true love
I spent a good part of Valentine's Day cooking, it was perfect. I made Bolognese sauce from the Feb. 2007 Oprah magazine which we ate with No Knead Bread and arugula salad:
I make giant cupcakes the King Size Wilton Muffin Tins (which I found at a Michael's craft store):
And Scott surprised me with a String of Pearls plant, so cool!
Thanks to everybody for voting in the silly little poll, it went way better than I expected. I'm so pleased you all were willing to play along, it was a sweet Valentines week gift! The matchups continue but I think I'll leave it alone, contests make me nervous. I hope you got to know John Moe a bit better, for he is amazing. Also, buy his book.
I make giant cupcakes the King Size Wilton Muffin Tins (which I found at a Michael's craft store):
And Scott surprised me with a String of Pearls plant, so cool!
Thanks to everybody for voting in the silly little poll, it went way better than I expected. I'm so pleased you all were willing to play along, it was a sweet Valentines week gift! The matchups continue but I think I'll leave it alone, contests make me nervous. I hope you got to know John Moe a bit better, for he is amazing. Also, buy his book.
The cupcake looks hugely yummy. I’ve been having my bread machine need for me then baking it in real pans.
I had a pleasant day. I went grocery shopping made a candy gram and made a nice dinner. I used candy bars to spell out a valentine’s message. I love the little grocery store I go to they have really neat titled hard to find candy bars with names like Look and big hunk. I made homemade candy early in the week.
I think I want to make more nice dinners.
Comment by Iportion — February 15, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
What do you use to line the king-sized muffin pan?
Comment by LAmonkeygirl — February 15, 2007 @ 1:11 pm
The king-sized liners were being sold with the pans, or rather, right next to the pans.
Comment by megan — February 15, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
I heart string of pearls.
Comment by Ansley — February 15, 2007 @ 4:18 pm
I can't decide whether I NEED that muffin pan (so cool!) or whether I should run from it (RUINS the frosting to cupcake ratio!). Hehe :)
Comment by Lindsay — February 15, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
I love that plant! I may just need to find myself one... :)
Comment by Lisa — February 16, 2007 @ 5:25 am
I used to have the same plant when we were living in Sweden!! It is beautiful!!
Congratulation for the results of the poll!!
Comment by Anavi — February 16, 2007 @ 9:16 am
I just noticed they ran out of the giant cupcake pans at Wilton.com. I was thinking about buying one there, but the shipping is entirely too expensive.
Comment by Chelsea — February 16, 2007 @ 9:53 am
How do you keep the vines from breaking off? My mother has a plant like that, and the "strands" always fall off at the edge of the pot. We thought maybe the edge was too sharp, but yours looks fine!
Comment by pulltaffy — February 16, 2007 @ 11:28 am
the cupcakes look great!! did you use the same amount of batter that would make a dozen regular cupcakes?
Comment by jesse — February 16, 2007 @ 12:42 pm
How did the bolgenese sauce turn out - was it really as good as they made it out to be in O magazine? I've been very tempted to make it after reading that article, but have been putting it off for fear of disappointment. =)
Comment by Natasha — February 16, 2007 @ 12:43 pm
Jesse - I think the recipe I used would make a dozen regular cupcakes. It make four and a half large cupcakes, it could make five if you evenly divided the batter.
Natasha - It was good, definitely worth it, but you might want to compare it to the various Bolognese recipes at marthastewart.com. I used a lean ground beef since it's all the store I went to had, I think beef with more fat would have been better. The Martha Stewart recipes often to half beef half pork and I think that would have tasted even better. Be sure to chop the vegetables very fine, and putting the pancetta into the freezer for ten minutes helps to firm it up for chopping. The flavors in the bolognese sauce didn't come together until the third hour of simmering, then it was amazing, so give yourself the full time the recipe calls for.
Comment by megan — February 16, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
I just bought the king-sized muffin pans (and liners) at my local Michael's store in Richmond, BC so I bet most people should still be able to find them at their local stores. Thanks for highlighting them, Megan! I think they will be lots of fun to decorate...and eat!
Comment by Cynthia — February 18, 2007 @ 5:17 pm
Giant cupcakes! I love it! Is the baking time long?
Comment by christina — February 20, 2007 @ 8:14 pm
Christina - it was about 10 minutes longer than regular cupcakes and they turned out just fine.
Comment by megan — February 20, 2007 @ 9:08 pm
That cupcake is magnificent!!
Comment by susan b. — February 22, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
Hi can I have a receipe for the king size cupcakes? are they filled with anything? do you double the batter? They look fantastic!!! Thanks!!
Comment by marie — February 26, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
I cannot get those liners to seperate!!! I ruin them before I can use them! Any suggesastions?
Comment by Brenda — October 11, 2007 @ 8:35 am
Hey Megan and others,
I have a great recipe for the King Cupcakes here:
http://sassypriscilla.typepad.com/sassy_priscillas_craft/2007/04/introducing_kin.html
I really love that plant. Great Valentine's gift.
Comment by Miss Sassy — February 27, 2008 @ 11:15 am