Yay! Cupcakes!

I've decided to feature cupcakes, instead of full-sized cakes on the blog for a while. Why? Well, why not?!? Ok, that may just be the painkillers talking, but it seems like a decently solid idea.

The definite upside to maiming myself is that I get to ride those ridiculous motorized carts through the grocery store. To my amazement and delight, they even make the "truck-backing-up" beep while you are going backward. I can totally see why people order "Rascals", and then never bother to walk again. These things are amazing! Plus, they seem to wield some sort of unholy power over others. People who would never otherwise move for me scurry around the aisles to avoid me when I am on the cart. Also, it's a great way to make sure that my friends do not want to be seen anywhere near me. All-in-all, it's a brilliant machine.

Well, it's no grocery store power-scooter, but here's today's cake...or, cupcake, rather.

In Other News...

...I've managed to give myself a "grade 2 ankle strain", meaning that I've torn some of my muscle tissue. I'd love to claim that I did this via some spectacular display of stunningly limited athletic prowess, or that the injury is resultant from a terrifying [insert vicious animal] attack, but, alas, I just fell. I didn't even fall for any particularly good reason- it was rainy, and I slipped. Now, I'm off my feet and out of the kitchen.

On Tuesday, my boyfriend came over, and when he showed up, he was wearing his "Award Winning Panda Sandwich" t-shirt. Here's a little exposition about this t-shirt, internet:

Rob and I both really like to use StumbleUpon. The other week, we were "stumbling", when we came across the "Random Nonsense Generator" (http://pages.prodigy.net/jschla/random.htm). All this site does is give you sentences like, "The demonic puppeteer graciously heralded the arrival of the squishy bowl of blood pudding." when you press a button. It's delightful. Anyway, we were given, "The boyishly cute mind reader defiantly sprinkled pixie dust on the award-winning panda sandwich." Having decided that "award winning panda sandwich" had to be the best combination of words in the English language, I set out to make t-shirts. Really, it was the only logical thing to do. I honestly never thought that Rob would ever wear said t-shirt, but I was thrilled that he did. Sadly, I took the Sharpie promise of indelibility a little too seriously, and washed the t-shirt. Post-laundry cycle, it's the AWWEFSD PAERGD t-shirt, with a [now inexplicable] panda on a bun.

To commemorate the loss of this great work of art, today's cake is a panda cupcake. R.I.P., "Award Winning Panda Sandwich" t-shirt...

This is a Creative Post Title.

...and these are not the droids you're looking for...

Does anyone else out there feel like every successive year of their life goes by faster than the last? I'm absolutely boggled by the fact that, this weekend, it will be May. MAY, internet! How is that even possible?!? There is simply no way we are five months into 2010. Someone MUST be playing a trick on me.

Speaking of tricks, I just figured out how to format this text. Yay for bold script! I'll be making myself a cake to celebrate.

Speaking of cakes, last night, my boyfriend, my roommate and I ate an entire frozen cheesecake out of a tin. This was justified, in my opinion, by the fact that the Caps lost. I probably could have eaten the whole thing by myself, but it was more polite and less detrimental to share.

STILL speaking of cakes, here's a wedding cake I did in blue and white. It was blue-and-white-checkered vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. I'd venture a guess that their colors were blue and white.

Communication is the Key to a Healthy Relationship.

Howdy, browsers of the inter-tubes! Given that I truly and deeply love you all and would like to foster our special connection, I realize that I should be more open to communication. Thus, I present to you the greatest gift a cake-making blogger can give her loyal readers: her email. It's elliemakescakes@gmail.com.

In all seriousness, it was brought to my attention that I had no contact information whatsoever on this blog. I've now corrected that, and expect that the emails will soon come flowing into my inbox like an influx of...well, emails. Sorry, internet- I was up far too late last night to be cleverly snarky today. Honestly, I'm lucky to be coherent. At least I have proven conclusively that cake is not a cure for insomnia. I hope I haven't broken the hearts of any late-night snackers!

Here's today's cake. Feel free to EMAIL me with any comments...hehe.

"Rawr!" is Lion for, "I'm Sorry for Not Posting."

Really, it is. I speak fluent lion. What's that? You'd like me to say something else? Oh, ummm...uhhh...maybe I'm not FLUENT-fluent. I'm just conversationally proficient, especially if you would like to have a conversation about me apologizing for not blogging. I'm great in that conversation!

Anyway, sorry for the giant lapse in posts. I don't even have a good excuse this time- I simply got busy with work/life and neglected this blog. You have my sincerest apologies, internet. You also have today's cake. This was banana with chocolate buttercream frosting. It seemed appropriate for a jungle cake.

Always Practice Safe Cake-making. Use a Condiment.

I've never honestly cared much for ketchup. Sure, I'll put it on fries if I find myself lacking reserves of vinegar, blue cheese dressing, ranch dressing, and sweet-and-sour sauce. I'll even use on nuggets or fried fish on occasion. In any event, no matter how much I dislike ketchup, I can at least claim to use it mainly in normal ketchup venues. However, not many people know that ketchup also makes an excellent cake. I don't mean ketchup alone, of course- I'm not even certain how that would qualify as a baked good. "Ketchup cake", as it's fondly and oh-so-creatively referred to, has a sort of cinnamon and molasses flavor, and is beautifully paired with cream cheese frosting. Essentially, if you don't tell people what is in it, they'll never guess- sort of like pool water! I'd have to hope, though, that any cake I make is more pleasant to swallow than pool water. You can also add ketchup or pureed tomatoes to a chocolate cake to produce a creamier, moister texture and a more pungent flavor. Anyway, I plan to spend the upcoming weekend convincing my friends that "ketchup cake" is not as disgusting as it sounds. I'd like to rename it for greater mass appeal, but nothing comes immediately to mind except "Heinz and seek" cake, which might honestly be worse.

So Much for Commitment...

Alright, internet. You got me. I didn't even make it one day without breaking my "cake-a-day" promise! Let me explain, though...I really do have a valid excuse. Perhaps, in time, you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

A couple of months ago, my boyfriend damaged his knee skiing. Actually, it wasn't so much the skiing that damaged his knee- it was really the falling that did it. Either way, he seemed to be recovering well until Tuesday night, when he fell on the stairs. I rushed (at some 80 miles an hour or so) over to his place and spent the night so he didn't have to get up and walk if he needed anything. Frankly, I know he's an adult, and he likely would have been fine without me; but, it wasn't a big deal at all for me to go over there, and, if it saved him some pain and annoyance, it was well worth it. I'm not just saying that because I know he's liable to read this. He's truly a good human being, and I'm lucky to have him in my life. If I can do something to make his life a little easier or better, I'll do it.

Wow, that's corny. It would seem that when I make the effort to express myself in a non-sarcastic, genuine manner, I simply come out sappy. I have two settings: "biting sarcasm" and "bad 'Lifetime Original Movie'". Well, that second one is redundant. "Lifetime Original Movie" would have sufficiently implied "bad".

Anyway, here are two cakes to make up for my terrible indiscretion. Also, it does occur to me that there is tremendous irony in having the headline "So Much for Commitment..." right next to a wedding cake, but it makes me giggle, so I'm leaving it that way.