The Lemon Meringue Cupcake

A few Christmases ago, my brother enrolled me in a cupcake course at the Cookbook Co. I absolutely loved it and walked away with some delicious cupcake recipes. I've made most of them since, except for one: the lemon meringue cupcake. Why have I not revisited this recipe? Well, it was one of the hardest recipes in the class - meringue is a hard thing to master, in case you've never tried.

For the past few weeks I've been itching for a challenge in the kitchen and for our first book club meeting I decided it was the perfect occasion to break out the lemon meringue cupcake. I made the vanilla cupcakes (the base) on Saturday so I could focus on the meringue on Sunday.

I got home from yoga Sunday afternoon and went straight to the kitchen, rolled up my sleeves, and broke out the whisk and egg whites. It only took about ten minutes until the egg whites started to form "soft peaks." I felt good about where it was going....then I added the simple syrup. Suddenly my soft peaks were gone and I was left with a runny mixture. I kept whisking away, determined to see this to the end.

Another 20 minutes passed and there were no changes. My arms hurt and I was feeling defeated so I decided to break out the electric mixer. I had avoided this from the start for fear of it ruining the meringue, but I was close to giving up and thought "how much harm could it really do?"

After mixing for 15 minutes I could see a difference. It was getting so close! I kept mixing, and mixing.....and mixing. And finally, it was holding its shape. I had done it.....after an hour of whisking and mixing.

SERIOUSLY? How did women do this 70 years ago without any electric appliances? Their arms must have been jacked. Forget yoga arms, let's all aim for meringue arms. That's where the real definition is at!

With all the work I put in them, I was delighted with the final product.

It might have been short on the lemon, but they looked adorable and the meringue made up for the missing lemon. Now I just need to add whisking to my workout plan.....

My So-Called Dating Life

Since I moved to Calgary, I have dabbled in the online dating scene. Usually it plays out in the following way: we message, move to texting and decide to meet. If we make it to meeting, this is when I realize, contrary to their online profile and messages, they are nothing like how I imagined. (Insert my Mom, “Honey, maybe your standards are too high.” Really Mom? Do you want me to settle??) It’s a shame the online world leads me to interpret their messages with my tone and sense of humour. I should read messages in a computer voice to determine if I’m truly interested. If you can hold my interest while speaking in a monotone then I think you’d have a fighting chance.

My friends keep telling me to continue with online dating, but it’s a big time commitment and, to be honest, it’s a bit annoying. Do I really want to filter through messages from 40 year old creepers telling me that we are meant to be together because of my beautiful eyes? While I appreciate the compliments, I can’t help but gag a little. What women fall for these lines?

On the other end are the guys who take time to write something original, and try to be funny while doing so. Unfortunately, I am rarely interested or attracted to these guys. One guy wrote “I'm sure you're a cool, intelligent person and all, but what I'm still debating about is, in my experience the prettier a girl is, the more insane she is, which would make you quite insane.” When he referenced the hot-to-crazy-ratio, I laughed out loud and then I looked at his profile and realized we had nothing in common, I wasn’t attracted to him and he was short. A for effort – at least you don’t make me gag.

Somewhere between these creepy and funny guys are guys that I’m actually interested in. They have good jobs, families and friends, and are witty, smart and caring. The conversation was easy and interesting, and when we decide to exchange numbers or emails I have no reservations about it. I recently did this with “Dave,” but as soon as the first few text messages were exchanged, red flags appeared. He mentioned it was his birthday, so I wished him a happy one and asked what he wanted. “Health for my friends and family, and a girlfriend that loves me. We’ll see what you can help with :)” Could this message scream co-dependent any louder – I don’t even know the guy and he’s dropping the words girlfriend and love? CALM DOWN! I wanted to reply “Well, I’ll make sure I start eating salads and hit the gym to stay healthy.” Instead I changed the subject and said something came up and I couldn’t meet later that week. Smooth. (after re-reading this I realize how I sound like a commit-a-phobe.)

As I mentioned, when I do decide to meet a guy they usually turn out nothing like I imagined. Take Hippie Boy. I dubbed him Hippie Boy because on our first date he told me his parents raised him vegan, but that he had recently become a vegetarian. That should have been my first red flag, but I looked past his meatless diet because he was nice, funny, smart and SO tall. We went on five dates, had chemistry, great discussions and he always told me how cute I was. He even took me for a float down the Bow River and prepared an island picnic for us (go veggie burgers!) complete with homemade potato salad and beer. *swoon* The problem? He never even tried to hold my hand, let alone try anything else. I’m a modern woman, but I believe men should take the lead in areas like this. You’re trying to woo me remember Hippie Boy? An awkward hug at the end of the date will not help you do this. Grab your balls and make a move already.

