Red Velvet Cupcakes - Two Ways

About a month ago I was contacted by the sister of a friend who asked if I would be willing to bake cupcakes for a surprise 40th birthday party she was throwing for her boyfriend!  You want to order cupcakes from me?!  OF COURSE I'M INTERESTED!

Now that that's out of my system...

I (semi) promptly emailed her back, and we got to work ironing out the details.  The most important detail is that the birthday boy's favorite cake is red velvet cake.

I immediately thought of a problem...I don't recall ever having red velvet cake.  So, either I've never had it, or it wasn't worth remembering.

An Open Letter to Delta Airlines

Dear Delta,

I hate you.

Hugs & Kisses & Fluffy Stuff,

Rachel

It's been almost a month since I've blogged anything...I suck.  Also, I've been busy (lame & true).  In exciting news, I moved a week and a half ago from a 1.5 bedroom apartment with an angry (Ian says serial killer) old neighbor who complained that I was being too loud even when I wasn't home into a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, beautiful town home! 

In sad news, my aunt passed away last week.  I don't feel that this is the appropriate place to discuss her, her life, or her death, but it is the appropriate venue for my rant re: Delta Airlines.

I spent most of last week at home.  Ian was moving back to finish school, so I went with him in his car to Iowa, and then purchased a plane ticket to get me back to Wichita on Sunday.  Itinerary:

Leave Iowa at 4:25 pm, land in Atlanta at 7:31

Leave Atlanta at 8:30, land in Wichita at 9:45.

So it's Sunday, I'm all prepared to leave, and I get a phone call from Delta.  Apparently my flight has been delayed and I am now set to arrive in Atlanta 8:24.  Ok, a six minute layover isn't great by anyone's standards, but I figure that since they are both Delta flights, the airline will work with me.

A couple of minutes later, I get a second phone call...I'm delayed for a second time and will be arriving in Atlanta at 8:59, 29 minutes after my scheduled departure.

And then five minutes later, all of a sudden I'm not going to be in Atlanta until 11:44.  Clearly this doesn't work for me.

I get online, find a new itinerary and even though I'm pissed, I just suck it up because really, what are you going to do about it, right?

Ok, so new itinerary:

Leave at 11:45, arrive in Minneapolis at 12:51

Leave Minneapolis at 2:20, arrive in Wichita at 4:12.

The next morning, I'm all ready for my flight again and I get another phone call.  My flight is delayed AGAIN!  Now I'm not going to arrive in Minneapolis until 2:33, 13 minutes after departure. 

So Ian and I go to the airport because I'm angry and I need to get home.  We walk up to the counter and the customer service rep tries to make a joke, sees that I'm pissed, and gets a little serious (but also condescending).  I tell him I want to get home as soon as possible, he says the earliest flight out of Minneapolis he can get me on is at 7:30.  I say that doesn't work for me and tell him to get me home earlier, on Delta or some other airline.  He clicks and clacks on his computer for a few minutes and says, "Sorry, but that's the earliest I can get you there.  It will have to do."  So I say, "Fine.  I don't care what time I get home, I want to fly on a different airline because clearly your airline has issues as every single flight has been delayed,"  (as we are talking, Delta is making an announcement that another flight has been overbooked and they are looking for people to volunteer to take a different flight).  He goes over to American Airlines and when he comes back I am miraculously on an earlier flight, arriving in Wichita at 4:30.

Many things about this experience pissed me off, but this "customer service" guy was the worst.  First, I shouldn't have to ask twice for you to check flights with other airlines.  Then he told me that one of the reasons the flight may be delayed is regularly scheduled maintenance.  WTF?  Finally, he talked to Ian and I like we were children and/or idiots. 

Moral of the story = I hate Delta. 

I promise to post about cupcakes soon.  :)

Read this Book! Seriously! DO IT!

Ok, the picture is terrible and you can't really tell what it says...so you should purchase and read Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess).  I know that you don't really want my opinion about what you should read, but here it is anyway!

I read The Bloggess's blog and it is freaking hilarious all the time, so I pre-ordered the book in like January or something equally ridiculous.  Anyway, I patiently waited for the book to arrive (for about a month...then I impatiently waited) and about did cartwheels when I actually got it!  I immediately went out on to my patio to read!

