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 »

Ever since I started watching “Friends,” I always wanted a cute little coffee shop I could go to with my girlfriends, have a great cup of coffee and just chat. But Maine’s latest coffee shop gives a whole new meaning to “Central Perk.”

The planning board in Vassalboro, ME recently approved a topless coffee shop. And by topless, I don’t mean you will be sipping your mocha in a roofless establishment. By topless, I mean your helpful baristas and waitresses will indeed be topless. As in, without tops.

Yes, boobs out. Read More »

Starbucks has a pretty bad rap. Lately, there has been the news that the coffee giant is closing 600 stores. But even before Starbucks had these financial difficulties many people saw the chain as a sort of representation of all that was wrong with capitalism; it was the big, heartless chain store closing down locally-owned businesses.

Starbucks does make a point to open up stores next to already established mom and pop coffee shops and wants to be the exclusive coffee vendor in the area but according to Slate Magazine, Starbucks actually helps these locally-owned or small chain stores.

“Just over the five-year period from 2000 to 2005—long after Starbucks supposedly obliterated indie cafes—the number of mom and pops grew 40 percent, from 9,800 to nearly 14,000 coffeehouses”

Because Starbucks isn’t like a big box store that offers cheap products at cheap prices, it’s not really undermining the often more-affordable local coffee shops. Indeed, Starbucks coffee is notoriously expensive (A recent survey says that 76% of Americans think it’s too expensive), but people choosing to spend more for their caffeine fix at the local ‘Bux is not hurting the cheaper, local shops.

I was listening to NPR the other day and they mentioned something called the “Latte Factor”, which is basically taking all the money that you would spend on coffee and similar “unnecessary” things and spending it more wisely, or investing it. It makes sense; the math they did indicates that if you buy one coffee a day (which is a tad unrealistic) then you spend around $1500 a year supporting your coffee habit. That’s $1500 dollars that I could be putting towards my credit card debt or investing so I can have money to put a down payment on a house. Or so they said. Read More »

So, I wouldn’t necessarily advocate this, but if you want to eat a cookie for breakfast, this is totally the cookie to go for. It has a serving of healthy (flour), a serving of delicious (chocolate), and a serving of WAKE UP (instant coffee). Really, to be honest, there’s nothing better.

Here’s what you need: ¼ c brown sugar, 3 tablespoons of soft unsalted butter, 1 egg yolk, ¼ teaspoon of vanilla, just under ½ c flour, 2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder (woo-hoo!), ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder, a sprinkle of salt, 1 tablespoon of milk, and 2-3 tablespoons of chopped chocolate. Chopped chocolate—not chocolate chips, so don’t even think about trying to substitute. The real deal makes all the difference.

This makes six nice-sized cookies, by the way.

First, warm your oven to 350. Then use an electric mixer (or do it by hand if you must, but a mixer is better for this recipe) to combine the sugar and butter until it’s creamy. Read More »

It’s no secret that Starbucks captures both my heart and my wallet.

There is just something about entering those doors on a daily basis that calms my usually antsy self and makes me squirm with delight while I debate over my drink of choice: double tall nonfat, one-pump, white mocha or double tall, soy, no whip, one-pump, pumpkin-spice latte? (Hey, I’m a girl who knows what I like- but I do admit I hate appearing to be high maintenance every time I order!)While I’ve been able to budget my funds to fit in my Starbucks addiction (I just can’t give it up), I often turn a blind eye to the hidden calories that lurk in my green and white cup of java.

Especially with all the delightful super hot and super yummy speciality drinks this season! (hellllo peppermint mocha!)

But now thanks to starbucks.com, you can customize your drink the way you order it (or close to) and see just how much damage you are doing to your booty. Customize your drink of choice by size, milk, whip, etc and calculate… leaving you no room to ponder how you gained that extra pound when you step on the scale. Read More »