Hello, Cupcake.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

"it's been a minute"

that's coworker Claire (see previous post) speak for "it's been a long time".

and it's been a minute since i made cake pops.

but my spanish professor asked me to make some for her sister-in-law.

so i did.

and the process went something like this...

first i made the little balls. this is when i started putting some love into them. because let me tell you. the night before there was NO LOVE in the cake or the frosting. none at all. it was a love abyss. because i actually really didn't want to make them and was the taddest bit resentful.

then i dipped the sticks in candy melt, all at once. a great idea, right? then it sets on better.

and it looked cool when they were all done. but it was actually a terrible idea. i don't know if they stayed on the sticks better or worse, but i do know that i ran out of pink candy melts and ended up having blue cake pops with a pink dot on the bottom. trashy. also trashy? the fact that i used baby colors. but i wasn't asked to make them until almost 10pm the night before they were needed. so i actually don't feel so bad about it.

i was complaining to my sister about how much i didn't want to make them during the stage when i wasn't putting any love into them. she said "tell them you dropped the cake pops". and i said "no no, it's finnish cookie sticks that i always drop at least one tray of, inevitably".

so you can bet there was a great deal of laughter the next day (when there was love--if this had happened when i had no loved i would NOT have been laughing) when the cake pops fell off the table and onto the floor.

i tried to make them look a little less baby-ish by adding glitter to some of them. i don't think it helped much.

and of course, the rejects went to work with me.

Friday, June 22, 2012

divinity: attempt one

The ingredients seemed simple enough, so I thought i would be able to make divinity for my coworker, Claire

(second to left), in a snap.

But it turned out to not be quite so simple. Apparently I got the taste and texture correct, it just didn't ever quite set up all the way. So I will try again next week.

Also, I'm not sure what Paula Dean's idea of a serving size is, but I'm pretty sure this made more than 8 to 10 of them.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Cookie Love.

Those who know me well might find it highly ironic, but I, Melissa Anne Standage, love Valentine's Day. It's my favorite holiday. Pink, white, red, flowers, chocolate, hearts, new heels, and love? Yeah. It's kind of my thing.

My mom always used to have Valentine's Day sugar cookies on the counter when I got home from school. I tried to imitate what her cookies used to look like.

Okay, so my mom didn't write cookies about loving the dog. But I love my dog!!! And I miss her more today than I do on a regular basis. And I miss her A LOT on a regular basis.

Ned is my roommate's cat.
Ned is to Jamison as Stella is to Melissa.

Oh hey!


And then I had a stroke of genius. Cotton candy sugar cookies!!!

Also, just wanted to mention that sometimes I love Utah-town.

...and then it stopped looking pretty and just looked cold.

I also wanted to comment on the dangers of addiction. Mine is to bubble gum.Those wrappers? Only a fraction of my actual consumption.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

February 9th...

Today, historically, is a very important day for me. I decided to celebrate with my two part-time jobs. My title at each job is "volunteer". They don't pay very well. This morning I had a six-hour shift at the crisis line and everyone I talked to was wonderful. I know I'm the one who is supposed to make them feel better, but today they were the ones making me feel good.
Then I went home to make...

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER TOASTED MARSHMALLOW CUPCAKES

Tools

Ready for their filling

Chocolate cupcakes

The filling

More of the filling

Even more of the filling

Scorched marshmallows

This method did not work well.

Green onions. Which have nothing to do with this post, but they were on the table and looked pretty.

More scorched marshmallows

Then, while making cupcakes, the greatest thing in the world happened.

I GOT THE INTERNSHIP/JOB I WANTED!!! It's been all I've thought about for the past month. And stressed about. And daydreamed about. And now it's mine--provided I remember to get drug tested tomorrow. I'm afraid I'll forget because I have to go straight after school, and then they'll think I quote-unquote forgot and fire me before I am officially hired.

Then I made a party banner for myself that says "Congrats" and hung it over the hallway. It makes me happy to look at it. Then my roomie and I went to Yogurtland to continue celebrating, then I volunteered for three more hours at the crisis nursery, which was also great. I went an hour early to spend time with two kids who are waiting for a foster family, because I really wanted some one-on-one time with them. They are such sweet kids. I want to foster kids some day, and then adopt if they can't go back with their parents. I would love to do sibling sets and older kids, because they have such a hard time finding homes. I want to be their home.
Then I got to talk to a friend who was nervous for an appointment and that made me happy, too, because I haven't talked to her in such a long time, and she's such a great friend.

I couldn't have asked for a better February 9th. I am so happy. Scared, nervous, and excited for my new job ... and happy. :D

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Buttercream

I'm making my mommy a cookbook for Mother's Day, which will include our favorite dessert recipes. Since I don't read books without pictures, each recipe will be accompanied by a picture. I realized I don't have any good pictures with buttercream frosting.
Actually, as I type this I realized that I DO have a picture with buttercream frosting meaning that I made cupcakes for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

That was a mood-killer.