Cupcakes

“Happy Birthday Canada” Cupcakes (and a brief narration of Canada Day from in front of the Terry Fox statue)

~ Hilary ~ 3 Comments

If there is one thing that you need to know about me, it is that I love my country.  With such knowledge now in your craniums, I’m sure it’s not hard for you to guess just what it was I was doing on July 1.  Decked out in my red shorts and Canuck shirt, I trekked to downtown Ottawa, to experience Canada’s birthday the way it should be celebrated: on Parliament Hill.

(It was windy, we were trying to fly)

11:30 a.m.
 So the Parliament Hill thing didn’t really happen…apparently you have to come a wee bit earlier than 11:30 if you wish to even claim a smidgen of space on the Hill.  Alas, myself and a few of my fellow Summer O leaders camped out in front of the Terry Fox statue, where we managed to see the Queen in her red pantsuit (very patriotic of her) and get scared as 21 shots rang out into the afternoon heat.  Special shout out to Iman who found her soulmate on this balmy July day: a tall, photo-taking, prominent jawline man who we have appropriately named Eric (after Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid).  All in all, my feet were run over by strollers, bicycles and walkers, but not even sore feet could smother my patriotism!  I swear, if they had played that Olympic “I Believe” song, I would have broken out into tears.

My tippy-toes view of the day’s events:

Mass chaos ensued as we tried to escape the drowning push and pull of red-and-white…

On to the treat!
Since it certainly isn’t everyday that your dear country turns 143, I thought I should do something extra special for this Friday’s treat, in honour of this festive occasion.  Between coming home from being swamped downtown and going to see the fireworks at night, I managed to churn 27 pretty little cupcakes out of my ghetto student kitchen.  I even melted red chocolate into maple leaf moulds!!  Come on, how cute is that?  Even after a long, frustrating struggle with the Stove from Hell and our pathetic mixer (I am so buying a counter mixer with my Visa reward points), we were complete.  Here is the result, which I am rather pleased with.

So what did I think of Canada Day in the capital?  AWESOME!!  Next year’s plan?  Parking myself on Parliament Hill at 8:00 a.m. sharp, picnic blanket and Canada flag in hand (and painted on my face).

I hope you all had as great a Canada Day as I did!

S’mores Cupcakes

~ Hilary ~ 2 Comments

I’ve started this thing where every Friday (this was my second Friday, it’s not quite a pattern yet..) I bring in a delicious baked treat for my wonderful co-workers.  Last week’s baked good was the cheesecake, so I knew I had to do something dramatically different for this week’s surprise.  I asked our team leader Kristina on Thursday what she would like me to bring in for the next day, and she eagerly suggested that I make the s’mores cookies I photographed earlier for this blog.  Since I didn’t want to start with food re-runs already, I knew I needed to find a new way to incorporate s’mores into a delicious recipe.

Just when I thought all was lost, my favourite dessert blog Bakerellasaved the day!  I was just scanning through the pages looking for a white cake recipe when I stumbled on her recipe for “s’more-or-less cupcakes.”  The second I saw them, I knew I needed to make them.  Two hours later, voila!  These cupcakes were decadent, and the recipe made the perfect amount for all the staff in our office.

Just so you all know, I still have leftover s’mores ingredients, so expect a s’mores cheesecake sometime in the near future.

As for tonight’s dinner?  I’m going back to my “can’t cook” roots and having soup noodles.