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Thursday, December 17th, 2009
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Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
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To commemorate December 15th, National Cupcake Day (which was technically yesterday, but whatever...), here is another (slightly incoherent because I'm tired) cupcake post!
11/6/09 - Mini Apple Pies :D
These were super awesome! The filling was super easy to make, and look how good it looked!  I made my own dough and everything! Rolling it out and arranging it in the cupcake tray took the most time, mostly because I didn't have a rolling pin and I was improvising with an ice cream scoop. I didn't have enough filling for all the wells, so I made some makeshift pumpkin pie ones. They look kinda sketch, but they tasted just fine :)  Hooray! Mini apple pies! If I had to make them again, I would definitely make more filling for them. That was the tasty part. 11/13/09 - Chocolate, Vanilla and Raspberry Cupcakes! :D
 Half the batter was chocolate and the other half was vanilla. Scoop them next to each other, and you get a pretty sweet looking pattern. I made the frosting with raspberry jam. These were supposed to be Neapolitan cupcakes, but I like raspberry more than strawberry and switched it out. The real story here is why I made a cupcake that took so much freaking work and blending. I introduce to you my new best friend...  Margorie the Stand Mixer!! ::beams with joy:: Amazon was having a deal for a 4 1/2 quart 300 watt KitchenAid stand mixer for $180!! I couldn't resist - I needed her all to myself. She came in the mail 2 days later, and I can't even tell you how awesome she is. I can turn her on, leave, and when I come back my frosting is done! My batter is mixed! And I can make meringue!! Which leads me to my next cupcakes... 11/20/09 - Maple Syrup Cupcakes with Meringue Frosting! :)
 Doesn't the cake look perfect and awesome? It's because of the awesome mixing, I assure you.
 When you add the maple syrup meringue frosting to the cake, it makes them taste like waffles. It was a delicious breakfast cupcake that did not involve bacon in any way, shape or form. Yes, people have made cupcakes with bacon. Evidence here. Also, my mother bought me a pastry bag and a set of tips for my birthday, so I tried artfully piping on the cupcakes. Yeah, doesn't work so well with meringue... Moving on... 12/1/09 - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Cream Cheese Cupcakes
 I was supposed to make these for Laura's holiday party, but I felt like crap because I had the flu and didn't go. I had bought all the ingredients for it, though (sans the pom seeds), so I decided to make them when I was feeling a little better. The cake tasted awesome, but the lady who came up with the recipe lied when she said the frosting was of a "drizzle" consistency, so I ended up putting the wrong tip on the pastry bag and ended up with that gorgeous piping job. Whatev. It tasted good. The best part, though, was the result of the conversation I had with my coworker Bill about never opening a pomegranate (and that Laura was going to do it for me). He assured me it was super easy, and that morning brought me a container of pom seeds for my pumpkin cupcakes. Not only did he do that, he also brought me a whole pomegranate so I could try it myself later. Best. Coworker. Ever.  That's what they looked like all decorated up. They tasted awesome. Announcement: Laura - I'm sorry I couldn't make these for your party, and I also apologize for rubbing how delicious these cupcakes were in your face. I promise you that I will make you an entire batch of whatever kind of cupcakes you want for you when I come out to Brooklyn to visit. 12/11/09 - Apple Cider Caramel Cookies
 Please ignore this awkward picture of me and focus on the cookie I was holding. I know these aren't cupcakes, but I had to bake 6 dozen of them for the cookie exchange at my work. Well, 7 1/2 dozen... Here's the story: Every year at work, two of my female co-workers throw this cookie exchange. You bake "4-dozen" cookies and bring them into work. Then, you take a bit of the cookies everyone else brought in while they take yours. You're supposed to end up with a variety pack of "4-dozen" cookies. One of my female co-workers was hounding me to sign up for this because I bring in cupcakes all the time, and she figured my baked goods would be appreciated. I had two problems with this: 1) I suck at making cookies. I either burn them or I undercook them. I can never tell when they're done, and you can't stick a toothpick in them to determine when to take them out of the oven. 2) 4 dozen cookies are a lot. I can make 2-dozen cupcakes at one time, but all I have to do is pour batter in a liner. Cookies take rolling or scooping or whatever, and then you have to place them on the pan a certain