eclaire (what's in a) name?

happy halloween everyone! although i realize it might be too late for you to make a dessert in time to celebrate halloween, i wanted to share this delicious recipe with you, in case you want to make it for other seasonal celebrations. the cupcake is a delicious mix of pumpkin and chocolate flavors, and the frosting is an amazingly mouth-watering blend of cream cheese and spices. i didn’t change the recipe at all, so please click here to check out the recipe on the original website. the recipe made 1 dozen regular sized cupcakes, and 3 dozen mini cupcakes. yum!

ps- are any of you dressing up tonight? what are your costumes?

full disclosure to you, internet: mike and i weren’t looking for a black bean soup recipe when we found this one, nor have we ever made black bean soup before. we just wanted to make some cornbread, and figured we had to eat something else alongside the cornbread to make it a complete meal.

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i know pumpkin recipes are ubiquitous this time of year, but i just have to share this pumpkin bread recipe with you. it’s everything i want in a breakfast bread – moist, full of delicious spices, not too sweet, and replete with pecans and raisins to add some texture. when i realized that my weekend would be full of fun with my family – my sister flew in from michigan, my dad and b drove into town to spend some time with us on saturday, and we celebrated my mom’s 60th birthday on sunday – i decided i had to whip some of this up to munch on throughout the activities.

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after a fabulous weekend celebrating with our friends and former roommates as they married each other, i completely lost my voice. as i sat in my house voiceless, the first northern california storm of the fall raged outside, and all i wanted to eat was some comfort food. something hearty, filling, easy to make, and above all, delicious.

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two of my most favorite people are getting married this weekend, and as the days creep closer, i can barely contain my excitement to celebrate with them! i lived with both of them for many years, but it wasn’t until a few months ago, when i posted my childhood recipe for vegetable pancakes, that i learned how much they loved the dish.

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