Arizona Sunsets

Sometimes I'm a little bitter about living in Tucson. First of all, I always had this vision of myself living somewhere amazing like Paris or Prague. Then, I always swore that wherever I lived I'd never live here because I have approximately nine thousand relatives living here [ok only 34 or something like that, but I swear I'm always bumping into someone who can tell embarrassing stories from when I was six]. Plus in the summer it's about nine thousand degrees, which means that (a) I'm in a state of perpetual faint stickiness and (b) I avoid living my air conditioned house and (c) I'm kind of cranky about the whole thing.


But then there are those summer nights in the middle of July, when we've been getting the fantastic monsoon storms, and the air is clear and not quite so hot, and the sidewalks are less dusty, and there's that faint tangyness in the air that you only understand if you've smelled rain in the desert. And the bushes in my yard that are normally kinda scraggly and weedy suddenly produce these amazing purple flowers and the sweet smell of them blends in with the sharp rain smell, and then my house and the mountains behind us are bathed in a pinkish glow from the fabulous sunset that spreads miles across the sky. And then I feel happier about living in Tucson.

The Dark Is Rising

Lately I've been on a big children's fantasy kick. Perhaps because I found the last Harry Potter a bit underwhelming, perhaps it's summertime nostalgia, I'm not quite sure. But this last week I've re-read the Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper, and I love them almost as much as I did as a kid.

There are five books in the sequence, a bit unusual in the fantasy trilogy world, but I think it's the perfect amount of books for the story that Cooper has to tell. Each of the books stands up pretty well by itself--in fact a movie was made out of the 2nd book a few months ago, which I may try and watch soon since I've liked the books so much.

The first book: Over Sea, Under Stone, tells the story of three small English children, their oblivious parents, and their mysterious great-uncle who are all vacationing for the summer in Cornwall. The children (Simon, Jane, and Barney) accidentally discover a mysterious old parchment, which seems to be a map to a treasure of sorts. Then they discover that Great Uncle Merry (Merriman) is of the Light, and is fighting the power of the Dark, and he needs the children to find the Arthurian treasure in order to stop the Dark from rising. Mysterious visitors appear in the village, and events which seem to presage the success of the Dark start to occur. Jane meets a mysterious man who wants the document badly, and Simon and Barney both also have interactions with the Dark that come a little close for comfort.

The second book: The Dark is Rising, feels much older and darker than the first. In this book we meet Will Stanton, who although is not quite eleven is also an Old One, born to fight on the Light's side in the battle against the Dark. Will Stanton learns that he must complete a quest to find the Six Signs of Light, and link them together in order to make an object of power for the Light. He is hindered by the Dark Rider, and by the inclement weather--England is suffering from the worst blizzards in a century. As in the first book the rest of the family is oblivious to the drama unfolding under their noses, as they all merrily prepare for Christmas. Will is assisted in his quest by fellow Old Ones--including a man named Merriman.

The third book: Greenwitch; unites Simon, Jane, Barney, and Will, who are all spending Easter together with Merriman in Cornwall. The three children aren't quite sure what to make of Will, and some bickering and snobbery ensue. Jane is allowed by the village women to watch the making of the Greenwitch, a Cornish tradition that will greatly affect the outcome of the unfinished quest from the first book.

The fourth book: The Grey King, takes Will Stanton to Wales. It's October, and Will has been ill--the grey mountains of Wales reflect his grey mood. He meets a mysterious albino boy named Bran, who has a special dog, and maybe some more special talents. Bran and Will are trying to solve the riddle of the Grey King to find a special harp that the Light needs for its quest, but they are hindered by a man named Caradog, who is out to get Bran's dog, and by the Grey King himself, who wants desperately to keep the treasure in his mountains.

The fifth book: Silver on the Tree, is the end of the series. It begins in summer, with the appearance of a mink--a menacing, evil creature, at Will's house in the Thames Valley. Will is taken back in time to the time of the first rising of the Dark--during the reign of Arthur. The ultimate battle between Light and Dark ensues, and each of the five children: Will, Simon, Jane, Barney, and Bran must play a pivotal role to assist Merriman in the battle.

