cupdate!

dear friends,

thanks for all of your cupcake-related support as i've baked six cupcakes for the sweetest kitchen's mystery box challenge and managed to enter five of them in the competition on time. of those five, four received enough of your votes to be entered into the random draw. though i never won that draw, i've learned a lot, made some stunning messes, and eaten far too much batter over the last eight months.

click to make this bigger!

so, thanks for voting for me! i hope to keep the hobby alive and invite you to come up with your own challenges for me in the months ahead!

i am. thirty.

i was born.
a girl.
a daughter.
a granddaughter.
a niece.
a sister.

i started becoming.
a reader.
a rememberer.
an immigrant.
an advocate.
a friend.

some things you made me.
a sister-in-law.
an auntie-to-be.
a girlfriend.
a forgiver.
a better friend.

some things i made myself.
a researcher.
a writer.
a leader.
a follower.
my own friend.

some things i am still becoming.
a law student.
a cook and baker.
a discerner.
a jogger.
a listener.

some things i dream of yet becoming.
a defender.
a treeclimber.
a runner.
a mother.
a whole.

i am thirty.
and i'm becoming more.

mimosas in the sun

june is the very last month of the mystery box cupcake challenge, and the theme is fizzy! please vote for me!

to be honest, it took me a while to decide which way to go on this. i thought about creating a volcano or using word play (something about phys. ed.)... but none of that really motivated me. finally, i found the answer: booze.

in life, booze is so rarely the answer. in my baking, however, it's becoming more common! pina colada muffins, mojito cupcakes, and eggnog fudge... oh, my! even though - and perhaps because - i don't drink very often, i find playing off cocktails to be a wonderful creative outlet.

i have to say, though, that i took things up a notch with these champagne and citrus cupcakes, inspired by the mimosa-esque buck's fizz! the staple of fancy brunches and afternoon weddings, the mimosa evokes light, lightheadedness, and joy.

and, if i do say so myself, so do my mimosa in the sun cupcakes!

let me walk you through the process:

the lemon cake base was infused with champagne and a touch of freshly-squeezed orange juice.

post-bake, champagne syrup was drizzled over the still-warm cupcakes and allowed to soak in.

the following day, after marinating, a champagne frosting was applied along with a twist of orange peel as garnish.

these tasty, refreshing desserts now only awaited the final touch: sugar bubbles representing the effervescent celebration that champagne has come to connote.

my participation in these challenges has pushed me to work on my technique, rather than rely on my puns. it has introduced me to piping technique, filigree, creative ingredients (jell-o!), unexpected flavour combinations (chocolate and cheese, anyone!), and - this month - sugar work.

so, while those i live with won't necessarily miss the sticky fridge handle and the whir of the handheld blender, i'll miss these little adventures, jamieanne. thanks for inspiring me to come up with my own!

The winner of June’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:

• Angela's Images; a selection of handmade crafts
• Bake It Pretty; a $5 online gift card
• Beanilla; a $7 online gift card
• cupcakewrappers.com; 2 packs of cupcake wrappers
• Miss Kitty Creations; a handmade cupcake charm of your choice
• Simply Caked; 600 brown greaseproof cupcake liners
• Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a $5 online gift card
• Tundra Books; 3 children's books

Thank you to all our prize sponsors!

blog mocking art imitating life

i track my starbucks visits. not the number or frequency, but the locations. i know i'm not the only one! which makes this even funnier: that is priceless.

help me get this monkey off my back!

FACT: Vervet monkeys use different alarm calls to warn each other of nearby predators, depending on whether the danger comes from land or from the air.


LSAT QUESTION: Which one of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the behavior of vervet monkeys described above?

A: By varying the pitch of its alarm call, a vervet monkey can indicate the number of predators approaching.

B: Different land-based predators are responsible for different numbers of vervet monkey deaths.

C: No predators that pose a danger to vervet monkeys can attack both from land and from the air.

D: Vervet monkeys avoid land-based predators by climbing trees but avoid predation from the air by diving into foliage.

E: Certain land-based predators feed only on vervet monkeys, whereas ever predators that attacks vervet monkeys from the air feeds on many different animals.

LSAT INSTRUCTOR: Why do my students always want to argue with me about this question?!?!

robert frost(ing)

for this month's mystery box cupcake challenge, i honour the one-hundred and thirty-seventh birthday of robert frost, whose poetry has inspired and haunted me. it even made its way into my high school yearbook write-up.

whose cakes these are i think i know.
his bakery's in the village though;
he will not see me stopping here
to watch his cakes fill up with snow.


my filigree must think it queer
to stop without some fondant near,
between the trees and frosted cake,
the darkest chocolate of the year.


he gives his fragile limbs a shake
and some of them begin to break
the only other sound's the sweep
of easy mint and sugar flake.


the cupcake's lovely, dark, and deep,
but i have promises to keep,
and miles to go before i sleep.
and miles to go before i sleep.

the winner of march’s mystery box cupcake challenge will receive prizes from:

• Angela's Images; a selection of handmade crafts
• Bake It Pretty; a $5 online gift card
• Beanilla; a $7 online gift card
• Miss Kitty Creations; a handmade cupcake charm of your choice
• Simply Caked; 600 brown greaseproof cupcake liners
• Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a $5 online gift card
• Tundra Books; a selection of 3 very sweet children's books

Thank you to all our prize sponsors!

the hot team - part i

this week, i have logged 235 minutes of exercise: 60 minutes of advanced step, 20 minutes of jane fonda, 20 minutes of taebo, 45 minutes of body sculpt, 45 minutes of beginner step, and 45 minutes of kickboxing (which i just tried for the first time today!).

so.

a friend of mine playfully alluded to my initiation onto "the hot team," and asked me, "where do you get your motivation?" this isn't an easy question. i mean, i'm a fairly lazy person and, like most people, i run on inertia. there are days and weeks when working out is the bane of my existence. but i've learned that it really is easier to be on your game than to try to catch up when you've fallen behind. to my mind, this is the realization that opens the door to self-discipline in all areas of my life, particularly in academics, relationships, and health. rather than cutting corners, thinking that it's ok to cheat a little, i need to realize that those cheats add up: in all-night writing/cramming sessions, in blow-ups or loneliness because we haven't communicated along the way, in scale-induced guilt, indigestion, or premature exhaustion during a demanding workout. molehills can clump up into mountains if you neglect them too long. take the more expedient route: do it now.

a second crucial realization came in the classroom. i prepare students for a standardized test that i don't administer or set the parameters for. unfortunately, when i finish up the content portion of class early, my students usually take off. they choose not to take advantage of the ten or twenty or even thirty minutes we have left by asking questions or going over homework. they behave as if their potential for growth and test's difficulty are both limited by my agenda for our session. but they're not. there's a gap between where my students are and where they need to be to succeed, and taking full advantage of their resources is the best way for my students to close that gap.

so, that's where i get my motivation: knowing that it's easier to do it now - even if it feels harder - and that i have tools at my disposal to help me. some of them are obvious: a fabulous instructor at my gym, friends who also work out there, sparkpeople.com (where i track my food and exercise religiously and learn more about healthy living), and parents who are also trying to get healthier right now. some are more subtle, but just as essential: how strong i feel when i'm practicing roundhouse kicks and uppercuts, how amazing home-roasted red peppers taste, how affordable produce is, and how much happier i am when i'm hydrated. those things all motivate me. and they're not all.