EDU: Leftover Turkey Soup

So I made this soup the weekend after Thanksgiving, when everyone was home with their family and I had the pleasure of coming back to Boston for work on Friday. This unfortunate situation was not without its perks. I enjoyed the pity of my entire family and my mom gave me almost all the leftovers, including the turkey carcass. I've heard time and time again that there is nothing like a soup made with from homemade stock. I didn't disagree, but I also didn't have an entire afternoon to simmer and stir watery bones. Well I'm happy to report that it is just as delicious as those pretentious foodies would have you believe. Here are the ingredients:

• 1 leftover turkey carcass
• 3 medium onions, chopped
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 1 cup butter, cubed
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper

This is the turkey carcass I have been speaking of. It was terrifying. I did not have high hopes at this juncture. Add just enough water to submerge the turkey and boil for about an hour.

So I did. In the meantime I cut up the veggies I would be using and did some laundry. Carrots, onions, celery, the usual suspects. Here they are:

After a few minutes, the stock really smelled promising. So promising in fact that I heard my downstairs neighbors talking with each other about how awesome it smelled when I was taking my laundry out of the dryer.

Awesome indeed. I pulled out the bones and poured the rest through a pasta strainer.

Who knew water and muscle fibers could make such wonderful music together? The broth looked amazing, and the turkey was falling off the bone. I was flabbergasted with how much meat there was. I discarded the bones and thanked them for their service.

I cooked the veggies in butter, and they did their thing.

I stirred in a cup of flour to thicken, added the broth slowly and brought things to a boil. Once the flour and broth were playing nicely, I added all the other goodies. Half and half, turkey, chicken bouillon, rice, salt/pepper. Simmered the whole mess for a half hour to cook the rice and ladled it out.

Here's the finished product with oyster crackers.

It was delicious. Thick, creamy, hearty, all those wonderful adjectives. There was a lot going on, but it melded really nicely, and I don't think it would have been half as good if I used canned chicken stock. The fat and connective that dissolved into the broth added flavors that you can't get in a jar, and I'm definitely staking claim on the Christmas turkey when I go home.

On Repeat: Robyn - Hang With Me

You might remember Robyn. In 1997, she sang "Show Me Love", a worldwide smash and a middle-school dance staple. I was in 7th grade and was too obsessed with Third Eye Blind and Matchbox 20 to be bothered. Now, I can freely admit how awesome it was/is. Well, little Robyn is all growed up.

On Body Talk, she makes a compelling argument for her name to be mentioned in the same breath as pop stars like Gaga, Beyonce and Rihanna, with song after song of genuinely arresting content disguised as disposable Euro-pop. On "Hang With Me", a drum splash and shiny chirps give Robyn all she needs to unveil a pop masterpiece. A delicious hook builds into an even larger one, and grows into an absolutely mammoth chorus that is instantly hummable. To think that the song started out as an acoustic ballad makes it all the more impressive, showing the versatility and talent that Robyn brings to the table. Why she isn't a megastar is beyond me and a travesty of criminal proportions.

EDU: Banana Cupcakes

I left for Thanksgiving and returned to three overripe bananas.  I could have made banana bread or banana cookies (a family recipe) but instead I turned to my gigantic pile of cupcake recipes and found one for Banana Cupcakes.  I figured the worst that could happen would be cupcakes that taste like banana bread!

What you'll need for the cupcakes:

1 cup sweet butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
4 eggs
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (the blacker the better!)

A photo of the mashed banana:

This is a pretty simple recipe.  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Set out your baking cups, reusable or otherwise.  Combine the butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and nutmeg in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in the mashed bananas until well combined.  Spoon the batter into cups and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool them on a wire rack.

I frosted them with the Cream Cheese Frosting I made for the Chai Cupcakes (see recipe here).

Fresh from the oven they were light and had a lovely banana flavor.  After a day in a Tupperware they were dense, just like my previous cupcakes.  I garnished them with both strawberries and bananas but I would recommend strawberries - they added a really wonderful tang to the sweet cupcakes.

