This has been quite a week! I am so glad it is Friday! Yesterday, the needle on the stress meter went through the roof when I got numerous automated calls from the college that there was "an incident"!
Madison attends college in Savannah, Ga. Her school campus is the Historic District in the city of Savannah - the school has over 70 buildings within the city! The incident was a gunman initially on the loose and then barricaded in one of the upscale, landmark restaurants right down the road from Madison's dorm!
Of course, the District being 1 square mile, everything is right down the road
The school acted quickly and locked down all buildings advising students to stay inside. The police, too, shut down much of downtown to keep people away from the area.
SWAT surrounded the restaurant; sent a robot inside; then entered the building and apprehended the perp (HA - love cop show talk)
Even though I was in contact with Madison and knew she was safe, I was still shaken by this event. Thankfully, no one was hurt and all is back to normal. Just a little excitement to get the kids ready for finals!
With the stress level at an all-time high, I had to get some relief!
So, I took some time out and baked....ahhhhhhhhhhh
I made these Pistachio cupcakes that are the prettiest shade of green - Perfect for St. Patty's Day!
They make me smile (green is, after all, my favorite color)
I was going to frost them with a chocolate butter cream...as suggested in the recipe, but I had a couple strawberries on hand and decided they would be more refreshing with a strawberry cream cheese frosting (not to mention how pretty the pink and green look together) Boy was I right! These little pieces of heaven are definitely refreshing!
Hard to eat just one! The fresh strawberry taste comes through and pairs nicely with the slightly nutty flavor of the cupcake - yummmm yummmm yummmm
1 box White Cake Mix
1 box Pistachio Instant Pudding (3.4 oz)
4 Eggs
1 cup Buttermilk
1/4 cup Oil
1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract
3/4 cup Sour Cream
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan (makes about 24)
Whisk eggs, buttermilk, oil, extract, and sour cream together in a good sized bowl. Add cake mix and pudding; combine until just incorporated. Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 full and bake for about 15 minutes. The tops of the cupcake should spring back when lightly pressed. Remove from oven and let cool.
Frosting
1 cup Butter, softened
8 ozs Cream Cheese
1 lb Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 cup chopped Strawberries
In a bowl of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment, cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy - about 3-4 minutes. Occasionally scraping down bowl. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until incorporated. Add vanilla and mix until smooth. Add strawberries and beat until they are chunked up really well. If you are piping the frosting onto the cupcakes you will need to get these really chunked (is chunked a word? hmmmm...I guess it is now) up so they don't clog up your tip...learned that the hard way! Put frosting in freezer for about 20 minutes to stiffen up if needed. Then frost cupcakes as desired. Store these in the fridge.
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