Paper Cupcakes

Even though it's just paper, it still looks delicious!

Well, that's what I think. As I have mentioned in several posts, I live in the residential halls and work with incoming freshmen. I wasn't going to come back this year but somehow I managed to sway myself back in. Part of the reason why I wanted to come back was because I will be more involved in the residential hall that I work in. This includes making door decorations! I wanted to make door decorations that told the residents something about myself so I decided to make cupcakes. So, I spent five hours on a Saturday night (yes, I have no life) cutting and gluing cupcakes together. It was addicting and I couldn't stop because once I made one type of cupcake, another cupcake flavor popped into my head. No recipe in this blog (unless you want to know the recipe on how to make these adorable cupcakes), it's just something I want to share. As you can tell from previous posts, I love cupcakes!

Can you guess the different flavors?

Starting from top left to bottom right:
1. Chocolate cupcake & strawberry frosting with a chocolate covered strawberry on top
2. Lemon cupcake & lemon scented frosting with a lemon drop on top
3. Cookies and cream cupcake & chocolate frosting with a chocolate cream cookie on top
4. Carrot cupcake & cream cheese frosting with a marzipan carrot on top
5. Yellow cupcake & chocolate frosting with sprinkles on top
6. Red velvet cupcake & cream cheese frosting with red sprinkles on top
7. White cupcake & strawberry frosting with a strawberry on top
8. Chocolate cupcake & vanilla frosting with sprinkles on top

Going Bananas for Banana! (Banana Bread)

I love banana bread for many reasons! If you know me, you're probably thinking I love banana bread because I love bananas! While that is true, it's only partly true. Side note: I have been obsessed with bananas for the past two year and haven't gone more than two days without eating a banana. I eat one for breakfast everyday and if I don't eat it for breakfast, I find some other time in the day to get my daily banana intake. It's a horrible obsession but at least it's a healthy one! Continuing on my banana rant, I only eat bananas at a particular ripeness. The idea banana is a vibrant yellow that is slightly green towards the end (see Oatmeal Banana Streusel Muffins). I don't pick bananas that are all bruised on the bottom. When I go to the grocery store, I only buy enough bananas so I can eat them at their ideal state which meant I bought bananas every three days. I am that picky!

Last summer, I was talking to my friend and she was telling me how she puts bananas in her smoothies and how it is tastier when they are riper. I started trying it out in my own smoothies I made for breakfast and she was right! I slowly became okay with eating riper bananas (deep yellow with speckles) in my peanut butter banana sandwiches, smoothies, and of course...banana bread! I am proud to say that I can buy a week's worth of bananas (one a day) and be okay with eater riper bananas by the end of the week!

Anyways, back to the focus on this blog entry: banana bread! The key to tasty banana is using really ripe bananas. I'm talking mushy and practically brown. I know, it's strange to hear me say this but it is true! This is my favorite banana bread recipe because it is full of banana flavor and it's not too sweet nor too heavy. Also, you can create your own variation of banana bread from this recipe. I have added chocolate chips to make chocolate chip banana bread and I have made whole wheat banana bread where I used half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. Don't worry, the bread did not turn out dry, it was still moist and I felt better about myself after ingesting it!

2010 To-Bake List (Revisited)

I was just thinking about how 2010 is almost half over. I remember when 2010 seemed so far away. I have always envisioned what 2010 would be like and not that it is hear, I feel like it is almost over. It will always be remembered the year I graduated college and officially became an adult. Granted, I graduated college in 2009 instead of 2010 but I will always view it as the last year of my undergraduate career! It has been a great year but I was sifting through my old blog entries and I came across my 2010 To-Bake List. Take a look:

1. sponge cake
2. crusty bread
3. Danish pastry
4. homemade oreo cookies
5. seven layer bars
6. Dutch crunch bread
7. cinnamon rolls
8. millionaire's shortbread
9. pita bread
10. chocolate brownie pudding cakes
11. English muffins
12. cinnamon raisin swirl bread
13. black and white cookies
14. New York cheesecake
15. molten chocolate cake
16. flourless chocolate cake
17. coconut cake

Guess how many of these items I have made? You guessed correctly if you said ZERO! As an excuse, if I can have one, I have been living a residential hall for this entire year and while I do go home on the occasional weekend, I usually bake something quick and yummy like cookies or cupcakes. It's not that I have not been baking, I just having been baking the things on my list. The funny part about looking at this list is that I want to add more things to it. I had many delicious desserts on the European cruise I went on a few weeks ago but my list will stand for now.

Now that I have done my mid-year review, I give myself an F. Let's see if I can redeem myself in the second half!

WAIT! Looking over the list again, I have made one thing: sponge cake. I do not have any pictures to show you as proof so I guess that does not count, does it? Ehh, I will give myself .5/17. That is still embarrassing though...

To make everyone feel better, including myself, here are pictures of things I have made. Everybody likes pictures, right?

My 22nd birthday cake. Yes, I made my own birthday cake. Don't judge me!

Made my own spinach dip. It was delicious, tasted similar to TGIF's!

Smoked salmon with cream cheese on a cracker with a sprinkle of parsely on top. I am well aware of the fact that this takes two seconds to make but don't you think it's a pretty picture?

My sister's 23rd birthday cake. I do not remember how long it took me to make this cake but I made it in record time, no joke. Red velvet cake with strawberry ice cream. It's always a winner.