Pineapple Empanadas - Part 1

Well, I'm not exactly setting my kitchen on fire these days.  Hmm, bad turn of phrase.  Let's try this again.
 

This was a thoroughly unproductive weekend.  Last weekend I saw a great concert (thanks again, Mary Beth, for a fun time!) and tried a new recipe to bring to the pre-concert picnic -- pineapple empanadas.  They were cute and tasty and relatively healthy, too.  Check out the recipe from Eating Well here.

In my head, I've played around with the recipe to make it my own.  Now I just need to get the rest of me working with my brain (not always an easy task).  In the meantime, we'll call this Part 1. 

rolling and cutting the dough

adding just a wee bit of pineapple filling

all ready to bake

 Look for Part 2 coming soon!

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

 

Okay, so jumping back into life as usual has been a bit hit or miss.  Guess the point is just to keep on trying.  In that spirit, I'm really, really going to try to get (and keep) myself back into Sugared Sam mode.

Figured I'd start with something nice and simple.

These cute little liners inspired me and I found the perfect doctored cake mix recipe on Bird on a Cake.  

Dump, mix, fill, bake.  I can handle that.

I added the zest of an orange to vanilla buttercream and dyed half of the frosting orange.  Then I filled one frosting bag with white and one with orange and put both bags inside another to create a swirled pattern.

For an extra touch (and because I'm terribly clever), I cut the tips off toothpicks and inserted them in orange Mike and Ike candies to create little creamsicle toppers.

 

Voila!