Random Pics of Vegas

Time for an all new Random Pics of Vegas. 

The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health

 The institution is located down the street from the Las Vegas Premium Outlets

Absolutely stunning architecture

There is also a gorgeous rock sculpture on the side of the building 

Views of the Eiffel Tower replica in front of Paris Las Vegas

 Shot in black and white during the evening

Caesar's Palace as seen while driving southbound on Las Vegas Blvd

One Sweet MoFo

"In Soviet Russia, Cakes Cup You"

My cupcake take on the White Russian, my favorite mix drink! The hazelnut-y goodness of the Kahlua mixed with the bite of vodka in a moist, tasty little cake and super sweet Kahlua icing.  Yum!!

I was lucky enough to have my loving husband as my assistant this round. It was great because he has even less cupcakery experience then I do, so I was able to be a know-it-all and he didn't know any better!

I had him do all the grunt work and I was able to focus on the fun stuff. Like licking the bowl and watching the timer. Sometimes it's better if I only do the little things. 

Had to experiment with the bake time since we were cooking with alcohol and making mini cupcakes. Turns out 10 minutes at the front of the oven made them light and fluffy. Couldn't figure out what combination made them stop sticking to the paper cups though.

The recipe makes 24 large cupcakes. Or about 150 mini cupcakes. I took a couple dozen to work and my customers loved them. I got so many compliments and the guys wanted to know where I bought them. Of course, unusual flavors make it easier to pass off any mistakes as the result of an interesting combination.

FROSTED. The Kahlua made the whole kitchen smell super sweet. Also, I'm getting better at my frosting technique and even started to work on a new swirl. You can kind of see both variations here.

Without further ado....the recipe. Let's start with the ingredients:

White Russian Cupcake
1 1/2 sticks of butter
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup Kahlua

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the milk (I used 1%), vodka (I used UV Vodka), and Kahlua.
4. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl then add the eggs in one at a time. Add vanilla to the mix. 5. 5. Now add part of the flour mix to the mixing bowl and beat. Then add part of the milk mixture and combine. Alternate the milk and flour into the mix. DO NOT OVER-MIX.
6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full of batter. Bake mini cupcakes for 10 minutes. Bake full-sized cupcakes for 20 minutes. Make sure toothpick comes out clean when checking the batter and the cupcake sponges back when touched.

Kahlua Buttercream Frosting
1 stick butter
4-5 cups powdered sugar
3-4 shots Kahlua

1. Cream the butter then alternately add the powdered sugar and Kahlua to your taste preference.
2. Frost or pipe the cupcakes when cool.


Here's a preview of the next batch:

Happy Cup-Caking!

One Sweet MoFo

I adore candy. Every color, shape, size-I do not discriminate, I will put you in my mouth and enjoy your sugary goodness. So it should be no surprise I dream of one day opening my own candy store in which I have already aptly named One Sweet MoFo. You might notice my ingenious use of common slang "MoFo" short for Mouth Full. One Sweet Mouth Full.

One Sweet MoFo isn't your mother's candy shoppe. No, sir. One Sweet MoFo's target audience is ages PG-13 to "age is a state of mind" and everyone in between. Complete with Gelato bar and cupcakery, One Sweet MoFo serves all your rock-n sweet tooth needs. With gelato desserts such as M.I.L.F. chocolate, B.A.M.F. strawberry, S.undae T.F.U., and F*ing Farlow White vanilla, there's an option for the whole family. Meanwhile, the cupcakery offers only top shelf selections such as Mint Julep, Patient Patron, Whiskey Makes the Medicine Go Down, Kahlua Slide, and other alcohol infused treats. The exception is on the Day of Rest when we can enjoy Sunday Brunch-themed cupcakes including: QuicheCakes, Pancake cupcakes, Mimosas (champagne cupcake with orange frosting), Apple Crisps cupcakes, and Cinna-Cup Cakes with icing. 

Inspired by my dream candy store, I have decided to build my new weekly feature around the cupcakery and create a new cupcake each week. I will share the recipe, my trials and tribulations in the kitchen, and pictures of the process.

This week I started with the most popular cupcake flavor in the continental U.S.  red velvet. I won't be sharing a recipe this week because I made it from a cupcake mix my mom gifted me for Christmas.

Instead of focusing on the mix,

 I practiced getting the proper proportions of a cupcake,

examined how bake time affected them, 

and perfected my icing application. 

Add the final touch: sprinkles. And, voila!

After making enough batter for 18 cupcakes and winding up with only 12 slightly burnt muffin-top cupcakes, I now know I need to fill the paper cups up only 2/3 full. My icing did get better though. 