15 Original Christmas Songs That DON'T Suck

It's December 4th, and I've already heard more miserable excuses for Christmas songs than I care to hear for the entire month (thanks MB and MT). What is it about Christmas that makes every Tom/Dick/Harry think they should try their hand at putting out an album? Of course, it's a financial slam dunk (who could contain their morbid curiousity?), but I'm sure a few of them actually believe that they can bring something new to Silent Night. To hammer home this point, take a look at what the music industry has shat out lately:

REGIS? Death Row? That's just unconscionable. Just listen to Patton Oswalt's rant about that abysmal Christmas Shoes song (NSFW). Now that I've gone and dashed your Christmas spirit, let me take off my Scrooge costume and explain that there are alternatives. There are SOME original Christmas songs that can actually co-exist with Holiday staples, and I'd like to share them with you. Here are 15 Pop Christmas Songs that DON'T Suck (not including Bing Crosby, because he could populate this list himself.)

1. Last Christmas - WHAM!

The perfect example of a great pop Christmas song. The benchmark by which all others are measured.

2. Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You

Say what you will about Ms. Carey, but this song ALWAYS brings it. And I will ALWAYS try to hit every note.

3. Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Yes, perhaps this is not an ORIGINAL song, but it's Bruce Springsteen, so kindly STFU and listen.

4. John Lennon - Happy XMas (War Is Over)

Awesome Song, Awesome Dude. It's giving me chills right, now but my window is also open.

5. Paul McCartney - Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time

Not to be outdone, Paul offered us this gem. Please no one tell Ringo.

6. Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)

If anyone badmouths this song I will hit you in the mouth. I asked my parents for a hula hoop because of this song. Also, Patton Oswalt's joke about it is a riot. Below:


7. Britney Spears - My Only Wish This Year

No comments so as to preserve my street cred.

8. Chuck Berry - Run Rudolph Run

I can't listen to this song without picturing the McCallister family running through the airport in Home Alone.

9. Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

Another one from Home Alone. Kevin dancing in the living room while Michael Jordan rides a trainset.

10. Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas?

BOY GEORGE. PHIL COLLINS. GEORGE MICHAEL. STING. BONO. BOWIE. 1984. CHRISTMAS.

11. Elvis - Blue Christmas

Ya'll want to talk some crap about Elvis? I'm all ears.

12. Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock

Home Alone 2 Soundtrack. I'm noticing a trend.

13. Elton John - Step Into Christmas

Don't get any ideas Bieber.

14. Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad

It means Merry Christmas in Spanish!

15. Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby

Santa is Sexy!!

Now you can delete your Glee Christmas Album. Your Welcome.

For Santa's Eyes Only

Dear Santa,

No matter what anyone else says, I've been a good boy this year. I do the dishes, clean my room, and share beer bottles with the nickel-vultures. I only drink Four Loko at special occasions and always pull over for emergency vehicles. Everyone thought 2009 was a banner year, but I done done it again and made those folks at Guinness look like damn fools. I keep telling ya'll to write those records in pencil. Now esteem and adoration are swell, but in the immortal words of Shania Twain, "that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night." So here are the tangible goods I would like in exchange for my good behavior this fiscal year.

1. Paring Knife - A little birdie told me I have a nice 8" Chef's knife coming for X-Mas, but I'll be damned if I'm going to use a Chef's knife to peel an apple. Who do I look like, Beatrix Kiddo? Something like this would be just fine.

Chef Technique Class/Book - Newfangled and mind-bogglingly sharp toys being operated by the same shaky and slippery hands is a recipe for the ER. I need to learn to how handle these knives, or I will be handled by them and be the first person to call out of work for loss of blood. CMM highly recommends the book below by this impish French fellow, and I know there are tons of amateur cooking classes around Boston that I should look up while I still have carpal muscles.

Soup Cookbook - I like using allrecipes a ton, but I don't bother with recipes without pictures or ones with crappy pictures. A good soup cookbook would broaden these horizons a tad.

