The good news: Someone might surprise you by presenting you with a tray of cupcakes today!

The unsettling news: That person might be a part of the “Cupcakes for Life” movement, a group of pro-lifers dedicated to making people feel uncomfortable via free baked goods.

The Cupcakes for Life crew asks supporters to bring cupcakes to a group of people, prompting those people to ask, “Who’s birthday is it?” [sic—guess they were too busy baking to learn grammar.] The supporters are then supposed to answer by saying, “Its no ones birthday. [still sic. Improper apostrophe use reeeaaally irritates me, okay?] These cupcakes represent the 50,000,000 children who weren’t allowed to be born, who never had a birthday … If you and I were aborted we wouldn’t have a birthday party either.”

Um… awkward. Read More »

I will not apologize for my beauty sleep. I will not!

This week, in light of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting. I’m not Jewish, but the fact that my 21st birthday falls on the day of repenting has caused me to think about the fact that I’m doing the exact opposite: indulging and sinning.

I’m so not chosen for a reason.

Last week the CollegeCandy writers shared the things they want to ask forgiveness for. I’ve decided to take a different route and reflect on the things I’ve done wrong and have no desire to repent for. I’ve got enough Catholic guilt as it is.

10. Borrowing my sister’s clothes without asking.
Sorry Meredith, I just had to have that black shirt. You never wear it!

9. Indulging in cupcakes. At any hour of the day.
8 AM. Magnolia Bakery. Totally appropriate and healthy.

8. Exceeding my budget (by a lot a lot) for the sale at Saks.
It’s not like I need groceries.

7. Skipping class to sleep.
Not going to feel guilty for those extra z’s over watching a video on gender roles in advertising. Barbie, bad. I get it. I can find it on YouTube, right?

6. Lying about having a boyfriend to get out of a date.
Yeah, sorry I have this super protective boyfriend that won’t let me even text other boys. Read More »

I have a confession to make: I’m a little bit of a cupcake ho. How can you resist those cute, mini cakes? A portable slice of heaven? The perfect frosting to cake ratio? Recipes that make a dozen so you don’t have to stop after one?

How could you not fall truly, madly, deeply in love?

Unfortunately, being that I’ve been around the cupcake block a few times, I’ve become a bit of a cupcake snob and find myself snubbing the dry and uncreative store-bought variety.

Lucky for me (and you!), I found a simple and yummy cupcake recipe via Appoggiatura. Read More »

Confession time: I quit my (stable-ish well-paying, super fun) job a couple of weeks ago to go to culinary school for baking next year. Was this an awesome decision or a terrible one? The jury’s still out, but the way I think about it, the more time I have to devote to desserts, the better. So I’m leaning toward awesome.

To celebrate my decision, I’m using this week’s DIY to share an incredible buttercream frosting recipe with all of you. You can use it to frost a cake, cupcakes, cookies . . . or to eat it straight out of the Tupperware with some pretzels when you’re dealing with a breakup. Stop buying this stuff and make it yourself.

Ingredients
(Makes enough buttercream for one standard-size cake with 12-16 servings)

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream Read More »

I love baking, but I’m not the hugest fan of following directions. As a result, I often end up mis-measuring things or adding my own little touches to otherwise boring recipes. Hey, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Anywho, there is nothing that works better with my “add this, throw in that” cooking style than pancakes. Plain pancakes are good, but chocolate chip granola pancakes are fantastic. And pancakes that look like cupcakes? Could there be anything more amazing? I found this recipe on katin cooks and I can’t get enough. It’s simple and delicious, the perfect canvas for fun add-ins and has fool proof instructions that even I can follow. Plus, these little babies make great hangover food! Read More »

I have an obsession with cupcakes that is so intense, sometimes, I think that it borders on addiction. If someone offers me an adorable little sugary cake of pure bliss, there’s just no way I can refuse. And, whenever I have a craving for one, I won’t be able to stop thinking about it until I satisfy my inner voice screaming, “feed me cupcake!”

Not to mention that once I’ve consumed a few bites of one, it’s all downhill from there and I find myself consuming way more calories than I would have prior. Frosting is my gateway drug and I cannot control myself when I’m near it.

