My friends, thank you for your kind comments on my last post, where I shared how my debit card number had been stolen and my bank account emptied with fraudulent purchases. Though our bank never opened an investigation despite our reporting the theft on Friday and faxing a letter of dispute to them, I’m happy to say there is a happy ending. On Tuesday, after yet another bank representative told me they couldn’t look into things until they processed our letter (72 hours) and opened an inquiry (another 10 days), I called Macy*s - where all the fraudulent purchases were made. Not only did Macy*s take an interest in our situation but they called the bank and forced them to give us our money back. Turns out, the purchases for luxury items I could never afford had been automatically refused by Macy*s, so the order had never gone through. If our bank had bothered to look into the situation they would have discovered this, but alas they didn’t - and thankfully Macy*s stepped it. Thank you Macy*s.

To celebrate, on Wednesday morning I decided to treat myself to a batch of spiced pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. I’d never had pumpkin pancakes before and wasn’t sure what to expect, but as you can see in the photos above, they turned out beautifully. In terms of taste, I’d say that the pancakes rated an 8 out of 10 on the official Ari deliciousness scale. I played around with the recipe just a bit, adding more cinnamon, less ginger and more nutmeg, then adding a tablespoon of wheat-germ, which I love in pancakes. The end result: fluffy, perfectly formed pancakes that were satisfying enough for me to finish the entire stack - no sense holding back when celebrating right? I may return to this recipe in the near future for more adjustments and taste tests, but in the meantime, I’m sharing the recipe below. I put a pumpkin face on my pancakes by cutting out the classic Jack-O-Lantern profile on a sheet of paper, placing it over the pancakes, then dusting them with confectionery sugar. I couldn’t resist with Halloween just around the corner! With a little more sugar and some melted butter, these pancakes were a great way to start my day. You could, of course, go the maple syrup route instead.

Before I go, some interesting bits of pumpkin fact and lore:

• Pumpkin’s are fruits and their blossoms are edible. They can be baked into breads, used as edible garnishes, or even batter-dipped and fried.
• Pumpkin was one of the foods introduced by the Native Americans to the colonists. Native Americans pounded strips of pumpkin flat, dried them, and wove them into mats for trading. They also dried pumpkin for food.
• 90% of the pumpkin is made of water. Illinois grows more pumpkins than any other state in the country. It harvests nearly 12,300 acres of fruit every year.
• The earliest pumpkin pie made in America was quite different than the pumpkin pie we enjoy today. Pilgrims and early settlers made pumpkin pie by hollowing out a pumpkin, filling the shell with milk, honey and spices and baking it. (source)
• The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was in 2005 and weighed 2,020 pounds.
• Pumpkins were formerly considered a remedy for freckles and snakebites.
• Each year, growers compete for the honor of growing the world’s largest pumpkin. The largest recorded pumpkin grown was on October 1, 2005 at the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Weighoff. It weighed 1,469 pounds, breaking all previous world records, and was grown by Larry Checkon of North Cambria, Penn. (source)
• Jack-O-Lanterns originated in Ireland and Scotland, where people would carve scary faces into turnips or potatoes and place them on in their windows to frighten away “Stingy Jack” or other evil spirits. When they immigrated to America, they discovered that pumpkins were perfect for carving.

Happy Halloween! I hope you have tons of fun on this spooky holiday, and don’t forget about the monthly book giveaway! October’s giveaway features two books: Some Like It Hot: 50 Drinks to Warm Your Spirits by Holly Burrows, and Great Grilled Cheese: 50 Innovative Recipes for Stove Top, Grill, and Sandwich Maker by Laura Werlin. The winners will be posted on the giveaway page on November 1st.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes
Slightly adapted from Marthastewart.com

Ingredients: Makes 10 pancakes

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon wheat germ
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 egg
• Extra butter for cooking and serving the pancakes, maple syrup. You could also serve with confectioners sugar. Up to you!