Roger Ebert Movie Book - Roger Ebert has written a ton of books, and I trust his opinion on just about anything. So much so, that he nearly had me convinced that I needed a rice cooker. I'm still on the fence about that, but his movie reviews are always a fantastic read. Perhaps Your Movie Sucks, Awake In The Dark, or Great Movies (I, II, or III).

Coffee Mug - A coffee mug of my own with some witty image or phrase on it would fit nicely in my stocking. I'm tired of using AG's Bee one for my tea, and all the ones at my apartment are boring. My mug needs to speak for me, as I can't while I'm drinking from it. Something like this:

1. Nano Watchband - These are awesome, and being a lover of timepieces and having recently acquired a Nano, the temptation is too much to bear. The only question is slap bracelet, classy, or rubbery?

Note: This list is a work in progress. The author of this post reserves the right to amend or remove items on this list as well as add additional items without notice. Should confusion occur, always air on the side of caution and purchase the more expensive item. As with all gifts to MPD, a receipt should be retained and wrapping paper should kept to minimum. If you purchase a gift not on this list, you do so at your own risk and are fully liable for all emotional and punitive damages arising therefrom.

EDU: Chai Cupcakes

I've always thought chai and baked goods would go well together.  I once tried baking a chai banana bread (yum, right?) but the bread was way more banana than chai.  After seeing this cupcake recipe I thought I'd see if the chai flavor really popped.

What you'll need for the cupcakes:

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp chai tea powder
1/4 cup sweet butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 egg whites
2/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Set out your reusable silicone baking cups (or paper cups).  In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and chai powder.  In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar until smooth.  Add the egg whites slowly, beating well.  Slowly add the flour mixture and finally the buttermilk.  Mix until combined.

Spoon the batter into cups and bake for 20 minutes.  In my experience you need the solid 20 minutes.  Remove cupcakes and cool on a rack.

What you'll need for the frosting:

1 cup cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the cream cheese and confectioners sugar together in a medium bowl and beat until soft and light (I set the Kitchenaid to a pretty high speed and beat the mixture for 5 minutes or so).  Add the lemon and vanilla and beat until smooth.

I liked the frosting but I'd say if you're not too keen on lemon halve the amount.  I adore lemon so a full tablespoon of fresh lemon juice was lovely but I can see how it could be too much.

Once your cupcakes have cooled spoon a dollop of frosting on top and present to the masses.  I gave the guys upstairs a sampling and they thought the cupcakes were delicious.  They did admit to never having tried chai so they didn't really know what they were eating.  I didn't think the chai flavor came through strongly enough.  Perhaps dumping in more chai powder would work.  Still delicious, I'm just searching for the right chai baked good I guess.

Editors Note: These were deceptively dense. Like they were filled with ball bearings or something. But they were still moist and sweet, although I will agree that the Chai flavor wasn't very strong, though I must admit I don't think I know exactly what Chai tastes like. I wasn't a fan of the icing because I cheese doesn't belong in desserts. That includes cheesecake, anything with ricotta, and cream cheese frosting. Cheese just adds a tang and tartness that I can't get over. Sorry. Oreo cupcakes still reign supreme. 

Review: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

By any reasonable measure, Kanye West has done his penance for whatever injustice he inflicted upon Taylor Swift many moons ago. He removed himself from the equation to come to terms with it, and patiently answered questions about it in every interview request he has granted since (except for Matt Lauer). These days, even the most catastrophic events fade from view within a week, yet Kanye's stage crashing over a year ago continues to occupy front and center in the public consciousness. As the months passed and the topic continued to simmer, it became clear that only Kanye himself could change the conversation. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy success has turned the page, while shedding some light on what spurred the outburst to begin with.

When Kanye joined Twitter in July, he instantly became one of its most captivating voices, sharing glimpses into his life of fashion shows, private jets and tantrums. Twitter became an extension of his persona, one that provided virtually instant praise and criticism for every tweet. Alluring? Certainly, but perhaps not the best venue for someone with such a fragile psyche. Despite this, he thrived, and found a more than willing contingent of fans who relished his every move and looked forward to his G.O.O.D. Friday releases like Christmas morning (myself included). In the wake of the Taylor Swift news-cycle, I expected Kanye to come back with the familiar celebrity idiom, the hail mary for stars who prove their fallibility; the I-am-not-a-role-model defense. He didn't, and MBDTF is all the better for this.

