Photos, food, friends...and beer!

I'm blessed today with being able to enjoy some of the best things in life - photos, food and friends! This morning I was finishing up some last minute edits for a customer and remembered I needed to bake for a get together this afternoon. Proof of the photo editing today:

I look hyper focused but post processing is one of my favorite things to do! This is the same position my husband will find me in most afternoons.

So, why do I need to bake? Pre-COVID I would try and bake cupcakes once a month and bring them into the office when I was working for HP. I would do this for two reasons: the first was everyone liked when I did bring them in, and the second was I am the only one in my household who would eat them as Johnny doesn't like sweets.

My waistline appreciates only one baked good instead of twenty. I actually had a co-worker dub me the "Cupcake Queen" which stuck throughout my tenure at HP. Here is the "Dilbert" cartoon my old manager brought me one day and it stayed pinned to the outside of my cubicle until I left the company:

I love my new business, but I do miss a lot of those I've worked with. Thankfully, the feeling appears to be mutual as a group of us (current and past employees) try to get together the last Friday of every month rotating through the many breweries in Fort Collins as the gathering spots.

These meet ups have also afforded me the opportunity to bake again! After I finished up the editing task from the first photo above, I sauntered into the kitchen to start baking. Box mix? Um, no. I'm a from scratch kind of baker. I love to bake some of the more complex flavors (Dulce de Leche, Boston Cream Pie, Cinnamon Vanilla Cake with Mexican Hot Chocolate Buttercream, etc.), however one of the individuals attending today had a birthday a few days ago so I decided to make his favorite - yellow cake with chocolate buttercream.

One of the more simple flavor combinations, but this is one of my favorite yellow cake recipes as the cake is velvety. Some of you with eagle eyes may have noticed one missing from the second picture above. Well, I needed to make sure they weren't poison before taking them with me. :) I'm heading out now with the cupcakes in tow.

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See you soon!

Mandy