For a spiced breakfast treat, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt. Add wheat germ, nutmeg; and a pinch of ground cloves. In a separate bowl, stir together the milk, canned pumpkin puree, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and the egg. Fold mixture into dry ingredients. Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat; pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side; serve with butter and syrup, or with confectioners sugar.

Every now and then, as I’m rushing through the New York City subways, a song titled “Wear Sunscreen” shuffles onto my iPod. It’s based on an essay titled “Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young,” which was written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997. Hollywood producer Baz Luhrmann turned it into a music single in 1999, and I like to listen to it as a reminder of what really matters. There is one stanza in particular that hits home every time:

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. (Click here to listen to the entire song)

I worry all the time. About all the work I have to do, about money, about not getting enough sleep. Sometimes I even worry that I worry to much - seriously! It’s a bad habit that I’ve been working on, yet I never realized how true Mary’s words were until I logged into my bank account this past Friday and learned that someone had stolen my debit/credit card number, then emptied my checking account by purchasing some $1,500 worth of merchandise at Macy*s West. Ah, so this is the kind of thing Mary was talking about - the kind of worry-worthy event that blindsides you, in this case, at 8:47PM on some idle Friday.

We immediately called the bank, and while my husband was listening to the manager say that, sorry, there was nothing they could do until we sent a handwritten letter to the debit card department (yes, really), I logged into Twitter. “Holy —,” I wrote, “Someone stole my credit card and emptied our accounts.” The next morning my husband laughed about this: “I can’t believe you began twittering while I was on the phone.” But to me it made perfect sense. Even though I haven’t met most of you face-to-face, in many ways you are more of a support network than anyone I know in “real” life. That my feelings of friendship were not one-sided became evident when folks began responding to my tweets. They offered condolences, they offered shoulders to cry on, some even offered to send us money to get by. I was deeply touched, and though we didn’t need to accept money from anyone online both my husband and I were amazed that so many people were willing to lend a hand. As I wrote to one generous woman who offered to mail $300 to us: although we have family to help us get by, you’ve just proven how much Twitter can create a virtual family too. So thank you to everyone who was there for me, when all I wanted to do was curl up in a little ball and cry.

Life goes on and we’re still dealing with the bank, which won’t launch an investigation until they receive our letter, and then informs us it could take 45 days for us to (maybe) get our money back. We were especially careful when planning our menu for the week and were able to cut a nice chunk of change out of our normal grocery bill - something we may want to continue doing in the future. It’s a distressing situation to be sure, but it did put everything in perspective. If I had the past to live over I’d have fewer imaginary troubles and, as Benjamin Franklin advised, I wouldn’t worry about what may never happen. I’d keep in the sunlight. I plan to do that from now on.

Looking through my pantry for items that could be incorporated into our meals this week, I noticed I had an incredible amount of chocolate and marshmallows. Then an idea hit me, and I decided to use some of my supplies to make a batch of cream-filled devil’s food cupcakes. It was all in the name of cheering us up, you understand, and though it’s hard to think of a topper it turns out there is one: decorating said cupcakes with some of the Halloween candy we have stockpiled for Friday. As you can see above and below, I had a good time.

I used Melissa Murphy’s recipe for Devil’s Food Cake (from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book) as the foundation for the cupcakes - this is my favorite chocolate cake recipe, hands down, with a rich flavor that gains depth from the addition of strong brewed coffee. While the cupcakes were baking I whipped up a batch of billowy cream made with marshmallow fluff and confectioners sugar, then put it into a large ziploc bag fitted with a pastry tip for piping. When the cupcakes came out of the oven, I inserted the tip of the pastry bag into the top of each cupcake, then filled them with cream. Voila! They were like Hostess cupcakes, but homemade and hence yummier. (I think yummier is a word? Spell check says yes.)

