My Failed Attempt at Making Icing, But Success at Chocolate and Pumpkin Cupcakes

No matter how hard I try, I cannot make icing. I'm gonna have to work on it if I ever actually want to be on Cupcake Wars. If you have a full proof recipe, please comment below so I can get out of my failed icing rut.

Anyways, I had a charitable bake sale at work and since doing nice things and baking cupcakes are two of my favorite things, this event seemed like a great way to experiment. I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with white icing on the request of a co-worker. The pumpkin was an obvious choice because Starbucks has brought back pumpkin spice lattes and all is right with the world.
 
I found these recipes on Pinterest but tweaked them a little bit. I have a habit of not following directions perfectly. The chocolate ones were a little dense, almost brownie consistency. But, the pumpkin ones were perfect if I do say so myself. Since I am terrible at making icing and failed miserably in my feeble attempt, I gave in and bought Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Vanilla Frosting. Even though I don't really condone the fact that I couldn't pronounce any of the ingredients besides sugar, it was pretty awesome icing. I also had some raspberries at home and thought it would look cute on the chocolate ones. Cooking is all about improvisation to me.
 
Pumpkin Cupcakes
Makes about 30 - 36 cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) (room temperature)
4 large eggs
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger, nutmeg; set aside.
4. In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Beat until well combined. 5. Mix all ingredients together, but be sure to fold in the pumpkin.
6. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about 3/4 way.
7. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a toothpick/fork inserted in the center comes out clean about 20 to 25 minutes depending on your oven. 
8. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
9. Decorate as desired.
 
Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes about 18 cupcakes
 

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream

1. Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

3. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla.

4. Add flour mixture and sour cream, alternating between the two.

5. Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full.

6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

7. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

8. Decorate as desired. 

 

 

What Men Need to Know about 50 Shades of Grey in 100 Words or Less

I will admit that I read 50 Shades of Grey but I will not admit that I thought it was the best book I have ever read. If you do think it is the best book you have ever read then you seriously need to get your priorities in order and pick up an actual novel with substance. I did however believe it was interesting enough to keep reading, mostly because I had predicted how it would end and wanted to see if I would be right. For the record, I was right. I could write several pages on why this book is terrible, hilarious, the same as Twilight, etc., but I won't because any guy reading this has already zoned out. So here you go, this is what men need to know about the elusive novel written by E.L. James.

Women want you to be mysterious but also completely open about why you so mysterious. If you are a billionaire, it is acceptable to stalk women and ask them to be your sex slave, complete with a signed contract. Women like you to be a little rough in the bedroom, but then will be upset when you take it too far. You are supposed to find it incredibly sexy and irresistible when women bite their lips. If your name is Christian Grey, women will swoon for days. That's all. Word Count: 89

Now for all the ladies, here is a picture of who I believe should be Christian Grey in the movies. Can you say dreamboat?


p.s. this is Henry Cavill if you didn't know. 

5 Reasons Why Kate Middleton Is The Perfect Princess

Now I know we have all fantasized that we were actually a Princess from some obscure country destined to rule your country with the utmost class complete with dozens of eligible suitors waiting for you when you arrive. However, that only happens in The Princess Diaries or to Olivia Wilde so don't get your hopes up. The closest I will ever get to becoming a real life Princess is by living vicariously through Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge even if she does live across the Atlantic and I have never met her. I have big dreams.

I was a huge Princess Diana fan, I even had the beanie baby they created for her. She was flawless, beautiful, elegant, charitable and a Princess. So it is no surprise that I have a big girl crush on her son's bride. I hope that doesn't sound too creepy. Below I have compiled a list of reasons complete with pictures I borrowed from google and facebook to explain why I think that Kate Middleton is the perfect modern day Princess. Side note: I know that technically she is a Duchess, but I don't really understand the English Monarchy and will call her a Princess.

1. Her engagement ring is Princess Diana's engagement ring. I mean, what a great hand me down. It isn't like this is just some huge rock that he got at Jared. Even though this ring is slightly tainted with heartbreak and divorce, she wears it with a million dollar smile. 


