whole lotta love

Funny how most boys can play Led Zeppelin on demand. I took an afternoon nap today because I'm feeling a bit under the weather and when I woke up, I had a strange need to hear some Zep. I told Cornelius: I'm going to make some icing for these cupcakes and I want to hear that song that goes "I come from the land of the ice and snow...", you know the one. Yes, he did and he was able to have it up on his itunes in seconds. Boys can be quite reliable that way.

pumpkin cupcakes
I'm having friends over for some pumpkin carving and I figured I'd make some seasonal treats, which means, more damn pumpkin! I don't think my friends will mind. These cupcakes turned out incredibly moist and delicious. I wanted to decorate them all scary like, but as I was feeling under the weather, I didn't want to head out and search for gummy worms, black shoelace licorice, candy corn or gummy teeth. So these are just pretty orange perfection.

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3/4 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 c butter, softened
1 1/3 c sugar
2 eggs
1 c mashed cooked or canned pumpkin
3/4 c milk
3/4 c chopped walnuts

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a bowl. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs. Blend in mashed pumpkin. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk, blending until batter is smooth; stir in chopped walnuts. Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin pan cups.Fill about 2/3 full. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Frost with cream cheese frosting, whipped cream, or leave plain. Makes about 24 cupcakes.