Cupcake Refills--They Have to be Joking

So in the previous post "The $20 Cupcake" I discuss how I had a difficult time finding out how to order refills for the cupcake making kit. The website was deplorable. Finally, I email customer service. Here's a cut/paste of the response:

"Thank you for contacting Consumer Relations, you can purchase this item at our 3 major retailers: Target, Walmart and Toys R Us or online at Amazon.omc {sic}."

Great. So I go to Amazon.com and behold, $12.99 for three chocolate cupcakes. Seriously? Last time I checked, a Betty Crocker cake mix makes about 24 cupcakes and goes for about $1.29. So I will embark on an experiment to make my own mix. We'll see how it goes and I'll keep you posted.

I Love Halloween

I love Halloween. I tend to be partial to the holidays that revolve around a chocolate thematic (e.g., Easter). I love fall, I love October, I love pumpkins, I love costumed children, it's just all-around fun to me. Not sure why I'm like this. My parents were not the "go all out" type. They were the turn out the lights so no one knocks type. Me, I mapped out the neighborhood and planned the trick or treat strategy to hit as many houses as possible before
8 p.m. My fondest memories were of coming home, dumping out the swag and eating the best ones first (the Snickers, the M&Ms, the Reeses, etc.) Good times.

So now that I'm a mom, I plan the costume for the kid a month out, schedule a portrait session, decorate the inside and outside of the house, and more. I also purposely buy candy that doesn't appeal to me at all so that I'm not tempted to dip in (sorry, not a Skittles person --yuk). And as for decor I am of the cutesy variety, not the decapitated head sort. I like a cute ghost (above left).

Now, on the other hand, my neighbors the Talley's, go all out and every year have a different theme. They are of the ghoulish variety. Thousands flock our neighborhood to see their display. One time I saw Mr. Talley in his yard and chatted with him about Halloween...he plans for it all year, and each year, makes a completely different display. Check out his website at www.terroratthetalleyhouse.com

A freshly dug grave to the left, and a skeleton lounging to the right. Cool.

The $20 Cupcake

So I'm in Walgreens the other day, which as a side bar should be named "Impulse Buy HQ" because I go in for say Tylenol and come out with some random impulse purchase. Case and point, I'm walking by a display that says "this is a hot toy" and I see a pink box that allows you to make cupcakes in the microwave in this little crock pot looking device. In my day, we made them on light bulbs. I pick up the box. I'm mesmerized. Then, I see that the food contents in the box are made in the USA. In a quick scan of the ingredients, I can at least pronounce everything. It's $20 and I figure it'd be a fun thing for me and the kid to do. In line, I continue to stare at the box, 22 pieces it says. WOW!

So when I'm ready to bake, I have fun tearing into the contents of the box, there's a bowl, a spoon, a spatula, some sprinkles (awww!) and then two cupcake liners. Pause. What? Surely this $20 kit doesn't just make two cupcakes. Yep. Red Velvet and strawberry. Are they kidding?

The kid and I commence to baking one of the two. Easy enough, add water, mix, microwave 30 seconds, let stand for one minute. Cool. Mix frosting, with water again, frost and decorate. How'd it taste? Well, it was no Magnolia Bakery but it was edible and the kid loved it.

Still though, upon further inspection of the box, one would really have to read very carefully to see that it only makes two cupcakes...and in fact, the side of the box features four cupcake liners. Shame on them. I only say that because many children will probably get this on Christmas and let's say you have three kids in the house. Well, better hope they are good at sharing. Oh, and the name of the kit is called "Girl Gourmet." Lot's of little boys love to cook, they'd be better off marketing their product as "Kid Gourmet." And lastly, don't make it so hard to order extra mixes and frostings. With all the pamphlets enclosed, no where does it say where to place re-orders. I finally found the information on the box after I dug it out of the trash. So A++ for getting me to buy the product with your slick and fancy packaging, but D on integrity in advertising.

Must be good, head first dive.

Little Man put his candy spider on top for some cupcake flair.

Zoo Boo

Zoo Boo was last night. Our fabulous Memphis Zoo (and it truly is awesome) opens up the doors for the kiddie poos to trick or treat and ride the rides, etc. There had to be thousands of people there. In fact, almost too many people to be fun. But alas, I loved it because I'm a Halloween nut and I LOVE to see the little ones in costumes. Of course mine, who had two costumes--both a knight and a ghost--refused to wear either. It was all I could do to at least get him in an orange shirt. However, it was cold so we pulled out his heavy coat. Navy blue with a glow in the dark yellow stripe. I told everyone he was a fireman.

Some boating with his lady friend Ally Grace.

More Adventures on Summer Avenue

This week's sighting on the notorious Summer Avenue was a goodie.

There is a strip club that is under renovation. The radio ads say, "don't worry about the ugliness on the outside, because the beauty is on the inside." That ad makes me laugh out loud. So today, I'm behind a pick-up truck apparently in the construction biz that is covered with Jesus Loves You Stickers, Jesus Fish stickers, I Love My Wife stickers, etc. Guess where the pick-up truck pulls in. Yep, you guessed it.

a) were they there for lunch?
b) were they working on the construction itself? Surely this would be a WWJND.
c) were they there to witness to the people at the construction site?
d) was it a stolen truck?

So many questions. And just another example of the strange sightings one encounters on Summer Avenue.

Here my pretty...

