Bittersweet

Yesterday was "Meet the Teacher" day at my daughter's pre-school. Her new classroom is lovely as are her two new teachers, but I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. I'm excited for her to be going back, to get to watch her grow as a person and to learn new things (and to have more time to bake, I mean do laundry) but I think it's all the "newness" that overwhelms me ( a personal trait I'm trying desperately to not project onto my daughter). All but one of her classmates are new this year...new kids means new parents to meet and interact with. As I sat in the middle of the room in one of those little school chairs looking around at all the unfamiliar parental faces, I kept telling myself "I'm sure they're all very nice people" what I was actually thinking was "I wonder which one of you will annoy me first". I mean really can you get lucky every year and not only like your kids teachers but also her classmates AND they're parents, because this was the case last year. I'm sure in a few weeks I will have settled into the new school year and all will be fine, in the meantime I will obsess with all the possible things that could happen, I will read the parent handbook at least 15 times, I'm sure I'll even have one of those dreams where you show up to school without your pants or your backpack. In the end it will all be good.

On the brighter side of this whole back to school thing her teacher has an obsession with frogs! The whole classroom was decorated with various lily pads and frogs. My mind immediately started buzzing with all the cute froggy creations I could bake this year for class parties, and teacher appreciation. So stay tuned for some froggy fun in the kitchen!

On a baking note...

I recently made some chocolate cherry cupcakes with a fudge frosting. I used an old recipe my grandmother gave me. She has alway made a sheet cake with the recipe but since latley I've been obsessed with cupcakes I decided to try cupcakes instead. The results were...lets just say not what I remember them like as a kid. Perhaps the non discerning tastebuds of my youth could never get passed the sweet seduction that is the fudge frosting to actually taste the cupcake itself but now that I'm all grown up...

Upon coming out of the oven I was displeased with their appearance. Because of the heavy moisture from the cherry's they didn't rise. I tasted one warm from the oven and wasn't impressed with the flavor...I'm not sure if it's because I used a boxed cake mix (something I'm usually against doing, however I had an itch to try this recipe, but didn't have what I needed to bake a German chocolate cake from scratch), or because I expected a stronger cherry flavor. I didn't bother to ice them since I had already decided I didn't like them, but because I just hate to waste cake I put them into the fridge. A day and a half later, I went to throw them out to make room for the tiramisu cupcakes I made for my grandfathers birthday and I couldn't do it. They suddenly looked more appealing after having chilled in the fridge. So I finished them. The end result was good, but still not what I wanted flavor wise. The icing was the best part, rich and fudge like. My grandma liked them, I however, will continue my quest for a chocolate cherry cupcake.

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

1 box German Chocolate cake mix (or one from scratch)
3 eggs
1 can cherry pie filling

Mix all ingredients together (following directions on box but using 3 eggs) and bake in standard size cupcake pan for 18-20 minutes at 350.

Fudge Frosting

1 cup sugar
5 tbsp. butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bring sugar, butter and milk to a boil, remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Allow icing to cool down (it will thicken as it cools). Spoon over cupcakes.