I know the gourmet cupcake craze has been around for a while now, but I never really jumped on board until lately. The thought of paying 2 or 3 dollars for one little cupcake just never appealed to my tight budget. Well, when my sweet Mackenzie was at college she began telling me about these amazing cupcakes from The Cocoa Bean. In April when her dad and I went to pick up her "stuff" and move her back home for the summer we stopped by. And no, we didn't pay 3 dollars, we paid 9 dollars. We just couldn't decide (well I couldn't decide) so we got 3 cupcakes. Kenz was right, they were amazing. This was the beginning of a slippery downhill slope for me. I just have way to big of a sweet tooth. The worst part about that is I also have way to big of a body because of the sweet tooth. Oh well, that is another matter for another day.
Fast forward now a few weeks to my girls trip to Seattle with my 2 best friends. While we were out shopping we came across a cupcake shop. The first one was called Pinkabella Cupcakes. Hello, this is me...if it says pink in the name it has to be good. Only Nan and I are cupcake fans so being indecisive again we each chose 2, figuring we had 4 days to eat them. The most intriguing flavor was Peanut Butter and Jelly. The lady at the shop assured us that this was a very popular flavor, I think she even said it was their best seller. Of course they make them all so cute and you just can't help but want to buy them. The next day we came across another cupcake shop. Again, we were indecisive and so we each chose 2. Four more cupcakes now added to the 4 from the previous day. Good thing we had already eaten some of them;) The next day we had been walking around Pikes Place and had finally headed back to our hotel and in the spirit of adventure decided to walk there. If you know Seattle at all, our hotel was in the Queen Anne district a ways from the Seattle Center. This is a loooonnnggg way from Pikes Place. While we were walking we see another cupcake shop. Yep, we really did it. We went in and actually had a little restraint. We chose one to split. The intriguing flavor at this shop was called Pancakes and Bacon. What can I say, we had to try it. It was surprisingly good.! I would have chosen a different base for the frosting if it was me but since they didn't ask my opinion before baking them... Anyway it was a maple flavored cupcake with bacon in it and then a maple frosting sprinkled with bacon on top. All in all, in those 4 days Nan and I consumed 9 cupcakes and spent about 30 dollars doing so. What can I say, it was vacation. Luckily we walked and walked and walked to make up for the calories.
After all the kinds we tried we came to the unanimous decision that our favorite was the
peanut butter and jelly.
Now we fast forward some more. Mackenzie is pretty much obsessed too and she decided to make some gourmet cupcakes to celebrate Andrew's 5 month mission mark. I found a recipe on a blog I follow and she thought it sounded pretty good. It was raspberry lemon. They were delicious and super cute. I was still dreaming of the peanut butter and jelly though. I think because it was something you just don't hear of everyday. Well, an occasion finally arose, (Bridger's birthday) and I searched out a recipe and did it. I made my peanut butter and jelly cupcakes. Can I just say they turned out pretty darn good. And almost as importantly, they are pretty darn cute! No, Bridger didn't ask for them. And no, he didn't even appreciate the novelty and how cute they were. But I had fun anyway!
I would like to think now that I have made them that my obsession is over and I can get backt to that diet I have been putting off. Unfortunately when searching for a recipe I came across all kinds of delicious looking things to try. hmmmmm what to do, what to do. I think at the very least I better take up running again!
There is nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with cupcakes.~unknown
I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert~Jason Love
That's All
