Just like everybody seemed to love Eat, Pray, Love and I did not…everyone seems to love the book The Happiness Project. I finally got it from the library and meh.

I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m all for being happy but there is a common thread among the book (and movie) Eat, Pray, Love and the Happiness Project. Which is if you are unhappy with things take a risk and give it all up and go find yourself and do what you love. Well awesome. Except all these people that write these books had the money to go do this.

In reading the book she focuses on the fact that if something say like laundry really makes you unhappy…hire out. Oh great idea. Or if you hate cleaning your house and it takes up your time hire a house keeper. Again, wow, why didn’t I think of that? Oh wait…I’m broke. That’s right. She does other exciting things were she learns how to file papers in file boxes instead of stacks and tries to come up with a hobby because she thinks she should have one. She likes to come off as your everyday woman but in real life her husband makes serious bank. Serious bank.

And then there is the whole be happy in everything you do including making the bed and what not. Ugh. This is beyond lame. All the happiness people tell you that. I have no problem finding happiness in the simple pleasures of life but folding laundry isn’t one of them. Scrubbing the toilet, while being thankful that I have the arms to do it, is not a happy moment. Cleaning up dog puke that you step in first thing in the morning, while happy the dog is alive, is not a happy moment.

Want to be happy? Here is my happiness project:

1. Stop caring about what others think of you. If you like the $600 Coach Purse and have the money to buy it, then buy it (just make sure ALL the other bills are covered). But don’t buy it because all of your friends have one. If you like the $24.99 purse from Target but don’t want to buy it because you worry what will your friends think if you have a Target purse…buy the purse. Lose the friends.

2. Really work on being happy with what you have. Have you ever been to a garage sell or been at a friend’s house when they are giving away their unused toys to charity? 99.972% of the time the kids who’s those toys belong to are playing with those toys like crazy. Why? Because they forgot they had them. We get so much stuff that we forget what we have. This is why when we clean things out we get so distracted because we find stuff we used to love. It got tossed to the side and forgotten about. Clothing is like that too. I used to have friends come over and rearrange my closet and make outfits. It’s interesting to see what people will make into an outfit that you never thought about. It’s a cheap way to shop your closet and a great excuse to sit around and drink wine with friends.

3. Be happy with the weight you are at now. This is so hard for people. Love yourself at the size you are now while you work on being the size you want to be. Be confident in who you are and what you have to offer and that is what the opposite sex find attractive. If you want to be smaller for health then be healthy…but don’t be annoying (aka don’t tell people what they are eating is bad for them or tell them how many calories you burned at your Zumba-a-thon…most people care about as much as learning about your child’s bowel movements).
4. Gather good people in your life and do things to let them know they are appreciated and you want them in your life. For me it’s usually cards. Cards are relatively cheap and I stock up on ones when I go to the card store. It’s an inexpensive way to say I’m thinking of you and it’s way more exciting to get that in the mail than a bill.

5. Accept that you cannot change people only yourself. Life is 10% of what happens and 90% of how you react to it.

6. Don’t expect anything in return. I don’t always give gifts. If someone’s birthday comes along and I just can’t find a thing I don’t give a thing. They get a card. But I have no problem later on in the year when I find something for them that is perfect, getting it for them. Now certain things like important birthdays (like say turning 40 , or weddings, etc…then yes give gift). Whenever I give anything to anyone I never expect anything in return. That should not be the intent of a gift. So if you give a gift, just give a gift. If you do a favor…just do a favor, don’t keep tabs (though don’t let people walk all over you either).
7. Get a dog. Seriously. If you are not a dog person, then a pet in general. Surely they are costly, time consuming at times, but you will never have such pure unconditional love in your life. And while your children will grow up and have lots of other avenues for love and friendship, to your pet you are their everything. Remember that.

8. Don’t push things to happen. I read a quote on yes Pinterest that “Love is like a fart, if you have to force it, it’s probably sh!t” ….yep. You must learn to trust that if it’s meant to be it will be. Now that doesn’t mean if you think a girl/guy is cute that you should wait around until they come say hi to you…just means you shouldn’t walk up and say “Hi, I’m Sue, nice to meet you. I’ve decided I will name our children Dan and Amy”.

9. Give three genuine compliments to complete strangers every day. I started this about 10 years ago and it’s one of the things that makes my day because I love that I made someone happy. You know how when a complete stranger tells you they like your hair, scarf, boots, whatever and you have an extra skip in your step? Why not pay it forward. The key is to make sure you mean it though. Don’t tell someone you like their skirt if you really don’t. If you can’t find strangers because you don’t interact with anyone…there is always a nice wall post on FB to brighten someone’s day.
10. Eat more cupcakes.

Pink Ombre Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Rose Colored Gel Food Coloring

Strawberry Buttercream (recipe here)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs and egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Separate batter into four smaller bowls, divide out equally. I did this by doing one ice cream scoop per bowl until I ran out of batter. Add a small amount of food coloring to the first bowl and mix. Do this to each bowl and gradually get brighter as you go.

Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners starting with the lightest layer and then working your way up, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Cupcake recipe adapted from More From Magnolia: Recipes from the World Famous Bakery and Allysa Torey’s Home Kitchen

My Facebook was lit up today with what could probably be called Easter Basket Confessions. Lists of all the candies that people had eaten and how horrible they were for eating them…blaming the Easter Bunny for bringing it. Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs apparently being the devil.

After reading the morning confessions and people’s pledges to hit the gym hard to be punished for their Peep eating I turned on the TV. Not much was on and I left it on Eat, Pray, Love. I will confess that I read and disliked the book and I watched and disliked the movie (which is why it got turned off). Pretty much everyone (female…men thought it was crap) I know loved the LOVE section. For me the only tolerable part of it was Eat. If you have never traveled outside of the US then you probably think that other women constantly punish themselves for what they eat. And in my experiences most of the other countries (Canada excluded) have a much better relationship with food than that of people (especially women) from the states.

