Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes, not only fun to make but yummy!!

I got this from My HELLO, CUPCAKE book. It's really fun and has lots of ideas with cupcakes. These are a pumpkin cake with the decoration on top and it's really easy.

Ingredients

1 box white or yellow cake mix

1 c. canned pumpkin puree

3/4 c. buttermilk

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/3 c. veg oil

4 eggs

Mix together and bake in cupcake pan according to cake mix directions. Let cool completely.

For pumpkins

Orange decorators sugar, I got two canisters

1 can vanilla frosting

orange food coloring or red and yellow will work but it's really light in color

3 strips of green rainbow twizzlers

orange writers icing. I used Betty Crocker, make sure it's the writers kind with a small round tip.

Once your cupcakes are cool enough to frost, color the vanilla frosting orange and frost a cupcake and pour out your orange sugar in a shallow pan or I used a pie tin. and holding the bottom of the cupcake roll the entire thing in the sugar so all of the frosting has a layer of the sugar. Using a toothpick create ridges from the middle out, also do it off center cause pumpkin ridges are off. Then pipe the orange writers icing along the indentations from toothpick. Then cut the green twizzlers into 1 inch strips diagonally and put into the top of the pumpkin where your ridges meet and thats your stem. Repeat with all cupcakes and you have an edible and delicious pumpkin patch!

Cuban Pork Chops

Cuban Porkchops with Mojo(moe-hoe) sauce
I made this today for my assignment and it was so good the pan sauce is amazing!

1 c. orange juice, plus 1/4 c, divided
1/2 c. lime juice, plus 1/4 c., divided
1/4 c. white vinegar
4 pork chops, no more than 1 inch thick
1 T. black pepper
2 T salt
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 T garlic powder
1T. onion powder
1 T dried oregano
3 T canola oil
1/4 c. red onion (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. white wine or chicken broth

In a large ziplock bag add the 1 c. orange juice, 1/2 c. lime juice and the vinegar. Put the chops in the marinade and put in the fridge for at least 20 mins to an hour.

Meanwhile add all the spices together in small bowl. Once you pull your pork out, pull out of the bag and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub the spice mixture all over each side of the pork. In a large saute pan heat the oil on high heat and sear one side of the pork until golden brown, then flip and turn the heat to medium-low heat and add your onion(if using) and saute for about 2 min. Then add the minced garlic and saute til golden, do not burn the garlic. Then add the remaining orange, and lime juice. Then add the wine or chicken stock, and bring to simmer and let pork finish cooking through while sauce reduces. Temp your pork at 155 degrees. Then put on plate with a foil "tent'' to keep warm, meanwhile turn the heat up on your pan sauce and let reduce. Pour the sauce over your pork. You can also top with chopped fresh roma tomatoes.

to make it a fulloy cuban meal, make your own refried black beans, by sauting onion, bell pepper, and garlic until soft. Add whole canned black beans and heat through until they split. Add about 1 tsp red wine vinegar and stir. Serve with a lime wedge to squeeze on the beans. it's l really good. I also had grilled zucchini, and bell peppers that were seasoned with red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Cranberry Sauce

Only recently in the last few years that I found that I really like the cranberry and turkey combo, cause that jellied crap from a can always gave me the icks. But fresh is so good, and last year my uncle Bob had this with his Thanksgiving dinner, and I fell in love with it, I want to make it all the time and spred it on toast and just eat it, it's that good. I'm very excited to post this and have this cause it will be a regular staple on my turkey dinner menu.

Cranberry Sauce
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
1-16 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 c. apples, finely chopped or grated(irecommend grating)
1-2 oranges, juiced and pulp
splash of lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 or dash of nutmeg

Put cranberries, sugar, water, and apples in pan over medium heat and cook until the cranberries "pop" and the apples are softened. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir until well cooked.