Imaginary Snow Ball Fights

As a professional baby sitter, parents pay me to hang out with their kids. It is pretty awesome (except when work is suuuper slow). I get to play with Legos, sit at the pool, build sand castles at the beach and hang out at the arcade on the Santa Monica Pier. Sometimes I wonder why more people don't work with kids, but then I realize that most people can't. They just don't have the patience.

I make money while building card houses

(made out of dinosaur flashcards)

I, on the other hand, absolutely love babysitting. I get to do all the things I do in my free time (Legos, arcade games, nonsense conversations) and get paid for it. Maybe it is because I am just a big kid trapped in an adult body. Most likely. 

The only problem with having such inconsistent work (sometimes I go an entire month without getting any gigs) is having to work extra long to compensate. I just worked 20 hours in two days. It was the twelve hour day that nearly killed me. When I came home today I was totally ready for cupcakes and beer.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. I don't normally celebrate, but since I was making cupcakes, I decide to be festive, much like on the 4th of July. 

So there shall be green frosting!

Now, after deciding to make cupcakes, I realized that I didn't have any frosting. All of my plans, ruined! Then, like a light from clouds, Yano walked in and said, "can't you make frosting?" I dragged myself over to the computer, found a recipe and realized, why yes! I can make frosting. It was a beautiful moment. 

I was inspired to make four leaf clovers out of sprinkles on top of the cupcake while mixing the ingredients together. Did you know that frosting is basically just butter and sugar? Neither did I. 

Here is the first attempt. Not so successful...

As you can see, it looked more like a green blob than a clover. *Despair* Then again, Yano saved the day by busting out his graphic designer skills and printed me some clover stencils. I learned that I am not so good at making clover stencils freehand after a couple beers. 

Behold! Less blob-like and more clover-ish cupcakes. 

And look how cute the look in my cupcake carrier. 

Also note the pirate papers (pirates celebrate St. Patrick's Day too, right?)

Happy drinking and cupcake eating, everyone!

What's Going On Here?

I started writing this post yesterday, which was also the day I forgot to wash the conditioner out of my hair and didn't notice until my hair dried all greasy on top. So needless to say I didn't get very far. It was mostly just about how I didn't know what to write about. Unfortunately this has been happening more and more. It makes me a little sad.

What have I been up to lately?

Last weekend I hitched a ride up to the Bay Area to give my friends hugs and cookies. Saturday was the busiest day. It included hiking in the hills of Oakland, going to a little bar in Hayward that served Sierra Nevada Hefeweizen on tap (which I didn't even know existed) and ended in a sleepover with two of my favorite people ever.

Old picture, but it's the only one of all three of us (smiling).

They really are the best.

This weekend started at Canters after a babysitting gig in West Hollywood. In case you don't know of this wondrous place, Canters is a restaurant/deli/bakery on Fairfax that's open 24/7.

I didn't get off work until eleven, so we decided to go since not much else is open. I have never been, despite driving past it and talking about going since I moved here. Even being half starved from not eating for eight hours, my meal defeated me. It might have been the fries.

I swear there is a sandwich under there. 

The rest of the weekend was a blur of video games (I decided to restart Final Fantasy XIII) and futile attempts at writing this blog post. It only took me two days! I almost started posting regularly (Fridays). Maybe next time. 

One last thing:

Rocksteady perler bead craft: FAIL. 

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever

This was the title of the recipe that my sister emailed me last week. I am always skeptical whenever there are such wild claims as this, but I figured the only way to find out was to try it out.

If you are curious, the recipe is here.

I don't have an extensive knowledge of chocolate chip cookie recipes, so I can't really say if this one is the best ever. I can say, however, that it is pretty damn good. So good, in fact, that it is now my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I probably should write it on something other than scrap paper. 

From what I can gather, one of the reasons that this recipe is superior is because it calls for two different kinds of flour; bread flour and cake flour. Apparently, the bread flour makes the cookie more chewy. 

I couldn't find any cake flour at the store, but according to the internet, you can just add cornstarch to all purpose flour. For example, if your recipe calls for 2 cups of cake flour, you use 1 3/4 cups all purpose and 1/4 cup of cornstarch. An excellent thing to know for the next time I make a cake. 

The second reason (and I can't believe I've never thought of this) is because it calls for dark chocolate chips.

This recipe was especially dense. It definitely tested the limits of my little hand mixer and I started to worry when it almost stopped completely. It made me really really wish for a KitchenAid.  

I would like a purple one. 

Anyway, after nearly killing my tiny mixer, I had to do the most difficult part of the process. I had to put the cookie dough in the fridge for 24-36 hours. Ughhh.

Exactly  24 hours later (it just sort of happened, I promise I wasn't waiting around counting down the minutes) I popped the first batch into the oven. I did, however watch them bake. Now the recipe says to form the dough into balls roughly the size of golf balls and sprinkle it with salt (it activates the sweet). I decided to up it a notch by sprinkling it with sea salt.

Fellow bakers know, the first batch is usually not perfect for any slew of reasons. Not with this recipe. At exactly 23 minutes, I took the cookies out of the oven; they were perfect.

Unfortunately, due to the size, you can only bake six at a time.

I couldn't wait for them to cool, I immediately poured myself a glass of milk and broke open a cookie. Let me tell you, it might have been the best cookie I've ever eaten. It was warm and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. It was everything a chocolate chip cookie should be.

I am officially addicted. 

So if you are looking for an excellent cookie recipe, I urge you to try this one. I couldn't find anything I didn't like about it. The website has all kinds of delicious looking recipes, including one for Boston Creme Cupcakes.

I think I've found my next baking project.