Happy Birthday To Me

Yesterday was my birthday. Which, if you know me, is always a big deal because I have a love/hate relationship with birthdays.

(Wore my FANCY slippers to celebrate!)

I hate the thought of getting older (which is why I stay 28 year after endless year) but I love having a day that’s all mine. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter and all other days that bring the family together to celebrate…But, call me selfish, my birthday is all about me. We eat what I want, where I want, people send me cards to make me laugh and tell me they love me, and there’s ALWAYS chocolate cake involved.

Perfection.

Which might make you think that, since I’m recovering from the horrible skin cancer surgery this year, that it’s the worst birthday ever.

You would, in fact, be wrong.

First of all, friends of mine had an early party and gave me a crown to wear, the following weekend Opie and I went to the Melting Pot for brunch and bottomless mimosas, plus (more on this later!) he agreed to buy this house we’ve had our eye on for years!

So, if you think about it, I’m getting a new house to go with my new face this year – pretty hard to call that a bad birthday.

No, as a matter of fact, this isn't a picture of Jared with his first fish.
 It's not even a picture of Jared. It's me with my other brother, Tim,
 on a totally different fishing trip. Why would I reward Jared's blatant
thunder theft with even the smallest modicum of attention?!

Besides, the worst birthday ever was when I was about 8 and my birthday fell over Easter Break so the whole family went on a camping and fishing trip. And my brother Jared, who was 6 at the time, selfishly stole my thunder by catching his first fish ON MY BIRTHDAY! I’m sure I still got presents and cake and everything else but fishing was a big sport in my family and what I really remember was a lot of oohing and aahhing and picture taking over my brother’s accomplishment.

Jared tries to act like this was all happenstance, like his six-year-old self had no control over the fickle fancies of fish but I’d like to mention that even now, 20 some years later, he hasn’t really apologized.

I’m not going to say that I scheduled the forehead flap surgery for HIS birthday this year just to get back at him…but it’s interesting to note that karma has a long memory.

I should also note that my mom was here for my birthday this year and she and Opie didn’t let the actual day pass without some special attention. I had gifts and cards…Opie stopped on his way home from work to get some delicious cupcakes and, even though he has the whole “I bought you a HOUSE for the love of God” argument in his back pocket, he got me a Cancer Survivor charm for my charm bracelet.

So, in short, cancer can suck it. The healing is continuing, my face still looks REALLY bad but my spirits are pretty good, I’ve got the best friends and family in the world, and any day with chocolate cake is a good day.

Plus there’s really nothing like skin cancer to put that whole “first fish” thing in perspective.

Lucky and Wise?

I have long said that Opie is a lucky man (and he never disagrees so it must be true!) but today we had a little test to determine if he is also a wise man.

Did he pass?

You be the judge...here is the email I sent him this afternoon:

So I just basically tore a big chunk of my nail off while out in the yard.

This is not my usual "A-Little-Crack-That-Stings-But-I'll-Get-Over-It-In-A-Second" type injury.  This is a "We-Might-Need-Therapy-For-Bubba-Because-I-Was-Screaming-Out-Loud-Can't-Believe- How-Bad-It-Hurts, Blood-Actually-Ran-Down-My-Hand" type injury.

It is important to note that I have bandaged it all up and I am fine.

It is also important to note that a wise man would not waste his time inquiring about the logistics of this injury. He should just assume that it occurred in an heroic life or death struggle with miscreants,  thieves, and/or terrorists--many of whom have been known to lurk in the Sapulpa area.

A wise man also wouldn't waste his time trying to figure out and share ways to avoid this type of injury in the future. He should instead assume it was unavoidable---unless he thinks miscreants, thieves, and terrorists should just be allowed to wreak their mayhem willy-nilly.

A wise man would be better served spending his afternoon trying to decide if he should bring home wine or chocolate--OR BOTH--as a panacea for his wife's pain.

Are you a wise man, Opie Yates? ARE YOU?!

And he walked in with this:

Yep, he's wise...and I'm feeling pretty lucky myself (injured finger notwithstanding!)

The Great Cupcake Search -- Cookiedoodle

The world of cupcake reviewing is not for the faint of heart, let me assure you. It is a long road of struggle, fraught with obstacles and obstructions at every turn.

And I'm not just saying that because I like the word fraught.

Case in point:  Cookiedoodle!

