The first day of fall!

Today may be the first day of fall. But judging by the harvest I got from the garden tonight summer's not entirely ready to give-up just yet.

German Striped Tomato- disguised as a pumpkin. I love those food coloring markers.

Happy First Day Of Fall!

Cupkins Giveaway Winner, Recipe and an Announcement!

Thank you all so much for all your thoughtful comments and theme suggestions. I read every one and have some fabulous ideas for the year to come. Boy themes came up a lot, and I thought some of the mentions of coffee shop, cookie, and food look-a-like themes could be great (just to name a few).

In keeping with the cupkins tradition Joanne and I do have recipes to share with you this month but first I'd like to announce a change in the way we're going to do Cupkins starting in October!

We're going to turn Cupkins into a link party.

Joanne and I will now announce the Cupkins theme a month ahead of time and decide on a post date (usually the first Monday of each month, unless there is a holiday). We'll take turns hosting the link party each month.

Cupkins has been more fun that I ever imagined it could be. Each theme is like a new mini creative challenge. I've come up with things I never thought I could or would in this last year.

Now we'd like you to be involved- yes you! Join in the fun! Share your creativity, link up with a picture, a recipe, or a how-to for a cupcake or a muffin that fits the theme.

So here's how it works:

Next Month our theme is Halloween (and you can imagine how excited I am)!We'll be hosting the first link party Monday October 4th here on Mega•Crafty.

All you have to do is share a link to a post on you're blog here in my October Cupkins post.

I hope you'll join us!

Now here's what Joanne and I came up with for September:

We chose football as our inspiration. I became a serious football fan when I met my husband and now I look forward to the start of the season almost as much as I look forward to fall in general.

And no game day is complete in our house without fun game-time snacks. Some of my husbands favorite "football foods" are nachos and cornbread, so I came up with a savory hors d'oeuvre style bite that combines these into a yummy treat- Chili Cheese Cornbread Muffins.

These are perfect for a party.

I used mostly pre-made or boxed ingredients so they came together really quickly. And since they are mini muffins you can make a tray big enough to please a crowd in almost no time at all. The recipe is below (under the announcement of the winner of the giveaway).

And don't forget to head over to Joanne's blog to see the winner of her giveaway and her post on decorating a cupcake that goes with whatever team you're a fan of (love that idea).

And last but not least-

The random number generator spit out a number and the winner of my Cupkins giveaway is is.... (insert drum roll here)

Sarah@Celiac in the City!

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the dessert stand, scrapbook paper and stickers.

Please contact me by email (which is in my blogger profile) with your mailing information.

Chili Cheese Cornbread Muffin Recipe:

• 1 box corn bread muffin mix (I used Jiffy- which only requires adding an egg and milk)
• I replaced the 1/3 cup of milk with 1/3 cup sour cream. This gave me a slightly tangy muffin but more importantly a thicker batter.

• 1/2-3/4 cup of chili. I added this to the top of the uncooked muffins and baked them according to the temperature on the box (400). These needed to bake for less time than the box stated because they were mini muffins. You can either use a little leftover homemade chili or the stuff from a can- your choice.

• When the muffins had only a few more minutes to cook I sprinkled cheese on top and let that melt. (Yum you really can't go wrong melted cheese).
• Serve warm to a hungry crowd of fans!

Giveaway: Just A Few Hours Left To Enter!

If you haven't entered my Cupkins giveaway for this Wilton dessert stand, scrapbook paper and Martha Stewart Craft Stickers make sure you leave a comment on the giveaway post- here.

The giveaway ends tonight at midnight Eastern Standard Time.

You can also enter to win Joanne's Cupkins giveaway- here.

Good Luck to all who've entered, I'll post the winner tomorrow.

Giveaway: Cupkins 1 Year Anniversary

I can't believe it but Joanne and I have been doing Cupkins (our cupcake and muffin collaboration) for a whole year already. We've done a different theme each month, sometimes focusing on just one ingredient (in May we picked strawberries because they were in season) other times focusing on a holiday or season of the year.

We wanted to take a look back over the year (and celebrate with giveaway- more about that below). So here's a collage of the all the Cupkins from this past year with links to each recipe post.

(top to bottom, left to right)

1. Apple Cider Muffins 2. Caramel Apple Cupcakes 3. Jack O'Lantern Muffins 4. Spooky Eyeball Cupcakes

5. Corn Muffin Stuffin 6. Chocolate Turkey Cupcakes 7. Cranberry Orange Muffins 8. Sweet Potato Cupcakes

9. Egg Nog Muffins 10. Candy Cane Cupcakes 11. Pineapple Orange Sunrise Muffins 12. Light Lemon Cupcakes

13. Strawberry & Chocolate Champagne Muffins 14. Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes 13. Guinness Spiced Muffins

14. Double Chocolate Irish Creme Cupcakes 15. Daffodil Lemon Muffins 16. Spring Swirl Cupcakes

17. Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins 18. Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes 19. Chocolate Stout Muffins

20. Chocolate Banana "Dad" Cupcakes 21. 4th of July Red, White & Blueberry Muffins 22. Red, White & Blue Cupcakes

23. Toasted Coconut & Dark Chocolate Chunk Muffins 24. Pina Colada Cupcakes 25. Trail Mix Muffins

26. S'Mores Cupcakes

And now, as promised, Joanne and I are BOTH doing a GIVEAWAY!

I've got this really cool Dessert Stand (perfect for showing off all your special baked goods), 5 sheets of scrapbook paper and 2 sets of baking themed Martha Stewart Stickers. To give to one lucky reader.

To enter my giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment, in this post, giving me one cupkins theme idea for this up coming year. A theme can be pretty much anything-Joanne and I have done all sorts of them, everything from Halloween to spring, camping and Mid-winter tropical vacations.

The giveaway is open to US readers (sorry international readers) and goes until Midnight (eastern time) on Tuesday September 21st. Please enter only once.

(Please be sure to leave me your email address if it's not in your profile when you comment)

I'll announce the winner in my post on Wednesday! Along with another special announcement on how Cupkins is going to get more interactive in the year to come.

Once you've entered my giveaway head over to Joanne's blog (here's the link) to enter her giveaway for this adorable set of cupcake stamps and an ink pad.

Good Luck!!!