the movies, we did art. We did more art. We built blocks. We built more blocks.

And we cooked. Okay, we blended!

A child has to eat to keep all that energy going, right? (Me, too.)

For fun, but also for a good balance of many nutrients, we made smoothies (i.e. shakes with no ice cream). Chocolate-banana and vanilla-banana. For the chocolate, we used Penzey's High Fat Cocoa. [Good for this little girl's energy.] Yum!!!

Now, teaching kids to cook is fun, but sometimes it can be a daunting task. Too many steps. Too many ingredients.

When I found this cookbook PRETEND SOUP--one that my protagonist Jenna stocks at The Cookbook Nook--I went wild. It's so cute; so easy! It has each recipe written out in large print, and it also has step-by-step directions with drawings that kids can appreciate. Talk about easy.


By the way, Jenna Hart, if you didn't know, isn't a great cook yet. She's learning. This cookbook is real easy for her to follow, too. So for those moms who are a little timid in the kitchen, don't despair. This book is for you, too. :)

CHOCOLATE-BANANA RECIPE

Ingredients: 
1 cup milk (OR you can use almond milk)
1 peeled banana
2 tablespoons good quality cocoa
3-4 ice cubes (already crushed, if you have the option)
(if desired, one teaspoon natural liquid sweetener)



Directions: 
In a blender, put all your ingredients. Blend for 2 minutes.

Pour into a glass and add a straw and a smile!

VANILLA-BANANA RECIPE

Ingredients: 
1 cup milk (OR you can use almond milk)

1 peeled banana
2 teaspoons vanilla
3-4 ice cubes (already crushed, if you have the option)
(if desired, one teaspoon natural liquid sweetener)

Directions: 
In a blender, put all your ingredients. Blend for 2 minutes.

Same as previous recipe, pour into a glass, add a straw, and smile!

How easy is that?!!

Note: One portion made enough for 2 kid-sized drinks.

I have more kiddies coming this weekend. My nephew, who is like my son, and his wife and their two kids, 1 and 3. Fun, fun!  Laughter and knocking down blocks will be the main attraction, I'm sure!

I'm thinking we'll try the blueberry pancakes recipe from Pretend Soup!

Big P.S.  If you have kids in your life, enjoy them now. They grow up too fast. Puppies, too!

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Friend Daryl on Facebook

Friend Avery on Facebook

Follow Daryl on Twitter

Follow Avery on Twitter

Follow both of us on Pinterest

Check out our website.

Next up: 

Days of Wine and Roquefort Feb 2014, preorder here

Inherit the Word March 2014, preorder here

If you haven't done so, sign up for the mailing list 

so you can learn about upcoming events, releases, and contests! 

Kid-friendly Porcupines

This month, I'm sharing all the recipes that are in LOST AND FONDUE. 

[By the way, thanks to all of you who have bought a copy or borrowed one from the library. L&F has done amazingly well this first week. Reviews have been lovely.]

Back to food - one of my favorite recipes in the book is one I enjoyed as a girl -- porcupines.

Often, when I am writing scenes with the twins, Amy and Clair, and they involve food, I am drawn to memories of my youth. When my mother and father married, my mother wasn't a good cook. Her mother had done all the cooking over the years and never thought to teach her. (Home Ec wasn't an option.)

When my mom died, I found keepsake letters from her to her grandmother. In them, my mother belittled her lack of cooking talent. But my mother was a smart woman, and she was eager to learn. She started with green Jell-o and advanced to meat loaf and spaghetti sauce. (Her spaghetti sauce was one of the all-time best I've ever tasted...except back then I didn't care for the mushrooms...NOW I adore mushrooms, but as a girl? Ewww. I would pick them out. That's another story.)

As my mother grew confident, she loved making "gourmet" items. Crab stuffed into filet of sole. A killer gorgonzola salad dressing. Angel food cake from scratch.

But for us kids, she stayed to the basics. And porcupines was one of those. Throw the mixture together, mold into little balls, and bake. Provide enough catsup and they are heaven!

They're called porcupines because the rice pokes out of the meat and looks like the quills of a porcupine.

* A fan wrote me this week and asked if the rice could be left out. I told her yes, but then they're just turkey meatloaf. If you're not a rice fan, you might consider using barley or bread crumbs.  However, using rice ensures they are gluten-free.

Hope your little ones (or big ones) enjoy the fun!

PORCUPINES

1 lb. chopped turkey

½ cup rice

½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 egg

[For spicy catsup]

6 tablespoons catsup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon horseradish sauce

[For Porcupines]

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix everything together. Easy.

Roll into balls the size of walnuts.

Place on cookie sheet, slightly apart.

Bake 30 minutes.

Turn the heat up to broil.

Broil for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven. Place baked porcupines on paper towels.

Serve with spicy catsup.

[For spicy catsup}

Mix catsup, Worcestershire, and horseradish and serve. [Really easy.]

Lastly...enjoy your kids. They grow up so fast!

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And just in case you want to order the second in A Cheese Shop Mystery series, click here: LOST AND FONDUE

If you'd like to read the first chapter, click here: SNEAK PEEK

If you'd like to see the book trailer, click here: BOOK TRAILER

And for a lark, if you'd like to watch a how-to-make fondue movie, click here: HOW TO

And always smile and...say cheese.