(Warning: if you just want the cupcake recipe and not a long rant, scroll all the way down past the raging diatribe to the next picture. Enjoy!)
I’m feeling impulsive. Big time. Like, unreasonably-going-into-debt impulsive.
This angsty feeling I’ve had the last month or so that I’ve tried to ignore by baking every single freaking day is going to get me in trouble.
I may have to do one of two things:
A) Paint the entire inside of my house white, or ecru, or very very light gray. (In order to provide a more photogenic background for my blog photos, of course. I am deeply committed to this baking-writing hobby if you haven’t noticed.)
or
B) Go back to school.
Which of the above-mentioned investments sounds less unreasonable to you? Really, this is not a rhetorical question, I could use a little help here. And please acknowledge that double negative so I know you’re paying attention. (Aw quitchyerbitchin. Did you not realize this blog would eventually try to challenge your linguistics? Sheesh. I will assume you don’t really want to discuss the difference between the phrases “more reasonable” and “less unreasonable,” and instead, we will move along.)
See, while some people actually buy my carefully-crafted internet persona, the truth is that I suffer cyclical bouts of major insecurity and self-doubt in both my Day Job and, surprisingly, this new blogging thing. I just know that I could be much better at both of them. Unfortunately it seems much easier and far less expensive to improve the skills I use in blogging (baking, writing, photography, food styling) than it is to increase my legal knowledge. Another reason I’ve been focusing my energy on blogging rather than my real career issues is that my personality seems to work a lot better in the blog world than it does in the courtroom or the boardroom. In baking & blogging, I can hide behind my laptop and not confront any real human beings ever, if I don’t want to. I can even delete comments if I don’t like them. This kind of one-sided dialogue works very well for me. =D
I know I shouldn’t be so sensitive to criticism. I also shouldn’t compare myself to other people but it’s impossible not to. I practice law with my husband. I’m pretty sure he’s the greatest lawyer I have ever met and will ever meet in my entire life. I’m not biased, either. He really is. He’s brilliant, and totally cool, and a major perfectionist. He is patient, persistent, flexible, approachable, sympathetic, understanding, creative… Seriously, I’m not exaggerating. He has every good quality an effective advocate, teacher and negotiator should have. He’s also pretty darn good looking, too, which adds insult to injury. (Luckily for me, though, he isn’t perfect. The man is uber top-heavy and has no sense of balance so he cannot go kayaking or do yoga without falling and making himself look like a total dweeb. Thank God he has a flaw. I can’t tell you how much I wish I had a picture of him to insert here right now, coming up out of the water next to his kayak looking incredibly surprised and very drenched – the image in my head is priceless.)
Okay, to my credit I do have one useful talent: I’m generally one of the best legal analysts & writers in town.
That’s the extent of my skills, though. I’m impatient, skeptical, harsh, cold-hearted, inflexible and uptight. I do not have a mind for sales or negotiating. And my favorite word in the English language is “OBJECTION!” Followed closely by, “facts not in evidence … attorney testimony … SPECULATING!” In that tone of voice, too. With my eyes wide open in shock accompanied by jazz hands. I have been known to mutter under my breath the occasional “pshh, whatever,” or (hissing) “liar” in court, too. I just can’t keep my mouth shut.
This job is for the birds.
BUT. I really love it. Parts of it, anyway. And even when I really hate it, I love to hate it.
The thing I don’t love is feeling ineffective. I also don’t love not knowing something I want to know or should know in order to help a client move their business forward. I also hate it when I lose the battle against my will to keep my mouth shut.
I want to take a class on how to master the proper passive-aggressive posture and tone of voice to use when replying thusly: “Hm [thoughtful-sounding pause] interesting…” because I think that’s the single most effective and non-committal response a lawyer can make to any statement or question, no matter how crazy. It at once acknowledges what the other person said while reserving the right to respond in substance at a later time. Brilliant.
I need to figure out how to do that.
There are times I pride myself on being decisive and quick-witted. There are times I enjoy my ability to articulate my thoughts and feelings clearly, concisely and promptly.
There are other times I want to punch myself in the face for being a Mouth and saying something I shouldn’t have or using a totally honest inappropriate tone of voice.
Yes, I do realize there’s not a lot about these issues I could change by going back to school. However, another degree or some audited classes could help diminish the few insecurities I can more readily control, mainly a lack of deep understanding of tax law, bankruptcy and corporate securities.