distance apart... Too much room for error. BUT I signed up for it anyway because I like this female coworker. I regretted it immediately after doing so, and then REALLY regretted it when she sent out an e-mail a few weeks later asking everyone to make 6 dozen cookies. Bleh. Of course I pick the most complicated cookies that involve rolling batter around a soft caramel center (of which I could not find at Meijer or Kroger, so I had to improvise with Werther's Original SOFT caramels). I enlisted the help of Lauren to help me out with the work load, which was the best decision I made regarding this ridiculous debockle. We cranked out those cookies one by one and I walked into work Friday morning proud of my extreme accomplishment. The question I'm sure you're asking is, "Colleen, why did you make 7 1/2 dozen cookies when you only had to make 6 dozen?" Well, my co-worker Bill (the chef whom I liked to talk shop with) got another amazing job somewhere else and wasn't going to be around for the cookie exchange. I felt bad because he brings in stuff for people to eat all the time, and he was going to miss out on the biggest exchange of baked goods of the year?! I don't think so! So, I made a test batch earlier in the week to make sure the recipe made as many cookies as it claimed it would and gave the finished product to Bill.  Here are the profits minus a few cookies Leah and I ate before the picture was taken.
I decided I didn't need all these calories sitting in my apartment unattended, so I was going to mail a tin of cookies to Molly and Omega to let them know I'm thinking about them and miss them. Guess what! To mail a 1 lb package to Korea costs $108. The guy who worked the counter at the UPS Store (who was completely incompetent, BTW, and took 10 minutes to enter the address because he couldn't decipher it [Isn't it your job to read addresses? Even international ones?!] and didn't know how to use fucking google maps to figure out what was the city/region/street which would have taken TWO freaking seconds [I know because when I got home I tried it]) told me the one to Japan would cost more, so I said "fuck it" and left. I'll have to figure out something else to send them, now, because I don't want to pay $200 in shipping for them to receive stale, broken cookies.
Sorry guys :(
Anyway, that's been my baking experience lately. We are all caught up! I have 5 more baked goods to make before the end of the year, but I'm confident I can do it! After I'm all done I'm going to make a "Best of 2009" list. I know, exciting right? :D
Later Days!
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Comments: Read 7 or Add Your Own.
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Sunday, December 6th, 2009
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So, because I'm freaking obsessed with Halloween (and I was several weeks behind with my cupcake resolution), I decided to make quite a few awesome baked goods. Two days of straight baking later, I came up with this:
Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies
A little back story... I saw these cookies on Down Home with the Neely's, and they made them look soooo pretty, with their chocolate wafer cookies and their creamy pumpkin filling. I don't know how they got their cookies so flat (other than the magic of television and 20 food interns), but mine ROSE like normal cookies. Leah was helping me with them, and she suggested that we cut the normal cookies in half instead of smooshing two of them together, and this is what we got.  They looked gross, but I assure you, they tasted pretty good. Gravestone Rice Crispie Treats
 I wanted Rice Crispie treats, but didn't know what to do with them... so last minute I decided to cut them and decorate them with leftover frosting. The follow cupcakes were made in two batches - chocolate and vanilla. The vanilla batter was dyed so the inside of the cupcake looked like candy corn, but I didn't get a picture of it so you're just going to have to trust me on that one. Pumpkins!
 3 colors of frosting later... you get these.
Eyeballs!
 Dyed vanilla frosting, M&M and red cake gel. Owls!
 Chocolate frosting, chocolate sprinkles, an Oreo cookie split in half (which Mel separated for me!), M&Ms and candy corn. Witches!
 Dyed vanilla frosting, black liquorish, M&Ms, candy corn, and an ice cream cone. Halloween Cupcakes! Yay!
Alright! So, there was Halloween in a nutshell. Next post - November cupcakes! Hooray!
Later days!
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Comments: Read 8 or Add Your Own.
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Friday, December 4th, 2009
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I told you guys I would do it, and here I am making another cupcake post! One of three. Like I said before, NaNo sucks the life out of you (that doesn't provide me an excuse for October, but whatever...). Let's get started, shall we?
