A Classic Cupcake

This is always someone's favorite; Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting.  I originally found the recipe in a magazine and changed a couple of things that the recipe called for, hoping for a more signature way of baking.  This is a moist and very sweet cupcake that everyone has something nice to say about.

One of my favorites!  The cake of this cupcake is my traditional chocolate cake with  coconut milk instead of regular milk and coconut extract for a little extra added coconut-ness.  The frosting is Coconut Butter Cream with toasted coconut as a garnish. 

This was my first attempt with this recipe and I think it went well.  This is the very traditional yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  I, once again, found the recipe from a magazine and changed somethings about the ingredients in hopes to enhance the moisture of the cupcake.  I think that this recipe was successful, the top of the cake had a sort of candied quality which seemed to help preserve the moisture of the cake. 

Below is one of my favorite cupcake photos, I didn't take the photo and the hand isn't mine but the cupcake is my creation. 

I hope that you have enjoyed learning about my cupcakes, there are more to come! In the future I plan on sharing my Lemon Cupcakes and eventually Ginger Bread (we'll wait for Christmas).  I am also going to explore recipes for Cherry Chip, Stout, Merlot, Key Lime, Margarita, Strawberry Shortcake, Rum-Cake and many more so stay tuned for more cupcakes full of Whimsy and Merriment!

Fritta...

I made this!  Special thanks to my recipe book and a hunger for eggs!  Frittata with green peppers, green onions, bacon, salsa and cheese!  Yummers!

Cupcake Questions

A co-worker asked me about cupcakes and this is my answer (I like when people ask me for cupcake advice)!

Hi Sara,

Since you are the cupcake aficionado, I thought I would pick your brain for a minute. My son’s first birthday is coming up and I would like to send cupcakes to daycare with him. Most of the other kids are 2 and younger so I would like to find a recipe that won’t get the kids too hyped up on sugar- I don’t think the daycare provider would like me very much if I did that to her! Do you know of any good recipes that use applesauce or a sugar alternative? I’m not having much luck with online searches.

Thanks Darcie, 

HELLO!

Great question!  I’m not sure about the actual cake part, how you could make that lower sugar, I would need to try a few recipes before I suggested something.  I would think that the frosting might be a bigger problem than the cake as far as sugar goes.  I think that whip cream would be a good alternative to frosting, you could still add food coloring and pipe it on to the cupcakes; unless you are frosting the cupcakes right before you give them to the kids, I would say that Cool Whip would be your best bet (because it holds up better).  I have heard some things about sugar substitutes (splenda, agave nectar), some people say that the reaction is similar to sugar, some say that it is not.  Other alternatives could be carrot cake or angel food cake.  Something that I’ve always wanted to try is making cupcakes out of frozen yogurt, kind of like an ice cream cake but with frozen yogurt and in cupcake form. 

Hope that helps! Happy Birthday to your little guy!

So there it is!  My first piece of cupcake advice!

Sunday Dinner

Tasty dinner of: steamed broccoli, pesto tortellini, and blue cheese and green onion stuffed chicken.  It was a  great dinner, the chicken was baked with a whole wheat breading and the tortellini was Trader Joe's! 

Atlas or Choose Your Own Adventure?

Lately I have been asked "Where are you going? What are you doing?" relatively often.  Usually being asked these questions would cause me a great deal of anxiety because I am not the person who has their lives mapped out like an atlas.  I liken my life to a "choose your own adventure" book, you never know what's happening next you just turn a page and the fun begins! I know that there are a million different things that I can do, when should I do those things? When should I turn the page to the next adventure? (answer: right now)

But why do I dislike being asked about my future? I feel a little judged when I have no idea what my future is and everyone else has a plan, it's not that I mind not having a plan because obviously I would have a plan if I wanted a plan.  For the first time ever, I do not feel bad when I say that I don't necessarily know what my future holds, but I know it holds a great adventure.

