Monday, August 30, 2010

Cupcakes!

Lately I've been on a quest to make the pefect s'mores cupcake...


My first attempt was very pretty, but the cake was heavy and dense, and the marshmallow frosting hardened quickly, which gave it the wrong consistency. My second attempt was way more successful though!

Instead of baking the graham cracker into the cupcake, I made a separate crust!

Milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet made it more s'mores like.

TONS of cocoa powder in the cake batter

Extra graham cracker crumbs on top

The frosting was much lighter and easier to work with this time (cream of tartar based instead of gelatin) and it stayed gooey instead of hardening up!

Toasting the marshmallow tops made a BIG difference! (I couldn't find a torch the first time)


Here they are, all ready to go in my new cupcake carrier :D Next time I'm going to add milk chocolate ganache (either as icing or as a filling), will make the crust on the bottom a little thicker, and I think that will pretty much do it. Hooray for cupcakes!

And speaking of cupcakes, meet my new bike... Cupcake!

Life is good :)

Monday, August 23, 2010

Rodrigo y Gabriela!

Ryan and I went to a Rodrigo y Gabriela concert at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley this past weekend... and it was AMAZING! Gabriela's fingers go so fast that sometimes I can't even see them anymore! And just in case being super talented wasn't enough, they're both gorgeous (SERIOUSLY) and have fantastic accents. Yep, I'm in love :)





Enjoy!

I have three of their albums so far and will definitely be getting their new one soon! Esther, if you can send me some directions for setting up the downloadable file like you did for Summer Notes, I would be happy to share :)

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Keep Positive

Mahatma Gandhi
 
"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny."
Mahatma Gandhi
 
My mother sent me this quote today. With the start of medical school, I want to take it to heart and try to keep as positive as I can. . . . Though I will still be complaining to you guys every now and then. :P

Friday, August 6, 2010

the great prop 8 debate

This is officially my favorite comment thread on facebook right now :) Enjoy!

  • Zachary Noyce is pleasantly surprised by how quiet his Facebook news feed has been, re: Prop 8 case ruling.
    22 hours ago · ·
    • 3 people like this.
      • Tanner Barker LOUD RIDICULOUS STATEMENT (SEVERAL REDUNDANT EXCLAMATION POINTS)
        21 hours ago · · 1 person
      • Robert Kelly Sad attempt to refudiate your cunning attempt at being funny. Bold statement that only makes me sound stupid.
        7 hours ago ·
      • Zachary Noyce Hypothetical flight of fancy attempting to demonstrate the fallacy of someone else's argument but which only makes me appear like an alarmist nutcase.
        7 hours ago ·
      • Tanner Barker Reaffirmation of inconsistent bias
        7 hours ago ·
      • Tanner Barker Reaffirmation of inconsistent bias
        7 hours ago ·
      • Zachary Noyce Prejudicial conclusion expressed in a tone of attempted reconciliation.
        7 hours ago ·
      • Anthony Campisi Heartfelt and personal anecdote without supporting evidence. Ad hominem attack on quality of your parentage!
        6 hours ago ·
      • Tanner Barker Girafolo or Beck quote with slight relevance to the topic
        6 hours ago ·
      • Zachary Noyce Internally and externally contradictory anecdote which I almost certainly made up on the spot but that vaguely resembles Anthony's. Conclusion with no logical connection to the content of my story.
        6 hours ago ·
      • Zachary Noyce Reminder that, hey: This is just Facebook. Can't we all just get along?
        6 hours ago ·
      • Anthony Campisi Biting retort to your attempt at peacemaking.
        6 hours ago ·
      • Robert Kelly anecdote to lighten the mood, with a biting undertone to state my side of the argument... add abbreviation simulating a laugh at my own joke.
        6 hours ago ·
      • Zachary Noyce Misrepresentation of constitution and framer's intent. Founding father quote so divorced from context as to offer no real insight but presented here as an unquestionable endorsement of my opinion. (Implicit assumption of unanimity among early American political thinkers.)
        6 hours ago ·
      • Tanner Barker Radical interpretation of the constitution, secondary source quote of Thomas Jefferson. Reaffirmation of inconsistent bias.
        6 hours ago ·
      • Tanner Barker Shock that zach and I posted nearly the same thing simultaneously
        6 hours ago ·
      • Zachary Noyce Ambiguous emoticon.
        6 hours ago ·
      • Matthew Barker Attempting a comment without "tion". Ope. Darn. Failed.
        6 hours ago ·
      • Robert Kelly Pointing out fallacies in spelling instead of in statement, attempting to make one sound stupid. Adding no real value to long string of comments by using too many words to explain my point of view. Ending with "that's all I am trying to say".
        6 hours ago ·
      • Zachary Noyce Assertion of my position's moral superiority along with a bible quotation.
        5 hours ago ·
      • Robert Kelly Misunderstanding your use of the bible and telling you that it has nothing to do with the subject at hand. Insulting your religious views even though they match my moral views.
        5 hours ago ·