2. Her wardrobe is unreal. I mean who else can rock those hats without apology and still look effortlessly chic? Answer: no one. I know she probably has a team of stylists choosing her every outfit, but I choose to believe she hand picks every outfit and looks fabulous because of it. 



3. Her given name is Catherine Elizabeth and the world calls her Kate. Another reason this is reminiscent of Princess Diana, the world called her Di which is precious. Personally, I believe the name Catherine is beautiful and think she should go by that. But, when the entire world calls you by a nickname, you know you're an icon. Also, when you play ping pong in a dress. 



4. The Royal Wedding was one of the highlights of my year and not only because it was a fairy tale come true on live television. There were parties celebrating this event all over the world. For example, my favorite Ohio State bar, Too's held a Royal Wedding viewing party starting at 5am with drink specials until the next day at 2:30am. This event was complete with ring pops for all the wannabe princesses and a british buffet for all the men who came to watch us crazy ladies. I believe one day there will be a live broadcast of my wedding all over the world with OSU students drinking to our marital bliss at their favorite college bar. I said I dream big. 



5. She was deemed a commoner in her home country of England, went to university as they say, met a prince, got a job as an accessory buyer, broke up with said prince then several months later was engaged to be married and became a princess. So clearly I did college wrong. Is it too late to go back? She was nicknamed "waitey kate" by the media because it looked as if all she was doing was waiting around for a wedding proposal to become part of the royal family. She made some great life decisions that I completely support which also further my reasoning as to why I believe she is the perfect princess, she doesn't take "no" for an answer. 



Now these are only a few reasons as to why Kate Middleton is flawless in my mind. I didn't even touch on the fact that she is absolutely stunning, has the perfect smile, has my dream job, was at basically every Olympic event and has an English accent. I'm sure one day when I'm feeling extra jealous of her life I will write more about why she is perfect but that's all for now. 

Martha Stewart Wannabe, Minus the Orange Jumpsuit

I have a few aspirations in life: to be successful, to be happy, to make the best cupcakes in Columbus and then the world, to own an English Bulldog named Henry and to be able to make a beautiful centerpiece out of sticks and apples like Martha Stewart. Except for her little stint in the big house, Martha is a completely acceptable woman to aspire to be like, at least in my personal opinion. She is intelligent, soft spoken, wealthy, has a talk show and taught Snoop Dogg how to make mashed potatoes. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ocre0kXgvg) This week I decided to channel my inner Martha, as I do most weeks and make a collection of crafts using the same items. In addition to my craftiness for the week, I made some delicious cupcakes (so say my coworkers) even though I may or may not have failed miserably when trying to make caramel butter cream icing. 

Now, I am not an inherently crafty or artistic person. I usually draw like a five year old after she has had 17 pixie sticks; outside the lines with mismatched colors and giving up halfway through. But, I decided that this time I would power through and finish these few projects to the best of my 22 year old ability. So I started off this day of crafting at the holy grail of craft stores, Hobby Lobby. I've gotta admit that I can spend hours upon hours in this place and possibly have in the recent past. After spending way too much time perusing the aisles, I decided to make some purchases and they were as follows. 

Things I Bought

Multi-Pack Canvas, 2pack 11" x 14" - $5.99

Prima Flowers Multipack, 1.2 ounces - $12.99

Mason Jar, 16 ounces - $1.79

3 Botanic Artistry Gerbera Flowers in White, Yellow and Purple, 24" - $2.99 each

Americana Acrylic Paint in Purple Cow, Lamp Black, Grey Sky, Traditional Burnt Umber, Antique Gold, Spa Blue, Baby Blue and Cocoa - $0.99 each

Value Brush Set, 25 brushes - $4.99

Bag O' Buttons, Pastel, 7 ounces - $4.99

Total before coupon: $47.64

Total after coupon: $28.58

Note: Hobby Lobby always has 40% coupons online or on your phone, which is awesome. Jo-ann also has a 20% student discount if you ask them. 

Things I Had

Glue Gun

Wine Corks

Pictures of my friends

Scissors

Wire Cutters

Once I had all my supplies ready to go, I was prepared to start my crafts for the day. I found this really cool picture on Pinterest (of course) that was a painting of a tree with flowers and buttons so I kinda stole their idea and made it my own. Once I made this fancy little painting, I had some leftover supplies so I kinda just made a hodgepodge of things until I got bored. Here they are.

