Cupcake FAIL

My husband works with a very nice girl that makes VERY delicious cupcakes. He comes home raving about her delectable treats at least once a week. "Man, she is a REALLY good baker!" he says. "She even decorated them with little flowers! Best cupcakes I've ever had!"

Well, needless to say... It fills me with rage knowing that someone makes a better cupcake than me. Talking to my girlfriend the other day she says, "Erin. You can't be serious! So what if someone makes better cupcakes than you? HE LOVES YOU! You're better than this!"

Um... no. No, I'm not! Victory will be mine! Mark my words!

And so, my journey into baking begins. I have a fire in my heart and the contest of a lifetime to win... even if I'm the only one that knows about the contest. 

Don't they look lovely? They tasted even better than they looked. Spongy, soft and chocolaty... yum!

The cake wasn't they problem, though. It was the icing. 

My first attempt at chocolate butter cream frosting ended up making these delicious little cakes look like mounds of cow poop. ugh... FAIL. The icing tasted good, however... so I might be onto something.

If at first you don't succeed, yada yada yada. I'll try again tomorrow. Thank goodness I've got an eager little taste tester living with me. 

The way to a Man's heart is through his stomach... even if that Man is 3.

I'm a firm believer in fixing everything with food (this is an apparent fact when I look at my "approaching 30" ass every morning in the mirror, believe you me). Got a cold?! Have some soup! Depressed?! Have some chocolate cake!

Got a kid who woke up on the wrong side of the bed?!

Make him Blueberry Pancakes! That'll fix his wagon!

I cannot remember where I got this recipe, but it is the BEST. You can add anything to the base recipe, and they still come out fantastic. I use overripe bananas, strawberries, blueberries... whatever is on hand that needs to get used before it spoils.

Basic Pancake Recipe

1 1/2 cups of flour
3 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp. of salt
1 tbs. of sugar
1 1/4 cups of milk
1 egg

Cook them in butter... it is the ONLY way. Then put more butter on them before you eat them. And ALWAYS use REAL maple syrup.

See, now? Isn't that better? It's amazing what some good grub can do for someone in a funk. Now, go make someone happy! :)

Improvisational Curry

When I'm extra hungry, I always come up with the best recipes. I had a hankering for some curry in a bad way, so I cooked up a little piece of heaven this afternoon.

This is what you will need:

1.5 lbs or so of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 medium sweet potatoes (CUT INTO 1 INCH CUBES)
1 medium red onion (DICED)
2 14 oz cans of chickpeas
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
5 cups of chicken broth
Curry powder
Turmeric powder
Garlic powder
Cilantro

First, heat up some vegetable oil in a HUGE skillet on Medium/High heat. Take some boneless skinless chicken thighs and season them with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook until browned on all sides.

Start working on the broth while the chicken is doing it's thing. I make my broth with Knorr Chicken Bullion powder, but you can also use the boxed kind. Whatever you decide to do, just get 5 cups of it into a pot and heat it up.

Once the broth is nice and hot, add 4 tbsp of curry powder and 1 tbsp of turmeric. Stir to mix well and set aside. 

By now, the chicken is looking nice and crispy on the outside. Remove from the heat and cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces. Set aside for now.

Next, cook up your diced red onion in the drippings and oil until they are almost clear.

Then, you'll want to add the sweet potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes, broth and chicken into the pan and bring to a boil.

Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to med-low. Just cook until the potatoes are fork tender.

I top it with a TON of Cilantro once it's done cooking. Serve with rice. DELISH!