Sweet Victories!

If you dont like Pumpkin, I am going to assume you were raised in a pumpkin holocaust and therefore have never tasted it and have only from this point on have made snap judgements about its flavors. Also, for this purpose lets assume you hate fall, too. In which case I say read no further, you sorry excuse for an American. If you think the Indians (involuntarily) gave up their land for you to hate their crops, you should think again.

Anyway, I made a Pumpkin Mac & Cheese for my book club tonight but with the leftovers I decided to make a Pumpkin Pie Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Pumpkin is amazing in that way that it lasts over 2-3 recipes. Shawn made pumpkin soup last week and it turned into a pumpkin bread, too.

It was a pretty good weekend in San Francisco, though. Rained like the devil! Our apartment sprung leaks and we looked like fools trying to catch every drip drop and save our TV from wetness. Friday night we saw Paul F Tomkins at the Elbo Room and had dinner at Weird Fish. Excellent date night, if I do say so myself. Saturday we made dinner with friends and Sunday - THE PACKERS WON!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup canned pumpkin pie
1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of canola oil
3 large eggs
1 package cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
2 oz of butter

Step One: Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.Sift the flour, baking powder & soda, cinnamon. With an electric mixer - mix the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth.Slowly add the flour mixture until incorporated. Careful not to over beat.Fill the liners 1/2-2/3 full and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17-20 minutes.

Step Two: Make frosting! Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and butter with your electric mixer and frost!