'Tis a Fine Day.

In honor of Obama's inauguration today, I decided to make some cupcakes. Although there was a surprise two hour delay today due to icy weather, the plan is to turn my classroom into a viewing center for faculty to enjoy the festivities. Cupcakes, of course, will be a must. I'm not sure what will happen now that my exam officially ends at 12:30 rather than 10 (it may involve rushing kids through exams and pushing them out the door...), but I do know one thing: there will be cupcakes. And (OK, two things) they will be fancy.

Andrew and I ran out to get a cast iron skillet yesterday so that we could cook up an insanely expensive cut of grass-fed beef that we stole from my father's fridge (thanks, Dad). Luckily, while in the (dreaded) mall, I remembered that I've been in the market for a cupcake pan. Do you know how hard it is to find a non non-stick cupcake pan these days? Harder than finding a cast iron skillet, let me tell you. I'm trying to steer clear of the non-stick stuff since it seems very creepy to me, and so we searched high and low for what Andrew refers to as a "stick" pan. We finally found it...at Williams Sonoma. I always feel like a bit of a kitchen sell-out when I shop there, but darn it all, they had what I needed. But the best part is that I finally got myself a pastry bag and tips and OH MAN am I going to be baking up a lot of pretty things with this little device.

I used Amy Sedaris's recipe from I Like You. You can find the recipe on epicurious, too. This was the first recipe I've made from that book, and I'll be making more. You have to love cooking directions that involve "Beat(ing) until it looks like it is supposed to," and that call for an entire box of confectioner's sugar (about 7.5 cups, according to my research). In addition, there are lots of fun stories about things like caring for rabbits and how to host a proper wake, and the food photos have been made gloriously ugly with lighting that can only be described as "What Were They Thinking in the 1970s?" I halved the recipe and got 12 perfect cupcakes, but I did need to keep adding milk to the butter cream frosting to get it to the right consistency (maybe my 7.5 C estimation wasn't from the same box that Amy uses...hmm...) Anyhoo, I tossed that goop into my pastry bag and lookee here! Instant pretty!!

Just the right amount of fancy for what I know will be a good, good day.