Chocolate Chipotle Lime Cupcakes

i was looking for a savory kind of dessert and stumbled across this recipe.  i changed it quite a bit from what the original one is(the original is a vegan one from http://cupquake-atlanta.blogspot.com/2008/08/iron-cupcakeearth-chili-pepper.html).

i changed mine up a bit, so here it goes:

Chocolate Chipotle Cupcake:

get a dark chocolate cake mix and mix it up like it says too then add either 3-4 Chipotles in Adobo Sauce or Chipotle Powder 3-4 tsp.  Make sure you taste the batter to make sure you can really taste the chipotle in it. Then cook it up like the box says, and then let cupcakes cool.

Lime Pudding Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup lime juice 
2 teaspoon grated lime zest
1 large instant vanilla pudding mix (the 5.1 oz one )
milk

Mix all the ingredients together except for the milk until creamy and smooth - about a minute or so. Then add enough milk to make the consistency of a pudding filling.  Put in fridge to keep cold for later.

Lime Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces Cream Cheese
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
2-3 Cups Powdered sugar

Cream together cream cheese, lime juice and zest with an electric mixer. Add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time and continue beating. If frosting is too thin add more confectioners sugar until proper consistency is reached.




Once the cupcakes have cooled, you can put the filling in the middle of them!  I used a ziplock baggie with a piping tip.  Just stick it in the middle of the cupcake and press the bag while lifting up.  Then you can ice them.

Sweet Potato Soup

this the most delish sweet potato soup ever!  Definitely double the recipe, you will thank me later.

4 medium sweet potatoes
2 large onions
3 T unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves
8 oz Canadian Bacon
2 med Celery Stalks
5 C Chicken Stock
1/2 to 1 chipotle in adobo sauce
1 T adobo sauce
Salt & Pepper


1. cook your sweet potatoes!  it says 400 degrees in the oven for an hour or so, but i just microwave mine.
2. halve the onions and slice thinly, about 4 cups. 
3. melt 2T butter over medium heat until hot.  reduce heat to med-low and add the onions and cook for 5 min until softened. 
4. (it says to remove 1 C of the onions and S&P them to save for garnish later, but you don't have to.  you can just use them all if you want too!!)  add garlic(says to press it, but i just use the minced kind) to onions (about 1T) and cook for another minute.  Transfer the onion-garlic mixture to blender and wait for next step with the blender.
5. chop up the Canadian Bacon(about 1 1/2 C) into slivers or something that will fit on a soup spoon and the celery stalks. melt the remaining butter in the same sauce pan.  add the Canadian Bacon and Celery to it and cook for about 5 min until it browns.
6. Scoop out the Sweet Potato and put in the blender with onion-garlic mixture.  add 2 cups chicken stock, the chipotle and the adobo sauce to blender too.  BLEND to Puree
7.  transfer the Blender mixture to the sauce pan with the Canadian Bacon and Celery.  Add the remaining chicken stock and bring to boil.  stir it alot!  Reduce heat and simmer until the celery is tender, bout 3-5 min. 
8.  it says to chop up the celery leaves from the stalk and serve as garnish with the onions and some rye croutons, but i didn't do that. 
9.  EAT IT!

this is soooo good.  When i make this next, i will add some Sage to it too.  i think the Sage will give it a great flavor addition.  This is from Sara Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners Cookbook. 

I can't stress how yummy this is!!

Hula Hut Austin, TX

http://www.hulahut.com/
3825 Lake Austin Boulevard Austin, TX 78703   (512) 476-4852


I read up on the Internet about this place and wanted to try it out when my mom, daughter, and i had a girls weekend to Austin, TX.

The parking sucked, but the cool thing is they have a golf cart to take you too and fro from your car and restaurant.  It is on the river.  It is a very fun atmosphere.  they say their food is a Tiki-Mex.  it looks like a surfers tiki hut, and they serve Mexican food.  we sat outside on the river.  they had the heaters on !  thank goodness.  I ordered the Steak Tubular Taco.  it is grilled fajita steak, mushrooms, roasted corn and Jack & herbed cheeses baked in a homemade flour tortilla with Hatch green chili sauce that came with rice and refried beans.  it was great!!  I ate every last piece of this meal. 

I would like to come back sometime in the warm weather months to experience the full effect of this place.  it looks like it could be a lot of fund to hang out with friends and drink fruity drink on the river. 

i urge everyone to try this place.

UNK's Burgers in Lee's Summit, MO

Saw this new burger joint that is located a few doors down from Side Pockets next to the Stained Glass Station and thought I would give it a try. 

240 NW Oldham Pkwy

Lee's Summit, MO 64081

It is small.  As soon as we walked in, we were greeted with a friendly hello.  there were only a couple other tables in there at the time.  He brought us over some menus and we looked over them.  The menu is very limited.  When we decided what we wanted, the server came back over and took our order.  this included our drinks, which i thought was odd that he didn't get them earlier.   I ordered a Bodacious Baked Bean Burger with lettuce and Mayo on it.  My Husband ordered the Big Boy Burger and my daughter did the build your own.  We also ordered the fried pickles and sweet potato fries.  As we sat there waiting for our food, many others came in.  The owner Unk came out too and talked to people.  The people here are VERY nice and friendly. 

When we got our food we dug in!!  My Baked Bean Burger was MESSY! and delicious!  their hamburgers are made with onions in them(you can order it without onions for all you onion haters out there).  The baked beans are made with Ground turkey.  this burger was so yummy!  My husbands Big Boy Burger was definitely a huge size.  I took a bite of his because he ordered his without onions.  it tasted just as good!  the sweet potato fries were good too.  the Fried pickles had a peppery-ness to them. 

The only thing i would change is the service.  the server had a great personality, it was just the way he served that could be improved.  I would actually have everyone come up to the register and order their burger and drinks and then bring it to them if this were my place.  BUT its not... 

All in all this was very good.  i will go back, and i think that you all should try it too.