I don't usually preface reviews with a two-paragraph refresher of an artist, but in Kanye's case, I think it is warranted. There's a fine line between asshole and assured, and it's hypocritical for us to expect this swagger in his music and expect it not to bleed into his personal life. From the very first note on MBDTF, we see a Kanye who is keenly aware of his shortcomings and the repercussions of them. He drowns sorrows in alcohol and takes pills, he talks about night terrors one line and a Lamborghini Murcielago the next. And it would all be depressing if it weren't so beautiful. The following songs find every facet of his character amplified to deafening levels. He is incredulous on Gorgeous, destitute on All of the Lights, defiant on Monster and remorseful on Blame Game. The production mirrors this from song to song, opting for rising strings or an chopped electric guitar riff when the song calls for it. Take the 9-minute "Runaway" as Exhibit A. A lonely piano plinks a single note for 20 seconds before Kanye pulls the trigger and the song explodes with bass and synths. At the song's close, Kanye autotunes his voice past the point of coherence, his words transformed to indecipherable digital moans that is as arresting as his sharpest words.

Before MBDTF, I had never wholly "loved" a Kanye West album. While each had their high points, each also felt incomplete and superficial, the work of a fascinating artist who had yet to figure himself out. The events of the past year introduced humility to Kanye's vocabulary, but also served to sharpen his edge and enhance his bravado. Lesser artists would likely have dropped out of music forever (or worse), but Kanye emerged on the other side, hungrier and more determined than he had ever been and created the most complete and captivating work of his career. Congratulations Kanye, you've earned yourself another chance. Don't ever change.

EDU: Albondigas Soup + BONUS THANKSGIVING RECIPE

While I formulate my thoughts on Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Pitchfork gave it a 10.0 this morning, the first time they've bestowed this honor on a new release since Wilco's 2002 masterpiece Yankee Hotel Foxtrot), I'll share my most recent soup exploration and offer a delicious Thanksgiving recipe from the Queen of the Quadruple Bypass, Ms. Paula Deen that I made a few weeks ago. Trust me when I say it is every bit as delicious as you are imagining right now, and even less healthy. Let's get on with the soup.

Albondigas Soup is the Mexican equivalent to Campbell's Tomato. A warm, soothing bowl of comfort that Mexican mothers would whip up for their children with meatballs, tomatoes, and whatever other vegetables/spices were available. I've been hoping for a chance at meatball redemption since my my previous meatball-centric soup was a disappointment, and the god's provided me one in the form of this Albondiga's soup recipe, or so I thought.

Here is the line-up of usual suspects:


1 pound lean ground beef (I used Turkey, USE BEEF)
1/4 pound pork sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped Cilantro
1/2 cup cornmeal
6 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
1 (8 ounce) jar salsa
1 onion, chopped
2 (14.5 ounce) cans peeled and diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup white rice


Looks like a lot of ingredients, but it really wasn't bad. I had most of the stuff already, and just had to grab some canned tomatoes and beef broth. Start the recipes by dicing your onion, and tossing it into a large pot with the beef broth, tomatoes, salsa, dried basil, oregano and black pepper. Bring these goodies to a boil. Some commenters on Allrecipes mentioned that it's important to use "green chili" salsa in this recipe, meaning a salsa that uses green peppers, ie Jalapeno's, etc. I used Trader Joes roasted yellow tomatillo salsa, which was probably not a stellar idea in retrospect (it was pretty watery and tasted a bit bland). I'd recommend finding a salsa that uses jalapenos.

Here I am doing my best Vanna White.

