Mid-Year

Since we are now in the second half of the year (according to the trusty wikipedia, the mid-way point is not in June as I would have thought, but actually the 2nd of July for non leap years - at noon to be precise) it is safe to report on the relative success of my New Year's "goals".  Everyone in blog land was sharing their resolutions and I was quite inspired to do the same. But, reticent to make resolutions that seem to carry with them an expectation of being broken after a couple of months, I decided to set goals for myself to develop some of my growing interests.  Instead of piddling away my free time aimlessly, I've been trying to focus my extra energies into two areas: sewing and food.

I know, "food" seems like a strange and ambiguous interest/goal. But since I'm naturally indecisive and unfocused (hence the need to set some goals), I'm allowing this umbrella to cover a variety of topics from gardening to cooking to eating more natural and "whole" foods.

I plan to share more of my projects, but for now I will just give a taste of the deliciousness of my 4th of July concoction. Happy belated Independence Day!

I've had a hankering for quite some time to create some photo worthy cupcakes but had few occasions for them and little desire to have to eat a whole batch. I made a half a batch of these Sour Cream-Vanilla Cupcakes (I was looking for a good use for some leftover sour cream) and piped on some store bought cream cheese icing that I had on hand. The cupcakes turned out rather tasty, with a unique but familiar taste and texture that I can't quite place. Perhaps they remind me of my mother's Filipino rice cakes with a less gummy and more cakey texture.

I will say that the Betty Crocker frosting sometimes had a fake sugar aftertaste. I'm not sure if it contained aspartame or the like, but for taste alone I may never go back to canned frosting again. I may end up eating less sweets too, because I'm often intimidated by how much butter frosting recipes call for! But my main desire was to make something totally pretty and patriotic, which I think turned out pretty well. Especially for my first time piping frosting like this.  I think the "proper" tip would be much larger, but I made do with what I had and am quite pleased with the results. Every time I open the fridge and see the dwindling leftovers, I can't help but smile!