I ate three Red Vines, two marshmallow chicken things and about 10 jelly beans yesterday. I probably eat that half the time on a regular day…well at least the jelly beans (I have a jelly bean problem). Because I don’t exclude it from my life there was no need to try and eat an entire Easter Basket in my belly because starting the next day it was back to being off limits. Instead, 99% of my Easter Basket (well really Tupperware…I couldn’t find my Easter basket to save my life this year) is still there. I will be eaten throughout the month and then some…or in my Peeps and Robins Eggs case, made into cupcakes.

So stop blaming the Easter Bunny for bringing you an Easter Basket. If you truly don’t want it then throw it or give it away. Problem is you do want it. So figure out how to make it work….without punishing yourself for enjoying it.

You obviously don’t need it to be Easter to make these as they can be made without the Peeps and Robins Eggs on top, but I figured what the heck. I made my own marshmallow fluff for the recipe, but I fully realize that the average person doesn’t do that and so I listed the jar kind. If you have the time and want to then by all means make your own fluff. You can make your own Devil’s Food or go the box route if you like.

Hope you had a lovely Easter…I had a great one. My parents were here and so I got to be spoiled by being cooked for. Even MDP did the breakfast cooking for my parents. And the best Easter gift of all? My mom cleaned out my fridge from head to toe!

Chocolate Marshmallow Filled Devil’s Food Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

1 box Devil’s Food Cake (prepared as regular size cupcakes) or Devils Food recipe
1 jar (7 ounces) Marshmallow Crème (or Fluff)
6 ounces melted milk chocolate
¾ cup unsalted butter
3-4 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur (optional…but take the option)
6 ounces melted white chocolate

After cupcakes are fully cooled off, make the chocolate marshmallow fluff. In a small sauce pan melt the marshmallow crème on low heat, once melted add the milk chocolate and mix until fully combined. Place into a piping bag with a large tip and poke into middle of cupcake. Squeeze until if fills up cupcake and starts to come out of top. You want to do this while the marshmallow is still warm, it will make it much easier to pipe out.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, melted white chocolate and 1 cup powdered sugar. Continue adding the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add the liqueur to thin out the frosting. If you want it thinner add some milk.

Since it is white chocolate it can be colored any color you like. I obviously went with green for Easter grass but you can do whatever.

A couple of weeks ago on the way home from work MDP called and asked if I need anything and I told him yes that I needed honey. He got to the store and text me what size. I wrote back “bear sized”.

“Bear sized” he questioned.

“Yep, bear sized”

“That’s not a size”

“It is for honey”

Didn’t hear from him for a few. He called and said I am staring and four different sizes of bears. What size? I being annoying said “bear size”. I told him it was his choice. He brought back a gigantic bear filled with honey. I only needed 3 TBSP.

He now randomly buys me small bear sized bottles of honey for no reason other than the thinks he is being funny, which in a way he is. But I now have a lot of honey. I decided to do a take on cornbread. I love sweet corn in desserts…sweet corn ice cream is pretty much my favorite flavor of all time. So I went searching for a cupcake version. I found one and messed with it a little and came up with something I liked. Topped it with some very honey flavored buttercream. If you love cornbread and honey you will LOVE these.

So is bear size an actual size for honey?

Sweet Corn Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream

Sweet Corn Cupcakes
1 1/3 cups cake flour
½ TBSP baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup sour cream
¾ cup fresh corn kernels
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup honey
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together; set aside.

In a blender, puree the sour cream and corn kernels until as smooth as possible (it will still have bits of corn). Set aside.

Using a mixer, preferably a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, honey, and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl to make sure not butter at the bottom of bowl.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.

Add the vanilla and the sour cream/corn mixture and mix until fully combined.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, scraping down the sides between each addition. Take care not to over mix.

Scoop batter using an ice cream scoop into the cupcake holders until they are about three-quarters full. Bake in the center of the oven for about 20-22 minutes, until the tops spring back and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
Makes 12 cupcakes.

Cake recipe adapted from the San Fransico Chronicles

Honey Buttercream

¾ cup honey
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
3 cups powdered sugar

Using a stand mixer, cream together butter and honey until fully combined.

Add vanilla and salt and cup of sugar, and cream on medium low until combined.

Add remaining sugar, one cup at a time.

Frosting will be sticky, if you want it more solid and less sticky you can add more powdered sugar but you will have less of a honey flavor.

The Muppet Movie comes out on DVD today. I am a nerd and preordered it. I can’t help it. I loved the Muppets as a kid and seeing the movie last Thanksgiving just warmed my little heart. There truly is a character for everyone.

The science nerd in me loves Beaker. The sarcastic person in me loves Statler and Waldorf. For no apparent reason I love Gonzo’s girlfriend Camilla the Chicken. And of course my favorite of all time is the Swedish Chef. What about you, who is your favorite Muppet?

Pigs in Space could always cheer me up and when Elton John sang Crocodile Rock in the swamp with the crocs singing along it was the first song ever to get stuck in my head.

I have nothing but fond memories of that show so to show my support for the release I decided to make cupcakes with rainbow swirl frosting. It would have been much easier if I owned gel food coloring but I do not. But as you can see they still turned out just fine.

Rainbow Connection Cupcakes

Buttermilk Cupcakes
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large whole eggs plus 1 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium. Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add yolks, and beat until thoroughly combined.

Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each. Beat in vanilla.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarter full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes

For frosting use this. Depending on how much you love frosting you might want to double it.  Follow this tutorial on how to make it rainbow.