They are, as the name implies, a little bakery shop that's slightly more well known for their cookies (which are fabulous!) but they also have cupcakes. They are actually one of the places that I wanted to review first because the shop is pretty close to home; unfortunately, it's also really close to this place called George's Pub.

Which probably doesn't sound like a problem until you realize that --in some weird, physics-defying way--George's Pub apparently has a gravitational pull on a par with a black hole. Any time Opie and I are anywhere near the place, we get sucked into the front doors, thrown into a chair, and are unable to move until we have consumed an appetizer sampler and at least three drinks.

Considering my favorite drink there is this little concoction called a "Soccer Mom" that has several shots of flavored vodka and maybe two drops of pineapple juice, it's easy to see why, after a few hours at George’s, I somewhat lose focus on cupcake shop reconnaissance.

The one occasion we did try to go to Cookiedoodle immediately after leaving George's was a disaster. We stuffed ourselves to oblivion, wandered down the street, and got to the shop approximately 10 minutes after the place closed.

At this point one of us began making wild suggestions about “Storming the Doodle!” like French Revolutionaries.

I blame George’s.

It took promises of more vodka and red wine to talk this nameless wannabe felon out of a life of cupcake-related crime.

So, instead of writing cupcake reviews, we spent the rest of that afternoon at home playing Rock Band on the Wii--with me belting out Alannis Morrissette's "You Oughta Know" with an intensity that I'm pretty sure scared Opie to the very silence of his soul.

Clearly the only answer was to try to go to Cookiedoodle early in the day when George's is closed. But that's kind of a pain because then I have to make a detour on my way home from class (and seriously, once I leave class, I usually fly home like I've been shot from a gun) or make a special trip.

So, it took me awhile to get to Cookiedoodle...but  they were totally worth the wait.

This is the chocolate one:

"Best cake we've tried," said Opie.

And I agreed. These tasted more "homemade" than others we've sampled. They were a denser, thicker cake but packed with flavor.  The icing was a touch too sweet for me (which I would have thought impossible, particularly after the Cupcakes by Lu debacle) especially when eaten in the ideal 90/10 icing to cake ratio but when paired with the cake in the manner of a dainty cupcake connoisseur, they went well together.

So, final verdict:

Size: Average

Price: Average (2.50)

Cake: Great!

Icing: A little too sweet on its own

The kind of cake that you might leave George's early for--though not so good that you'd skip George's altogether~though, to be fair, I can't think of anything that would make me leave George's early.


Stay tuned for future installments or let me know if there's a cupcakery you recommend by clicking here. Or read the post that started it all: The Great Cupcake Search.

The Great Cupcake Search -- Cupcakes By Lu

Opie and I are still trying to lose weight.

Which, once again, means that Opie is still losing weight and wandering around the house saying things like "Hey, these pants fit again!"

Meanwhile I am pretending to be happy and supportive but am secretly seething with resentment and muttering profanities under my breath.

Which may sound like a reason to eschew The Great Cupcake Search.

As a matter of fact, Opie even suggested this radical course of action. Which is, of course, complete insanity.  I mean, why don’t we just give up red wine and move into the woods and live like savages??!!

As Patrick Henry's wife would have said (if, of course, Patrick Henry's wife had been a chubby chocolate fiend) "Give me cupcakes or give me death!"

It has, however, added a new criterion to the judging process. Now, in addition to evaluating taste and texture and other culinary details, I also have to decide if the cupcake’s caloric value is worth the extra time on the medieval torture machine that Opie bought to help us on our weight loss journey.

If you’re a fan of late-night infomercials, you may be familiar with the exercise equipment known as the Bowflex Treadclimber. If you haven't, no worries, just picture the most exhausting, ridiculously hard, exercise machine ever created.

It's supposed to burn 700 calories an hour. And it might, but right now I'm on that thing five minutes and I'm pretty sure my heart is going to explode.

So it was with all of this in mind that I went into our newest cupcakery find: Cupcakes by Lu.

And the thing is I really, really wanted to like them. The shop is convenient, I met the owner—Lu herself—and not only is she sweet and adorable, she has an economy-sized bottle of hand-sanitizer on the counter and used it twice when I was in the shop. Clearly, a fellow germaphobe!

And, best of all, they have a punch card—once you buy 12 cupcakes, you get one free.

Is interesting to note that Opie thinks the punch card thing is kind of silly.  He's all "You're basically spending 30 dollars to get 1 free cupcake!" Whereas I think "Hey, the more cupcakes I buy, the more cupcakes I get!"

