Friday Five

1. Who doesn't love a good cupcake?  I have to say that the best in Maryland (and outside of Maryland too, in my opinion) are from Kupcakes and Co. in Elkridge.  I'm usually partial to Elvis (Banana, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips - Yum!) but that wasn't the special today so I opted for Hot Chocolate which was chocolate with marshamallow icing.  I have a feeling it's a special just for winter which is a real shame because it's just become my favorite! I'll need at least another dozen before the season ends...Absolutely delicious!

2. As a Harry Potter Fan, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Disney World, has been on my radar for a while.  But I'm not a huge fan of Disney World in general (ridiculous I know) so I haven't really felt the need to get down there too quickly.  However, after the unveiling of the new plans for this summer, I'm super ready to hop on a plane.  The best part is, I'd only need a weekend to get it all done.  It's most definitely on the itinerary for next summer or spring.   I can't even imagine how they're planning to recreate Leicester Square in central Florida but I can't wait to see it!

3. You just have to love Brit award shows!  Their winners just seem so much more heartfelt in their speeches and well-spoken than ours ; )

          

          
4 & 5.  There have been 2 fairly ridiculous things that have made me laugh like a fool this week.  Neither should be as funny as I think they are, but I hope others at least get a giggle. The first is the list of the 30 Naughtiest Puppies. (Whoever created Dog Shaming should receive a substantial award.  I can't help but laugh every time I see those photos!)  And the second is the Bad Lip Reading of the NFL.  (I have no idea how in the world these people make these videos, but they are perfect on every level.)

Just Another Manic Monday...

~ It's freezing here even though it's almost May...freezing may be an exaggeration but 45 in April is slightly ridiculous!

~After some wins in the kitchen yesterday, I mistakenly thought I could whip up Earl Grey cupcakes with Brown Buttercream to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday quick as a lick.  The teeny tiny cupcakes are adorable.  Too bad no one will be trying them since the Brown Buttercream turned into brown grease...

~Desperately trying to avoid Facebook, Twitter, any and all British press to avoid learning "who killed Danny Latimer".  It's driving me mad!  I have high hopes it'll be up soon online but until then I'm dying to know what the rest of Britain knows!

~Looking forward to celebrating the Bard tomorrow (albeit without cute cupcakes) but I'm pretty sure no one around me will care.

Sunday Loves

1. Kristin Chenoweth's Oscar Dress: My absolute favorite of the evening, Gorgeous!

2. George Clooney at the Oscars: Even with his Paul Bunyan-esque beard, he's the handsomest man in the room.  Though I'm slightly biased, he can do no wrong in my book : )

3. My new tea shelf in the kitchen.

4. Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes courtesy of Chef Dad.

5. Lazy Sundays.

Crazy Good Cupcakes

I'm a sucker for a good cupcake but I hate making them because there such a pain in the neck!  If I am going to make them, I usually just settle for the Duncan Hines special out of the box.  Each time I've ventured into the realm of truly homemade, I've been disappointed.  All I've tried to make have either burned, been too sweet, not sweet enough or just plain yucky.  So when I started the day, I didn't have high hopes.  But I've finally found the mother of all homemade cupcake recipes. 

I was doing some bookshelf organizing this morning (Does anyone else spend an hour on this from time to time or am I the only nerd that does?), and I came across a cupcake magazine that I hadn't seen in a while so I gave it a look.  On the first page they had 3 classic recipes, 1 white, 1 chocolate and 1 vanilla.  Then a few pages later, a banana buttercream was highlighted.  So I took a shot seeing 2 of my favorite flavors as a good omen. 

I was already impressed by the recipe just by judging the consistency of the batter.  I hate scooping cupcake batter into tins because it makes such a mess (I guess I should say I make such a mess...) It's usually so thin that it's hard to keep it on the spoon and winds up all over the tray and the counter.  But this batter was just thick enough that it stayed on the spoon until I wanted it off of the spoon.  When they came out of the oven they smelled so good that I just had to try one and they were delicious!  I would have been content to just eat them plain (I've always been more of a cake girl than an icing girl anyway)  but I decided to whip up the icing anyway.  After some initial issues, I finally succeeded.  It was good, but I wish I would have stuck with a plain old boring buttercream.  Even though I used real banana, it tasted like I used banana flavoring and I hate that taste.  Also, seeing that I had to (rather my dad had too...he's the icing whisperer...I suck at icing!) add sooo much 10X sugar to counter-act the wet bananas and butter, it was super sweet.  But they still tasted good and were just what I was hoping for on a crazy-rainy Sunday. 

Delicious!