9/23/09: Cherry and Chocolate Cake :)
I know, I know, another cake... but hear me out! I had gone to Kroger and bought all the supplies for an awesome chocolate/cherry creation, but I forgot to buy cupcake liners. I figured since I already had the cake pans, I might as well use them! And really, a cake is just a big cupcake, right? :D I used a chocolate graham cracker crust (left over from the s'more escapade), white cake mix, and cherry pie filling.  Top it off with the best chocolate buttercream frosting ever and a few cherries, and you're all set!  Yummy! I gave this one a 8/10. Would have made a sweet cupcake, but I guess that's for another time, right? :) Oh, and if you noticed the chocolate frosting is two different colors, good for you! I made a batch and ran out, so I had to make more and I put less cocoa powder in it and it turned out a little lighter. Still tasted pretty good, though, so no complaints. 10/02/09: Creamsicle Cupcakes :)
 I'm trying to think how I made these... it's been a while. And now that I can't find the recipe I used online, I'm going to have to think harder... OH, right. These were orange cake injected with homemade whipped cream and topped orange sugar frosting. Injecting these babies was (in some ways) a lot easier than the tiramisu ones, but not any less annoying. The needle kept getting clogged, and the chamber... thing didn't hold a whole lot so I could only do 2 cupcakes at a time, reload the plunger, and go for it again. It took forever and I will never do it that way again. I would rather dig a hole out of the middle of the cupcake, stuff it, and put the cake back in. Although, I would have to figure out a different type of frosting to cover the mess I'd make. They tasted good, though. 7/10. 10/9/09: French Silk Pie :/
 First off, let me just say that I don't know how to bake pie crust. I had never done it before, and it showed, because I burnt the thing to a crisp. One minute it was fine and the next it was burnt fuck-it-all black. I decided to improvise and make a graham cracker crust instead (because I still had chocolate graham crackers left over). Didn't really work out for me, though, because I had even less experience cooking those. It came out of the oven ROCK HARD. It took the strength of a thousand men to cut it, but surprisingly very little effort to chew it. In fact, it tasted good. It was the almost gummy texture that ruined it for everyone.  The chocolate part was really good, though. I might make it again one day, but if I were to judge this endeavor, I would give it a 3/10. 10/15/09: "Vegan" Chocolate Cake :(
 There is a bit of a story behind this one. I went over to my parents house while they were on vacation to check on things/watch HBO. I ended up watching G4 for 3 hours and baking an almost vegan chocolate cake. You see, I wanted to bake something because I was slightly bored, and my parents had no butter, and I didn't feel like grocery shopping because I had baking supplies at home I could have used which made me feel slightly guilty about replenishing my parents supply. I looked up vegan chocolate cake recipes and found one that looked interesting, so I decided to try it out. Turns out my parents didn't have soy milk either (why would they?) so I used the little skim milk they had left. I dunno if that's what did it, but this cake tasted like crap. I was so disappointed that I ended up eating a lot of canned frosting to console myself, which only gave me a tummy ache. I left the cake at my parents house, and when they came back home from vacation they called me to thank me for the awesome chocolate cake I left them. "Awesome you say? How could it possibly be awesome when you said yourself it tasted like crap?" you may be thinking. Yeah, I dunno the answer to that question, either. They loved the cake, so the only explanation I could muster would be I ate too much frosting while the cake was baking and because of all the sugar I was consuming, it made the cake taste dull, or something... I'm not a professional, so your guess is as good as mine. 10/20/09: Coffee and Chocolate Cupcakes (?)
 I made these for Bethy's birthday. I have no idea how they tasted because I dislike the taste of coffee, so I didn't try them. I heard good things, though.
They kind of looked like fake poop after I frosted them, so I tried to mask that fact by covering them in cute valentine's day sprinkles. I'm not convinced that helped, but at least I tried :D
Alright, that's all I'm going to cover tonight. Next cupcake post - Halloween Baked Good Extravaganza!
(don't get TOO excited for that)
Later days!
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Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
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Monday, November 30th, 2009
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Dude, I need to take a break from NaNoWriMo for like, two seconds, so I'm procrastinating/posting in my livejournal. Hooray!