Here is a list of things I can or would like to do (excluding my current profession) 
- a barista - i love coffee and I actually used to do this
- a receptionist or administrative assistant - I like organizing things and being nice
- a waitress - I enjoy giving people service with a smile
- personal organizer - I love organizing things
- a customer service representative - I am good with people and I like them
- a nanny - as much as I complain about children, I enjoy them
- event planner - i like events
- a crafter - making pretty things, what else is there?
- a baker - I might have to get up too early to be a baker
- a business owner - I really want to have my own shop of some sort

What it boils down to is that I don't know where I am going and I'm not sure where I'll end up but every chapter will be an adventure because every chapter has been an adventure.  

Possibililtarian-ism

"Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities — always see them, for they're always there."

I love this quote, it really speaks to me. I think that this will be something I strive for every day to ... RAISE YOUR (my) SIGHTS AND SEE POSSIBILITIES.

The Packing Purge

I've already started packing and with packing comes the purging of worldly possessions I don't need.  I've started and I can't stop!  The purging that is.  For some reason I love the cleansing feeling that comes with ridding myself of "things" that I do not need. 

I am not one of those people who wants to want less, I want A LOT of "things" and when I get all of the things I want, I want MORE! I LOVE "things," I love buying them, having them, displaying them and using them; but apparently I also loving the simplification of removing "things" from my life.  I blame two of my very good friends for this; Rebecca and Lindsay.

In college we played a game called "Throw S#*^ Away." At the end of the year we were aloud to go into eachother's rooms and decide what that person had to throw away.  This usually happened with a great deal of laugh, screaming and dramatic tossing of things into trash cans.  Sometimes I still can't get over the hump of throwing something away without a friendly nudge, of "you really don't need that." I have yet to regret a decision of throwing something away that a friend has suggest I throw away.  So, I'll purge my "things," but never my friends because they make everything just a little easier. 

Self-pitty be gone!

49 days, 9 hours, 14 minutes, 49...48... 47... seconds, okay you catch my drift.  I essentially have 50 days left in the mid-west (because my countdown is to May 31st @ 5:00pm) and I don't want to spend them feeling sorry for myself and pretending to be happy.  So I am going to not worry about the things I can't change that make me unhappy and focus on leaving people with a great last memory of me. 

Part of being happy is feeling healthy, so I am going to stop carbo-loading, start running again, eat more protein, smile more and laugh more.  I will enjoy time at the dog park and embrace every moment of Winston running, jumping and playing.  I will enjoy mid-west weather, especially thunderstorms.  I will enjoy packing, and the thrill it gives me to purge myself of unnecessary worldly possessions.  I will listen to music that makes me happy and listen to it loudly.  I will not take the drama of life seriously!     

Heart Break

From the darker side of Whimsy & Merriment: I am here to tell you that heart break doesn't just happen when you're in love and just because you know heart break is coming doesn't make it hurt any less.  I recently applied for a promotion within my current institution, I saw that the new position came with a new set of challenges that I was 100% sure I could handle.  I could go into the details of what the position is and how I was so well suited for the position, but it doesn't matter.  After months of agonizing over if I would or would not get the position, I did not.  At first I didn't even say anything, I just hung up the phone and helped the student who magically appeared at my door right as I was told, "we decided to hire someone else." Then I called friends, cried and talked.

The next day, I turned in my resignation. 

During my interview not one person asked me why I didn't want to stay in my current position, I was only ever asked why I wanted to be elevated (stupid questions, anyone worth their salt should want to be elevated for their hard work and for new challenges).  I am good at my current job, I am not loved by my students but my job isn't to be loved it is to hold students accountable for their actions, to show my students what growing up is and I do that. They may not realize what I am doing, but I do it.  A few weeks ago I yelled at a student, he wasn't asking me anything horrific, or being a terrible resident, I was just sick of hearing people complain. Being sick of hearing people complain is one thing, but yelling at them for no good reason is another, and that's why I sent in my resignation.

So the heart break?  I've been cursed at, I've been thrown up on, I've put out fires, I've stayed up past 6am, I've had girls crying in my apartment at 2am,  I've thrown AMAZING programs, I've confronted people using drugs, I've done things I hate doing, I have saved someone's life.  I've never asked to be appreciated, I've never asked for compliments, I've never asked for a thank you, I have never asked for a raise (and I've never gotten any of those).  I asked for new challenges, I asked to do it all over again and I didn't get the chance, instead I got my heart broken. So I sent in my resignation.