The Big Four-Oh!

I turned 40 years old today!  Yikes!

If I closed my eyes and thought about it, I'd say I feel about 25.

Is it just me?  How old do you feel?  How old are you?

A Great Cupcake

I am always searching for the next great cake recipe (you know, for my monthly "cake attacks") Cupcakes are ideal for portion control since I have an issue with SELF control. I have used many recipes over the years, and have made this particular one before (click the picture to read it more clearly). But who knew the impact a great icing recipe can make? I realize now, my earlier attempts at the perfect cupcake had fallen flat due to a lackluster buttercream.


Marzipan made us some Valentine's cupcakes with a lovely buttercream last month, and I had to have the recipe. She obliged with a post on her blog and it was the answer to my cupcake prayers.

A light buttercream that is smooth as satin and not-too-sweet. Tinted with pink and piped onto an old-fashioned chocolate cupcake, it was heaven. I split this recipe in half and it was the perfect amount for the cake recipe above.

Buttercream Frosting
by Katherine Seeley/Fine Cooking

This basic vanilla buttercream can be flavored in an almost endless variety of ways; see Variations below.
Yields 7-1/2 to 8 cups enough to fill and frost a 9-inch four-layer cake or about 5 dozen cupcakes
5 large egg whites
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. light corn syrup
1 lb., 4 oz. (2-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Tbs. vanilla extract

Place the egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium-high speed until foamy. Sprinkle in 6 Tbs. of the sugar and beat on high speed to medium peaks (the whites should be smooth, full, and shiny, and the peaks should curl a little). Turn off the mixer.


Combine the remaining 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar and the corn syrup in a medium (3-quart) saucepan over medium high heat, stirring briefly to dissolve the sugar. Continue to cook just until the mixture comes to a rolling boil.

Immediately remove the syrup from the heat, turn the mixer onto medium-high speed, and slowly pour the syrup down the side of the bowl in a steady stream, being very careful not to let the syrup hit the whisk.

Reduce the speed to medium and continue whisking until the whites are barely warm, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the butter 1 Tbs. at a time. Add the vanilla and continue beating until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

Variations
In place of vanilla, add one of the following flavorings at low speed to prevent splattering, then increase speed to medium to blend.

Lemon: 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest.
Orange:1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. freshly squeezed orange juice, 1/4 cup finely grated orange zest (from about 3 large oranges).
Strawberry or Raspberry: 3/4 cup berry purée (purée the fruit in a blender and strain).
Liqueur: 2 Tbs. liqueur (such as Frangelico, Grand Marnier, Baileys, Kahlua, Chambord), more to taste.
Chocolate: 12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted.
Coffee: 1-1/2 Tbs. instant espresso dissolved in 1 Tbs. boiling water.

What to do when two nieces and a sister-in-law have birthdays in the month of February? Make a few dozen baby pink confections and settle in to a weekend of cupcake snitching.


I have been working on my Frequently Asked Questions this week, so if you have anything you must know, let me know so it can be added to the list. I will post the answers while I'm on vacation.

A Decade Has Passed...

10 years ago today I was in a state of thrilled, panicked anticipation - euphoria and terror mixed into a brew that left me twitchy and giddy. I was about to deliver my first child, a son (though, I didn't know that yet).

I can remember the feeling of my water breaking at 10 pm that night. A strong kick followed by the sensation of a bubble traveling down and bursting on the surface. Had I just peed? My hubby was sound asleep on the chair in front of the TV blissfully unaware of the spectacle in the bathroom nearby as I tried to figure out what had just happened. In fact, he remained unaware through my calling for him and finally woke up when I threw a book out into the hallway. "I think I either peed my pants or my water broke." I was instantly weak in the knees and wondering how I'd gotten myself into this and WHY? What was I thinking?

My son was named quickly, as soon as we saw him we knew his name. We spent the next two days staring at this human we had created. My first words were, "We just had a baby!" on our home video and I thought this many times in those next hours. How is this possible?

We were then sent home and the fun began as we figured it out the way only new parents can.

We held him up to my tummy and tried to imagine how he'd ever fit in there. (We both avoided thinking about how he'd gotten out) We were blissfully, insanely in love and as addicted to this being as any drug addict to cocaine. We got our buzz from kisses and squeezes, from sniffing his little baby neck and running our lips over his tiny baby feet. We were born that same day, we were born parents. We have never looked back and have never been the same since. We now carried such weight, such responsibility, such love.

My husband and I were talking in the car today about how quickly this 10 years has gone by. So fast, it's as if we've been swept up in some cosmic black hole that distorts time and were plunked down in 2008 with a 10 year old son. The scarier thought is that in another 10 years he will already be gone from here. He will be moving on and making his own way in the world as an adult. The stolen kisses and "love you mom"'s will not be something I can look forward to each day, but rather scheduled as we make time for each other in our separate lives.

How is this possible? I ask again...

So, for this birthday I wish for him to be 6 months old. A cooing, laughing bundle of boy that is figuring out how to assert himself in this world. A boy full of spitty kisses as he chews on my chin and infectious giggles when you kiss his tummy. A baby boy who loves to be naked and loves to be held. A boy with beautiful blue eyes and his daddy's nose... my first son, who taught me how to be a mother.

My Baby Has Turned 6!

Well, it was birthday extravaganza this weekend for my Helper Munchkin and much of it revolved around candy and football...go figure.

We started out the weekend with a Friday night High School game under the lights, (lots of candy and junk food) followed by a Saturday afternoon of big brother games, (lots of candy and junk food) and culminated with boys' day out with their dad at a Steeler's game (lots of candy and junk food). So, to recap : birthday, candy and junk food, football...got it?

Tomorrow I get my quota of estrogen when I meet my girlfriends for coffee, I'm in withdrawal here and on testosterone overload so I'm counting down the hours.