I opened up to the introduction and started reading...and then I started laughing...I laughed so hard I teared up a little bit.  Seriously.  I laughed so hard that I had to come back inside.  I was fairly certain that if I stayed outside, my neighbors would think I was crazy for just sitting there all alone laughing out  loud for an extended period of time...

So I came inside and continued to read.  And I laughed so hard that Ian asked me to stop reading because it was distracting him from whatever he was doing at the time (playing video games...reading his own book...etc).

So, the moral of the story is that this book is freaking hilarious and I promise you will laugh so hard you cry at least twice.

Personal Baked Oatmeal "Bars"

I'm  not much of a morning person.  At all.  For some reason, I am perfectly capable of waking up at 5:30 am for a gym class (most of the time) and when I do I manage to make myself something good for breakfast (and by "I usually make myself," I mean "Ian cooks" - at least for now).  But on days that I don't go to the gym, I CANNOT get my lazy butt up out of my bed.  Which also means I don't eat breakfast.  If I don't eat breakfast I AM STARVING by 9:30 am, which is obviously too early for lunch.  Or I eat something gross out of a vending machine.

And this is where I have to thank Pinterest and the amazing people who post amazing ideas on it!  PINTEREST SOLVED MY LAZY BUTT BREAKFAST PROBLEMS!

The People of Walmart

So I did some baking for Easter, but this post isn't about that.  This post is about my trip to Walmart to get my baking supplies.  I'm a procrastinator, so I waited until Sunday morning to go to the store to purchase my ingredients.  I wasn't really sure what stores would be open on a holiday (in the bible belt), so I opted for Walmart because I figured it was a sure bet. 

During my time at Walmart, I had multiple interactions with strangers:

(1)  Within 5 minutes of being in the store, as I was wandering around by the checkout lanes trying to find one that had cold Diet Pepsi, an older gentleman walked up to me and asked me to verify that he was purchase the correct light bulb.  He had his old light bulb and the new one he wanted to purchase...we agreed that there was a little indentation at the top and that appeared to be the only difference.

(2)  A few minutes later, a middle-aged man in an...interesting suit approached me.  He had a full gold "grill" and a very nice hat.  He was looking for a woman to help him re-tie his tie.  I was apparently the 18th to turn him down.

(3)  While looking for peanuts, and older gentleman started talking to me about where to find the powdered popcorn flavoring.  We agreed it should be near the popcorn.  He encouraged me to eat more popcorn and told me his favorite brands.

(4)  Finally, while getting some food coloring two black men approximately my age came into the aisle and asked if I happened to know where they could find Easter egg dye.  I said I did not but told them they could use food coloring, water, and vinegar and it would work the same.  They thanked me and turned to walk away and I heard one (who had his goatee in pigtails) say to the other, "See, white people are so smart."  Seriously. 

Anyway, the people at Walmart were very, very friendly on Easter. 

Rootbeer Float

Around November of 2011, I got an email from my sister, Dani, with the subject line "Challenge."  She issued me a challenge to create a cupcake that used at least one flavor of Pinnacle Vodka, preferably more.  Specifically, she wanted me to use a the Pinnacle Whipped.  She may have even strongly suggested that the cupcake be a Rootbeer Float flavor.  I promised to do so...

I intended to make these cupcakes shortly after she issued her challenge.  I purchased the Pinnacle Whipped vodka and intended to purchase the Rootbeer flavor as well.  However, the liquor store I went to didn't have it, so I just purchased Rootbeer and made a mental note to go to another liquor store.

I drank the first bottle of vodka.  It's really good.  Mixed with Rootbeer, it's like the perfect adult Rootbeer float.  No joke!

Doctor's Orders!

I promise to post about cupcakes again very soon (about Rootbeer Float cupcakes...yummy!).  But first...

I went to the doctor yesterday because I've been a little dizzy and my hip hurts.  The doc ran some tests and took some x-rays.  Turns out, I have low blood pressure (100/60) and a random issue with my hip.  My doctor has instructed me to eat more salt and stop running.  No joke.

How many of you can eat bacon, cheese, and chips and blame it on your doctor?  Well...I CAN!  Jealous???