I am working on getting to 48,300 words by the end of tonight. I have about 700 words to go, but it's four in the morning and I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to push all the way through. I've started to wonder about a few things in relation to how other people write, because I've never been in a class where we've workshopped/wrote a novel, ever. Mostly because writing a novel is such a time suck and we all had other classes to worry about. Like Ancient Chinese Literature, or rock climbing...
Questions I have had:
Does the first draft always SUCK SO MUCH?! I have never written this horribly in my life, and I find myself using the same descriptions for crap over and over again, and all my characters sound the same when they speak, except Mr. Croissant Roll, who has a French accent (which was so fun to type out phonetically that I gave up halfway through and just highlighted everything I'll have to "accent-ize" later). I thought this experience would help me gain more confidence when it came to my writing, but now I'm wondering if giving up the whole thing a few years ago was a wise decision.
Does everyone write their novels from start to finish? I write from all over the place - like when I write myself into a corner or don't feel like finishing a thought, I'll start a new chapter of my novel that won't be the next one in line, but take place in a completely different part of the book. I've also noticed that I've been writing a series of short stories with the same characters, and in doing so, lost the plot to my novel completely. OR I've gained too much plot. I mean, I have an ending, and the stories tie into each other to a certain degree, but I'm still left wondering if writing 50,000 words this month really means I wrote a novel or I made myself write a lot of short stories in a small about of time. Then again, if you can consider "Wayside School is Falling Down" a novel, I guess you can constitute what I'm doing as a novel, too. So, yeah... suck it insecurities!
Does NaNoWriMo dominate everybody elses lives when they decide to do this? When I started it, all I wanted to talk about was NaNo, and now when people bring it up to me I get annoyed because it just reminds me of all the work I still had left to do and how much guilt-free "sitting around time" I'm missing out on. I guess the reminder is good, because it's not like I could ignore the whole thing that way (not that I would have, but whatever), but it still is like a little jab in my heart that says "Oh, good, more procrastination at pogo.com is in my future".
Anyway, yeah... those are my 4am ramblings. I'm going to push through, write 700 more words, and then go to bed. I'm really going to hate myself at work tomorrow.
Later days!
-Colleen
2406 words to go.
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Sunday, November 15th, 2009
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Well, hey there kiddies, long time no post. I’ve been pretty busy, but I figured I would give you guys an update on my schedule so you know what to expect in the next couple months. Not that you're on the edge of your seat anticipating when my LJ will be updated, but I figure it will be good for me to state what I'm doing to I have to commit to it :D
First of all, I know I haven’t posted anything about cupcakes in a while. Do not fret! I have been baking! I just have been too lazy to get my act together and write about it. I promise you, in the next couple of weeks, you’ll get a few updates on what creations I’ve made – and some of them are pretty cool (especially the Halloween ones). I also have a new best friend, but you’ll have to wait and see who that is (unless you know already, which isn’t any fun for me… lol).
The other thing sucking all my free time is National Novel Writing Month. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, please reference the following website: NaNoWriMo. It was going pretty good for about… 12 days. I decided to write around 1666 words a day, and had worked myself up to 18000 words by the 12th. Until my thumb drive that had my story saved on it became corrupted and I lost the whole freaking thing. Well, all but my first day’s worth of writing – 1667 words. All my notes and everything were destroyed. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed out, and thank goodness I had invited Odle out to dinner yesterday, because otherwise I would have stayed home and cried and felt sorry for myself. But you know what I’m doing instead? Writing the whole fucking thing over again this weekend. I know, right? It’s nuts. It’s like… 8330 words a day to get caught up to where I should be. I’m at 16688 right now, and my goal by the end of the weekend is 25,000 words. I just really want to complete this, because I swore that I was never the kind person who could write a novel and I would be bound to short stories or poems for the rest of my life. And I also discovered that I was kidding myself when I thought that writing 1666 words a day was hard… So much for playing Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories this weekend… The most productive/fun thing I've done so far this weekend is laundry. Bleh!
