Jalapeno Tequila for Mitzi's Bday

Some months ago, Mitzi ordered some kind of drink with jalapeno tequila. She really liked it and since then I've been looking for recipes to file away for her birthday.

Enter the spicy-cool blood orange jalapeno margarita recipe. Doesn't that sound awesome!? I love drinks with blood orange... yum.

Back to the gift. I bought some tequila, sliced up a jalapeno and dropped it in the bottle. I wrote the recipe for the margarita on a little card, tied it to the bottle, and hello, birthday gift!

photo from the kitchn

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

I made mini maple bacon cupcakes (thanks to Vanilla Garlic's blog) to bring to Nibbe's afternoon cupcake party. I think they were a hit... definitely a surprise to all as they ate the salty and sweet cupcake. (I'm sure it goes without saying that Mike liked them... they are made with bacon after all.)

I think I would have liked a little more maple flavor... or maybe I'll add a dash of cinnamon next time! I have run out of icing but have a couple of cupcakes left that I think I'll dip into maple syrup... just to make sure they don't go to waste ;)

Baked Apple Streusel Pancake Bars

The second part of the post-photo brunch was the baked apple streusel pancake bars! (recipe from The Kitchn) These tasted good and were simple to put together but I think in halving the recipe the bake time or some of the items didn't bake quite right. As you can see below, my cinnamon topping sunk right to the bottom! I'm going to try this recipe again though... we all enjoyed it! Mike also topped his with some maple syrup which was a nice addition!