My Daily Happy #10

The little things...

Almost four years ago I was searching for the perfect accessory for a Halloween costume and I stumbled upon an adorable pair of white convertible mittens at...wait for it...Target (cue angel choir).

I wasn't really in the market for new mittens - I just needed "paws" - but these puppies had opposable fingers AND thumbs and from that point on, I pretty much never wore anything else in cold-weather months.

This love affair came to an abrupt end about a month ago when left mitten went rogue and left me behind on the 51L.  I was devastated. The hunt for replacements began immediately and, to my surprise, to no avail. There were plenty of adorable fingerless, hand-knit gloves on Etsy and a plethora of semi-convertible mittens, well, all over the internet.  But none had the stinkin' convertible thumb! I gave up.

Until last Friday morning when I found myself scraping off my windshield, fingers-a-freezin'. I re-instituted my search that day and finally found a pair of hideously colored completely convertible mitts from Eastern Mountain Sports. But did I seriously want to incorporate "deep grass green" into my winter wardrobe? I certainly did not. After some digging I found they DID sell a white color, but had none in stock online. So I called the manufacturer and asked if they had any idea when they might have a pair in, say, a size small. Ten minutes later I got a return phone call telling me a store in Vermont just happened to have ONE last pair in their inventory...and it was mine! 

Tonight I came home to find my fabulous new mittens waiting for me on my doorstep!

(big props to Jasper for providing an adorably furry backdrop)

HOORAY!  Now I can text, pick things up, open up plastic packaging on DVDs and anything else imaginable, all while my hands are comfy-cozy and warm! PID poked some fun at my over-reaction to their arrival, but I say it's the little things (like an opposable thumb) that can make for happy little moments.  They don't have to be material things. In fact, they rarely are. There's a pair of "perfect mittens" out there for everyone. You just have to let yourself find them.

My Daily Happy #9

The unwavering love of a canine...

There are few things more uplifting than the enthusiasm which emanates from deep within my dog's bones the moment he realizes I'm finally home from work. Rarely do I feel more wanted, more needed or more loved than I do when he greets me (and all of my imperfections) with abounding excitement and his Pleepleus.

He is such a significant part of the reason I live and breathe. He is my light. My heart. My furry little son.

Am I being over dramatic? A little weird? I don't think so. Not one bit.

Thank you, Scout, for reminding me every single day that I am loved. And remember, it's reciprocated. Ten fold.

Chocolate Avocado Honey Mango Cupcakes

For a while now I've been trying to dream up a way to incorporate avocado into a cupcake recipe.  I've somewhat recently become an avocado fanatic attempting to weasel it into every salad, sandwich, hot dog, chip dip, fish filet and general savory dish on my radar.  But cupcakes are my thing. So as avocados slowly become my... other thing... I thought it was time to give it a shot as an ingredient.

I'll warn you, this adventure was riddled with trial and error and even after my third go, I still feel it has room for improvement. But at least it was a start.

I had originally intended to simply make my chocolate chili cupcake until I did some digging online and found a recipe at ItsyBitsyFoodies.com using mashed avocado in place of butter.  It may not be any fewer calories, but it's a way to substitute good fats for bad and certainly added to the "avocado-yness" of my cupcake.  So I made a few tweaks and gave it a shot!

If you've never pitted an avocado, I'll give you a brief tutorial. Stand the avocado right-side up and slice around the pit. When you have your slit, simply grab each side of the fruit in the palms of your hand and twist!  It should pop right in half.  When it does, you can remove the pit by (CAREFULLY!) slapping the thick part of your knife blade against it, so it sticks.

Then simply twist and pull and the pit will come right out!

Here's what you'll need for the cupcakes:

2 squares unsweetened (Baker's) chocolate
1/4 c. cocoa
1.2 c. boiling water
1 fully ripe avocado
1 c. sugar
3 eggs, room temperature -- 2 full, 1 yolk
1.5 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1.5 tsp. baking powder
1 tbs. potato starch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. plain yogurt (or Greek yogurt or sour cream)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together your flour, baking soda, baking powder, potato starch, salt and cayenne pepper.  Set aside.

Place your chocolate squares and cocoa into a small bowl and pour in the boiling water, stirring until the chocolate is melted together and smooth. Set aside.

Cream your avocado on medium-high until smooth like butter, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl and mush large chunks.  Add sugar and eggs, one at a time and continue to cream on medium-low.

Add in your chocolate mixture, then gradually begin to add in your dry mixture - alternating with the yogurt and vanilla until fully incorporated.

Fill 12 baking cups and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Now I played with a few options for the frosting. At first, I tried to completely substitute avocado for butter as I had in the cake batter, but for reasons I can't explain, the frosting was more like a glaze and adding more confectioners only made it like glue.  Literal glue.  Check this out:

So I tried again, this time only using half an avocado and 1/4 c. shortening to level the playing field - and it worked!

So here's what you'll need for the frosting:

1/2 fully ripened avocado
1/4 c. shortening
2.5 c. confectioners sugar
1/8 c. heavy whipping cream
Juice from 1/3 of a lime
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt

Begin by creaming your avocado and shortening on high, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl and mush out any chunks.

Next, gradually begin adding your confectioners sugar 1/2 c. at a time, stopping and scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. Alternate your sugar with your whipping cream, vanilla and lime juice as you go.

Continue whipping on high until your frosting reaches a desirable consistency.


The cupcake toppings were an adventure all their own.  I knew the cupcake needed something more and sprinkles just weren't going to do the job. PID suggested crushing lime infused tortilla chips to complement the chili pepper and avocado flavors.

It wasn't terrible, but it just wasn't right.

So I whipped up a batch of mango-scented chocolate ganache.  I'll tell you how I made it, but it wound up not doing the trick. There was too much chocolate...if you can believe that.

8 oz. bitter sweet chocolate
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
2 tbs. butter
1/8 c. mango rum

Boil 1 c. of water in a small pot.  Place your chocolate in a glass bowl and set it on top of the boiling water, allowing it to melt.

Meanwhile, heat your heavy whipping cream in a skillet until it begins to bubble. When it does, pour it on top of your chocolate, removing from heat and allow it to set without stirring for 1 minute.

Add your butter and mango rum and stir until all incorporated.

I glazed one of my cupcakes with it before icing, then drizzled it on top.  But it just didn't give it enough depth. I still had work to do.

I happened to have one leftover mango in the fridge, so I sliced it and pureed it, simply placing that on top of the cupcake.  I tried it and it was better...but still missing SOMETHING. So I opened my cabinets and stared...and stared...and stared. Then finally it hit me.  I drizzled a little bit of honey on top of the mango and voila! It was a perfect combination of flavors.

The cake recipe turned out to be a little dry, so the juiciness of the mango and stickiness of the honey wound up giving it some much needed moisture and texture.  And the avocado frosting was surprisingly delicious!  The lime juice really helped to call out the creamy flavor of the avocado.

I'll work to perfect the cupcake recipe and when I do I'll update!

Enjoy!