Cupcakes!
So as a result of my new-found vegetarianism, I'm trying to find more ways to make tasty things that both Brady and I will enjoy. Brady's not vegetarian, not even close. But it makes me happy if I can make something that's cruelty-free that he enjoys.
Which is why I decided to get some cookbooks today at Border's. I bought two. Vegan with a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, both by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Today I decided to make some cupcakes. It was pretty daunting since there are literally 75 different recipies to choose from in this book, and icings, too. I finally decided on the Peanut Butter Cupcakes. It's a simple recipe that involves natural chunky peanut butter, molasses, flaxseed, vanilla, soymilk, and other basic ingredients. The "icing" is supposed to be a drizzled semi-sweet chocolate ganache. Unfortunately I didn't have a piping bag, and I forgot I could make one out of a ziplock bag. But my experience with a ziplock bag wasn't really useful for drizzling, so instead I just spread a small layer of the ganache on the top. Granted this is probably more chocolate than is required, but it'll do. On top of that I sprinkled some chopped peanuts, and voila. Cupcakes a'hoy.
I have to say, after trying one, they are pretty good. Less sweet than you would expect a cupcake to be, but I think that's the point. I mean, peanut butter cookies aren't generally sweet. It tastes pretty wholesome, and the chocolate ganache wasn't overbearing. They're extremely moist, and I had to eat them over the sink so I didn't lose the entire cupcake all over the floor.
I'm looking forward to cooking the other recipes in this book. I learned a few things, like I didn't know that soy milk would still curdle with vinegar the way that cow milk does. I've noticed you can use less soy milk where you'd use cow milk. I'm glad I don't have to crack eggs anymore or melt butter.
I'll be updating future posts if I make any more of these cupcakes, along with some reviews. The book is definitely a good resource, and I recommend it, even if you're not vegetarian or vegan. It was $15.95 at Border's, and they had quite a few.
A Small Update
Hello, everyone. I'm publishing this from my new WordPress blog, but it's going to cross-post to LiveJournal. I just wanted to give you an update on my life, since it's been about 2 years since I've regularly blogged anything. The problem was that I was dating this guy Kevin, and he didn't like me to be honest. He didn't appreciate that I'd ever write the truth. I wasn't always happy with him. He was logging into my LiveJournal and reading entries. Reading entries that existed before I was dating him, and during. I'd change my LiveJournal password and he'd still do this. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow found my WordPress blog as well, but that's besides the point. I want to be able to write with honesty and not have to worry about someone reading it and feeling hurt. I did end up leaving him, thankfully. I no longer felt my trust would be compromised in any way.
I work at a web-hosting company now, (and they're not hosting this blog, someone else is.) I met a boy there, and his name is Brady. I had a small, insignificant crush on Brady when I first met him, but I didn't let this bother me, since I was with Kevin. I just wanted to get to know him a little more though. He seemed to be pretty cool and liked good music. In October of 2008 I went with my friend Allyson to see Hanson in Atlantic City. We somehow convinced a couple of guy friends from work to come hang out with us after the show. Brady was one of those guys. We hung out and drank and had fun, and I was good, knowing I had a boyfriend at home. But after that weekend, Brady let me know that he really liked me and wanted to get to know me more.
Kevin and I were constantly off and on, and I honestly didn't see much hope left in the relationship, so I let it end, as I should have done months before. I wasn't really ready for a relationship with Brady yet, but I found myself hanging out with him more and more, until it was obvious what it had become. Essentially we fell in love within the first few months, and now I live with him in Bear, Delaware, along with his friend Bryan. We have 4 cats and 1 fish, and probably twice as many computers as cats. I'm pretty happy, as happy as I can be. I've since worked for the hosting company for a little over a year, and I've been with Brady for 6 months. I can see a pretty decent future for us.
I've also become vegetarian again. This is something I have wanted to do for a while. I was vegetarian for 5 years, starting in highschool and lasting throughout college. I stopped for some reason, maybe because Mike, my ex, promised to cook for me if *only* I would eat chicken. I remember he bought me a chicken sandwich at Wendy's, and I cried over it, and then ate the sandwich, covered in salt from my tears. I eventually got over it and began eating meat again. I've been questioning myself as to why I made that move. I don't particularly like meat, and I knew it was cruel, yet I kept eating it. Friends like Sarah and Mike (another Mike I know from working at Apple) helped me get back to myself.
I don't have much else to say, but I can promise I will start blogging on a regular basis again. I do check and read LiveJournal, so if you want to add me, feel free. I will read your posts. Just comment here at WordPress what your username is. And feel free to comment either here or there, I will read both.
I'm very much looking forward to doing this again.