These are the flowers that I bought at Hobby Lobby, but I glued two of them together to make them look prettier and set them aside. Then, I painted the whole canvas grey as a background. Like I mentioned, I am not the most artistic person so I drew out my tree on a scrap paper and then followed that drawing onto my canvas. Once my fancy new tree was dry, I used my hot glue gun to put my pretty new flowers on my painting. Then, voila a lovely new original painting by Hannah Pease.

So, I have a lot of leftover wine corks. I can't imagine why. It could be my love for red wine, but who knows really. I used the top of my mason jar and hot glued the two pieces together. Then, I took some of my leftover flowers and glued those on the sides. Finally, I took 4 wine corks and glued them on the bottom so that the top isn't flat. Very simple and then you have a fancy new coaster.

Like I said I have a lot of wine corks so I decided to make use of them. I took the lid off my mason jar to use for the coaster and tossed in a few wine works. Then, I used wire cutters to make the flowers shorter and fit inside the mason jar. Ta da, new decoration for my desk. 

Well, those were my Martha Stewart crafts for the week. They were really easy and match enough to be decorations in my bedroom so I'm a fan. This week, I'm planning on making some delicious cupcakes but I'll wait to share the details until I know they are a success. 

Post Graduate Hobby/Obsession/Love Affair: Pinterest

Ever since graduating approximately 48 days ago, I have been pretty boring. Don't believe people when they say growing up is fun, it's not thrilling. But then I found something to keep my attention off the fact that I am one of the (many) unlucky English majors without employment in my desired career area. This new obsession is Pinterest. What started as a slight crush while I was still living my exciting life as an undergraduate student at The Ohio State Univeristy has turned into a full on love affair. This shouldn't come as a surprise though because approximately 95% of those of the female gender my age are pinning every photo that seems appealing to them in any category of their past, present or future life, emphasis on the future. If you were wondering, yes that percentage is from a well respected study called my creative mind making up fake numbers that seem factual enough.

Now there are several reasons as to why I believe that Pinterest is so appealing to women and the few creative men out there. For one, you get to imagine that you can DIY your entire penthouse apartment complete with an adorable puppy who always takes flawless pictures, you can cook decadent desserts without ever gaining a pound because you work out like it's your job and you can have a stunning wedding with a hunky husband in a barn even though you have allergies like nobody's business. I'm not saying this all can't become a reality, but let's be rational for a moment and realize that the chances of this all happening are pretty slim, especially when you are a recent graduate without a job, boyfriend or own apartment. But, hey we can dream can't we? That brings me to my second point about why Pinterest is so appealing. These dreams of mason jars filled with stunning flowers, perfect cupcakes and cork boards made out of wine corks seem like feasible possibilites. That is because they are feasible possibilities as long as you have a strong enough desire to not be lazy. Now, I can't promise you a gorgeous barn wedding in the middle of summer when you are a severe asthmatic and your finance is deathly allergic to bees, but there are other options to choose from. I promise.

This entire blog (for the most part) will be dedicated to me proving that Pinterest crafts/recipes/DIY/anything can be done without breaking the bank and without having the Martha Stewart gene. I can't promise that there won't be a few other posts about some of my other interests, but I'll be sure to make them interesting enough to keep your attention. This blog is also my attempt to combine everything i love to do: write, ramble on about things i love, make crafts, bake cupcakes then devour them like i haven't eaten in months and share all of this with you to do with it as you please. Hopefully I am somewhat entertaining to you and this will help show you that your apartment can look just as pretty as the picture on Pinterest or that even if you can't make a grilled cheese, you can bake a scrumptous pumpkin muffin with the right recipe and direction. My goal is to do at least one craft from Pinterest every week as well as bake something I find on this magical website. In the near future I'll be sure to post the crafts that I did this weekend. If you want a sneak peek, follow me on twitter @peaseandthanks, on instagram at hannahpease or on Pinterest at Hannah Pease (soon to be PeaseAndThanks).