The Better Vanilla Cupcake

 

I am willing to go out on a limb, and state that I have discovered the perfect vanilla cupcake. This is one of the few times where I can say I have by far surpassed Real Martha because I have baked her vanilla cupcake, and while it tasted pretty good, the texture was more cornbread than cupcake. I found the recipe listed below tucked away in a corner of the internet, and it is just divine. I will warn you that this recipe does call for cake flour, and if you know me at all you know I like my recipes to stick to all the basic things one already has on hand. Also you really need to be careful to only fill the cupcake liners halfway for this recipe because it does rise quite a bit.

Today was marvelous. I decided to take a mental health day from school, and it was well worth the extra day of work I will have to catch up on. Nothing beats baking, reading in the sun, and taking long naps while your friends are suffering through calc class. What can I say? I’m a second semester senior with a crippling case of senioritis.

{My girls: Grace, Brittany, and Mackenzie the birthday girl}

The Better Way to Make Chicken Wings

I have gathered from gym TVs and my morning radio station that football time is here, and the Super Bowl is coming. Really, these events have no effect on my life seeing as how the only sports watched in my household are soccer and golf. I am aware that for many people this time is a serious combination of (root)beer, chips, chicken wings, and a complete disregard for any healthy New Year’s resolution, but it doesn’t hurt to try a healthier version of everyones favorite snack, chicken wings. This recipe doesn’t call for butter, and totally kicks the deep fryer to the curb. Trust me when I say you won’t miss either since the chicken still comes out moist on the inside and crisp on the outside. 

 

The Better Chocolate Chip Cookie

Such a classic, and yet I find so many people get it wrong. The perfect chocolate chip cookie should be petite with crisp edges and a soft middle. I don’t know where my local deli gets off selling huge crispy cookies that resemble hockey pucks more than they do cookies. I promise you the second I have my own home the smell of these decadent babies will always be lingering in the air.  

Just like the  I made not too long ago, I could hear my brother in the kitchen at all hours grabbing one or two to take back to his room. To the untrained eye he is a sensible and mature man, but I know better than to be fooled by his charming demeanor for he will always be my juvenile brother.