This is so strange, looking back. Five and a half years ago I said there was no reason I would ever need to go back to school. I have achieved one of the highest levels of American education available. What the heck makes me think I need another degree??? Normal people don’t even know what an LLM is (Master of Laws, fyi). And I should probably be able to learn more about those Lost Topics by attending seminars or webcasts, or by reading on my own. But there’s no pressure or incentive in that. If there’s no test, no one who cares if I attend or take notes, no fear of being humiliated in class if I don’t do the assigned reading, then I’m not likely to do it. I learned eight million random legal things for the bar exam through self-study. I have since forgotten nine million random legal things. I’m a pro at crashing & test-taking. I am not so good at learning things permanently unless there’s real pressure to do so. Honest. I just rely on my photographic short-term memory. How embarrassing is that?
I disgust myself for even admitting it.
Anyway, what should I do? Really. Does anyone have first-hand experience with the Dale Carnegie program and if so, is it really possible to train yourself to overcome personality weaknesses, communicate more effectively, learn how to be a salesperson or negotiator?
It’s either personal business training or more academic education. Self-discipline isn’t going to cut it.
Or should I just go to Home Depot for paint?
Oh, you came here to see pretty pictures of baked goods, didn’t you? How about the most perfect pumpkin chai cupcakes ever? Mmm hm, most definitely!
I admit, these are from last year. And – and – I made them with a boxed mix. Why that makes me feel guilty is beyond me. Boxed white cake mix is the BEST. I have not yet found a comparable scratch recipe that’s so light & fluffy and bakes up dependably every time. My use of the Box is not for lack of trying to bake from scratch or anything, it’s truly a well-informed choice. Guilt bedamned. So, this is it:
Pumpkin Chai Cupcakes
Pour one dry white or yellow cake mix into a bowl. Add 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/8 tsp ginger, whisk to combine.
In a large measuring cup or medium-sized bowl, melt 1 stick of butter (or use 1/4 cup vegetable oil, depending on whether your boxed mix calls for butter or oil, I prefer a butter-recipe white mix, though), add 1 cup cooled strong tea (this is one thing that makes these subtly chai flavored), 1cup canned pumpkin and 3 egg whites. Blend with a hand mixer for one minute. (For the record, I reserve the right to adjust this recipe since I wrote it down a LONG time after the first time I made these, and I’m not entirely sure the measurements are perfect – this sounds like a tad too much moisture to me.) Anyway…
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and blend just shy of 2 minutes.
Portion out into 24 cupcakes using a an ice cream scoop and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Watch them carefully through the door with the light on the last 3 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then on a wire rack until the cupcakes are room temp.
Filling – simple: blend 1/2 cup canned pumpkin into 1 cup cool whip with a couple dashes of the same spices as in the cake mix. Adjust to taste if it’s not pumpkin-y enough for you. There is zero science to making cream fillings out of cool whip, it’s all taste & texture, just don’t blend it too aggressively or it will turn to soup.
Once the cupcakes are cooled, carve a small cone out of the top and pipe the filling in with a piping bag or a Ziploc with the corner cut off. Eat the cake scraps (quality control, my friends, it is your responsibility).
Frosting –my favorite and here’s the recipe: Smitten Kitchen’s Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream. For these cupcakes, I added cinnamon & nutmeg, probably a teaspoon of cinnamon & 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Pipe frosting on top with a 1M star tip and then sprinkle nutmeg on top for that real Chai aroma.
Enjoy! Next time, you can help me decide what shade of white to paint my kitchen =D Then we can talk about how great of a painter I am. NOT!
I become ardently inspired to create a new dessert by seeing or tasting something fabulous that someone else makes. As soon as practical thereafter, I go to the store to get the ingredients. And BAM! Fail. Said ingredients are now out of season and unavailable to me, even if they were – just moments ago – available to the person who made the inspirational dessert. GAH! 
Boxed cake mix is one thing. An excellent thing, actually.
I had VERY good reason –my friend Kristy’s birthday, and the fact that our “Book Club”* was going to see Breaking Dawn on opening night.
Fill the hole with a spoonful of cherry filling and swirl frosting on top. 
These are apple pie cupcakes with brown sugar frosting. This was a new trial recipe – well, a new creation, since I didn’t strictly adhere to a recipe, I kind of made it up. So I’ll have more details & a review after I eat the one extra leftover in the fridge. 
kozubalk
