bye bye summer

So it's that time of year again... summer is officially over. As much as I love summer, autumn is by far my favourite season. There is nothing I love more than a crisp, beautiful fall day with everything surrounded in bright orange, red, and yellow, the smell of burning leaves, curled up inside drinking tea with a good book during the rainy days... oh and did I forget to mention how much I love AUTUMN FOOD.

Hearty squash soups, yummy warm stews, baked apples, cinnamon and ginger spice, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pies, pumpkin loaf, roasted pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin-everything.

Oh and halloween is my favourite holiday... I already have the first of october marked off for a full day of redecorating my apartment. be prepared for a month of festive posts!

Tattoo

I've been planning on this tattoo for years. Just the outline but now I can finally say that I have a catfish majestically leaping from a swamp tattooed on my arm. :)

outfit - mojitos and shopping

This is what I wore to drink mojitos, then go shopping for work clothes. I am a fan of socks and sandals - I'll blame it on being from the west coast.

peanut butter caramel cupcakes

This is my modified version of "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World's" peanut butter cupcakes. These are super delicious but very, very rich and filling. One cupcake is more than enough!



ingredients
3/4 cup soy milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons vegan caramel sauce
crushed peanuts for garnish

icing:
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
2 tbsp almond/soy milk
1/3 cup vegan caramel sauce
1 tablespoon peanut butter

instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tray with paper liners. mix the soy milk with the apple vinegar and set aside to curdle.

2. In a large bowl, cream the peanut butter, oil, sugar, molasses, caramel sauce, soy milk, and vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder/soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until well combined.

4. fill the cupcake liners and bake for 20-26 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean!

5. mix the shortening and margarine together until nice and fluffy. Add sugar, keep beating. Add the caramel and peanut butter. Keep beating. Add soy/almond milk and beat for about 5 more minutes until you achieve the consistency you want.

6. Once the cupcakes are cooled, pipe a nice swirl of icing on top. Sprinkle some crushed peanuts on top and enjoy!