In case you haven’t noticed or aren’t fortunate enough to live in the midwest during winter… it’s fucking really, really cold here. Today feels balmy in the 20’s, that’s how bad it’s been. Take Friday for example… I woke up 10 minutes earlier than usual to put on all of my layers, just to jog a half mile to the gym.
I ran in a full winter jacket and snow pants. I used to be tougher than this and could handle any run in a few long sleeves and tights, but now I’m a wimp. Don’t judge me.
My body wasn’t cold (it was a 5 minute jog!) but my lungs were screaming and I think I developed brain freeze by breathing. Awesome.
*Sidenote, I must admit, I think reading ‘Game of Thrones’ is causing me to become more paranoid about the cold weather. All I can think of is ‘WINTER IS COMING! OH NO!’ Uhhh, duh Lisa, it’s February in Chicago. Winter has been here.*
The lock on the gate of my apartment complex froze and refused to open. Luckily, there is a used bookstore across the street from me and I was able to hang out there until the Husband came to rescue me.Anyway, this weekend I spent my time doing plenty of indoor activities:
- Reading ‘Game of Thrones’
- Watching hockey and eating pizza and drinking beer with friends
- Wearing my new sweaters/cardigans
- Drinking butterscotch schnapps and hot chocolate
- Eating dinner and going to a bar with my girlfriends
- Watching the Superbowl with the Husband and his family
What I also did was bake chocolate eclair cupcakes from scratch. You see, it was the Husband’s dad’s birthday yesterday and we all went over to the Husband’s parents’ house to celebrate, and he likes chocolate eclairs… so I figured I would make them into cupcakes! I should really get some ‘wife points’ or maybe even ‘daughter-in-law points’ for this.
Anyway, I found a recipe for the cupcakes so I thought baking these things would be super-easy and take about an hour. Any recipe found through random Google searches must be great, right?!
Wrong.
The recipe I originally used was awful and I created two batches that had to be thrown away. Then I made filling that had to be thrown away. Seriously, the filling somehow turned into a solid omelette. This is never a good sign.
Well, finally I wised up and created my own recipe from lots of other recipes on the oh-so-wise internet. In the end, everything turned out great.
It only took about 5 hours. Oy vey.
Please direct your attention to the top right picture… see how flat the first batch turned out compared to the second?! But, eventual success!It was a good thing I had plans to go out drinking after this ordeal, because I have a super-low tolerance for kitchen mishaps and was in desperate need of vodka after taking the second batch of ruined eclairs out of the oven.
Luckily, third time’s the charm, and I can proudly say I defeated the chocolate eclair cupcakes.
Domesticity is within my reach….
I hope you had a warm and delicious Superbowl weekend!
