Inspiration

Today wasn't a good day. It took me 2 hours into my shift for me to realize that I hadn't even brushed my hair. I had a stain on my jeans and a dribble down my shirt. I wanted to crawl under the desk and find a hole of happiness where I could reflect. Unfortunately crawling under your desk to find salvation isn't so commonly accepted in normal society. Today wasn't a good day.
We all have ways of coping with days like today. Sometimes I run and sometimes I cook. I always cook, but it takes on a new meaning, it provides me with the drive to create something that changes my perspective and outlook on the world and on my life. Today it was the people that inspire me, that make me laugh and don't mention that fact that I rock up with a birds nest in my hair. Or tell me that I do have a birds nest and openly laugh at me. So for my theme tonight I went for fish and fortune cookies.
My fish friends are a my close friends, some of my fondest memories with them are mackie wraps with dirty hangovers, i knew that if they saw me today, they would crack straight into a joke about how terrible i looked. I mean I had people ask me today how I came down with the flu so quickly, shocked I had become so sick so fast. I played along, because admitting to them that I just didn't have my face on was horrifying. So i smiled and made some pathetic coughing noise and went along with the story. I thought about the fact that they would laugh and then I would laugh and the stress of not looking my best wouldn't matter anymore. Because the people that really love you don't require your rock star good looks. It gave me the warm and fuzzies.
I wanted my salmon skin to be super crispy. So i peeled it off before putting my fish in the oven and continued to cook it, like a fish crackling. For the rest of the dish I stir fried some veggies. Presentation can really make all the difference. So even though I may not have looked my best today, my fish looked damn good. The end result being delicious and well presented.

I made cupcakes for dessert. I have been wanting to try a new recipe but also wanted to throw all my love into this batch so i could share that love with the people I love and the ones who inspired it.
A green tea cupcake with lemon cream cheese icing. I won't share this particular recipe because I know I can find a better one that really brings through that bitter, green, earthy taste, I think I'll just share their story.

People come into your life like a blinding light. Some fade and some burn so bright it hurts your eyes. Others just give off that warm glow that hits you straight in the heart and reminds you to be good and always look for the good. They remind you to smile and to speak your mind and to be proud of your emotions and the way you feel and the way you are. I have stumbled across a few in my time that really bring all this home. They always surprise me, I sometimes forget that people can be good and that they care and I'm so grateful to have them come into my lives and welcome them with open arms, an open mind and an open heart, and I just hope I can give back to them what they so readily and easily give me. And if not, there are always cupcakes.
So I just started with all this in my head. Over thinking it as usual. I baked tonight using few utensils. No electric mixer, no beaters. Just a wooden spoon and a bowl. It felt so real and took so much more time and I really had to put my heart and soul and arm strength into making them. They may not taste as I originally planned but it doesn't even matter. What I ended up with was just as good. Because I know the work that went into them and it shines through and makes them delicious. Delicious with love.

So these ones are for all of them... (there are more)

And then this one was for me...

Scared of the Dark ?

Are we really in the dark about what is good for us?
I know what your thinking, this blog has cupcake in the title, what would she know about nutrition and what's good for you, but don't be fooled, my body is my temple.
I have been participating in a 6 week challenge, boot camp style. There is lots of running, sweating, yelling and of course the old tug of war. As part of this journey to rock hard abs and a Hercules like boyfriend, we have been provided with advice from a dietitian. I was skeptical going in, it's my nature, but I sat there in good faith hoping that she would tell me the miracle cure to fat, or at least something new. The new coconut water, or perhaps a wild Amazonian berry. What I got instead was the same robot answer we have been provided with for the last 20 years, presented in the same robot way. It was boring and uninspiring.
The fact is, the information she provided us with was solid, good information, we have had it drilled into us since birth on the News, in the newspapers, in all the mags, WE GET IT! I think what we don't get is how to use this boring ass information and turn it into something inspired and new. Is most of the population overweight because we are not being taught how to cook good food that is fun, that tastes good, and that is healthy? Are we just uninspired? We have the facts, why can't we put them into practice?
With all this in mind I set out with my housemate this weekend to create something that tasted good, but was also really healthy (and Vegan for him).
I can't take credit for the salad, but boy will I share it with you because it was the perfect way to add a little something something to the side of the plate without adding a little something something to the thighs.
Ingredients: Beans, Sesame seeds, Baby Beets (tinned), lemon and garlic. Blanch the beans, add some lemon and garlic, mix with seeds and beets and you are done. This salad was so fresh and light and added so much to our dish that it was incredible that it could be that easy.
I think this is a really important thing to take note of. It Doesn't Have To Be Hard. Stop watching MKR, you don't have to cry and yell and sweat profusely and cry a little more to create a spectacular dish.
For the other part of our meal we had a clean version of 'bubble and squeak'. My dad used to make this dish when I was a kid. He would get all the left overs in the fridge and mix it all up and fry it on the pan. His version gives me images of clogged arteries and heart attacks, but it doesn't have to be that way.
We used red sweet potato and all the left over veggies in the fridge. Shallots, mushrooms, garlic etc. It was so simple and left both of us stuffed couch potatoes. We had created something so good, which we both enjoyed and left us satisfied, and I didn't wake up the next day filled with the eaters remorse.
It really is like being scared of the dark, it's not that dark that you're afraid of, it's the unknown.
I hope that along with my sweet treats I can inspire you to get creative in the kitchen for meal times. It's the best game i play at home. Think of your favourite meal. Now think of how you can make it healthy and clean by using fresh product.
Its time to turn the night light off and face your fears.