Since I used a red velvet mix, I am lacking a good recipe. So if you have a tasty red velvet recipe you would like to share with me, feel free to post below!!

Random Pics of Vegas

I have decided to start a new weekly segment called "Random Pics of Vegas" in which I, you guessed it, post pictures that I took randomly somewhere in Las Vegas.

Hallway inside The Orleans hotel. The Orleans is located just off the Las Vegas Strip on Tropicana.

 A beautiful North Las Vegas sunset.

If it's in stock, why wouldn't you have it?

The Sahara is a staple on the Las Vegas Strip.

Is the Mirage really there?

Hope you enjoyed random pics of Vegas! If there is a particular sight in Vegas you would like to see, post a comment below so i can catch it on my next jaunt around town. 

As Captain Jack Sparrow Says...

"But why's the RUM gone?"

New Year's Resolution

I guess I should get on the "New Year's Resolution" bandwagon. It's so de-motivating to make plans for this year because I first have to reflect on the past. I think back to the resolutions made for 2010 and what I have achieved. Nothing that I planned happened. in fact, life caught me by surprise more than I would have liked. While I am grateful for so much that has gone right lately, I feel it was not without its costs. The universe always collects its debt and Karma must be balanced.

Life is funny that way. We set goals according to what we think we want. We make plans to achieve those goals. Then perception and reality tangle and it never turns out how we thought it would. If anyone asked me a few years ago where I saw myself at 25, I never could have predicted this. I own a house. In Las Vegas. Where I manage my own $4.2 million warehouse. Distributing HVAC equipment. I traded my stilettos for steel-toed boots and drive a forklift when I once drove Camaro's.

I know exactly who I want to be and I have the wisdom to know it's not in my personality to become her. So where does that leave me? Making resolutions I haven't quite resolved to. Alas, I digress. I shall subside to the little girl with faith that the New Year means something. Something bigger than this moment. A beginning, a fresh start. Endless possibilities.

1. To finish a novel. I have 5 started with about 70 scattered, incoherent pages among them. I would love to feel that sense of accomplishment. With all these characters crammed in my head waiting to be penned, I long for the cathartic relief that comes with exhausting their stories. There are a few that are so dear to my heart that I don't feel my writing could ever do it justice. Stories inspired by people I know and love and moments in time you can never get back. But if I write it all out then other people will know it happened and the moment takes on an immortal life of its own.

2. To be confident again. I don't know how it happened or even when, but I have lost my essence. I used to carry a confidence that could cause jealousy and envy. I was never the smartest, prettiest, or funniest, but I could command attention and enjoyed the spotlight. Now, I shy away from any watchful eye. I blend and censor and wear khaki pants. Where did I go? When did I start caring about what others say and think? I miss being me.

3. To have one true friend. I miss 4th grade when I formed S.P.O.T.S.-a club with my 2 best friends, Lisa and Emily. We even had a lemonade stand to help collect dues. I miss 6th grade where I formed my own band with Ashley and Beth. We were obsessed with Spice Girls and Hanson. In 8th grade, I felt like part of the cool crowd(we weren't) with Victoria and Virginia. We were nicknamed "The 3 V's." I miss the sleepovers and the long phone conversations. I miss seeing them everyday in school and spending weekends hanging out.

I miss all the guys I never appreciated until it was too late. Chris who was always funny, the smartest person I have ever known and who I counted on as the only boy who never had a crush on me. He took care of me in Tucson for a few brief months and we were never that close. Kevin who lingers on the outskirts of my perception, but makes me smile when I randomly text him to catch up, and he takes the time to text back. If only I spent more time with him in junior high and high school. He's become such an amazing person I don't know. And Matthew. He not only carried my burdens, but hid them from me and I selfishly let him. The boy I didn't know I loved until I loved him and he was lost to me.

The friendships now are laced with adulthood. Busy schedules of children, jobs, responsibilities mar the time we have with each other. Friendships don't run deep-there's no trust. No telling every dirty secret, every emotion, every dream from the nighttime and the future. We speak, but do we really listen? Who knows me and accepts me? Who have I stopped trying to impress and the friendship remains? Who am I willing to do the same for? Who can come over and hang out but not expect to be entertained?

Where do I see myself in one year? I have no fucking idea.

Matched by Ally Condie

Reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984, Matched follows the forbidden budding romance of Cassia and Ky. In a world governed by Society, emotions are strictly controlled and choice is taken away replaced by statistics and probability. There is no running in public, everyone has regimented diets, jobs are severely segregated, citizens are Matched at seventeen and scheduled to die on their eightieth birthday. This is just a broad overview of the misguided Utopia. 

