Making Stuff is Hard-Vegan Cupcakes

And for another installment of how baking is hard.....

This weekend my mother-in-law and sister in-law were in town and staying with us.  Well my MIL is a vegan and her birthday was a couple weeks ago so I decided to make her some vegan cupcakes.  My mom recently bought me the Southern Living Big Book of Cupcakes and there was a vegan recipe in there so I decided to give it a try.
The cupcake part turned out well, actually much better than I expected.
Then we got to the icing.  That is when the above mishap occurred.  This icing involved something called vegan shortening.  Vegan shortening looks kind of gross and does not blend at all.  I paused the mixer for a few minutes and left the bowl on the counter and as you can see, it fell on the floor and on me.  Good times.

So then I pulled out the big guns for my second attempt..........
Mr. Green Kitchenaid Mixer.

I was finally able to get something that resembled icing.

I think my finished product ended up looking pretty good.  I added some blackberries.

They tasted decent.  I could tell the difference from normal cupcakes but B's mom seemed to really enjoy them.  And they are all gone now so I think that's a good sign.

Here is the recipe if you are interested....

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups vanilla soymilk
2 cups all purpose soft wheat flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
paper baking cups
vegetable cooking spray

Vegan frosting
8 tbsp vegan butter or shortening
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup vanilla soymilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 16oz package powdered sugar

For the cakes....mix the vinegar and soymilk together and let it sit for five minutes.  Then mix the flour and next four (all the dry) ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add the oil and extracts to the soymilk mixture and then mix that into the flour mixture.  Bake in a mini cupcake pan at 350 for about 12 minutes.

For the icing....mix the first four ingredients until combined (the hardest part) and then add in the sugar until you get icing. 

Best daughter-in-law ever?

Have you ever done any vegan baking?

Or attempted to make your mother-in-law like you by making her cupcakes?

My Biggest Haircut since that Bowl Cut in Kindergarten.....

Did you take my Pop Quiz?

Well I know you are on pins and needles so I'll just go ahead and let you know.........
I
Got
My
Hair
Cut.......

It's the most I've gotten my hair cut at one time since my Kindergarten bowl cut.

My hair is really thick so the stylist had to put my hair in 5 mini ponytails and razor them off.  I was slightly scared when I saw the first 9 inch ponytail come off.  Then I remembered that my mom had to have her whole head shaved so I figured I could power through this.

So now I have short hair and can cross of #20 on my 30 for 30 list which I changed to 'do something daring with my hair'.  I think that getting a foot (she had to cut more to even it all up after the ponytails came off) of hair cut off is pretty daring.  At least for me.

I got my hair cut 9 inches so that I could donate it to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program.  This program is similar to Locks of Love but gives wigs to the American Cancer Society wig bank for people who cannot afford wigs.  I figured that now was as good a time as any for me to donate as my hair is slowly but surely turning gray and you have to have less than 5% gray hair to donate to this program.  So hopefully someday someone will get to give my hair a second chance. 

There was a fundraiser at my church and 38 people donated their ponytails, so that should make at least a few wigs.

I'm still trying to adapt to life as a short haired person.  My hair is too short for a ponytail at this point which is my go-to style.   Today I have attempted a headband.

Have you ever donated your hair....

Or done something daring with it?

My Homemade Birthday Present Streak Continues...

Curly J was back from her honeymoon just in time to celebrate her 30th birthday this weekend.  Of course I had to attempt to make her present since I made that goal of making all birthday presents this year.  Plus I wrote about that goal on my blog and she reads my blog. 

I kind of took the easy way out and made some earrings.  It's just too hot for any more t-shirt scarves at this time and I was drawing blanks on everything else.  I also gave her a bunch of photos from her wedding shower, bachelorette party and wedding and an album.  I had big plans to make an album but they fell through.  So, earrings it is.

Plus I made her a birthday cake.  It's my go-to chocolate chip poundcake which I have finally mastered over the years.  And by mastered, I mean it actually came all the way out of the pan instead of getting stuck in there and ripping apart.  Yay me!

The evening started with dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant followed by game night at her house.  B and I were victorious at a game of LCR and scored $7 in prize money.  Have you ever played LCR (left, center, right)?  I was pretty skeptical at first but it ended up being pretty fun.

So in conclusion, Mexican food and cake are good, LCR is fun, and I'm still doing ok on my handmade presents. 

Gwyneth Teaches me to Make Salsa and Other Beach Things....

It's been 90 degrees all week and I feel as though it's officially summer so let's talk about my last beach trip.

Last weekend I went to the beach with my parents and I coerced my mom into attempting a recipe from Bon Appetit.   I bought a year long subscription to Bon Appetit for $4 a few months ago that I learned about from Hip2Save, a cool couponing/saving website.  My first issue arrived last week and it had Gwyneth Paltrow on the cover.  Apparently she has written a new cookbook.  She is taking multi-tasking to a new level. 

We decided to make Grilled Halibut with Mango Avocado Salsa.  We pretty much dropped the ball on the fish as we decided to bake it instead of grill it and also to get some cod instead of all halibut.  So the fish was not my fave.  But the salsa was awesome.  I loved it.  I was a little worried about the mango but apparently we ended up getting one that was perfectly ripe and sweet.  The sweetness of the mango was good mixed with the other veggies and such.  Seriously, it was good.  I ate a bunch of the leftover salsa the next day on some chips.  I think the fish would have been much better if we grilled it.  I also added a few onions to the salsa the next day when I used it on chips.  It was delightful and a great summer dish.

So in conclusion, I trust Gwyneth with my food needs. 

Now here are some pictures.....

Hobie, I'm sorry for showing you in all your glory.

Good Salsa!

Hobie's favorite beach activity=staring out the window
in the car.