Baking the Night Away

Isn't that how the phrase goes?  No?  Hmm...

Yesterday was pretty busy: gym in the morning to do this workout again (my 8:20AM class was canceled because our writing assignment was due today), 2 classes in the afternoon, and then I had to finish my writing assignment and do a lot of reading for today and tomorrow.  Today I had an "intensive" class from 9:00 - 4:00.  We normally meet on Wednesday evenings, but this weekend we're putting in a lot of time.  The nice thing is that the class will be over before spring break (except for a paper that we'll have to write after that), but today was pretty long, and I have to be at school again tomorrow - yes, Saturday - from 8:00 - 1:00.  I've got a busy weekend ahead of me so I used my Friday night to be productive.

I stopped by the gym for cardio, and I saw something quite interesting:  an old man running barefoot on the track.  What happened to no shoes, no shirt, no service?  I'm pretty sure that should apply to a gym.  Although people probably think I'm a nut, too, because I cannot seem to control my facial expressions while watching TV - first Ellen was cracking me up, then I was dopily smiling at the Property Brothers :)

After that, it was time to cross off some things on my to-do list:

A fresh load of laundry.

Chewy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Mmmmmmm.

I used this recipe to make these chewy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  Again, nothing healthy about this dessert, but the last time I made them they were a HUGE hit, so it was time for a reappearance.   I followed the recipe exactly, but I got almost 4 dozen instead of 2 dozen because I made smaller cookies than the recipe called for.  They're still plenty big, though!

Red velvet cupcakes.

This is the first time I'm getting to use my carrying lid!  Very exciting :)  I mean really, though, how convenient is that??

I made red velvet cupcakes, too.  I actually think this was the first time I ever made cupcakes (or cake, for that matter) from scratch.  I tasted the batter (yum) but didn't have a cupcake, so hopefully they turned out okay!  I followed this recipe for the cupcakes.  I just used a small bottle of food coloring instead of 3 T, so I added a little water to make up for the missing liquid.  I also made my own buttermilk by adding 1/2 T lemon juice to almond milk.

For the frosting, I trusted the very wise Pioneer Woman and made the recipe she recommended for red velvet cake instead of the traditional cream cheese frosting.  I halved the recipe since I only had 12 cupcakes to frost, and I used almond milk instead of cow's milk.  I'm kind of intimidated by homemade frosting (bad experience with my mom's birthday cake last year...) but I think this turned out pretty well, and it tastes delicious!

I'm taking these cupcakes with me tomorrow for a "Girls' Night Out" downtown and then a hotel sleepover!  My good friend Courtney's birthday was in January, and our friend Nicci's birthday is today, so it's a joint celebration.  Hopefully the cupcakes will go over well.  And they'll be paired with some champagne, of course!

What do you have planned for the weekend?

Song of the Day:

"If I Had a Gun" by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.  Hope you like it!