Ham Sandwich Indicted!

I'm one-fourth of the way through my 5K-a-Month project--Woot! This race should have been completely uneventful--decent temps, a bunch of friends running it, beer at the end...Except for the fact that I'm one of the less graceful people I know. Sooooo...somewhere in the middle of the 3rd mile, I'm chugging along, feeling pretty good, settled in a nice pace when I hit a pothole in the road. And before I go any further, let me back up a second. At this point, I have two things working against me: my aforementioned lack of grace and my incredibly weak ankles, who have seen countless sprains, rips, tears, and pulls over the years. Anyway, I hit a pothole (and not a big one, mind you, more like a divot in the asphalt), my right ankle rolls underneath me, I stumble, fall, catch myself with my left and hand knee, then roll over so I end up on my back. In the middle of the road. With runners coming up behind me. When I stand up, my hand is bleeding, my right ankle is throbbing, and...

Yay! These are the "commercial" versions of the cupcakes I made earlier this week. (Buttercream Vanilla on top, Cream Cheese Carrotcake on bottom.) Wednesday afternoon I visited the Cake Craft store on North Cleveland Ave to pick up some accouterments for my baking project--clear vanilla extract, gel food colors (they keep your icing from getting runny), some more piping tips and disposable piping bags. It was definitely money well spent--the gel colors are super vibrant, and the clear vanilla doesn't darken white icing. The pink and green flowers are my first attempt at doing anything fancy, and really, once I got used to the feel of the icing bag and the amount of pressure I needed, it wasn't too hard! I have a feeling I could definitely get into this!

So, I'm proud to share my latest project/ experiment with you all: delicious baked goods available for your home/school/office events! At this point, I'm still in the early stages of determining interest and what my levels of capability are. The photos show two types of cupcakes I made this weekend-- carrot cake with cream cheese frosting above and yellow cake with butter cream frosting below. My coworker is paying me $1/cupcake for 40 cupcakes for her daughter's confirmation party and the trial run cupcakes shown got some positive reviews around the office, so hopefully, I can get this little side project off the ground. Because I don't have any training in icing/cake decorating (yet), I'm pretty much limited to cupcakes, brownies, cheesecakes, and pies. Basic sheet cakes are possible, too, but I'm not at the point where I'm making icing roses and all that. Yet. :) If you think you may need some baked goods for a party or potluck, drop me a l...