Now, with all that said I am going to bake some cupcakes :)

Finding the Pearfect Match

Lets talk about the perfect match. 

Pears are easy! Wine, Water, Sugar and Spice. On your marks, get ready, Poach. 

The hardest part is not drinking all the wine when you start feeling depressed about your own perfect match situation. 

Don't be afraid to play with your spice. Mix them and match them and get something exciting going. Find something perfect for you. To be honest, today I used vanilla and cinnamon. Hypocritical... perhaps. Basic... a little. But delicious, Yes! 

My reason being, my true intention of todays poach was to mastermind a cupcake creation. My mind was on a purely aesthetic path, I wanted to create something beautiful, but I didn't want that to take away from the experience of eating the pear or the cake. So I threw the crazy aside and went with something classic to warm even the coldest of hearts.

Presenting My Poached Pear Crumble Cupcake

It truly was a pearfect match! 

Maybe i fell a little too hard and hit my head

After all the hype and the excitment of my first blog entry dwindled, I set my mind to creating some cool concepts for my future entries. Admittidly I sat up way past my bedtime trying to breakdown what it was that I truly wanted from this space and just exactly how much I wanted to share. Like a mother leaving her child on the first day of school, I clutch my babies (recipes) to my chest and smother them in love (bossoms) reluctent to let them go, a fear of which I intend to overcome. And yes, you may read that and think I'm a little nuts, I did warn you! But i thought I might share just how far the crazy goes.

After the voices quietened down I finally drifted into an uneasy sleep where I was transported to a place I am very familiar with. Having always had a vivid imagination, my dreams have always been on the wild and wacky side but somehow they alway bring back the raw emotion that I am having trouble perceiving in my consciousness. Well last night was no exception.

I was plonked in the middle of a fish market, catching fish, but these fish werent just normal fish. These fish were HUGE. Thankfully i wasn't handed the job of removing the eyes, but these big huge eyes were just slapped in front of me and lets be real, fish eyes are gross! It was my job to take these giant fish, so slimy and gross and turn them into a beautiful cake, iced, decorated and ready to sell. I was so stressed taking something essentially so disgusting and raw and trying to transform it into something new and fresh.

I woke up and had a laugh at the ridiculousness of my dream and then took a step back and had a think, being unable to hide from my own emotions being slapped in front of me like that big slimy fish eye. What is my blog about? What do I want to achieve? What will my readers want? How did I become so obsessed with making cake???????

So after a day of contemplation I decided to take the most simple route of doing whatever comes naturally to me. I'll let you know how I feel, how much I decide to share and if you want anything from me just Holla. Post piccis, tag them, write about your experiences, lay it all out because 'Honesty is the Best Policy'

 

Just a quick side note, for any of my taste testers today, thanks for the love, it never goes unnoticed and nothing gives me more joy then hearing that muffled groan from a couple of cubicles away.

 

Ill post some goodies soon.

Down the Rabbit Hole

It was the middle of the night.
Cream cheese, mint, red velvet, salted caramel, popcorn, buttermilk, jars, bird cages and pot plants.
These were the ideas swimming around in my head.
I lay awake that night unable to sleep, consumed, all because of one idea. One concept
One Girl, One Cupcake.

To help you understand what I am about, what i want my blog to be about, I'll start from the beginning and break it down a little.
My name is Lauren Elizabeth Shelley. Very regal I know. I'm 23 but the numbers don't mean much to me. I love baking, cooking, dancing, having experiences and living to the fullest. Sometimes I am mad, bonkers, completely off my head, I don't believe that anything is impossible and I truly believe that I will achieve greatness, whatever that actually means.
I want this to be not only a blog about cupcakes and recipes and food, but i want to share with you the obsession of the creation. The crazy ups and downs of the life that is led by a person Obsessed with creating and with sharing the love and the endless hours put into these little individual portions of pure decadence. I don't want to talk solely about the sweeter side of life either.
I have always said, and felt, that gone are the days where we eat to survive. Many of us have fallen prey to this idea of 'loving' food. Loving something that won't love us back, loving something purely designed to fuel our miracle bodies to survive our years in this world. One very wise woman once said to me, 'No Lauren, you don't love food, you love the social climate and the experience that food brings you' a sentence that changed my life, although I may not have realized it at the time. I carried this notion around with me on my shoulder, sometime weighing me down, not fully understanding its meaning, until on day the light switched on (I'll tell you about that day later.)
I want to share with you this new understanding that I have of food and friendship and making every moment an experience and sharing those experiences with the world, but also learning to enjoy those experiences alone.
I want you to learn about me and to learn with me because I have fallen down this rabbit hole and you're coming with me...