I don't want to give too much away, so these reviews are a bit vague, butthe books really are superb. The children are normal: sometimes bratty, sometimes clever. While the themes of the book aren't particularly original, they rely a lot on Welsh mythology and the typical Light v. Dark aka Good v. Bad struggle, they are presented in an original way, and are still very enjoyable. I highly recommend all five books, but I particularly like The Dark is Rising, I think it best captures the drama and intensity of the series.

Mmmm...cupcakes...mmm...

I think mini cupcakes might be my new favorite thing. They're adorably small, you can eat a couple without feeling guilty, and they fit in tupperware a lot better than bigger cupcakes.

The second kind of cupcakes that I made for Nathan and Krista's rehearsal dinner were Yogurt and Lime, adapted from a cake I made earlier, which was in turn adapted from a recipe from another blog.

I personally prefer these to the chocolate ones--they're still sweet and moist, but the lime gives them an extra kick, which keeps them from being too sweet. Plus, they look perfect with a dollop of lime frosting (almost the same frosting I used for the banana cookies a few weeks ago).

Yogurt Cupcakes with Lime Frosting

For the cupcakes:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tsp. lime zest (if desired)

For the frosting:

3 (ish) cups powdered sugar

juice of 2 limes

2-4 tbsp milk

1 tsp orange extract

In a large bowl stir together yogurt, sugar and eggs until well combined. Add in flour and baking powder, and lime zest if desired. Then add the oil, and keep stirring hard until the mixture stops looking oily, and comes together in a smooth batter. [The lime zest does add extra lime flavor, but also gives the cupcakes funny looking green flecks. I think the frosting is lime-y enough, so you may want to leave the zest out.]

Place in mini paper-lined cupcake tins, and bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes, or until the cupcakes are lightly golden on top. Do not overbake, these are fairly delicate. Remove them from the pans as soon as they cool slightly, and finish cooling on wire racks.

While the cupcakes cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, orange extract, and lime juice. Start adding the milk one tablespoon at a time, and continue stirring until the frosting comes to a fairly thick, but spreadable consistency. Spread the frosting on the cupcakes, then store in an airtight container for up to a week, although they're better within the first day or so, they get a little dry later. Enjoy!

Going to the chapel....and we're gonna make cu-uu-uupcakes.

My younger brother got married yesterday. I keep wanting to say my little brother, but that hasn't been true for about eight years, so anyway, congrats to my younger brother and his new wife! But on the downside, on the way there Noel sang, "We're going to the chapel and we're gonna get married...." and it has now been in my head for more than twenty-four hours. Not fun.
I assisted with the food for the rehearsal dinner on Thursday night--several different flavors of meatball subs, lots of salads and fruits, a salsa bar, and then my favorite part--dessert. I made two kinds of mini cupcakes, one called "Black Bottom Cupcakes" on the website where I found the recipe, henceforth to be known as "Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes" because I find "Black Bottom" a little weird. The other cupcakes were Yogurt Lime, adapted from an earlier yogurt cake that I made.

Ryan and Abby came over and helped frost the cupcakes, and Noel took pictures, so it was a group effort all around. And, of course, we sampled a few (shhh...don't tell the bride and groom!)

But here is the recipe for the Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes, which are a cinch to make, and look cute in a squiggly way. They're also dense and delicious--mostly chocolatey but with a nice smooth tang from the dollop of cream cheese mixture.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and sugar, then add the egg and stir until the mixture is smooth (but don't over-mix it). Stir in the mini chocolate chips, and set the mixture aside.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Then make a well in the center of the dry mixture, and add the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Stir until there aren't lumps any more, but again, do not over mix.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees, and prepare mini muffin tins. To assemble the cupcakes fill the mini muffin papers about half full with the chocolatey mixture, then place a dollop of the cream cheese mixture on the top. Abby and I tagged teamed it, I filled them with chocolate and then she dolloped, and it went really fast.

Once all the cupcakes are filled [I filled all sixty spots in my muffin tins, and then tossed about 1/2 cup of batter since I didn't have more papers] place them in the preheated oven. Bake for about 17-20 minutes, or until the cakes are solid to the touch on the top, and a toothpick comes out clean. Don't overbake them though, or the cream cheese part will crack and separate from the rest.

Place them on a wire rack to cool, then store in an airtight container. I also recommend refrigerating them--ours tasted good for two days, then the third day they were kind of funny, I think because I hadn't refrigerated them and the cream cheese started tasting weird.

But they don't need frosting, and they still look cute--the perfect easy, portable dessert!