Cupcakes

I am going to make cupcakes for Easter dinner at my mom’s house. Or, rather, cupcakes for dessert following Easter dinner at my mom’ s house.

Yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing.

Di’s Dessert Trivia

Favorite cake: Yellow cake with chocolate icing.
Favorite pie: Pumpkin pie.
Favorite non-pie/cake baked good: Brownies sans nuts or icing. Although, if you really must add anything, make it powdered sugar on top.
Favorite non-baked good dessert: Chocolate ice cream.

One year, I went all out for Easter: Made some yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing, and then sprinkled green coconut (grass) and jelly beans (eggs) on top of each one.

How to Make Green Coconut

Place coconut in a Ziploc plastic bag. Squeeze a few drops of green food coloring into the bag. Zip bag shut and shake shake shake shake shake your coconut until completely coated.

My cupcakes were good, but, truthfully, I can do without any kind of coconut-jelly bean garnish.

Last year, for my birthday, The Lovely and I discussed birthday desserts. (I think I may have already posted this somewhere, but, if so ... well, I am quite certain it is not the first time I have repeated myself.)

The Lovely: What kind of dessert would you like for your birthday?
Di: Yellow cake with chocolate icing!
(Pause)
Di: Or brownies with powdered sugar on top!
(Pause)
Di: Or whatever Big John has. (Big John is our grocery.)

: )

When I was a kid, we used to bring treats to school on our birthdays. And sometimes our moms would come in, too, to join in on the celebration. Wonder if they still do that?

My most memorable school birthday was when I was in 3rd grade, so I must’ve been turning, what, 8? No, 9, ’cause it was 1974.

I had been looking forward to this day for weeks, in no small part because I had a huge crush on my teacher, Miss Biggs. She used to make up strange little songs to help us remember our multiplication tables, among other things; she also had a Danny O’Day doll and used to do ventriloquism (but we all knew she was the one who was actually doing the talking ... right?).

: )

Anyhoo, I was excited about my big day. Sometime close to my birthday, though, a boy named Ricky Stretch moved to The Ville. I don’t recall where he moved from, but I do remember he was pretty nice and had sort of a nasally voice ... and I also remember that, one day, not long after he had moved here, he announced that his mom would be bringing in cupcakes on April 18.

On my birthday!

I was mortified! I mean, my mom was bringing in brownies with powdered sugar on top on my birthday; how dare anyone else think he could bring something in on my birthday??!

I remember crying to Miss Biggs and complaining, and how she told me that Ricky’s mom was concerned about him making new friends at his new school, so she wanted him to bring some treats to school. And I told Miss Biggs how unfair it all was, that this was my birthday, and how I didn’t want to share the day with anyone else.

I’m pretty sure I also complained about this to my mom ... and if I know my mom, she probably told me that I could either take my brownies to school on my birthday or I could not take anything in, period, and that I had better “dry up about it.”

And, again, if memory serves me correctly, I believe Ricky and I both brought in our treats on my birthday, and almost everyone tried some of both and had a fabulous time.

(Man, I was such a stoopid little fuck, sometimes.)