Thin Mint Cupcakes

As I'm sure you're aware, Calories DON'T count if its for charity. Calories also don't count on: major holidays, your birthday, during power outages, and after breakups. Since a portion of your purchase of Thin Mints goes to the lovely Girls Scouts of America, you can eat boxes upon boxes. Obviously, I chose to turn this into an opportunity to make Thin Mint Cupcakes...delish!

Thin Mint Cupcakes: 

Ingredients: 

• 
  
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2  eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• Mint Extract 
• 1 cup boiling water



Basically, combine all your dry ingredients. And then add, eggs, milk, oil , and vanilla. Then add the boiling water! It WILL make your batter thin! THEN comes time for a choice: You can either add mint extract to your cupcakes and make them chocolate mint and then do vanilla buttercream frosting OR you can make plain chocolate cupcakes and make a mint buttercream frosting...I chose the former!



Then place the thin mints in the bottom of your lined cupcake tin. Don't forget to spray with Pam! (Side Note: if its not Girl Scout season, you can buy Keebler Grasshopper Cookies, which are basically the same...but the calories WILL count!) Put them in the oven at 350 or for about 20 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick and all that jazz. 

Then, I frosted with Vanilla Buttercream. Basically whip together two sticks of butter, three and a half cups of powdered sugar, one tablespoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and about four tablespoons of heavy cream or half and half! IF you went the plain chocolate cupcake route, add the peppermint extract to your vanilla buttercream! Last, I added some green food-dye in an attempt to make a shamrock-shake-colored frosting! It actually turned out pretty accurate and the picture above does NOT do it justice! 

Tick Tock

Did you know... in most catalogues and store displays, the time displayed is either 2:50 or 10:10. This is because this is considered "Happy Time," as the clock is 'smiling.' Apparently they're trying to encourage you to feel good when you're looking to buy that watch. SNEAKY!

I'm not really all that into watches; it may have something to do with the fact that I have a tremendous amount of trouble telling time on analog clocks. I must have missed that day in Kindergarten... But, if I were to get a watch, it would be one of these!

For those who love Kate Spade and Tiffany Blue
This Kate Spade watch is lovely, and the shape is little bit different than most watches I've seen girls wearing.  

For those who value tardiness and handmade jewelry 
This watch is so cute that  if it said "Whatever I'm early anyway,"  I'd buy it for myself!

For those who love rose gold and Michael Kors
This watch is classic, with a twist!

For those who adore tortoise
This Fossil watch is just soooooooo tortoise-y. 

For those who always carry a magnifying glass
This itty bitty watch's fun summer look completely makes up for its lack of practicality and it's also pretty cheap!

For fans of pastels and polka dots
This watch is spring-y, fun, and very inexpensive!

For those who wish to make an asymmetrical statement
This silly pink watch just reminds me of Barbie herself!







(bonus points for those who noticed that five out of the seven watches were "smiling")

My 5 Passions...For The Week

I'm a bit obsessive. Once I love something, I really really love it. I will always really really love sass, sparkles, class, cupcakes, bows, tiaras, buffalo chicken, Perrier, and preppy style. But, these are the 5 things that I have felt very passionate about recently...

Cups 
As I add this cup, my third, to my growing collection, I realized I should probably deal with my dependence on them.  I refuse to drink out of anything else besides my special cups when I'm at home. Luckily, now that I have three, misplacing one up in my room or down in the basement doesn't cause as much panic. 

Jimmy Buffett
Oh, Jimmy! I have always and will always love Jimmy Buffett. This week, though, as I am itching for warmer weather to come and to be able to wear shorts (see outfit below), I've found myself pressing CD 1 in my car and singing along to Margaritaville every time I drive. 

Bubble Necklaces 
Bubble Necklaces are extremely trendy right now. I think they look really cute, especially this Tiffany Blue one above (Tiffany Blue has been another one of my recent passions!) But, the original Bubble Necklace from J.Crew is $150, which is actually a lot for a statement piece that you can't wear with all that much and will most likely go out of style in a season or two. Luckily, I've found this adorable replica on Etsy! 

Sushi
Okay, that's a complete lie. I wish my passion this week was sushi, I really do. Its soooooo hip and pretty healthy too! Unfortunately, I haven't found even one roll that I can stomach. But, I have made this candy sushi before; it's adorable and delicious and I plan to make it again very soon. 

Parisian Macarons 
As I said before I am and will always be a cupcake girl. But these macarons are adorable, a perfect size, and very trendy right now! The picture above is a Red Velvet Macaron I made and, for the first try, they turned out pretty well. The downside to Macarons is that they require two things that many people don't normally have in their pantry: Super Fine Sugar and Almond Meal. The Super Fine Sugar is pretty easy to make: just put regular granulated sugar in the food processer and voilà! The Almond Meal is a little hard to find but I had luck finding it at Wegman's. The upside to Macarons is that the rumor that they are finicky is a total farce. Most recipes require you to use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients in grams or ounces because the "macarons are just soooo complicated and specific that you MUST be oh so specific with your measurements." LIES! I had great luck measuing my ingredients in cups and tablespoons with this recipe, delish! 

My Leading Ladies

Although everyone always talks about loving who you are and all that silly stuff, for as long as I can remember, I've found myself wanting to be the perfect combination of a select group amazing girls. The list has grown and changed through the years, but as of now these are my leading ladies, as it were. As I look at the list my go-to-girls, I realize that only one of them is actually a real person, oh well! 

Eloise
Why: SASS
Eloise knows how to get what she wants and, although she can come off as a bit bratty at times, I think we could all learn a lesson from this girl about getting what we want, even if its just a specially made room service pizza. Eloise has two of the things that I, as a six year old and now, have wanted most: to live in the '50s and to live at the Plaza hotel. Plus, she has an adorable pug named Weenie. If you haven't read the children's book or seen the movies, especially Eloise at Christmastime, I highly recommend them. 

Blair Waldorf
Why: Upper East Side Royalty. Chuck Bass. Headbands. Chuck Bass.
"Destiny is for losers. It's just a stupid excuse to wait for things to happen instead of making them happen."
Although Blair comes off as quite witchy and snobby, she's truly a really hard worker who cares about her friends and family. Needless to say, I would pick Blair over Serena any day. 

Elle Woods
Why: PINK
If you're like me, you tear up every time you watch Elle Woods proclaim that "The rules of hair care are simple and finite. Any Cosmo girl would have known." If you don't tear up or if, heaven forbid, or you don't understand that reference, you're really weird. Elle Woods is brilliant and she never loses sight of who she is, but most importantly: she loves pink. 

Kate Middleton
Why: Princess. Silly hats. Unbelievable amount of grace and poise.  NUDE PUMPS.
As you can see, Kate Middleton is the only real person to crack the list. This reason simply should not have to be explained. Her wedding was PERFECT. Her outfits are PERFECT. Her shoes are PERFECT. And her baby will be PERFECT. 

Holly Golightly
Why: Style. Sass. Shades.
One of my all time favorite quotes from Holly is  "Do I detect  a look of disapproval in your eye? Tough beans, buddy! Cause thats the way its gonna be!" This quote basically explains why I love Holly Golightly so much. She doesn't care what other people think, she's smart, she's charming, and everybody loves her. Oh, and those shades!