Cuppy Cakes!

Hi, my name is Amy, and I’m addicted to baking.

Last summer, my sister and I decided we would make cupcakes once a week and since then, the baking bug has stuck. I especially love baking cupcakes! One of my favorite things in the whole world is my KitchenAid mixer, Martha (named after Martha Stewart, of course!) She helps me get through all of my recipes with minimal cleanup, and for that I am truly grateful!

Anyways, Martha and I have made our fair share of cupcakes but we wanted to share our favorites with all of you people so here we go!

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/rolo-cupcakes-recipe/ - These Rolo cupcakes are me and Martha’s favorite that we’ve ever made. The sour cream in the cupcake makes for a perfect consistency and the caramel frosting is just sweet enough to balance out the cupcake without overwhelming it. The best part of these ones is the hidden Rolo baked into the middle of the cupcake, by the time it gets out of the oven, it has turned into a center of creamy chocolate and caramel goodness!

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/nutella-cupcakes/ - can you tell I’m in love with this blog? I brought these Nutella cupcakes to my sister’s dorm last spring and I think they were gone in two minutes. Be warned though, these are for the real Nutella lovers because you might as well be eating it straight out of the jar!

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/raspberry-lemon-cupcakes/ - for real though, this blog is the best! Anyways these are the most perfect summertime cupcakes, Raspberry Lemonade flavored. Unlike the richness of the other two chocolate ones, these ones are more light and citrusy. My tip for these ones is to make sure you have a lot of lemon zest (I add even a little bit more than the recipe calls for) it makes them so much more flavorful! For this one it says to take out the raspberry seeds in the frosting, but I’ll be honest, I never have and they have turned out just fine!

These are just a few of my favorites but there are tons of others too! If you have any cupcake requests let me know and Martha and I can make them!

I dream of pickles

I have a major problem, I am forever craving pickles! Day or night, pickles always sound good! (I’m not pregnant I swear!) So anyways, I went online to try and figure out why I feel like I need pickles to survive and found some pretty cool information on why we crave certain foods, so I thought it would be fun to explain some.

1.   Sweets- when you are craving sweets, it is often because you are tired. (Same deal for bread cravings). Your body craves carbohydrates for a quick rush of energy to keep you awake. So next time you crave a chocolate bar, skip it and op for a nap instead! Pretty cool, huh?

2. Something to crunch on-Cravings for crunchy food is often because of frustration.  By munching on snacks like peanuts or chips, you temporarily relieve the frustration built up in your body, but when the crunching stops, so does the relief. So instead of eating a whole bag of chips, let go of frustration by working out! Once again, the solution is much healthier than giving into the craving, I’m seeing a trend!

3.  Caffeine- This one stumped me! Caffeine cravings are most often due to dehydration, but caffeine is one of the substances that dehydrate your body. It doesn’t make sense to be, but instead of reaching for a mountain dew or coffee when you have that “need” for caffeine, grab a big glass of ice water and drink up! 4.Pickles- This one doesn’t seem to have a definite answer. I have read that it can be either a potassium or sodium deficiency (but in most cases it’s an article for pregnant women.)

Cravings aren’t a bad thing, but if there is a simpler or healthier way to get rid of it, why wouldn’t you? Just something interesting to think about!

(info gathered from Huffington Post and Various mom-to-be blogs)

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Don't judge me, I won't judge you

“To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” –Aristotle

Unfortunately, Aristotle is right on target these days. There is no place free of critics anymore. What you say, what you watch, what you listen to, what you want to be, etc. is all under a microscope to be analyzed, criticized and  changed by those who surround you. Everyone has their own way of thinking and no matter what is done; it will be criticized by someone whose opinion differs.

How is anyone supposed to feel proud of what they accomplish or even accomplish anything if they are too concerned about the looming criticism they will receive? Take this post for example, I could work for weeks on this and still, I guarantee someone would read it and criticize the work. Everyone is different and should be accepted as such, not pushed into what someone else wants them to conform to.

I have regretfully noticed that the people claiming to be the most individual are often the most critical of others. Just because I want to listen to “mainstream” music in my “mainstream” clothes doesn't mean that I am any less of an individual. I have my own thoughts and my own opinions. I eat meat, you don’t. I think gay marriage should be accepted everywhere, you don’t. I love country music, you don’t. None of these differences matter to me as long as my beliefs are respected; don’t judge my opinions and I won’t judge yours.

I’m not trying to say I’m a perfect person who never criticizes anyone, I do it all the time! But what I’m trying to work on doing, and I hope others will too, is notice differences about people and accept them for what they are. I also think that a major part of this is accepting yourself; I want to wear solid-color brand names every day, not because I’m conforming, but because that is what I am comfortable in. I shouldn't have to feel ashamed about that or anything else for that matter because of what others think. 

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poem

1. In the back of room 70 on a Thursday night
2. The lastest issue comes together,  as people fall apart
3. Here we are writing, keyboards are humming
4. Here we are dancing,  the strobe lights, mind-numbing
5. Here we are screaming, "just get your crap done!"
6. The maze of a room, filled with chairs, lined with people overheats to 92
7.But there are Feltes and Goodall, still dancing in the back room
8. Eating fuels these late-night ventures
9. Family dinner and constant snacks
10. Keep the staff on the productive track
11. We will finish at 9 but never be done
12. As deadline approaches, everyone gets tired
13. The energy, the dancing, the music expired
14. Finally, the lights are turned off and the door is locked
15. "See everyone tomorrow at 10 o'clock

Lines 2, 3, 4-anaphora- " here we are" Is repeated over 3 lines
Line 6- asyndeton- no conjunction between "room" and "filled" or "chairs" and "lined"
Line 7- imagery- paints picture of Annie and Goodall dancing in thr back room
Line 8- inversion- instead of "the late night ventures are fueled by eating"
Line 8- archaic diction-ventures