Although Matched is a YA love story, the underlying message surpasses the typical teen romance. Cassia is Matched to Xander, but falls for Ky-a serious Infraction by Society's standards. In a world where all choice has been removed for the "good of the people," Cassia's new-found feelings for Ky go against everything she ever believed in Society. If their statistics are wrong about the probability of her connection to Ky, what else are they wrong about? It is better to live safe and comfortable void of all choice, or should the people have the right to choose who their destiny, who they love, everything? 

There is little depth to secondary characters, but I'm hoping that changes with future installments of this trilogy. Ally Condie does a nice job of imbuing mystery into the story line without cultivating frustrating cliffhangers at every turn. The chaste romance develops interestingly around Society's watchful eye and Cassia and Ky grow with each new revelation.

 However beautiful the writing is, the story does fall a little flat. It is interesting but not riveting. You care for Cassia, Ky, and Xander but you don't fall in love with them. in short, no strong emotions are invoked. this could be cleverly implemented to parallel the lack of intense feelings portrayed by the citizens and Society. Or it can be a lack of passion in the writing. The follow up novel, Crossed due to be released November 2011, should clarify the observation. Judging by Cassia's predictable rebellion at the end of Matched, the sophomore title seems to promise more action, romance, independence, and maybe even the start of a revolution. 

HAPPY READING!

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

The final novel in the #1 international Bestselling Series The Vampire Academy. I was so excited for this book, I could not put down the 594 page novel and finished it in less than 8 hours. Rose Hathaway is such a strong heroine to have in a Young Adult series. She lives her life by her own moral code-which often differs from the rules. I don't want to give anything away seeing as how this is the 6th and final book in the series, so it is difficult to review and summarize when the other novels haven't been reviewed. I guess this review is really, kind-of, pointless. 

Conclusion: Read the whole Vampire Acadamy series. It's f*ing awesome. There is mystery, intrigue, and a whole lot of action. A tragic love story develops, but it isn't overly sappy. The heroine kicks ass, literally staking the evil Strigoi vampires. She's witty, rash, and develops throughout the series while maintaining true to herself. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

P.S. If Richelle Mead happens upon this review or anyone who knows Richelle Mead, I demand a spin-off novel, a blog, or web-story of some kind that reveals the fate of other secondary characters. Even a personal email would suffice. I was overwhelmingly frustrated to never discover the secret Abe has over Sydney. I want to know more about tormented Adrian's future. Adrian's speech to Rose left a lot of unanswered questions. Just please tell me you have something in store and won't leave a poor, defenseless reader like me hanging. K thx, bye.

Absolution by Jennifer Laurens

The third and final installment in a wonderful trilogy by Jennifer Laurens. Absolution concludes Zoe's story experienced in Heavenly and Penitence (Read reviews here: Heavenly, Penitence).

While thoroughly predictable, the story is beautifully written and detracts from the inevitable. The character development is impressive considering how short the novel is (only 200 pages) and Ms. Laurens does a fantastic job of growing secondary characters, Krissy and Chase, as well.

 Zoe mentally matures beyond her 18 years as she is thrust into an age-old battle of Good vs Evil. The world around her continues to crumble as Evil in the form of Matthias' father, Albert targets her and everyone she loves personally. Zoe spreads herself thin trying to save the souls of her friends and family through love, trust, and honesty. The premise continues to sound ridiculously cheesy and push the boundaries of preachy, but the series doesn't focus on religion and "God" is mentioned only once in passing. If an Atheist like me can enjoy these books, then surely Jennifer Laurens has done some amazing story-telling.

Even the bittersweet ending where Zoe must say goodbye to one of her loves, Matthias or Weston, leaves nothing to be desired. While Absolution is a powerful book, I was never moved to tears, like I half-expected from the content. Additionally, I didn't get the same goosebumps the first 2 books in the series produced. At least it's nowhere near the Harry Potter 2: Chamber of Secrets debacle. Seriously, wasn't that the worst movie/book in the whole series? A terribly boring sophomore release.

I digress. My conclusion: A wonderful end to an amazing series that seamlessly suspends the expectations of reality and makes the reader wish they had their own guardian angel.

Welcome Peydon Bentley

My cousin Seth and his wife Ashlee welcomed their first child yesterday. 

Peydon Bentley was born 12-31-2010 at 9:06am MST. He is 7 lbs 11oz, 21 inches.

Congratulations Seth! I am so happy for you and your beautiful family. Love you all.