Cupcakes > Muffins

So..I am finally starting this food blog! :) It's summer, I have time, and I need to do something productive. I've been meaning to start this up but I always found other reasons to put it off. Not any more! :) alrighty then. here we go.

I couldn't find a good picture of a strawberry cupcake and I keep forgeting to take a picture of the ones i've eaten. Maybe next time :)

I love cupcakes. Especially cupcakes at Crave Cupcakes [http://www.cravecupcakes.com/]. Anyways, my favorite is the strawberry cupcake. It has a base of vanilla cake with and strawberry jam. There's not a lot of jam but you get the sweet, gooey strawberry sensation in your mouth as you bite into this delicious cupcake. I'm not sure if the strawberry jam what they use but that's my guess. Then there's my favorite part: the icing. It's ironic because I sincerely hate icing. I'm not much of a sweet tooth but when it comes to Crave Cupcake's icing, it's a different story. I know it's kind of hypocritical but my goodness, their icing, is like what icing should be like. Again, I'm not quite sure what it is, and I'm pretty sure it's a secret recipe that makes them so great. But the way I would describe is is that it's like a glazed icing. It's somewhat flaky but smooth at the same time. Not too sweet, not too bitter. Regular cupcake icing is always way to sweet for me. But yeah that sums up my love for cupcakes, crave cupcakes. :)

With that in mind, I wanted to try to recreate a strawberry cupcake :) I guess I am a decent cook but when it comes to baking, I can honestly say I am an amateur. Baking from scratch that is* So yester-yesterday, I decided to make a strawberry-jam muffins, in honor of my favorite strawberry cupcake at Crave. I don't know why I decided to make muffins instead of cupcakes - that's probably why I suck at baking.I'm just kidding. I know it's a learning process :) Anyways so here is my first attempt. Oh and all my pictures are not the best quality, I know. I took these pictures from my phone - it's only 2.0 megapixels. But I will use a better camera next time :)

As you can see, I filled it up too much. So sadly, they turned out like this:

:( so much for heart shaped muffins.

So I added some powdered sugar and tried to make it pretty :)



I still had some batter and jam to spare so I made mini muffins. I guess they were more successful than my heart-shaped ones :)

As for the taste, I was not quite satisfied. It was sorta of bland, not as sweet as I expected it to be. I think it was because of the recipe I used was for muffins and not a cupcake but this was a great experiment. I will try a cupcake recipe next time :)

Evaulation.

What did you like about the class?
the topics were interesting and understandable. my favorite chapter was about sleep :) now i understand why i feel extra tired everday.

What was your favorite activity or project?
making a model of the brain with playdoh :)

What didn't you like about the class?
some quizzes were difficult.

What do you think I should leave out next year?
assigning stepping through the section. i find making notes over the chapter(s) more sufficient.

Do you have any suggestions or ideas for things I could do next year in AP Psych?
no, not really. you (Mrs. Halfen) did a great job this year. i'm already telling all my friends to take APPsych. :)

Do you have any suggestions or ideas for next semester in AP Econ?
Don't be too harsh? haha, i dont know.

Can You Love Food Too Much?

Personally, I love food. Everything about it - how it looks, the texture of it, how it smells, and of course, how it tastes.I could probably eat all day if I had the time and the food. When I came across this article I was surprised that it can be a disorder.

We can all agree we love food. We love to look at the presentation, smell the aroma, and gobble it all up. "Food Abuse" by Susan McQuillan, M.S., R.D., points out that some people love food so much more than others - resulting in an excessive eating habit. "Neuroscientists have found that food affects brain chemistry in ways that might lead to an addiction in some people. In fact, the brain chemistry and physiology of an obese person has been shown to be very similar to that of a drug addict." It goes on and says that people who constantly think about what is the next thing they are going to eat (or not to eat) is also classified as a food addiction. It doesn't matter if they eat too much or too little, it's the passion for food that controls their lives both physically and emotionally. When they lose that control, it becomes an addiction.

I find it very interesting that food can be a drug to some people - I mean it has similar results to other harmful drugs. A person addicted to food craves to eat constantly, will buy large amounts, eat till his/her hearts desire, and become an unhealthy fat person. Whereas a person addicted to smoking craves it constantly, will buy large amounts, etc. So my question was, "Can you love food too much?" I guess you can but to a certain extent. As for me, I have a passion for food, but I can probably live without it for awhile. After reading this article, I concluded that I dont have an addiction. Right?

Source:
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/cravings/200803/food-abuse