So, I started my punch card with a cake that I assumed would be a sure winner: M&M Fun—chocolate with buttercream frosting and garnished with M&Ms.

Anyway, as I said, I really wanted to like them...But I didn't.

The cake itself was fine. Light, fluffy, chocolatey.

But the frosting was also light and fluffy. Too light and fluffy—a whipped buttercream that was too heavy on the butter and too light on the sugar.  When I eat a cupcake, I like it to be smothered in a frosting that smacks you in the face with sweetness.

Don't get me wrong, they weren't awful--I certainly didn't spit them out like I did with the black anise cupcakes of death that prompted this whole search--but they were only ok...

Final verdict:

Size: Average

Price: Average ($2.50)

Cake: Good

Frosting: Not sweet enough.

Overall, I'd eat them in a cupcake related emergency but they're not good enough to spend an extra 15 minutes on the treadclimber...though I'll probably give them a second chance down the road because, after all, PUNCH CARD!

The Great Cupcake Search – Merritt’s Bakery -- The Chocolate Sprinkle

When you’re on The Great Cupcake Search in Tulsa, everyone tells you that Merritt’s Bakery is the first place to go.

Actually, that’s not completely true. A lot of people also suggested a place called Ann’s Bakery. Unfortunately to get to Ann's from my house, you have to drive through a little part of town that I like to call Murderville.

And I want to find a good cupcake but not enough to die for it.

Merritt’s it was!

“Now, I just have to find this Merritt's place.” I told Opie.

“They have a couple locations,” he said. “I think there’s one a little southwest of the mall. And another one a little east of our old church.”

Which was NOT helpful at all…I mean, I don’t even know what most of those words mean.  Southwest? East? It was like he didn’t know me at all.

“It's right next to that place where get your hair done,” Opie said exasperated. “Right next door.”

Which probably makes me sound a little bit like a moron but the thing is finding a hairdresser in Tulsa has been a challenge of epic proportions.

Again, that's not completely true.  Finding a hairdresser has been easy. It’s finding a good one that’s been a nightmare—I’ve gone through 5 different hairdressers in the 2 and a half years I’ve been here.

And they all start out normal. I go in, explain what I want, and the first visit goes great. Then, when I’m lulled into a sense of false hair security, on the second or third visit, the hairdressers all remember that they’re actually completely insane and wham! Bride of Frankenstein.

Like the second-to-last woman. First haircut and dye, perfect. The second time I went, I said “I want to dye my hair a reddish bronze as a surprise for my husband.”

At least that’s what I thought I said. 

What she clearly heard was “My husband has a bizarre obsession with the Muppets and I was hoping you could give me something in a purple a la Abby Cadabbby.

Seriously, I felt like an Easter egg.

I only found my latest guy when I was desperately looking for someone to fix that disaster. Thus, I hardly think I can be blamed for not noticing one little bakery in a line of businesses.

But I digress…

I’m reviewing cupcakes here!

Since I know where my hairdresser's is (at least for now), I scooted over to Merritt’s and decided to start with something easy : Chocolate Sprinkle.

I have to be honest, they were a little smaller than I had expected—the same size, if not a touch smaller—than a cupcake I’d make at home. But reasonably priced, just $1.30 each.

"What do we think?" I asked Opie as we dug in

"Good," he said.

"We're writing a review," I reminded him. "I think we should be a little more specific than 'good.' Are they light and fluffy? Was there a taste explosion in your mouth? Do you feel like you've bitten off a little slice of heaven or has the cake left you wanting more? Can you describe your culinary feelings for me?" 

I'm not going to lie, he stared at me like I had lost my mind...it was a little like the expression he makes when I tell him all the things that the dogs have been talking about while he's at work.

"Good," he said again. "Not great but good."

And I have to agree, they were good but not great.  The cake was light and moist and had a deep chocolate flavor. The buttercream frosting was creamy but not quite sweet enough for my taste.

Definitely not a taste explosion in my mouth.

Final Verdict:

Size: A little small

Price: Reasonable ($1.30)

Taste: Good, not great...

The kind of cupcake that can calm your nerves when 

you're on your way to a new hair salon for that 

oh-so crucial third visit but not enough to ease 

the pain of Muppet hair.

Stay tuned for future installments or let me know if there's a cupcakery you recommend by clicking here. Or read the post that started it all: The Great Cupcake Search.