Throwback Thursday

Are you ready for this edition of Throwback Thursday?  This one is hilarious (at least it's hilarious to me now, but it wasn't so much at the time...)

September 3^rd (Michael's Birthday)

Another funny Michael moment.  He’s had a rash under his arm for a week or so & had been putting hydrocorizone on it.  After he showered, he was rubbing on the cream while I got ready.  Then he said, “I just put toothpaste on my rash!”  He had grabbed the tube of toothpaste instead of the hydrocortizone!  He was like, “I kept wondering why it wouldn’t rub in.”  I couldn’t stop laughing!!  He jumped in the shower & washed it off but I was still laughing when he got out.  In his defense (kind of), he had been using the toothpaste we bought in Europe since we had run out & hadn’t put it back in the cabinet after we got regular toothpaste.  So, the tube was about the same size as the hydrocortizone.  It still makes me laugh just thinking about it!!  We both got off work early for Labor Day weekend.  I went to the mall before picking him up & got some pants & a shirt at Macy’s for him, two pairs of dress pants for me at Motherhood & some No Man’s Land Beef Jerky as a birthday surprise for him (he said later the jerky was one of the best things about his bday – ha!)  We went home & I decided to attempt some chocolate cupcakes for him.  The whole idea came from something I saw on my friend’s blog – ninja cupcake topper cutouts!  I printed off the ninja toppers & found a recipe on another blog for Guinness chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing.  The recipe looked pretty simple.  I told Michael he had to stay out of the kitchen since it was a surprise.  I mixed up the batter & put the cupcakes in the oven (making a huge mess in the meantime – baking is so messy!)  I was starting on the frosting when the oven timer beeped.  I opened the oven & found that my cupcakes were not cupcakes.  The batter had oozed out all over the pan & down into the oven.  It was the weirdest thing!  I was so upset.  I yelled to Michael, “Come here, something went wrong.”  He asked if I was ok & I said yes.  He said then it couldn’t have gone too wrong.  Then he saw the disaster.  I was so upset since I had busted my butt & had no idea what went wrong.  He was very sympathetic but also got a good laugh out of the whole thing.  It’s like the cupcakes were so angry, they had to escape the cupcake pan.  They didn’t explode – just feverishly tried to escape.  Michael took pictures of the aftermath while I tried not to cry.  I checked the recipe several times & couldn’t figure out what went wrong.  We had to leave to go to Dave & Buster’s for Michael’s bday but before we left, I decided I was going to give it another try when we got home.  I wasn’t going to let those cupcakes ruin me, dang it!  We went to Dave & Buster’s & played some games.  Michael had so much fun.  He kept saying how good life was & how blessed he felt.  All of a sudden we realized it was after 9:00 & we hadn’t really eaten dinner.  We finished up the games & called in an order at a Thai restaurant to pick up on the way home.  After we ate, I decided to tackle the cupcakes again.  The recipe called for baking soda & I thought maybe it was a typo & should have been baking powder but I googled it & baking soda is a common ingredient in cupcakes.  I thought maybe the problem was I didn’t sift the flour (even though the recipe didn’t say to sift it).  I decided to try sifting it just in case.  I planned to sit in front of the oven with the light on & watch the cupcakes for the entire 20 minutes in case they tried to make a break for it.  Michael decided to take a shower while I baked.  I was mixing up the batter & was getting ready to sift the flour.  The flour was in a large plastic container in our pantry (we have four – one for salt, sugar, coffee beans & flour).  Well, a little voice in my head said – maybe you should make sure that’s really flour.  Lo & behold, it was NOT flour – it was powdered sugar!  I tried to make cupcakes using powdered sugar instead of flour!!  Why we had powdered sugar in the largest container, I have no idea.  I felt really stupid but honestly was more elated that I figured out the problem!!  The mystery was solved.  I finished making the batter & explained my incompetence to Michael when he got out of the shower.  I pulled the cupcakes out of the oven & felt like dancing around – they actually looked like cupcakes!!  I mixed up the frosting but wanted to wait until the cupcakes cooled to put it on.  It was late so I went to bed – my back & feet were killing me but I was just happy I had real cupcakes & didn’t give up!

September 4^th

I got up & took Sadie for a walk since the weather was kind of cool.  The sun made it feel a little hot, though, and I noticed my fingers were sausagey (aka swollen) when I got home.    So cute!!  I also tried a cupcake & was relieved (and a little surprised) to find they were delicious!  Very moist & not too chocolately.  Michael was a big fan, too.  I was very proud of my handiwork.  The first fiasco made the second try even more of a success.  We loaded up for the first OSU football game.  We cooked burgers at Stephen’s house & ate salsa & French onion dip (oh & ninja cupcakes!!)  Then we walked around campus checking out the tailgates.  We didn’t put up a tent since most of our friends weren’t going to that game.  It was really hot with not much of a breeze.  I got overheated & grumpy.  We finally found a little area that was shaded & sat on the curb for a few minutes, so we could cool down.  Then we headed into the stadium.  We were in the sun the first 55 minutes but it wasn’t too bad.  It was a lot nicer when the sun went down, though!  We were winning by a lot at half time & we ended up watching a little more of the game on TV at someone’s tailgate & decided not to go back in because we were winning by even more.  We packed up our stuff & decided to head home a little early.  It was a good day!

So, which is worse?  Putting toothpaste on a rash or baking cupcakes with powered sugar??  Man, we're quite a pair.  Oh & when I said a little voice in my head told me to make sure it was flour, I have no doubt it was God.  I think He knew I would have had a full on mental breakdown if my cupcakes had failed again.  J I'm still relieved I figured out the problem.  And now I can actually laugh about it!

If you're looking for a good cupcake recipe, you should try the Guinness cupcakes (just make sure you use flour instead of powdered sugar - ha).  It was easy & delicious.  Kind of makes me want to try out another cupcake recipe on that site.  Although, I'm a little nervous about what kind of mistake I'll make this time!

ANGRY cupcakes

 Who knew this is what happens when you use powered sugar instead of flour??

 The mess...

 Finally - success!

 Cream cheese icing - yum.

 Ninjas!!

I bet now you're thinking about asking me to bake something for you.  I'm obviously SO talented in this area...  Ha!