Next you want to make the meatballs by thoroughly mixing the egg, beef, pork, cilantro, cornmeal, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and milk in a large bowl. It was about this time that I began to get a little concerned about the recipe. The cornmeal was inadequate as a meatball "glue", and it was exceedingly difficult to shape the resulting glop into anything that resembled a "ball". I suspect the turkey was partly to blame for this as well, but I contend that if the recipe called for breadcrumbs, it would have been a breeze.

  
Thankfully, another commenter on the recipe recommended rolling out the meatball cud into "meat-snakes", which can easily be cut and quickly shaped into a ball. Grateful for this revelation, I followed their guidance (thanks opal~/~dragonfly).

Like a said, "meat-snake" about sums it up.

Shortly thereafter I had this little basket of turkey meatballs, and all was right in the world. I plopped these into the boiling broth and tried not to be scalded by the tomato magma.

They floated immediately, which I did not expect. I also added half a cup of rice as this point to thicken things up. The recipe didn't call for carrots, celery, or any other vegetables, but after seeing the pea pods in the top image, I think it certainly could have used them for a "fresher" flavor. Some recipes also called for potatoes, but that was venturing perilously close to stew territory for me.

After half an hour, all the meatballs had risen and the soup was ready to eat. I ladled it into a bowl.

It was still quite hot, but not too hot to admire and photograph. I then added my favorite garnish and ate it.

And.........I was disappointed. The tomatoes were delicious, and the cilantro was a great addition to the meatballs, but the broth itself was too salty (and I have a huge salt tooth) and the meatballs were a little dry and lean. I had hoped to avoid the greasy meatballs I ended up with when I used plain beef weeks earlier, and this time ended up with something on the other side of the spectrum. If I were to make this again, I would certainly follow the recipe with regard to the beef/pork mixture, and substitute a cup of water in place of the last can of beef stock. This brings us to the double-edged sword of making soup. If it isn't great, you are still eating it for the rest of the week. By Wednesday I was ready to give away my first-born for the assurance I would never see another meatball again.

And now, the special bonus Thanksgiving recipe. I think I took pictures of this, but I don't know where they are and frankly, the photos are inconsequential. I made an Pumpkin Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake a few weeks ago for another work-sanctioned bake-off, which was from another nebulae, and I mean that in the best possible way.

The butter-cake portion is the most melt-in-your-mouth, delicious cake you can imagine. It has a very slight outer crispness and density to it that pairs wonderfully with the fluffy mouse-like pumpkin layer on top. It is everything you love in a pie, combined with everything you love in a cake. I used to scoff at Paula Deen and say uninformed things like "anything tastes good if you melt a stick of butter in it", but she wields that stick of butter like Michelangelo did his paintbrush, and Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake is her Sistine Chapel. If you are responsible for making dessert this Thanksgiving, do yourself a favor and make this. My mother already requested I bring home a batch. Here's the recipe:


Cake:
1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

3. To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey.

4. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

No mo' Loko

How did a colorful beverage spur the fastest bipartisan response in recent memory? In the span of less than a month, Four Loko has gone from obscure drink to the cause of all societal ills. Yes, Four Loko has caffeine. Yes, Four Loko has alcohol. And yes, if you drink more than one you will likely experience the first 48 hangover of your life (sorry to break it to you, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz). But none of those statements warrant an FDA investigation or a massive product recall. Have these enraged Senators ever heard of cigarettes or Percocet or an Irish Coffee? All of these can be fatal and are available to the general public with minimal legal obstacles. But when a manufacturer has the audacity to offer a single product that combines two things that have been bar staples for decades, well, we need some serious intervention to save us from ourselves. Well I hope you're happy Senator Schumer, because Four Loko is effectively banned starting today and in response, Four Loko has decided to remove all caffeine and herbal supplements from their products in the future. But caffeine and alcohol will live on, albeit in separate containers. I guess if there is any silver lining to the Four Loko saga, it's that it gave us a glimpse into how swift government can work when they have a common cause. Unfortunately, in this case the common cause was finding a scapegoat for stupid college kids. Wait, did Four Loko just turn me into a Libertarian?

On Repeat: Girl Talk - All Day

Note: Girl Talk's newest album All Day, is available as a free download via his website here. Also, the wikipedia entry in which fans identify samples is here. There are 373. Whoa.


