Cupcakes, Coffee & Carrots

Work has been keeping me insanely busy. Sixty-hour work weeks? Let's just say I'm glad I drink coffee.

I love my job. I get to bake cupcakes all day and deal with (almost exclusively) pleasant customers. I mean, who wouldn't be happy walking into a cupcake bakery? Our flavors change with every batch (so it keeps things interesting) and my boss encourages me to experiment, which is awesome. She has a lot of faith in me, especially considering I've only worked there for a couple of months. In all, it's a good gig. I can't wait until we start selling our vegan and sugar-free cupcakes - oh, and of course our dog cupcakes, too!

My favorite flavors so far? It's got to be the Peanut Butter Honey or Pineapple. The PBH is vanilla batter baked with honey, which soaks through the batter and makes the entire cupcake super moist. It's filled with a peanut butter filling and topped with peanut butter buttercream and oh. my. god. It's the best thing ever. (Although you've got to love peanut butter!) The Pineapple tastes almost like a pineapple upside down cake, but without the gooey crust the cake has. It's excellent. Of course, I try not to eat too many of the cupcakes because they're certainly not going to help with my lose-weight plan. But man... they're tasty.

Back to that coffee. New York Times' T Magazine did a profile of Philadelphia coffee shops. I know, I know - Philly, the cheesesteak king (or queen?), getting a write-up for coffee? But seriously, they did, and if the New York Times did it? It's warranted. I already informed Sarah (the ballooner extraordinaire, Ryan-and-Sarah Sarah) that we must get on this list pronto. I'd love to check out the different spots and pick a favorite. The only independent coffee shop I've been to near me has a really cool vibe, but I can't say much for their coffee. So this will be interesting!

Ah. And Carrots. John is insistent that I plant carrots in my garden, despite the fact that I ended up planning a much smaller plot than previously. (It was not a matter of space or commitment so much so as a matter of money.) I told him I would, however, so I think the plan is I'll do two plantings so we have two small crops of carrots. They only need two-inch spacing, I think, so I guess I can get a fair amount into the little garden. Now it's just down to deciding what other veggie I'll be sacrificing for their space, which is not a fun task. I'm definitely doing a few different types of tomatoes (tomato salad, anyone?) and at least two eggplant and zucchini plants. I really want to do peppers, too. But with the herbs I already planted, I don't think I'll have the space...

Regardless, I need to get on this carrot business stat. The first crop should have been planted last month. I was never good at the carrot gardening as a kid - I was always so anxious for the carrots to be ready that I would end up pulling a bunch of babies out of the ground too early. Ah, the patience of a child. Let's hope I'm better this time around.