I know a lot of friends who have had success in the online dating world, and I know their standards are not lower than mine, so why do I attract all these duds? Is my Mom right – are my standards really too high? But if I'm not attracted to the guy, or I'm put-off by something he said, should I really continue with it? Why waste my time? Maybe instead of perusing these dating websites, I should be looking at the Calgary Humane Society to find my perfect cat. My perfect cat would never do any of the above. Just saying.

Single White Female, Addicted to Retail

I have an addiction. No, I'm not talking about my problems with Diet Coke (that's an entirely different can of worms,) I'm talking about my shopping habits. If you've seen my bedroom, or spent any time with me, you'd understand.

I have so many dresses, skirts, tops and pants that I could literally go for months without wearing the same thing twice. If I switched up the shoes, accessories and purses I could go for years. My mother has repeatedly told me that I have more clothes than she's had in her lifetime. It's her 57th birthday today, so that's a lot of clothes.

Every month I have a budget and every month I tell myself: NO MORE SHOPPING. My budget for January was so detailed that I mapped out all my weekend plans and allocated my funds accordingly. I thought this would give me a greater chance of staying out of the mall.

Everything was going great until today....when I found myself at the Gap on my lunch hour. Sure, I was there to make a return, but did you know their Spring line is out? Did you know it's full of bright colours and amazing prints?? I did because I was on their website earlier in the week (mistake number one.

I decided to "just have a look around" before I made my return (mistake number two.) That's when I stumbled upon this:
I saw it online and thought it was adorable, but I knew I'd have to see it in person to know if it was love. Turns out I fall in love easily and "just had" to try it on (mistake number three.) As soon as it was on I knew I had to have it - it was as adorable as I imagined. And when I find an item I love, there's no getting between me and it. You wouldn't come between a drug addict and their drugs, right? Well, maybe if it was an intervention, but those don't happen everyday, right?? RIGHT??

Ok, I'm starting to sound crazy. It's been three hours since I was last in a mall and I'm wondering how long I can go until my next fix. I practice safe shopping (i.e. I use my credit card only when I can pay it off within the month) so am I really doing harm? Just tell me I'm not. Enable me. Please.....I beg of you.

The Dip

When I first decided my 2012 goals, I couldn't think of a better way to kick them off than participating in the Courage Polar Bear Dip (que the "you're crazy" comments.)

Since I was a kid this event had such strong appeal for me. Why? Probably because I grew up swimming in the lakes no matter what the temperature. Every May 24 long weekend we would go camping and I would always swim. Some years the water was surprisingly warm, others it was a struggle just to get waist-deep. But I always did it and felt so happy afterwards.

I was willing to do the dip on my own, but I thought it would be much more fun if I could recruit some friends. Most friends responded with "Ummm, no. Do you think I'm crazy?" Thankfully, my best friend Marie said yes - and was excited as I was!

We arrived in Oakville on New Year's Day with towels, blankets, water shoes and hats. We undressed to our bathing suits and got in line for the beach. The anticipation was the worst part of the day - we stood there waiting for the first heat to finish their dip, wondering what we had got ourselves into.

When it was our time, we left our towels and blankets on the beach and went down to the water. My Dad was our spotter (there to ensure we got out of the water safely), but he mostly just took pictures. My Mom and Aunt were up higher on the shore cheering us on. Right before the countdown Marie and I were both excited and terrified.

When the crowd yelled "one" we ran into the water. I'm sure the houses across the street could hear us scream. It was cold, very cold.

We came back to shore and grabbed our towels and blankets, laughing at what we had just done. The craziness of the event was evident - who in their right mind runs into Lake Ontario on a warm day, yet alone in the middle of winter? - but the energy felt on that day was incredible. Everyone was laughing with each other, sharing stories of past polar bear dips and keeping the new dippers optimistic about what they were about to do. We were welcomed into this small community instantly and enjoyed every minute of it.

Would I do the dip again? Heck yes. It was an amazing experience that I was able to share with my family and best friend. If I ever struggle with one of my challenges I'll think back to this day and realize that whatever I have to do isn't that bad in comparison.

It's been a while, but I'm back

My dear blog, how I have neglected you. I had such high hopes when I first started you, and then well, I guess I gave those up...or forgot about you...or something like that. I really don't have a strong excuse for my negligence. If this was court, my sentence would be read right about now.

But since it's not, and since blogs don't have any real feelings (at least none that can be proven) I'm back. And my hopes are high again for this place. Sure, there's a bit of dust in places, and it looks a bit outdated, but with a little TLC I'll have this baby up and running again.

Why the sudden interest in you again? My goal for 2012 is that once a month I will complete something that challenges my comfort zone. Not only is this blog a good place for me to document everything, it is actually something that challenges my comfort zone itself. It's scary throwing yourself out there saying "hey internet (read:world), this is me."

Do I know what I'm going to blog about? Not really. Am I scared that I will discover no one cares about what I have to say? Isn't everyone? I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I would run into challenges, but that is exactly what 2012 is all about.

So, hey internet! This is me.