BOM: Cupcake Challenge 6/175

Top o' the mornin' to ya, readers. I promise that is the only cliché phrase I will use this St. Patrick's Day. To celebrate, not only did I don a bright, lime green wig to work, I also whipped up another batch of cupcakes from my Martha Stewart Cupcakes cookbook. Unsurprisingly, I opted for the St. Patrick's Day cupcakes. These use the Brown Sugar Pound Cake recipe from earlier in the book (for that recipe, these are topped with Brown-Butter Icing—same as the Pumpking Brown-Butter Cupcakes I've already made) and are liberally covered with Bailey's frosting!

My cupcakes actually were not going to look like the book. I did not want to put an inedible item on the top of the cupcake, so I chose to use green sprinkles instead of a clover. 

Of course, I had to begin by prepping my ingredients (a short one this time).

After combining my materials for my batter, I spooned it into the festive muffin liners. It baked for 25 minutes.

While my cupcakes were in the oven, I started working on measuring and sifting my ingredients for the Bailey's frosting.

Here are the cupcakes coming out of the oven and my work on the creamy Bailey's frosting.

Then came the fun part. Nothing like icing a cupcake and covering it with (a conservative amount of) sprinkles. A paper towel beneath the cupcakes makes cleanup easy.

And here are the some of the finished products getting ready to go to work with me. By far, this has to be my best work on a frosting. It was smooth and creamy and sweet. The cupcake was not overpoweringly sweet, so you can really enjoy it.

The patience of a five-year old

As children, we knew these two words would come up sooner or later. "Be patient," your guardian would say with obvious disgust. How could a child with no worries or responsibilities be impatient? they thought to themselves. The very idea! However, despite the idea that one should learn to be patient, hardly anyone is patient. 

City folk already have a reputation for being notoriously impatient, toe-tapping, gum-chewing, watch-checking, heavy-sighing, hands-on-hips, no-nonsense people. Yet despite the stigma, I know many patient city dwellers (including myself). Surprisingly, the people that I have noticed with the least patience are those that have been here on earth longer than many others—that's right, I'm referring to our senior citizens.

Perhaps a lifetime of waiting has just worn out the elderly community. They have waited for so many things and people already (and seemingly only have death to wait for). Yet the elderly have an even worse situation to deal with—very rapid change. With all of the new, automated gadgets and programs, our grandparents have to learn things that are completely new to them. 

Just tonight I went shopping for some baking supplies at my local Giant. It was actually quite busy within the store, but nothing extensive. Since I had checked out my items as I shopped, I opted for the self-checkout kiosks. Several other customers were already in line, and I queued up in the second lane. The people before me were having some issues, so I was just waiting and flipping through a Life magazine. Lo and behold, the elderly gentleman at the lane beside mine was having hard time checking out. He handled the situation completely wrong and I probably should have helped him (another blog post on that, I promise), but I thought it best to leave it up to the professionals. He wisely selected the help option on the screen and became upset when the associate did not come immediately (he was already pre-occupied with another customer). After huffing and puffing for about thirty seconds, he went and got the associate himself. Apparently, he was not happy with what the man told him, and he flung an innocent head of lettuce down the conveyor belt. 

It was then that I thought to myself, "Good gosh, this man has the patience of a five-year old." Then, I immediately took that thought back. You see, we are always quick to say when a person is impatient. You know what I mean—the idiot that cut you off, the jerk that let the elevator doors close during peak hours although you were obviously indicating that you needed to board, the loser that jumps in front of you in line. However, when the shoe is suddenly on your foot, we have excuses for our behaviour. 

As we hit hump day this week, try to consciously be patient. Breathe deeply, count to 100, do what it takes to stay calm. Patience may be a virtue, but it can be achieved with much practice.

New Newfoundjoye

I feel obligated to blog about my blog's new look. I thought that the previous look was a bit stale, so I refreshed it! It's part of my entire refreshing attitude that has sprung up this year. Look forward to new updates as well as ongoing series such as my BOM Cupcake Challenge. Thank you for reading and I appreciate your comments!

Happy happy joy joy

Perhaps the best thing about this video is the end result. It is definitely a complicated little gizmo.

(via NewWork)

BOM: Cupcake Challenge 5/175

I wasn't going to make cupcakes this weekend, but whenever Valentines rolls around, I can't help making delectable treats. In honor of Valentines, I used one of the holiday cupcake recipes. Brownie cupcakes topped with pink tinted vanilla frosting and brownie bites.

These precious, paper liners from Wilton made a nice show of Valentine's Day. They come in a pack of 75 (25 of each design).

Quite a large assortment of ingredients. Lots of flour, lots of eggs, and lots of butter—lots of mixing.

I ended up doing a lot of mixing by hand. Instead of using my electric mixer, I opted for a hand mixer because I was using quite a large bowl.
 

The batter is ready to be spooned into those paper liners. Isn't it chocolately looking? What, with 12 ounces of Ghirardelli chocolate, it out to be.

Fresh out the oven. I had an additional brownie pan for the cutouts (the part of recipe that didn't go over well).

Electric mixer is a must for this fluffy vanilla frosting which I tinted pink with some drops of red food coloring.

I probably waited too long to cut out my hearts from my pan of brownies. So, I just cut little squares to top the cupcakes with. They taste delicious! I'm thinking I might make them again sometime soon.

All images courtesy of yours truly

Because of Martha | Valentine's Day 2011

First and foremost, let me wish you a very happy Valentine's Day. I love this holiday because it is another craft-friendly one. My lucky co-workers get showered with handmade goodies once again. Last year, I made little treat bags. This year, I ended up making something edible (it was a tough decision). I turned to the "Queen of Crafts" for ideas and wound up falling in love with the Valentine's Cookie Sandwich Pops. Hit the jump for process and results images.


All photos are courtesy of yours truly

DIY | Extruded Bracelets

I don't know what it is about February, but I feel extra crafty during this month. Maybe it is because Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Either way, I found a great, easy project that you just might want to try out. These extruded bracelets by syndee holt are inexpensive to make and a great way to accessorize. Believe it or not, these only require Sculpey (modeling clay). While the tools might seem a bit pricey, you can reuse the majority of them, so the cost can be justified.Visit the Polyform website for detailed instructions.


Difficulty: Easy/Beginner
Time: 45 minutes to an hour
Expense: Moderate (I spent $65 on supplies)
Materials: Available in craft stores and online (I ordered through A C Moore)


There is one thing I changed. Instead of getting Jacquard brand inks, I bought Copic Ciao markers to add color to my Premo! Sculpey. That saved me the trouble of wearing gloves and using cotton balls. My results are actually the image above! Not too bad for my first time, right?