Maybe this is a cop-out to review as a single track, but as an individually wrapped, single-serving treat is how Mr. Gillis intended his latest opus to be enjoyed. How do you even review an album like this anyway? On what merits do you gauge its success? Samples per minute? Zaniest artist pairings? How many of the sampled songs I downloaded after listening? Gillis has always made his work on his own terms, while the pop-music he samples decays and disintegrates at an ever-increasing rate. Most songs peak and fizzle out in a matter of a couple weeks, while the truly great ones are lucky to chart for a month before they are consumed by the shifting tides. This environment is not conducive to Greg Gillis' sonic collage, but he still finds ways to arrange and assemble recognizable bitlets from hundreds of songs that had previously been confined to the shadowy depths of an iTunes playlist or a blackout Karaoke night and breathe new life into them. Girl Talk's albums are immensely enjoyable because they are incredibly subjective. Each listener will recognize different samples and overlook others. Each person will have different memories associated with the snippets that will resurface and fade away as another takes its place. There is one guarantee with a Girl Talk album however; there will be a handful of chill-inducing moments. Two songs that dance beautifully with one another and transcend the term "mash-up" altogether. Here are mine:

Foxy Brown-Hot Spot/Peter Gabriel-In Your Eyes 12:32

ODB-Shimmy Shimmy Ya/Radiohead - Creep 21:25

Paul Simon-Cecilia/Lil Jon-Get Low 27:50.

Lil Wayne-I Want It All/New Order-Bizarre Love Triangle 31:27

Twista-Wetter/U2-With Or Without You 34:00

Arcade Fire-Wake Up/Birdman-Money to Blow 51:00

Phoenix-1901/Ludacris-How Low 59:40

Rolling Stones-Paint It Black/Wiz Khalifa- Black and Yellow 1:04:39

Fine Young Cannibals-Good Thing/Gucci Mane- Gucci Time- 1:06:05

What are yours?

EDU: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Since Mr. LollipopsAndCrisps is getting down with his soup self, I decided that I would make a weekly food item and submit a "guest blog" to go along with his soup post.  I'm not into the savory as much as the sweet and I've been ripping a daily cupcake recipe off of my 365 Cupcakes daily calendar and storing the ones I like.  I've never had a reason to make the recipes before so this is the perfect excuse.  I asked Mr. LAC himself which recipe he'd like to see first and the Cookies and Cream Cupcakes recipe was his choice.

What you'll need for the cupcakes:

1 cup sweet butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
10 crushed cream-filled chocolate cookies


*I halved the recipe and it made 11 cupcakes.


This recipe is super easy.  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Save paper by using silicone cupcake cups and place them in a cupcake pan (or use paper, I suppose).  Then, simply combine all of the ingredients except the cookies in a large bowl and beat them with an electric mixer until smooth.

Stir in the cookies.  I used a potato masher to crush the cookies in a bowl, making sure they were very finely crushed.

Spoon the batter into the cups and bake them for 20 minutes.  Cool them on a wire rack.

What you'll need for the frosting:

3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1 cup sweet butter, softened
Pinch of salt
10 chopped cream-filled chocolate cookies

I have no idea why the sugar has to be sifted but I did it anyway.  Beat the softened butter, sugar, and salt with an electric mixer until smooth.  I decided to pour in a little whole milk to make the frosting smoother, about two tablespoons.  I think the frosting tastes a lot like butter, it's not my favorite recipe.  Frost the cupcakes.  Chop the cookies up a lot coarser than before and dunk the frosted cupcakes into the cookies to coat them.

Beautiful!

EDITORS NOTE: These were delicious. My only complaint is that she didn't make the whole recipe, so there were 30 Oreos left tantalizing me on the living room table. The frosting was perfectly sweet and smooth, and there were several yummy chunks of Oreo to behold. At first I thought it was just a normal cupcake with Oreos sprinkled on top, oh nononono. Oreos abound. I can get used to a weekly dessert guest blog :).