Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to the best Mom a girl could have!!

I've been in San Diego for the last week, and it's been a BUSY week. My agenda has included a work reunion party, visiting my friend's new baby boy, betting on the ponies at the Del Mar Race Track, going to see Dirty Dozen Brass Band (Jazz/Blues), seeing "The Other Guys", and having many breakfasts, lunches, and dinners (drinks included) with a lot of great friends and family. I'll be sure to post pictures soon.

Mom loves the races, so we headed to the Del Mar Race Track on Wednesday. My sister-in-law and nephew and told me to bet on the grey horses, so when we got there with only 3 minutes left to bet before the 1st race started, Mom and I quickly looked at the horses, and bet on the only grey one out there. As luck would have it, it wasn't the favorite (so the odds were good), and it WON! Here's a pic of Mom and me with our winnings (minimal but still exciting).

To end my vacation, my family had a birthday dinner for my Mom. The menu included Jack's Famous Flank Steak, Baja Chipotle Chicken Breasts, Cold Pesto Rigatoni Salad, Smashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, and a green salad. Desserts included Boston Cream Cake and Butterscotch Cupcakes. My favorites from dinner were:

Smashed Potatoes: Small golden yukon potatoes (with skins) mashed with butter, bacon pieces, cheddar cheese, and sour cream

Corn on the Cob: I LOVE corn on the cob, but I usually just boil the corn and add butter. I noticed at work, and in a lot of food magazines, there have been a variety of toppings for corn so I decided to spice it up a bit. I husked the cobs, brushed them with melted butter, and sprinkled some chili powder on them. I then threw them directly on the grill and kept them on for about 12 minutes on medium heat, making sure to turn them regularly and adding additional melted butter as needed. They were great!

Butterscotch Cupcakes: My mom's favorite dessert is anything butterscotch flavored so I decided to try butterscotch cupcakes. After doing a lot of searching, I realized most Butterscotch cupcakes are plain cupcakes with a butterscotch frosting. Here are mine.

Butterscotch Cupcake Recipe

Cupcake ingredients:

1 egg

2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 tbsp corn syrup

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 salt

Cupcake instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter nonstick muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.

2. In large bowl, whisk egg. Whisk in brown sugar, milk, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla. Sprinkle flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until blended and smooth.

3. Spoon into prepared muffin pan. Bake fro 15 to 20 min or until cake tester inserted into center cupcake comes out clean.

4. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely

Note: I think this might be an English recipe as the cupcakes were dense and I find English cupcakes are often a dense cake. They aren't overwhelmingly sweet which is good since the frosting is super sweet.

Frosting ingredients:

2 tbsp butterscotch-flavored morsels

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Frosting instructions:

1. While cupcakes are cooling, melt butterscotch morsels in microwave on high for 45 secons, or use double boiler over hot water.

2. Mix butter with butterscotch, then add powdered sugar.

3. Blend frosting with mixer until consistency is smooth.

4. Spread frosting atop cooled cupcakes.