After I filled the cupcakes I turned my attention to the frosting, which is chocolate buttercream in this case. Finally, I used sliced gummy worms, black licorice, marshmallows, halved Whoppers, green licorice and gummy eyes and lips to decorate the cupcakes. The gummy worms had a hard time sticking to the frosting, so I used some of the leftover cream-filling as a bit of edible glue, and I snipped away at a gummy “toe” in my body parts candy bag (same one with the eyes & teeth) to make the nose for another cupcake face. It was super fun and made me wish I had kids to share the experience with.

Before I go a few updates:

• Check out my new Halloween blinkie, on the sidebar. It links to an entire page of blinkies that you are welcome to use on your site. I hope you like them.
• The About page has been significantly updated with new photos, text and additional answers in the FAQ section.
• New books have been added to the giveaway page for November! December books will be up soon too.

Finally, don’t forget about the monthly book giveaway! October’s giveaway features two books: Some Like It Hot: 50 Drinks to Warm Your Spirits by Holly Burrows, and Great Grilled Cheese: 50 Innovative Recipes for Stove Top, Grill, and Sandwich Maker by Laura Werlin.

Creepy Cream Filled Devil’s Food Cupcakes

Step 1: Make the cupcakes.

The cupcakes featured here use Melissa Murphy’s recipe for Devil’s Food Cake from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. Melissa has generously given me permission to share the recipe with you. Other Melissa Murphy recipes on this site include Hazelnut Raspberry Cake, Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies and Fallen Chocolate Soufflé Cake. You can also read an interview with Melissa here.

Devil’s Food Cake

Ingredients: Makes 24 regular sized cupcakes, or 12 jumbo cupcakes
• 6 ounces best-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used 4 oz unsweetened and 2 oz bittersweet, because that’s what I had in my pantry)
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup best-quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups hot strong brewed coffee

* method adapted for cupcakes

Cut parchment paper into rounds that fit the bottoms of your cupcake molds. Spray each mold with Pam, then firmly press the parchment paper round onto the bottom of the mold, making sure there is no room for batter to run underneath. Lightly flour the molds and tap out any excess flour.

In the top of a double boiler set over simmering, not boiling, water, melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. (I used a large pot of simmering water and a large metal bowl to make my “double boiler.” Fill the pot about 1/4 full, bring to a simmer, then place your metal bowl into the pot - there should be a fair amount of space between the water and the bottom of your bowl and the bowl should form a seal with the pot.) When the chocolate is completely melted, whisk in the vegetable oil until smooth. Remove from the heat, but keep warm over the hot water.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream and eggs until smooth.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, and mix until combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the hot coffee in a stream, and mix until combined. (Again, scrape down the sides of the bowl.) The batter will be loose.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake molds. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool in the cupcake tin for 25 minutes before turning out the cupcakes onto the rack.

Step 2: Make the cream filling

Cream Filling
From Food & Wine Magazine

Ingredients:
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 cup Marshmallow Fluff
• 1 1/2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon heavy cream

While the cupcakes are baking, make the filling as follows:

In a medium bowl, beat the butter with the confectioners’ sugar, Marshmallow Fluff and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the heavy cream at medium speed until fluffy. Transfer all but 1/2 cup of the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain round tip. Beat the remaining 1 teaspoon of cream into the remaining 1/2 cup of filling and reserve.

Insert the tip of the pastry bag about 1/2 inch deep into the bottom of each cupcake; squeeze lightly to fill with cream. You can pipe more cream into each cupcake than I did in the photo above. Don’t worry about the hole on the top as the frosting will cover it.

Step 3: Make the chocolate buttercream frosting

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (My Recipe)

Ingredients: Makes enough frosting for 12 regular sized cupcakes or 6 jumbo. Double this recipe if making more than 12 cupcakes.
• 1 stick (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons best-quality unsweetened cocoa powder

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of the confectioners sugar and 1 tablespoon of the cream. Whisk until combined. Add cocoa powder and remaining sugar and cream. Whisk until the ingredients are combined and you have a light, fluffy frosting. Use immediately.