Three little words...no, not "I love you", no, not "You Lost Weight".........Salted Caramel Cupcakes.
I will say, quite possibly the best I have ever baked. sigh. I know, I know, that sounded so "nose up
in the air" ish. Here is the thing, I wanted one cupcake. After my library trip yesterday, I thought, *idea* I will
stop at that new cupcake place and buy just two. A special treat for tonight. darn it, another
business bites the dust. They were closed up. Not a cupcake to be seen, not a smudge of
icing on the door handle. Not even a spatula to lick clean, nothing.
So, I headed home and baked some cupcakes. I convinced myself that it was cheaper than buying two.
It would be better for us to eat home made. Oh, I came up with all sorts of great reasons to bake them.
The idea of a Salted Caramel Cupcake has been planted in my brain from some recipe
site that I visited. This was going to be the day. I even chose hot magenta cupcake papers
with polka dots............oh, I love those happy dots. OOOO, la, la...so good, so over the
top good, they made me wiggle my toes. yum.
I love to package up cupcakes using a plastic drink cup and lid. Put the lid on the counter,
put the cupcake on that, then put the clear plastic drink cup up side down over that. You end up
with a clear dome, if you will, to showcase your little creation of sugar. The cupcakes
don't get smushed or smashed or flip over while in transport.
I decided to take a couple with me when I picked up Mr. Right from car pool last night.
Just a little treat for the gal who drove yesterday. Here in the Pacific Northwest it
was pouring down rain all day and night.
The driving was probably not the easiest on her eyes and nerves. Cupcakes to the rescue.
I learned a new word a few years back. It is Mitzvah. It is a Jewish term. As you know, I am not Jewish.
I am a very conservative, traditional, some might say predictable, even (ouch) boring Methodist girl. For some reason,
I stumbled upon the most wonderful blog, written by a Mom & wife and I keep going back. Almost daily, I pour myself
a cup of coffee and go through my morning e-mails and a few blogs I love to follow. http://1000mitzvahs.org/
is one of my all time favorites. Just reading the site makes me do better, be better. Somehow, she has a way
of making my brain work and look for opportunities to help people and reasons to do a little good.
She is the reason I thought, hey, I should package up a couple of cupcakes and take them to the
car pool pick up! She is the reason, that when I saw two young boys sprawled in the grocery
store isle counting change to see if they had enough for two candy bars, I quietly put
two one dollar bills down near them and walked off. She is the reason, when I saw a little girl riding in a shopping cart
reading a "Fancy Nancy" paperback book, I gave her a five dollar bill to go buy another book when
she was done with that one. When leaving a restaurant recently, she might just be the reason, that I
leaned over and quietly told the parents of two young children how well behaved they were. It really
made our meal a lovely experience. They were such a sweet young family, encouraging them just
felt right.
Okay, so maybe Linda who writes http://1000mitzvahs.org/ is not the entire reason that I choose to
do a couple of nice things here and there. Let's be honest, it makes my life so much richer and happier.
I think I like using the word Mitzvah. I tell my grown kids about her. I tell my girlfriends about her.
Heck, after having supper in our favorite vegetarian restaurant in Seattle the other night, we drove right
by the Maxwell hotel that she and her family visited. I went into the whole story she shared on her blog.
You all know that I choose not to use names when I write. I just want to share. I don't want to
put my family and friends in a story incase they don't want to open up that can of worms.
In this case, I asked her permission to use this story on my blog.
Her name is Linda. Nope, I have never met her.
She has a book coming out in the fall. You can
bet I will be one of her first customers. Just like in "Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory" she is one good egg. You just know it in your heart and soul.
Simply, she inspires me to be conscious of doing better.
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become
more, you are a leader." ~john adams
Each time that I read one of her new postings, I am delighted to see how she
has touched someone or group in the most gracious way. She always makes
my brain swirl and twirl with possibilities.
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