When I was a kid, there was one kind of pumpkin. An orange one. These days pumpkins come in white, gray, and the most unusual one I saw was a deep burnt orange. Next year, I guess we'll see turquoise ones. Anyway, after I convinced the two year old that they were not balls to be thrown (which he was doing with the small ones much to my horror for fear I'd be expected to buy a whole bushel), he was offered an apple by one of the ladies at the farm-stand. I'm sure as a distraction as we all know I can't control my child. Let me explain what happened next. It was if an apple was given to a slum kid in Mumbai. In a nano second, he fell to the ground, hunched over the apple, devoured it with such gusto much like you see orangutans eat... it was if he hadn't eaten in days. (He did get a big snack before we left I promise.) Of course, you think I'd be delighted but I couldn't help but be embarrassed for fear that the other parents thought I never feed my child and that we were refugee escapees...so I bought a pumpkin, an orange one, and left as fast as we could with apple kid in tow.

La Madeleine Coast to Coast (almost)

La Madeline is a restaurant chain, I call it a “French Cafeteria” that I first discovered in New Orleans years ago and then re-discovered again in Texas and DC. I love this place so much, I seek it out when I travel.

They have a couple of menu items that I find perfect and unique to the restaurant scene. For example, Strawberries Romanov. These are just fresh strawberries served in a goblet and then drenched in this brandied/vanilla cream sauce. I’ve tried to replicate this at home with only mild success. This must be a popular item as it dominates their home page http://www.lamadeleine.com alas my images pale in comparison.

Customer service is not the best and the line protocol in restaurant is confusing. I recall emailing about five years ago to ask if they would ever consider opening up a franchise in Memphis to which I think I got a one word answer back. “No.” (I was expecting a thanks for inquiring, we value feedback, etc.) Oh well, gotta appreciate the getting to the point sometimes but it did come off as rude. The French.

Missed Boat is More Like Missed Cruise Ship

So you saw my previous post about my idea of the bra pocket making someone else millions, well, it's been several weeks since I ordered mine and still no Rack Trap. So then, I go to the site to see what I need to do to inquire about my order and I see the big "back-ordered until mid-November." Yep. Backordered. Demand is that high.

Hop On/Hop Off - Washington, DC

I used to joke that I could be an online testimonial for those double decker bus tours that you see in big cities and I guess the online testimonial has come into fruition now that I'm the author of this blog. I'm going to get all Trip Advisor on you now. Those double decker bus tours are hands down the best way to get a feel of a city and riding atop of one of those things is just great fun especially in great weather. I've done it in London, NY, Montreal, and now DC. Case and point. I've been to DC probably 10 times in my life, two of those for vacation and the rest all for business. As a result, I only saw pockets of the city, or the big highlights. It wasn't till I did this bus tour did I realize how big and how beautiful our nation's capital is. For about $35 (or less if you are AAA) this bus takes you literally from one end to the next of the city...I saw DuPont Circle, the National Cathedral (which was enormous beyond my expectations), and a different perspective of Georgetown that's hard to see on foot from an architectural perspective. The tour was advertised as being two hours, but it was more like 3.5 start to finish...and the hop on/hop off where you like is a nice feature. Plus, the $35 is for two days--although I could only take advantage of one on this trip. Go to DC and do this bus! It's so worth it. But buyer beware, branches are low and you must stay alert after all, you are 13 feet above ground. The bus ahead of us had an injury when a man got socked in the head by a branch and had to get stitches.

Me and my co-workers enjoy some sight seeing such as our beautiful Cathedral.

Radio City Rockettes!

I had an opportunity to visit at the Boys and Girls Club last week when no other than the world-famous Rockettes were there to give a demo as part of their pre-promotion of ticket sales in the Memphis area. They were at the Boys and Girls Club for a motivational talk and everybody, including myself, was a little star struck. Something about beautiful women with no pants will do that to a person.

They both spoke about how they got their starts (both had been dancing since age of 5), how long they've been with the troupe (7 and ten years respectively--and they have to audition every year!) Their ages; 25 and 30, not married, no kids--although many of the dancers are married moms. You have to be between 5'7" and 5'10" and they put the tallest girl in the middle of the kick line and fan out from there. 18 girls will do the Memphis production, the one at Radio City is 36 girls. 8 costume changes. Oh, and they all have to wear their hair in a french twist, the same make-up, costumes (obviously) and false eyelashes so that they all look the same from the stage. They will be playing the FedEx forum the day after Thanksgiving. I've got tickets for the 4:00 show. Can't wait!

Zoo Day and Trip to the Busy Bakery

Memphis has the best zoo. We're zoo members and go frequently but what's funny about it is that the Little Man has no interest in the animals. He likes the entry way with the fountains best (Which as a side bar confuses me. The decor is mostly Egyptian in theme, lots of that around with a city name like Memphis and all, but what's with those red Japanese like bridges?) He also likes the train ride which is super cute as it goes around the circumference of the petting zoo and he likes the playground. Elephants, tigers, pandas, etc. he could care less about. So on the bright side, when I go, I'm not ever to the point of being worn out as we rarely make it past the grand entry--those things he likes are practically right at the door.

Afterward, I usually reward good behavior with an ice cream or a cupcake. Today we tried a new bakery--the Busy Bakery in Bartlett. Loved it! It's more of an "old school" bakery, nothing shi-shi about it--your basic Danish, Eclair, Cream Horn and Cupcake kind of place, but those are the best kind. Little Man gave resounding approval of this new find.