So… yeah, that’s what I’ve been up to. When November is over, I’ll feel much more motivated to write Sims blogs, I promise you. Plus, the new expansion pack is coming out this week (which I can’t buy, because it will totally distract me from NaNo…), so that will give me the kick in the pants I need to get going again and finish this freaking legacy challenge! Yay!
Anyway, love you all. Later days!
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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Monday, October 26th, 2009
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| Time: | 11:14 pm. |
| Music: | Frankie. |
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When somebody needs you, it's no good unless he needs you all the way.
Through the good or lean years, and for all the in-between years, come what may...
"Who knows where the road will lead us," only a fool would say.
But if you let me love you, it's for sure I'm gonna love you all the way. All the way.
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
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My past is perilous, but each scar I bear sings.
Monuments to where I have been, and melodies to where I am going.
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
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Sunday, September 27th, 2009
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Hey kiddies, it's been a while. For a rl post, that is. Where to start...
I'm living in an apartment with Mel, but I suppose all of you knew that. I like the location - it's right down the road from the shittiest Meijer on the face of the planet, but it least its convenient in the way of groceries and baking supplies. I've bought a ton of cookware since I've moved in, and Lauren's mother has lent me her stand mixer temporarily, so I've got a fully functional cupcake factory :D Honestly, I can't believe I've stuck to this cupcake thing as long as I have - and I still love doing it. Not to say I won't be relieved when I don't have to dig for a cupcake idea each week. It'll also cut down on my food costs, and it's not like I'll never bake another cupcake for the rest of my days.
The apartment itself is alright, although the neighbors that live above me drive me NUTS because their either stomping around or having really loud sex right over my bed. About a month ago, new neighbors moved in next to us, and they share a wall with my bedroom. They think it's fun to play rap music at 3am. It's awesome. I bought Taiko Drum Master, so whenever I get super pissed, I just beat a drum for a while and they shut up. I'm thinking about renting a condo next year - potentially one that does not share walls with other condos. Do those exist? I'm kind counting on it.
Needless to say, I've invested in earplugs. They would be awesome if I didn't have a tragus piercing. I woke up this morning with a very sore right ear.
Work finally moved to a new office, and it's a LOT nicer, although decorated in a ridiculously tacky manner. We hired people to spend millions of dollars to make the place look nice, and it looks like they chose the cheapest stuff they could find - I think a lot of the chairs are made primarily out of plastic... The clock "lab" is the same size, though, because our CEO found no need to accommodate us in any way, there. We were supposed to get two clock "labs", but having an empty room with no purpose is much more practical, isn't it? I've kind of absorbed the empty cubes around me to store clock stuff, and that'll work temporarily. Hopefully they'll change their tune soon. The fire marshal came in on Friday to give us a once over, and they deemed the clock "lab" a fire hazard because we've stacked the boxes too high. Leah and I moved some stuff around, but this is gonna make it a lot harder to store stuff in there in the future.
I can't believe I've been there for a year. It's felt like an eternity, but at the same time, not long at all. I guess you can say that for every experience, though, so that statement is pretty generic. When I graduated from college, I had no freaking clue what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. At first, I wanted to go to cake decorating school, which surprisingly enough didn't piss off my parents. After spending thousands of dollars on their child's education, you'd think they'd get pissed that I'd kinda write that off and run off and join the bakers :D That didn't pan out (pun intended), obviously, but this desire has not diminished. I'm so afraid if I ever pursue it, though, it would totally kill any fun I'd have baking. Culinary arts is no joke - they are a serious group of individuals. That's mainly what I'm sick of where I am now. Because if people do not have time and attendance software, it's the end of the world. When one time clock goes out, they need to throw a shit fit because their employees have to share with another department. I'm just so sick of the assholes that are in the business of bossing people around. I need a much more mellow career path - it's starting to stress me out, and a disgruntled Colleen is an obnoxious Colleen.
I haven't given up on the idea of marrying for money, btw.
I just wish I had a plan or something to work for. I'm not enthused about anything I'm doing. If I knew what I wanted to be doing, it'd be a lot easier to draw a path from start to finish and try to accomplish those goals.
