Cupcakes? More Like, Awesomecakes!

B asked me to make cupcakes for her birthday party. I double, then triple checked that she was certain, and in fact she was.

I was out of oil, so I substituted it with sour cream. Quite proud of myself on that one.

With a little help from my friend, Stella, I made some pretty kick ass cupcakes! No smoke, no fires and they all came out of the pan! Gotta love baking cups :)

I apparently used french sour cream!

A little fudge surprise in the middle. 

Oopsie. 

Finished product!!!

I Have Realized That .....

In honor of AJ's 2nd birthday coming up in a couple months, which totally baffles me, I am making a list of the top ten things that I have learned about myself and that have surprised me since becoming a Mommy.

(Other than the obvious, so no snickers from the peanut gallery.)


1. I will never be alone.

2. Yes I love my sleep, but no matter what time AJ wakes up between the hours of 12AM and 8AM I gleefully run to her room and am happy to see her face.

3. In her eyes I am a the greatest cook ever.

4. It is really, really, REALLY freaky to see a mini me running around.

5. Poop is gross, but compared to other kids' poop, your child's poop smells like roses.

6. As a Mom you talk about poop a lot.

7. I am 110% comfortable with myself in front of her. I can be silly, be naked, be sick, be undone and cry in front of her with no worries of being judged.

8. I have to watch what I say around this little sponge.

9. With her, it is the only time I will kiss, or put another person's feet near my mouth ... EVER.

10. You actually CAN love someone so much, it hurts.


Someone get my Mom a tissue please?

Pot-Not-So-Lucky

The dreaded "what will you bring to the family dinner" email. I look at the list of names, and I see many family members who can, and enjoy cooking. Then I see Auntie Tracey with a blank space. Maybe I can beat her to it. Maybe I will get to bring buns this time!

There was a moment in my life where I was "bun girl". Everyone knew I couldn't cook, and frankly I think they were all scared to let me. So a can of cranberry sauce and a bag of buns it was!

Then one day out of the blue, Auntie Tracey stepped in and took over my spot as bun girl. Not only that, but I became a Mother and therefore automatically got promoted to "you have to actually make something" girl. Ugh. Fine.

Onetime though, I did make a kick ass caesar salad.

Anyways, I usually manage to cop out and throw together a simple coleslaw from a bag of pre-shredded cabbage and a jar of Renee's Cucumber Dill dressing, which is what I tried to do this past weekend for Easter Dinner. Until my Mother suggested a fancier salad. Then it became this hunt for de-podded edamame beans which were never found. So that was a wash.

I remembered a super crunchy and fresh anise salad my Mom made once, but we could not find the recipe for the life of us.

What about an asparagus salad? Not a great idea after pricing out the ingredients and having a total close to $30 for an un-domestic goddess salad. No thanks.

Just as I was about to grab a bag of the shredded cabbage I detoured and picked up a bag of baby spinach along with a bottle of Renee's Field Berry Poppy Seed Vinaigarette dressing. Throw in a few handfuls of slivered almonds and some strawberries (which my Mom cut up for me) and what do you have?

The new coleslaw!!!

As I have now become "salad girl", Auntie Tracey has found a nice little roll (pun intended) as "potato girl". We sure have come a long way.