The roses are INSANE this year. Is it all the rain?
Dogs have been on a 45 minute walk, chocolate cherry rolls are on their second rise, Miss April put HL down for his nap and as soon as I finish cleaning the kitchen I need to make my list for the day. Feeling very productive already. Yay.
I should have taken a photo yesterday. Yesterday, the flowers were just perfect.
- ScreenCastsOnline. I need a little handholding, I admit it. Programs that friends claim are intuitive I find… not so much. The “low cost membership scheme” is a little rich for my blood at the moment, but I’m making my way through the free tutorials and I’m loving them.
- Yellow. (Also, the yellow and giraffe print bag I saw at Standard Style this weekend. Alas, I cannot possibly justify another bag.)
- Purples.
- Greens.
- Orange… should I just say “color”?
- 1/4 c. Purely Decadent soy ice cream (Chocolate Obsession) + 1 c. frozen wild blueberries. (I’d like very much to try the pomegranate chip and the mint chocolate, but our Wild Oats doesn’t stock them. Ahem.)
- The Whitney Artist t-shirts from The Gap
- Comics. I lost my enthusiasm for comics for reading comics for a while, but I’m having fun again. Yay, comics! (Currently reading Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
; just finished Essential Marvel Saga, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials)
.)
- Debbie Meyer Green Bags. Seriously.
- American Apparel Baby Rib Karate Pants
.
- BPA Free Kids.
- I got this great flex tub for Henry’s toys at Target (for $5.99!) and now I’m wishing I’d picked up two…or four, but they don’t seem to have them any more. Gah.
- This super-cute Wee-go bottle. We’re trying to move Henry away from plastics (eek), and I love the sleeves on these. They’re spendy, so fingers crossed. I just ordered one yellow and one orange. He doesn’t drink from a bottle that much any more, so if he likes them, we can switch over pretty easily with just two.
- Miss April. OhthankgodforMissApril.
- Japanese Monkey Pants.
- Claesen’s.
- Peter Walsh.
- I’m itching to start knitting again. Thus: Ravelry.
- My new Heeley perfume, Vervaine.
- Daydreaming about gardening.
SO glad I did the practice batch first — I’m really happy with the finished product.
Again, the recipe is here.
Changes made from practice batch:
- Butter for cake batter reduced to 1 stick.
- Ganache added to cupcake filling (in addition to the marshmallow).
- Cupcakes refrigerated after filling and icing to give the ganache a nice finish.
- Medium to large topping marshmallows.
Okay, kids — I need some opinions. For the delivery batch, should they be topped with small marshmallows or large?
Recipe is here: cupcakeblog.com/index.php/2007/04/smores-cupcakes/
I reduced the butter by 1/4 cup to see if that would help with the shrinkage issue and… it did not. Mine, in fact, did not rise as high as hers. They taste great though, so I’m not sure I’m going to cut any more in the final batch. We’ll see. Maybe.
What I really like: the ganache is bittersweet and paired perfectly with the sweetness of the marshmallows. The graham cracker cake is pretty tasty too — in fact, by itself it’s one of the yummier cakes I’ve ever made.
What I don’t like: there may still be too much butter. They’re dense. I mean DENSE. And small. And not the prettiest cupcakes ever. (I think I can work on that, though.)
Also of note: Mine took 32 minutes to cook, not 22. I have no idea why.
Casanova What?!
Originally uploaded by Kelly Sue
Henry Leo totally did not see that coming.
With all the crappiness of yesterday, I completely forgot that it was my soberversary. Huh. That’s never happened before. Happy 8 years and one day, me.
Per Dem Watch:
- John Temporiti (MO)
- Yolanda Wheat (MO)
- Leila Medley (MO)
- Hon. Robin Carnahan (MO)
- Hon. Maria Chappelle-Nadal (MO)
I’m going to try and find some addresses and drop them each a line asking them to back Obama. Can’t hurt.
series for Marvel Comics and co-wrote 
