Super Easy Pumpkin Bread

Although I have a fear of cooking, I am far more confident in my baking ability.
Pumpkin bread is one of my favorite things-- it takes will power to stop myself from getting a slice when I go to starbucks every morning.

Here's a delicious and lower-cal version of my favorite treat.
It was a huge hit with the thursday night trapeze crew, and my boyfriend approved.
And if I can successfully make it, I believe anyone can.

This recipe makes 2 loaves

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups of flour
1 Tb. baking powder
2 tsps. ground ginger
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 stick of melted butter
1/2 cup of apple sauce
1 can (16 oz) pure pumpkin

Recipe
Grease two 9x5 loaf pans
Adjust oven rack to lower- middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Mix flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs and sugars in a medium bowl. Whisk butter and applesauce until fully mixed in and then add pumpkin.

Beat wet ingredients into dry ingredients until smooth. Divide evenly between the two pans.

Bake for around 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool for a few minutes and then run a knife around the pan to loosen the bread.

Enjoy.

Thanksgiving Activities: GivTivs and making Frosted Candy Bar Stuffed Cookie Cup

Over the summer I worked at the day camp I attended as a kid in Westchester and became absolutely obsessed with my co-workers.

For Thanksgiving weekend we decided to relive the summer and spend as many hours together as possible, and of course attempt to cook something delicious.

We successfully made frosted candy bar stuffed cookied cups, which live up to every part of their name.

Recipe Courtesy of http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/new-recipes/frosted-candy-bar-stuffed-cookie-cups.html

 and Annica's obsession with pinterest 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, 

melted and cooled

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

12 mini candy bars (such as snickers, milky ways, twix)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Next add the eggs to the wet ingredients and beat well. Finally add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. 

Scoop batter into a regular-sized muffin tin, filling the cups about 1/3 full. Top with fun-sized candy bars. Scoop remaining batter on top of the candy bars, filling the cups about 2/3 full.

 Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden.

Makes 12 cookie cups.

Frosting:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened3 cups powdered sugar1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon Tahitian vanilla extract (we used regular)

Place the butter, sugar, milk and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.

Ours was a bit thin, so we added more powdered sugar

We also decided to be fancy and add crushed candies

and voila:

A delicious, and majorly filling success. Pair this with our dinner of chinese take out, and you will have quite the food baby

The Four of Us with our beautiful cupcakes. They actually baked, I just watched and documented.

These things are absolutely delicious, but also super dense. I could barely finish one but it was soooo good.

All agreed, it was a successful weekend of GivTivs. 

Gym Class Review: Fly Girls @ Crunch Union Square

After a year-ish at David Barton Gym, I decided to join Crunch. Ultimately I needed a change of scenery and craved different group fitness classes

 In the future I will write more to compare my experience at the 2 different gyms, but for now, I am going to review classes I have taken at Crunch. 

Fly Girls (Crunch Gym, Union Square Location)

Quick description: cardio dance class set to 90s hip hop dances

My experience: While I have a background in dance, I am not a hip-hop dancer by any means. I was a bit apprehensive about taking a hip-hop based cardio dance class since I'm not a huge fan of that style.

During the class I couldn't help but think “I am soooo awkward and white”, however, I had a really good time dancing and enjoyed doing a style outside of my comfort zone in an environment that I am not getting graded and evaluated by teachers.

As far as a workout, I was dripping with sweat by the end of it, and my legs were incredibly sore before the warm up was over. 

The next day I wasn't really sore, but I felt great after the class, a perfect combo of having just worked out but still having enough energy to continue on with the day.

I highly recommend this class for people interested in a fun cardio dance class with hip hop songs from the 90s. You feel like you actually accomplished something by the end of class and have a nice little dance routine to show off.

Welcome!

I tend to start blogs and abandon them, but here I am again trying to start a new blog.

This will be about me, a 21 year old college student majoring in theater at New York University on the verge of graduation. I am in love with musical theater, a gym junkie and terrified of cooking.

This will be about life in the city, what to eat, where to go, what to do, etc and venturing into the real world post college.