Double Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes

Remember those chocolate oranges that were also flavored orange? I vaguely remember seeing them a lot when I was a kid (apparently this was because Anthony was a big fan so Mom would always get him one for his Christmas stocking).

Like most fruit, orange just goes great with chocolate. So I've wanted to make something chocolate-orange for a while. I decided that the Labor Day BBQ at my parents' house (side note: it's been 4 years and I'm still not used to not calling it my house) would be the perfect time to make something chocolate-orange. Since I hadn't made cupcakes in a while, I decided on those. I chose a recipe from one of the Simply Sweet magazine, a dessert magazine from the same publishers as Southern Living and Cooking Light (among others).

Oh, and if you're wondering where I got that chocolate orange pictured above, I found it partially hidden in a display at a sweet shop I adore called Lolli & Pops. There are several locations in the Seattle-area (two of which I can get to via transit - not exactly a good thing).

Easy S'mores Cookie Bars

This year for Chelan, I ended up baking some treats and distributing them amongst the 3 units. It started with "I should make M&M cookies since Nonni probably won't be well enough to make them." (she's been having heart problems this year) and evolved into "Why don't I make treats for everyone to enjoy in their units?" I ended up making the cookies, Chocolate Chip Blondies, and a s'mores bars recipe I found on Pinterest (I had some graham cracker crumbs and marshmallow cream leftover from Kevin's birthday present). Since I was making it right before vacation, I decided not to take the time to do a blog post for the s'mores bars.

They were a big hit. Definitely a favorite. So when an end-of-summer and successful-busy-season potluck was planned at work, I knew exactly what I was going to make. I figured, if my family liked the bars, why wouldn't my co-workers? The recipe comes from Fabulessly Frugal.