the company i keep

I just cleaned off the kitchen counter and put the last bowl/spatulas in the sink to soak (the dishwasher is already running, and all the cupcakes are cooked and 4 out of 5 frostings are made (I just finished the strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream) - tomorrow I will make the ganache and possibly also a whipped ganache (I've never done it with butter in it - does that make it more buttercream-ish?) just to change things up a bit.

Today, I baked the strawberry (doubled to make 80), apple cider (60), and funfetti (doubled to make 80) cupcakes - there could have been more funfetti, but not enough to fill a whole pan, so I didn't bother. I added cinnamon bits from King Arthur to the apple cider ones and dipped them in maple cinnamon sugar, which is a change, one that hopefully people will like.

I also discovered that the cupcake carriers I've had sitting in a box under a chair in my living room for a few months are the wrong size (they are for standard-sized cupcakes) so I only have 10 mini ones and I need 13, so I will use the some foil lasagna pans for my brother and sister and one of the kids - they'll get a few more cupcakes out of it, since the carriers hold 2 dozen but the 9 x 13" tray fits about 30. *hands* I'm just glad I still have a pack of them left to use; otherwise, I'd have been up a creek.

Tomorrow is Pipe-a-palooza 7: The Pipening! (yeah, it's kind of shocking to me I've been doing cupcakes for 7 years now - I started in 2019 - but I like it more than the chocolates [and it's also less time-consuming than the chocolates were] and I can't do ice creams anymore due to logistics, though they remain my all-time favorite of the homemade Christmas gifts I've done over the years.) Wish me luck! It's always the hardest part for me. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures to share afterwards.

Whoops, I started this entry an hour ago and got distracted by stuff like packing my overnight bag and refilling my water bottle etc. so I'm just gonna hit post now and work up the energy to go wash my hair.

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( 6-day plan, day 5 )

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I managed to get into bed by 11 last night, and my alarm went off at 7:20 and I hit snooze a couple of extra times, but I was up and ready to go by 8, which was the goal. It turned out that they only turned the water off in one set of apartments, so at least I didn't have to deal with that! (After the Big Leak of January 2023, I believe one of the "upgrades" was the ability to do this so they don't have to turn the water off for everyone every time, though I could have that wrong.)

Chocolate, mocha, and red velvet (mini) cupcakes are done! I got 80 of the chocolate and the red velvet using the smaller scoop, which is typical of my experience (though one of the chocolate ones got messed up when I put the pan in the oven, so I technically only have 79 cupcakes), and I got 92 of the mocha (usually also 80, though I guess I used the bigger scoop before?), but 2 exploded - a phenomenon I had not seen except on vanilla cupcakes before - so I have 90 usable ones of those. Then I stopped to have dinner and run the dishwasher and take the garbage out, and it was hard to get back in the kitchen then, but I did it. I made mocha Swiss meringue buttercream, and as frequently happens, it curdled when i added the flavoring, so I had to melt it, wait for it to cool down (about 12 minutes) and start whipping it again, which worked, thankfully. Then I made an outlandish amount of vanilla American buttercream for the funfetti cupcakes I will bake tomorrow, since that is what the boys prefer, but I find it grossly sweet.

I used up enough butter and eggs today that I had space for the containers of frosting, which is good. I still need to empty and reload the dishwasher, take a shower, and then run the dishwasher again so it's done for the next round. I mean, I have 4 bowls for my KitchenAid, and multiples of each type of attachment (e.g., beater, whisk, dough hook, etc.) but it's best to start the day with everything clean, just for my own peace of mind, though of course on Wednesday, the sink will be full of dirty things since I generally don't have time to empty and reload the dishwasher on Christmas Eve morning, what with all the piping and frosting and packing to go. We'll see what happens this year, since I don't have to leave as early as in past years, since we don't have an early reservation, but I still don't want to push it too late so I can avoid the worst of the traffic. We'll see how it goes.

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( 6-day plan, day 4 )

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Stayed up too late last night and got a late start this morning, so I am already behind on my plan. But I will try to go to bed earlier tonight and get up earlier tomorrow to get back on track. Unfortunately, there is another planned water shut-off for plumbing repairs from 9 am - 12 pm, so I'll have to make sure to make the coffee required for both the chocolate and the mocha cupcakes ahead of time (it has to be room temp anyway), as well as making sure I have an extra bowl for handwashing.

I did get all the fig cookies made and packed into the cute cookie tins I bought so I'm not always giving away my ziploc containers (they are useful and they changed the shape so I can't get any more of the ones I really like), and the pork buns as well (pics) but I didn't eat dinner until after 7 pm and now the dishwasher is running, so I'm done for the night.

oh, I wanted to note that this year, I bought some fancy holiday/red-and-green sprinkles from KAB for the cookies - normally I just use multicolor nonpareils, but these look kind of festive, I thought. I also got red/green sprinkles for the funfetti cupcakes so I will be very on-theme.

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( 6-day plan, day 3 )

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