Other random facets of life:
Television:
I was watching ABDC, but lost interest once Rhythm City was eliminated. Community is freaking hilarious, and HIMYM is back for another season, so I'm excited about that. I'm also loving Drop Dead Diva, and I've been watching 30 Rock on Netflix and that's pretty awesome, too.
Music:
I've recently developed an obsession with Emilie Autumn. The 13-year-old in me would worship the ground she walks on. She's angry, gothic, and ironic. My ring tone currently is "I Know Where You Sleep". I have yet to pick up the new Third Eye Blind album, but it's on my list. Other songs I'm digging (and don't judge me!).
2NE1 - Fire
Sia - Breathe Me
Incubus - Love Hurts (Oh, Brandon, marry me...)
Snow Patrol - Crazy In Love (I dislike Snow Patrol and Beyonce, but for some reason this works...)
Britney Spears - Circus
Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
...I'm becoming so mainstream, it's kind of disgusting.
Movies:
I just saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and LOVED IT! Ponyo was cute, but made for a much younger child than the other Miyazaki films I've liked.
This is amazing, though.
I'm really looking forward to Where the Wild Things Are. And Gentlemen Broncos because I'm in love with Jemaine.
Books:
Last book I finished was The Virgin Suicides, and that was fantastic! I'm rereading Vamped right now, and then I'm going to tackle the newest Palahniuk novel Pygmy. I read at a snails pace, though, so that might not be for a while.
Other things:
-I'm working on a new sims post - I have 200 pictures I need to sort through for blogging.
-I dyed my hair auburn. It's pretty awesome, and a good change of pace.
-I'm kitting these gloves. I only have 2 fingers left on the right one, and then I have to start the left one... I doubt they'll be finished by the time winter rolls around, but it's cold in Michigan for 8 months out of the year, so that shouldn't be an issue.
-The "check engine" light has been on in my car for like a month. I really don't want to spend the money to get whatever it is fixed (most likely a sensor, because the Ford cars I've owned frequently like to break those) so I've been driving around hoping it doesn't lead to a bigger problem.
-THE LIONS ACTUALLY WON A FOOTBALL GAME!!! I've got 18 years to win my bet against Mel, so this is a step in the right direction :D
I think that covers everything, whether you wanted to read it or not :)
Later days ♥
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Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, September 24th, 2009
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
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Sunday, September 20th, 2009
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While watching the Lions play another fantastic game of football, I was reminded of a certain Pepper Ann episode:
"Any bozo can win! It takes a team of whacked out bohemian amazons like you to hang with the losing vibe! Stay with it!"  |
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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Although she has two kids, and is pregnant again, Sophie doesn't want to give up her dream of becoming a famous artist.
Roosevelt and Jared are supportive, and tell her to go for it. Roosevelt also suggests that the constant baby making her and Jared have been doing may hinder her in some minuscule way.
( I don't think Sophie gets it )
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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Saturday, September 19th, 2009
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I'm sitting here watching Coheed and Cambria's Neverender DVD, night 4 (PLUG), and I thought, "Hm... I haven't done a cupcake post in a while." Well, first I thought "FUCK I SHOULD HAVE TRUCKED IT TO CHICAGO TO SEE COHEED LIVE FOR 4 DAYS", but the cupcake thing came second. I promise.
8/6/09: Butterscotch Cupcakes :D!
 Holy Crap. That's all I have to say.
...Okay, so there's more. These were easily my favorite cupcake. AND SUPER EASY TO MAKE!! Seriously, white cake mix + butterscotch pudding mix + cream cheese + butterscotch chips = cupcake. FANTASTIC! The cream cheese was in the middle of the cupcake, and there was butterscotch chocolate chips in it, so every time you took a bite, you'd get a crunch of butterscotch. Only negative thing was that they were a bit too sweet for some people. But OMG. 10/10 for me. Gold stars all around. 8/14/09: Cherry Limeade Cupcakes :)
 Claire helped me out with these wonders. They tasted pretty good, but they were a failure in execution. Mostly because of the frosting. I had bought low fat sweet butter, and the life goal it set for itself upon birth did not involve being a part of cherry buttercream frosting. I just... melted. All over. I can only assume it was crying the tears of broken dreams. The cherry juice we added to it didn't help. BUT, the cake was a big ball of awesome.  I mean, look at all that zest! Brought to you by Claire and 3 limes.  I really wish you could smell this, because it's delicious.  These were ridiculously moist and fluffy. I give the batter an A+. The frosting was a C- (purely based on consistency). Side note: why do they make lemon scented cleaning products, and not lime scented? I think that would smell better all around. 8/20/09: Pumpkin Spice :D!!
