hour 36 of cupcake mania.

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So the day of baking has finally come to an end. All that's left for tomorrow morning is some slicing, dicing, and icing. I now have 55 cupcakes (an odd number since we munched on a few throughout the day) in varying flavors (strawberry, carrot, blueberry, and chocolate-peanut butter), 4 frostings (strawberry buttercream, cream cheese, lemon buttercream, and a fluffy vanilla), one failed Strawberry Swiss Merigue Buttercream in the garbage, sugared blueberries, sugared lemon zest, one failed attempt at candying oranges (that made for some beautiful pictures), and one very successful batch of candied oranges.

Ahh, the finish line is in sight.

have your cupcake (or 48) and eat it too.

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This weekend is all about the cupcake. And by the cupcake I really mean 4 dozen cupcakes. In 4 different flavors. With 4 different icings. And 4 different decorations.

If you haven't yet realized, I like to obsess. And I like to do things over the top. That are complicated. And time-consuming. So, when Ant's sister asked me to make a dessert for her wedding, I couldn't just offer to make a dozen or so vanilla cupcakes with store-bought frosting. Absolutely not. I decided to shoot for the moon - or a distant planet where this is normal - and make 4 dozen cupcakes. In 4 flavors. With 4 different icings. And 4 different decorations.

So, as of now, at 5:21 on Friday afternoon, T minus 2 days until the wedding, I have accomplished an utterly failed Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream (imagine clumps of yogurt swimming in Pepto Bismol), potentially fatal candied oranges (I'm sensing a rock-hard mass of beautiful orange slices, trapped forever in a lovely, but solidified, caramel ... like a mosquito preserved in sap), two very successful and delicious buttercreams - one vanilla and one strawberry, and (fingers crossed), some delicious blueberry cupcakes, which should be coming out of the oven ohhh .... NOW. Be right back.

Ah, yes. A successful cupcake batch #1.

Thanks, Martha.

Stay tuned. Lots more cupcake-mania to come.

the end to summer vacation.

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a peachy weekend.

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After last week's deliciously cool end-of-summer weather, I was on board for Fall. I broke out my lined rain boots, ordered my coffee hot a few times, and Ant and I considered (wisely this consideration never came to fruition) taking out our A.C.

But this weekend was a return to the hot days of summer. I put the boots back in the closet, reverted to my usual "small iced coffee with soy milk" order, and rolled my eyes at the thought that we almost retired our A.C. for the year. And, as one of our last hurrahs to the summer season, we did some good old-fashioned peach picking.

After munching on a few insanely juicy peaches throughout the day, I decided to cook up something fun. After scouring a bunch of my go-to cookbooks, not quite finding anything I was looking for (or that could be accomplished with our dwindling fridge and cabinet supply), I settled for a pseudo Tart Tatin. Using Mark Bittman as my guide, I improvised ... peaches in place of apples, brown sugar instead of the granulated we didn't have, a mini cast iron pan rather than the 10-inch specified, and a spur of the moment and completely makeshift batter instead of the classic pastry dough.

The result ... well, take a look ...

My peach Tart Tatin recipe, in all its improvised glory ...


   3 peaches, washed and sliced about 1/4 inch thick (some bigger, some smaller)
   4 tablespoons softened butter
   1/4 cup (roughly) brown sugar
   1/2 cup Pamela's Baking and Pancake mix
   1 egg
   1 Tbs honey
   water, around 1/4 cup


   Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a 6-inch cast iron pan (or large cast iron, or any oven-proof skillet ... I'd double the recipe if using a larger pan) press into the bottom the butter and brown sugar. Lay the peach slices on top of the butter/sugar, overlapping them as you go. When the peaches are all in place, put the pan on the stove over medium heat for about 15 minutes, until the sugar and butter turn a darker brown. Meanwhile, mix together the baking mix, egg, and honey. Slowly add in the water, mixing as you go. The batter should be thin and pourable without becoming runny. Pour the batter over the top of the peaches and put the pan into the oven for around 20 minutes, or until the top turns golden brown.

to blog, or not to blog ...

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So. A blog. Here I am writing a blog. Who would have thought it? I certainly wouldn't have. Because, really, who cares about some Lucy Shmoe and what she has to say? I've found a handful of blogs here and there that pique my interest, but mostly, site-seeing my way around the internet, coming across blogs, I end up thinking, "why do I care what you have to say?" And, mostly, I don't care. If cynical started with an S it would have been included in my blog description.

But, nonetheless, here I am starting a blog. Driving around this morning, shotgun next to my boyfriend, Ant, with his sister and her soon-to-be husband in the back, we began chatting about blogs. Somewhere, mid-conversation, I got the idea that I could do the whole blog thing. And I, in a moment of spontaneity, declared that I would start my own blog, and from that moment on, o, maybe around 11:30 this morning, until now, 10:02 at night, I have been nothing but purely obsessed. (Again, if obsessed started with an S it would definitely be in my blog description.)

So, here I am, writing a blog of my own. As the description (minus a few very valid adjectives that just, darnit, don't start with an S) says, I'm smart and I'm (hopefully) stylish. I can be quite sarcastic when the situation calls for it, pretty silly when the moment calls, and sincere in all the ways I can be. And, as the namesake of my blog says, I'm a pretty savvy gal. If what I have to say thus far intrigues you even a little, stick around for a blog that will soon be full of art, food, photography, intelligence, creativity, and humor.

So, the Savvy Bee. That's me, and here I am Blog World.