s'mores and soccer

soccer officially started back this past weekend and with that means potlucks!!! i am very happy to report that on saturday my girls team won their first game back 3-0, and after a hard season last year, a win was very welcome. my game on sunday didnt go quite the same. We ended up losing 2-1, but we are calling it a tie because one of the goals was so offside it wasnt even funny. but thats okay, we still had something to look forward too after. potluck! we all popped open a beer and poured them into our red cups (the only way your allowed to drink on the fields) and started the party. we always have great food, and since everyone has a different cultural background its always different foods. a few of my favorites include poke (basically sushi without the rice) and this rice dish that has mushrooms and seafood and stuff like that, but the best part is that you wrap it in dried seaweed. while it sounds weird and was weird to me the first time i tried it, it has become one of my favorites. everything i at on sunday was awesome. we ended up not staying as long as normal since it was freezing! not only had we just gotten through playing 90 minutes of soccer (and i sweat a lot!) but it was so windy that it was just downright cold! (i would say 70-73 degrees)







i took s'mores cupcakes and while i have made them before there were 2 things different. first- since i gave up chocolate for lent i wasnt able to try them as i went along to make sure everything was tasting as it should. second- i made them with my newest muffin pan, the one that leaves spaces for filling. i have to say, its really hard making something when you cant try it, i will not be making anything else with chocolate in it during lent :) and i dont think i will be making them the same way in this pan again. with a large marshmallow cut in half in the middle of it, the tips that create the hole in the middle didnt work very well. the tips kind of pushed the marshmallows to the side so when they baked and grew some of them bubbled over. but the bonus to that was that there was a nice little hole to put the 2nd marshmallow into and then top with ganache. i did make a few more without the special muffin pan and those turned out much better than the first time i made them, so that was good too. i would have to say they were a big hit since 1-everyone told me they loved them and 2- they were all gone and i didnt have to take any home with me (it wasnt hard to twist their arms to get them to take them home with them). but to give credit where credit is due- i got the recipe for these from bakerella.com she always has the neatest stuff!