Thanksgiving on my Mind

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite holiday is, I always reply "Thanksgiving."  They usually think it's cool, but they go on to tell me why Christmas is theirs.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and everything, but Thanksgiving is something that doesn't feel so materialistic.  It's a holiday when you get together with the people you love (even if sometimes you can't stand each other), spend quality time, and share a delicious feast together.  So pretty much the whole two months before Thanksgiving I begin to talk about how excited I am for the holiday.  My birthday is in September, and while many people consider the holiday season starting with Halloween, after my birthday is when it starts in my mind.  I begin making baked goods for my neighbors, getting my holiday cards in order, and decorating.  Everyday of November I like to have a different quote for gratitude so that I can remember what is important in my life.

Today's Quote is:

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”  William Arthur Ward

This quote just reminded me how important it is to make sure the people in my life know how much they mean to me, and to remember even in the hard times how much they positively impact my life.  When I begin to take people for granted, I start to view the world less optimistically.  When I take the time to remember what I have, and stop focusing on what could be improved, I am much happier and can be a better person for my family and friends. 

My mom has always been so supportive, understanding, loving, and sacrificial to my whole family.  So I want to recognize her here, and say to whoever is out there that I love her so much and am grateful for her every single day.

My mom harvesting some fresh blueberries from our garden this summer!

An Autumn Day

all photos are taken by me with my canon t2i 18-55mm lens.

The Best Ginger Carrot Cupcakes with Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting

So I was having a huge craving for carrot cupcakes, which is kind of odd because I didn't even realize I liked them so much.  I kind of based this off a few cupcakes that I've had at Cupcake Royale--my favorite cupcake place.  They turned out ridiculously delicious so I just had to share.

 

Ginger Carrot Cupcakes Recipe (Makes 24-30 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts, chopped

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

      1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. allspice

1 pound of carrots, grated

3 eggs

1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups canola oil

1 Tbsp. ginger, grated

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Place them aside.

3. Heat a pan to medium heat and place the walnuts in to toast.  It will take about 4 minutes for them to toast, make sure they do not burn or become black.  You will begin to smell them when they are ready.  Place them aside.

4. In a bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and allspice.

5. In a separate bowl, place grated carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar, canola oil and grated ginger. Give it a good stir to make sure all the ingredients are combined. 

6. Pour the wet mixture with carrots into the flour mixture.  Stir until combined. 

7. Fold walnuts into batter until evenly combined.

8. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full with batter.

9. Bake pans for 20 minutes, rotating the pan once after 10 minutes of baking.  Make sure that when you stick a fork in the cupcake it comes out clean.

10. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting

 Ingredients:

(Warning this makes double the amount you will need for these cupcakes but I like a lot of frosting on my cupcakes and it is so delicious and can be frozen to use at a later time).

3 sticks sweet cream butter, room temperature

3 (8 oz. packages) cream cheese, room temperature

1 ½ cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. cardamom

Directions:

1.  Mix all frosting ingredients together with a hand mixer or stand mixer until they are all incorporated and the frosting is fluffy.  

enjoy!