 FANTASTIC. These were Mel's favorite. It was like eating a cake version of Pumpkin Pie. This will now be a permanent staple of Colleen's dessert arsenal. 'Nuff said. 8/28/09: Apple and Carrot Cupcakes :D
 I am well aware that these look exactly like the pumpkin spice cupcakes. I swear they're different. I had to boil 2 apples and a carrot, puree them, and stick them in cupcake batter. It was surprisingly simple, and it made the apartment smell fresh and apple-y. I brought these to Laura's going away party, and they were a hit! It has given me an idea to make a purely apple cupcake. While the carrot was a fantastic addition (with a hint of sweetness from the apple), it deepened the taste for me a bit. And I know I've made apple cupcakes before (see also: Apple Sauce and Cinnamon Cupcakes), but they tasted more like muffins, not cupcakes. 9/3/09: Tiramisu Cupcakes :D
 (That is not my picture. That is from Becky's bakes. Mine SORT OF looked like that. Sorta.)
I made these because this guy Doug at work requested them. They were DAMN good! First, they were soaked with a kaluha/coffee mixture, then injected with the cheese filling. I'm not sure if I would make them again until I get an apple corer. I thought it'd be a great idea to inject the mascarpone cheese with the flavor injector (see also: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes), but it turns out that lemon curd is a lot thinner than cheese, and I got it all over myself and the kitchen table. Thank God for Lauren (and our childish sense of humor) because I wouldn't have made it through the task without her. 9/13/09: Boston Cream Pie :)
 I know it's not a cupcake, but it took me 3 hours to make, so you're gonna have to suck it up and take it as one :D
My mother's birthday was last Sunday, and her favorite dessert of all time is Boston Cream Pie, so I decided to make her one. Mostly because I didn't buy her a present, yet. But, also because she's my mommy and I love her. This project motivated me to purchase 3 things: two 9-in cake pans, and a cake caddy. The cake part of this was top notch, as was the glaze. The custard, on the other hand, was weird. It was solid. Spreading it was a bitch. It didn't taste horrible, but it's definitely not what you would expect for a Boston Cream. If I ever make this again (not saying I will, because it was quite labor intensive), I would find a different recipe for the cream. 9/18/09: Turtle Cupcakes :D!
 Chris actually came up with the idea for this cupcake. I couldn't find a recipe online that I liked, so I frankenstein-ed one. I found a caramel cake recipe, added chopped pecans to it, covered it with the chocolate glaze from the Boston Cream Pie, halved pecans, and caramel sundae topping. THESE WERE AWESOME! But SUPER SCARY to make. The caramel cake had us make our own caramel syrup, which consisted of boiling sugar and water until it turns dark amber, and then adding a cup of water to it to stop it from caramelizing. The only problem is, when you add the cup of water, the caramel SPUTTERS AND SPITS ALL FUCKING OVER. I had oven mitts on while pouring the water, and backed the FUCK away so I wouldn't burn myself. Not to mention, the caramel was so hot that it melted the plastic spoon I was using to stir it. I'm surprised I came out of the endeavor unscathed (see also: Grilled Cheese Incident). But, yeah, overall a very successful cupcake. It made me like pecans, which is a feat in itself. SPECIAL THANKS TO: Lauren and Claire, for being such awesome assistants :D Later days!
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Comments: Read 5 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
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Sophie, in her moody state, goes outside and pays the bills.
She immediately nags Jared to get a job so Roosevelt is not the only one supporting their family.
( More behind the cut )
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Monday, September 14th, 2009
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Friday, September 11th, 2009
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Thursday, September 10th, 2009
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Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
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sarcasmchick's journal
amused.
accomplished.
cheerful.
calm.
blah.
