Drunk Octopus

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

w/ mint buttercream

I used this recipe from Simply Recipes because I preferred the arrangement of ingredients to other chocolate mint recipes i could find. 4 ounces of dark chocolate played a key role in the deliciousness.

It was the perfect opportunity to make use of the overgrowing mint in my indoor herb garden... but strictly for decor, peppermint extract was used for taste.

As is mentioned on the Simply Recipes post, these taste just like thin mints. I'm personally not a big fan of peppermint, but I know others are so this was my choice contribution for a recent BBQ/party. Even for a mint-disliker such as myself, I thoroughly enjoyed these and would make them again. 

Utensil Jewelry

This is a lovely bracelet/bangle I bought in Copacabana, Bolivia. It was once a fork! The metal is heated and shaped with pliers then the embelishments are soldered on. 

Competition

I keep Kitty on a leash

Strawberry Flower Cupcakes

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Yet another Martha Stewart recipe. These are my favorite of all the cupcakes I've made... 

Instead of using finely chopped strawberries, I purree'd them. They tasted like Strawberry Shortcake and were very moist. 

I used a large petal cake tip for the frosting to make the flower tops. Making flower tops on cupcakes is pretty neat because you can rotate the cupcake as you would a flower nail and work pretty quickly. Just youtube 'flower cupcake' and youll find plenty of inspiration for flower cupcake decorating.