Springtime in New York

Is Springtime in New York the name of a movie? If it's not, it ought to be. It seems kind of catchy. And as you can see, springtime in New York can also be quite beautiful.

We have had an incredibly mild winter. Snow didn't even stick--we didn't even put on snow tires. So why, oh why do I have such an intense case of cabin fever? It's only May, for cripe's sake! We moved from Alaska, where winter starts in October and ends in April. This mild New York winter that we had was more temperate than most Alaskan springs.

I have no answer. I don't know why. I just know that lately I've been going stir cra-a-a-azy. So we hopped a train to the city and went to visit the botanical gardens in Brooklyn (pictured here).

Later we went to Brooklyn Heights, had brunch, and afterwards I indulged and bought a cupcake from a cute little bakery that was doing some booming business. I decided that I'd be a little bit adventurous and do the earl grey cupcake. I like tea quite a bit, in all its forms. After living in Japan, I became quite fond of matcha (powdered green tea) in a variety of uses, including pastries. Alas, the cupcake was a wee bit of a disappointment. It would have been very delicious--if I weren't expecting it to taste even a smudge like tea. Lemon Essence would have been a better name. And to my disappointment, they did no tweaking to the buttercream frosting--which is a perfect vehicle to purvey flavor! None the less, it was moist and sweet, which is what I was after. And for a Lemon Essence cake it was downright tasty. It seemed to be just a case of poor naming.

This is precisely why I never name something until I can taste the final result. I've had too many ideas or recipes miss the mark and go south, but if I name it something else entirely, people's expectations are changed! Instead of chewy pecan whiskey cookies (which spread all out on the cookie sheet in an alarming and toffee-like sprawl), call them whiskey pecan brittle bites, and voila! Expectations are reset and everyone is happy.

I don't really know why I bring this up now. It has no relation to anything, really. It's just that I promised that I would write more blogs, and this is what spewed from my fingertips when I sat down to type.

Earlier this year, when we were on the cusp of spring in New York, I had to fly home to the Pacific Northwest to deal with some sad family business. I took over my mom's kitchen for the day and baked 48 spring cupcakes (red velvet and almond creme) as a thank you to a staff of helpers who took care of someone very, very dear to me for a couple years. I decided that the cupcakes should be a celebration, not sad, so I made tricolor fondant blossoms to top each of them. And then, since I was away from home and didn't have any of my own packaging on hand, I stopped by the bakery of a local grocery store to ask them if they would mind selling me some of the plastic containers that they put cupcakes in. I figured if I didn't ask, I wouldn't know. And it turns out they did sell me some, and they cost me way less than getting boxes at Michael's or other craft stores. Take that, Michael's! My visits to you have been frustrating and inefficient of late, so I have no remorse for telling people to go to their grocery store's bakery, instead! Ha!

Anyway, I suppose the lesson for the day is this: wait for the final results to name your creation--shaping expectations increases your chances of success! Oh, and if you need some cupcake containers, a cooperative grocery bakery can usually get them to you cheaper than Michael's.

Holy Hannah

Holy Hannah is a term that I picked up from my oldest sister. I have no idea if she still uses the term at all, but as anyone who knows me well can attest, I still use it daily. Usually I use it to express surprise, or incredulity, or shock. For instance, I used it when I opened up my blog and realized the last time I had posted a new piece was in September 2011. Holy Hannah. Sorry, folks. Some of my most loyal "fans" have been bugging me to post new stuff. I nod and smile and flutter my hand like, "yeah, yeah, yeah," but then I never do anything about it.

Have I stopped baking? Certainly not. Have I stopped living? Most assuredly, no. Do I still enjoy writing? Of course! The issue lies in a certain amount of inherent laziness, and the fact that I work in front of a computer all day--so getting motivation to sit at it again, at night, is really not on the top-ten list of things likely to happen on a regular basis. And then it got to be so long between posts that I just figured that no one would notice anyway. If I put new stuff up, no one would ever see it, and the blog would just sit here collecting little electronic cobwebs and pixel spiders and remain very much the same--except here I would be, spilling my culinary guts into the vastness of cyberspace, with no hope of response.

BUT... then a friend whose input I value very much basically gave me a metaphorical slap upside the head and told me to get that giant stick out of my you-know-what. So Friend--you know who you are--this is for you.

My dear, devoted, long-suffering fans (of whom I am not sure there are any but that one), I promise to be better. I do. I have a backlog of photos now, so I'll try to ration them out. And if you think my blog is worth reading, you really ought to check out my sister's. It's all professional looking and getting recognition, and like, total strangers read it and everything. In short, it's everything mine is not. Go ahead. give it a go. It's at www.wherethecookiesare.com. And once you've seen it, you're not allowed to come back and judge this one in relation to hers. You're just not.

As you know (if you've been sticking with me through my silent period), I often bake and send things in with Sean. He's given away a ton of my cards, and they asked me to bake a bunch of cupcakes for a fundraising bake sale. When they told me the quantities they wanted, I encouraged them to get more, because I didn't think it would be enough. They declined, saying, "maybe next time." Then I offered $50 of my services as a raffle prize, but they declined--"maybe next time." Then it turns out that they completely ran out of the red velvet cupcakes by 9:30 am, and the rest of them were gone by noon.  I never really have any interaction with any of them, so I didn't say "I told you so." Besides, you don't say that sort of thing to your clients.

And then, months later, orders started coming in. I'm doing a wedding cake in June (a wedding cake? really? me? Holy Hannah!). I did these cupcakes for a kindergarten spring party:

Aren't they cute? Didn't they come out well?

And then the same lady wanted a cake for her anniversary, iced in white with powdery-blue scroll work. Yeah. Not so great. It had structural issues and some poochy frosting (yes, poochy). I was NOT a fan.  I REALLY didn't like it. I told the lady that I wasn't happy with it and I'd refund her money, but I haven't heard from her. I sent a picture of it via text to some friends, and of course they all said it was fabulous, but it's because they were not there. They couldn't see the uneven corners and the pooched line in the middle. Yes, I have since analyzed it and determined how to avoid this in the future. However, I have decided that I should stay away from cakes and stick to cupcakes. Obviously, the key to success is sticking to your strengths, right? (Sorry, wedding cake person. I promise your wedding cake will be ridiculously fabulous, because I will bake it 8 times until it's perfect. And it helps that you want 75% of the layers to be fake.) So, long story short, who knows if you'll see any cakes ever pop up on this blog. We'll see.

In the meantime, I'll be gathering thoughts for new posts. I'll try to be better. Maybe once a week? Holy Hannah.