Although the biggest Mardi Gras celebration happens on Fat Tuesday, I recommend you have your own party, complete with beads and masks, this Saturday night. Serve a delectable spread of Southern finger foods, including some classic New Orleans dishes. I've scoured our recipes to come up with an amazing menu, so check it out now!
Last week my sister hosted a Summer cocktail party that doubled as a birthday celebration for two friends. Since I've been known to make birthday cakes in the past, she asked me if I could do two cakes for the party. Immediately I began to worry: baking and assembling two cakes requires a lot of time. Just as I was starting to panic, I remembered the ingenious invention that is the cupcake! Each birthday girl could get her own minicake topped with a candle. 
Inspired by our slideshow of unconventional cupcake recipes, I decided to make hummingbird cupcakes. A native to the South, hummingbird cake is a cream cheese-frosted white cake with crushed pineapple, coconut, mashed bananas, and walnuts mixed into the batter. It's sweet, moist, fruity, crunchy, creamy, and divine — quite simply, it's everything you want in a cupcake. Although the pineapple topping is extra work, it's worth it. The cupcakes wouldn't be the same without the feathery juicy dried pineapple. To take a look at the recipe I used, read more
