those meddling kids!

As much as I am not looking forward to going back to work now, this school year really can't start fast enough.

I'm sick of chasing the neighborhood kids from two houses down out of my somewhat fenced in backyard (it's fenced in on three sides which means the would either have to hop the fence from the yard next door or get to our yard from our driveway). This afternoon I caught them in between our house and the empty house that's for sale next to us throwing rocks and things at our side window that is at the bottom of our stairs. The other day we had pulled in our driveway and there were those kids, spinning each other around in an office chair that they dragged over into our yard. I've really had enough of them.

I also refuse to let my children play with them because they're playing in the street all the time. Their mother (who we affectionately refer to as "Skanky") just sits there on her porch what seems like 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and watches them either play in said street or in the school yard across the street which is fenced in with "private property - no trespassing" signs posted everywhere.

UGH!

Enough about that though. I can't finish a post on a nasty note like that, so I'll leave you with some cupcake shots.

vegan cupcakes

This was my first shot at a vegan recipe. Are you surprised that it's a cupcake? I'm not! I figured if I'm going to start doing this more than just as a hobby, I need to expand my horizons.

I found the recipe HERE.

I left out the chocolate ganache swirl because I didn't have any dark chocolate in the house, but next time I'll make sure I get some.

But, anyway ..... introducing ..... the root beer float cupcake! I made two dozen mini ones and had enough batter left for 6 full size ones. They have a vanilla "buttercream" icing (made with shortening, not butter). I wouldn't normally put that amount of frosting on a cupcake but I loved how it looked like a scoop of ice cream for the photo.

Now, who wants one? *grins*

mmm Sunday breakfast

We've been watching seasons of America's Test Kitchen that we got out of the library and man, that show makes me so hungry. I decided this morning that I would surprise everyone and make the cinnamon rolls from the Quick Breads episode. Even I ate one of them and they are hands down, the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had. The taste was spot on and they were tender and delicious but my technique will definitely need some work. My kitchen looked like a cinnamon tornado hit it after I surveyed the damage as I popped them in the oven.

I will definitely be keeping that recipe!

Next up on my baking list: another batch of the pink lemonade cupcakes for a meeting Tuesday and a new recipe for root beer float cupcakes (the root beer recipe is a vegan one).

TGIF for sure!

I've calmed down a bit since yesterday's post, after talking to family and friends. I am still going to stay with this job but very seriously look into marketing myself. Well, my cupcakes anyway, not me personally. Soooo, if you know anyone that needs or wants cupcakes for an event, feel free to send them my way! I have some references, for sure.

When I'm stressed, I tend to bake more. Yesterday I tried tackling molasses cookies. I have absolutely none of them left today, my family scarfed them right up (in fact, my mom stopped over and snagged the last one on her way home from work). I will most definitely be keeping these in my collection of recipies.

I got a phone call last night (from my mother) asking if I would photograph a wedding (and possibly do the wedding cupcakes) for the son of a friend of hers who is getting deployed again. I told her that I am more than happy to lend my services! I will also be baking a few kinds of cookies for the reception, so I will be on the lookout for cookie recipes in the next few weeks. I'm completely open to suggestions!

Did I break a mirror over the back of a black cat or something?

Soooooo, it's looking like my bakery dream may be here a little sooner than I anticipated, or at least the serious though of it will be.

I found out today that my hours have been cut at work. I wouldn't have a huge problem with this if we hadn't moved across town from where I work instead of being pretty much right across the street like before. Now I will have an hour to an hour and a half to kill in the mornings depending on the day of the week. I'm really not very happy about this.

I will go back to work when school starts, but I think that I'm going to also be looking for other employment or starting to look into starting my own business. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, I would still love it just as much if I had the same hours I had last year.

My day started off so good too with a potential order for 60 cupcakes for next weekend (I'm just waiting to hear what kind she wants - all I know is "pink icing").

Speaking of cupcakes, I sent the few that were left home with my sister last night - they were such a huge hit!

Tonight, I'm dropping these babies off and I'm quite excited about that: