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.

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes
3/4 C butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp lemon extract

For the frosting
1/2 C butter (1 stick)
8 oz cream cheese (1 block)
3 C confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Bring the butter and the eggs to room temperature before mixing.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together using a hand mixer. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Then, stir in all of the dry ingredients until just combined. Slowly pour in the milk and the extracts while beating constantly. (Editor’s Note: this sounds a little naughty, no?)

4. Line two muffin tins with cupcake papers. Fill 2/3 of each space with batter.

5. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the cupcakes are lightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the tins to racks to cool. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

6. While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting. Using a hand mixer, cream together the sugar, the cream cheese, the confectioner’s sugar, and the vanilla extract. Add sugar to bring frosting to the appropriate consistency. If the frosting is too stiff, a splash of milk can be mixed in to thin it. (For best results, keep sticking your finger in there and tasting it. You want it to be perfect, right?)

7. To apply the frosting, use a decorator’s bag to pipe on the frosting. You can also just use a plastic baggy with the corner cut off, because you’re a college girl and don’t even have a spatula, let alone a decorator’s bag. Or, you could just mush that stuff on top with a knife. It will all taste the same.

Since these cupcakes use cream cheese frosting, keep them refrigerated until you serve them, then bring them up to room temperature before eating. Enjoy!

Okay, okay. You found your fling. But classes are about to begin again, and you’ve got to pack up, move out, and put your scholar-face on. What are you going to do about the amazing hottie you picked up over the break?

Well, that all depends. What do you want? What does he want? How much do you really think you click? And by “click,” I do NOT mean another work that ends in “-ck.” Because if you’re going to make it work, you’re going to have to jive beyond the boundaries of physical attraction.

Take into consideration the fact that you’re going to have a college workload, assignments, deadlines, and the usual university-sponsored (or bar-sponsored) social engagements. If he’s in school, he will too. Sure, it was easy to escape when you were both visiting your parents, but what about when you’ve got your uber-fun roommate and a dorm full of friends every night of the week? If you still think he’s worth it, read on.

Next, ask yourself what you want from him. Do you want a boyfriend? Are you willing to be exclusive, even if it’s long distance? Or, do you really just like his company and want to keep him in your life? Depending on the category he falls into, your relationship could go in many different directions. If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, continue.

Before breaching the “Let’s Keep in Touch” convo, see if you can read him. Does he seem like a player, or does he do sweet things for you even though you’re leaving? Do you only have heated holiday sex, or do you actually enjoy each other’s company? If you two are on totally different levels, your idea of how the fling should continue might clash with his idea of how the fling will end. You think he feels the same way? Proceed.

Keep it casual. Don’t put all of you eggs in one basket when you know that long-distance relationships can be difficult. Exchange numbers, emails, Facebook accounts, whatever. The truth is that you probably won’t be able to see each other for a bit, but you can keep in casual contact.

This will simultaneously allow you to see if the relationship is worth hanging on to, and let you get closer to the guy in a friendship-way. Sure, you had crazy sex for a week or two, but let’s face it- it’s not so convenient anymore. You need to decide if you can handle being “just friends” if it means you get to keep him in your life. If you can’t, it was officially a holiday fling.

If you can, there are a number of routes the relationship could take. I fell in love in Europe several years ago, and I am visiting the hunk in a couple of short weeks. Am I excited for his company? Absolutely. Do I hope we can get it on? Definitely. Will I make the first move? Certainly not. I’d much rather keep him in my life than be a forgotten sex toy.

Make your decisions wisely.

And then…the morning sets in.

Hellooooo hangover.

What the hell? Why create something so great that turns into something so…painful? If only there were shots out there that would be totally delicious and wonderful but not cause my room to spin/head to pound/body to crave bacon the next morning.

Good news!

I know you won’t believe me when I tell you this, but there are! Just read on, little ladies.

Frosting shots, the newest wave to hit the bakery scene since the cupcake made its return, are here! Sure, they aren’t quite the same as your favorite barside beverages, but they are small, delicious and make you feel super-dee-duper the next morning. No hangovers here – just sugary bliss.

There IS a god.

But now I’ve found the perfect solution: sweet spinach salad!

This takes less than five minutes to make, and it’s DELICIOUS. I feel like I am eating a dessert salad whenever I make it, no joke. All you need is some spinach, a few strawberries, a dab of honey, and a squirt of lemon juice.

Easy process: slice the strawberries and cut off the tops. Rinse the spinach and chop or tear it into smaller pieces. Toss the spinach and the strawberries in a bowl, and poke them for a few seconds to combine them.

Now for the fun part: squirt the lemon juice (I use about half a teaspoon) over the salad, then drizzle the honey over it. Mix everything up with your fork, and that’s IT! Dig in and enjoy… it’s the perfect side for a warm, summery day.

I’m not really into drugs and don’t know a whole lot about tripping. However, you mention the words flavor-tripping, and my ears might perk up a little. I am, after all, very into food and cooking, and while I’ve had many meals that make me feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven, I’ve never actually tripped off my food. Is that even possible?

Apparently, there is a berry that will make Tabasco sauce taste like glazed doughnuts and vinegar like apple juice. It’s a West African berry called the miracle fruit and The New York Times reported on a rooftop party last week that featured this little berry. Once you pop it in your mouth, everything you eat will taste sweeter and a bit more delicious.

According to a scientist who has studied the fruit, “The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids.” So, you’re telling me all I need to do is eat a berry and all those healthy and bland foods will start to taste good to me? I can eat salads and vegetables all day long and make myself believe I’m eating desserts non-stop? I say bring it on. I am so ready to start tripping.

Each berry costs about $2, which could get quite expensive; otherwise bartenders would be using them a lot more. According to one NYC bartender, “It will make all wine taste like Manischewitz.” OK, so it’s not perfect. Also, one taster said it did nothing to the taste of brussel sprouts. Darn it. But still. It makes grapefruit “taste like candy” and makes goat cheese taste like cheesecake.

Reason # 4,593 why food is better than drugs.

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. Beat in the egg yolk and the vanilla, then add the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, and sprinkle of salt. The dough will likely be a little thick and floury, so mix in the milk to help smooth it out (adding a little more than 1 tablespoon is okay if it’s really thick). Finally, stir in the chopped pieces of chocolate (they should be approximately chocolate-chip sized, or a little smaller).

Grease a baking sheet, coat it with parchment paper, or spray it with cooking spray, then divide the dough into six parts and place each part on the sheet. Press the top of each cookie down with your fingers just a tiny bit—not enough to completely flatten it. Then bake those puppies for about 12 minutes. Bite into a warm one, and experience mocha heaven!

In good news, though, it tasted great. And it ended up looking exactly like something else I like a lot—pizza.

So if you too want to try dessert pizza, here’s all you need: about 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries, 1 small sliced apple (optional), 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon water, enough pie dough for 1 small pie (use your discretion), 1-2 tablespoons chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon milk, and a little bit (not more than a tablespoon) of brown sugar, oats, and flour.

After you’ve sliced your strawberries and apple, toss them in a small saucepan and warm them on medium heat until they’re bubbling.

Add the sugar, and mix the cornstarch and water together. Add those, too. The mixture will thicken after a few seconds. Keep bubbling away for another few minutes until it’s quite thick. You can also preheat the oven to 350 at this point.

In the meantime, prepare your “crust.” First, melt the chocolate chips and the milk in a small pan. Stir or whisk them until they’re velvety smooth. Turn off the heat. Roll out the pie dough quickly until it’s very thin (1/8” or thinner). Then take a pastry brush or a spoon and paint the bottom of the crust with the melted chocolate. You’re doing this because it tastes excellent (duh) and also because it will prevent the fruit mixture from making the bottom soggy.

Then make your topping. Stir together the flour, brown sugar, and oats (use more brown sugar than flour or oats, but make the mixture to taste).

After your fruit mixture has simmered for a while and the chocolate coating on your crust has hardened a little bit, pour the fruit over the chocolate. Don’t overfill it—eat some of the fruit mixture plain if you have to.

Fold up the corners, and try to make sure that there aren’t any leaks.

Sprinkle on the topping…

… then bake for about 30 minutes. Mmmm!

So what’s a poor girl to do?

Make some bitchin’ strawberry shortcake.

I have found that no matter what, strawberry shortcake hits the spot — especially with moms. It’s light, it’s fruity, it’s sweet, and with this recipe, it’s so simple you could whip it up while studying for that last final.

INGREDIENTS

2 quarts (32 ounces) fresh strawberries

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 12-ounce tube Pillsbury Golden Homestyle Buttermilk biscuits

1 7-ounce can whipped cream

Slice the strawberries into a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the sugar, toss, and set aside.

Separate the dough into individual portions and place on a baking sheet, sprinkle the tops with the remaining sugar, and bake according to the package directions. Let cool on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes.

Slice each biscuit in half. Place the bottom half on a plate and top with some of the whipped cream. Spoon the berries and juices over the cream and sandwich with the remaining biscuit half.

Extra points if you add a little champagne. I mean, come on, you know how many hours this woman was in labor with you??

After several months of going through 1-2 large containers of yogurt per week at $3.69 each, I decided there had to be a better way to get good yogurt without forking over my life savings for it.

And there is: make your own.

Yogurt is one of those foods that you never really think about making—you just buy it automatically, like milk or cheese. Once you get the hang of making it, though, it’s very easy (and CHEAPER!) to make it ahead of time for yourself whenever you want it.

This site, though a little too scientific for me (“inoculated milk” and “sterilized jars”? ummm…), gives great photographs for a step-by-step introduction to the process. It makes a TON of yogurt, though, so here are simpler instructions for about 4 cup’s worth.

First, here’s what you need: a half-gallon of milk and 2-4 tablespoons of yogurt with live, active cultures in it (most yogurts have these cultures naturally).

Before you begin: think about what kind of milk you want to use. Full-fat milk will yield full-fat yogurt that will taste great, but it may not necessarily be healthiest. I’d advise against using skim milk—I used it the first time I tried to make yogurt, and it ended up being a total disaster. Skim-milk yogurt will turn out so watery that there’s practically no yogurt left after you drain the whey. Now I use 1% milk, but 2% would probably also work well.

Okay, here’s the simple process. Pour your milk into a large saucepan, and heat the pan over low-medium heat. The idea here is to scald the milk, so you want it to just start bubbling. Do not let it boil—turn the heat off as soon as you see the first bubbles forming.

You can cool the milk as the scientific site suggests, but I don’t bother. Instead, I just mix the yogurt in right away with the hot milk. The best way to do this, I think, is by removing some of the milk from the pan (say, a half-cup or so) and mixing it with the yogurt until the mixture is the consistency of syrup or pudding. Then, add that to the rest of the milk, and stir the whole concoction with a whisk until it’s combined very well.

Pour your yogurt-milk mixture into containers (the scientific site recommends glass, but I use plastic), and cover the tops with lids or plastic wrap. Pop them in a warm place (the oven with the pilot light turned on works well) and leave them there for a while. Now, the scientific site suggests that the yogurt will form in just a few hours, but I find that I need to let it sit for at least 8 hours (and sometimes up to 12) for it to thicken properly. I usually just leave it overnight.

Since I use 1% milk to make my yogurt, it’s usually interspersed with a fair amount of whey when it’s done. I don’t like that much whey in the yogurt, so I drain mine. Draining the yogurt is kind of fussy, but it makes it thick and rich—just line a colander or strainer with cheesecloth, a dish cloth, or paper towels, and pour the yogurt in. Don’t forget to set a bowl on the bottom to catch the whey. You can refrigerate the yogurt while it’s draining. When all the whey has gone into the bowl, use a spoon or a scraper to scoop all the yogurt clinging to the towel/cloth into a container, and voila! You’re done.

This makes plain yogurt, so it will have a fantastic flavor, but you won’t necessarily want to shovel it straight into your mouth without sweetening it (sugar or honey work well) or adding fruit. I guarantee, though, that it will taste better than any store-bought yogurt you have ever had.

As if I needed a reason to add another candle to my Sedaris shrine, Amy has also got the best recipe for cupcakes, ever. The directions are easy, the cupcakes taste good, and the way the recipe is written is pure Sedaris.

Amy Sedaris’ Cupcakes

1 1⁄2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 3⁄4 cups of sugar

Beat well, then add:

2 large eggs

2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla

1⁄2 teaspoon of salt

2 1⁄2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 1⁄2 cups of flour

1 1⁄4 cups of milk

Beat well, fill cups, and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. You should get 24. I get 18, ’cause I’m doing something wrong.

Frosting

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 box of Domino confectionery sugar

1⁄4 cup half-and-half

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla

Whip for a while, color if you want.