Up until now, I always thought my problem was completely mental and something I just had to force myself to get over. Then, I read an article in the Washington Post on Dr. Kessler, a Harvard-trained doctor, lawyer, medical school dean and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, who spent months dumpster diving behind chain restaurants such as Chili’s to find out the real amount of fat, salt and sugar used to make dishes like the Southwestern Eggrolls.

What he discovered (and details in his book, The End of Overeating) was surprising and clued me into why this high intake of sugar had such a great effect on me…

“Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain’s chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat.” So it’s not just me! The sugar is actually f-ing with our brains! Sweet, sweet validation (no pun intended). Read More »

After last week’s Tough Love ended with a “To Be Continued….” I was counting down the days until I’d get to see it again. So I was mega-excited when I turned on VH1 at the gym yesterday and caught a secret premier of the ep long before its 10 P.M. showtime.

I watched the drama unfold a full 11 hours early and stayed on the elliptical an extra 30 minutes to catch the end. Cha ching!

I realized (after watching the show on a TV that other people could see by simply walking behind me) that this show is ridiculous and sorta trashy, but I am really obsessed with it. And is it so bad to learn a thing or two from a reality show? I’m still single – maybe Steve can clue me in as to why!

Anyways, here’s what happened. Well, at least the important stuff: Read More »

Let me just start out by saying that I’m not someone to be admired. I didn’t give up something agonizing for Lent, like chocolate or looove. But I did give up something that’s every bit as valuable to me: baking.

As a frantic home baker and a person who is seriously considering enrolling in culinary school for a pastry certification, baking is like my lifeblood. I tried to get rid of the baking urge right before Lent started by going on a mad baking spree—I spent an entire weekend and most of the following couple of days making huge batches of granola, cookies, muffins, and sweet breads. But it wasn’t enough! I’m now going out of my mind because I can’t bake until Easter. WHY did I choose to do this?!

I suppose I could have just taken the easy way out and given up eating sweets. I sample everything I bake, but that’s about it—if I have one cookie or half a muffin, I don’t need any more; I’m perfectly content to give my stuff away. I just want to make it. And I have had a crazy craving to make cupcakes since basically the day that Lent started. Oh, my precious cupcakes. Why do I have to wait so long to make them??? It doesn’t help that I keep looking at sites like this one all day long. Read More »

“Guys We Wanna Eff” is generally a speculative column. Each week, we collectively drool over one effable celeb or another, hoping against hope that one day we may be able to live the (effing) dream.

But what would you say if you actually did get to meet the guy in question? Would you collapse in disbelief?  Turn on the charm? Flirt his pants off?  Make a total fool of yourself?

Well, in the case of this week’s lusty lad–Andy Samberg–I actually did get to meet him. On my birthday, no less! It was freshman year and I had gone out to dinner with some friends downtown. We were about to board the subway back to campus when one of my girls started chatting up two guys standing next to us.

Being the super-suave freshman I was, I thought they were Fordham students I hadn’t met yet.  So I walked right up to the cuties and said, “Hey! Wanna come back to my room? It’s my birthday!” As soon as the words left my lips, I realized the guys were none other than Andy Samberg and Akiva Shaffer (2/3 of the comedy trio The Lonely Island, along Jorma Taccone), and they were both looking at me like I had asked them if they wanted to eat liver and onions. Also, they probably thought I was a huge slut. Read More »

I live with 7 girls. Half of us are Jewish and half of us are not. In efforts to bond even more than we already do, we all take part in each others’ holidays. My non Jewish roommates fast with us on Yom Kippur and we all partake in the annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Last year we decided to take it one step further and we all decided to give something up for Lent. We set a rule that we all needed to give up something very near and dear to our hearts. One roommate gave up sprinkles (she would eat them with a spoon), one gave up eating after 10pm (that bitch lost 10 pounds), and I decided to give up using the word “pussy” (I have no idea why I use it so often).

One of our neighbors came by at the beginning of Lent and asked what we had all given up. I proudly exclaimed, “I gave up pussy for lent!”

Yeah, awkward. Not to mention the fact that I was two days in and had already failed.

This year I am going to do it right – I have become quite obsessed with cupcakes lately, so I am gonna give those puppies up. Hopefully I’ll be more successful than last year.

What are you giving up for Lent?