Dance in the Rain, Rose...Dance in the Rain...

I actually wrote this post Sunday night, but I haven't had the chance to post it.

I have chanted the above to myself numerous times today. I'm only one day into my effort to find a way to dance in the rain, and already, I am struggling to do it.

Something is wrong with my car. I don't know what, Tony thought he could fix it, but he couldn't. He's trying a few things, and I hope it works, because we don't have the money to take it somewhere to be fixed. I couldn't go to the Share family picnic today since I had no car. Tony and Lauren had to be in South County for a basketball tournament, so I was stuck at home. I love going to the picnic, and I'm so sad to have missed it. It's one of the few times we see some of the families, and a few of them have had babies in the past year. I was so looking forward to it, even though it is blazing hot today, and I'm so disappointed that I couldn't go.

So today, several times, I found myself chanting "dance in the rain, Rose, dance in the rain. Dance in the rain, Rose..."(in my head of course, not outloud. That would be too crazy, even for me).

So, how did I dance in the rain today? I baked! I wish I had a healthier way to relieve stress, but when I'm stressed, I want to cook and bake.

First, I decided I was going to bake these divine cupcakes that I found the recipe online for a couple of weeks ago. Chocolate cupcakes with a mini Reese's cup smooshed down in the middle. Peanut butter frosting. Dipped in chocolate that hardens when it gets cold. I've been thinking about these cupcakes for weeks. Drooling over just the thought of eating one. So today, I made them.

And oh my stars! They are good. Delicious. Heavenly. The adjectives could go on and on. And I even cheated...I didn't make the cupcakes from scratch. I wanted to because the recipe sounded interesting. But I didn't have all the ingredients I needed, and I did have a Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Cake mix. Triple chocolate anything must be good, right?

So on to the frosting...peanut butter...butter...powdered sugar...a little milk...YUM! I love homemade frosting. And it's so easy to make, too. This recipe made a lot of frosting. Good thing too since I ate...um....tasted tested...a spoonful or two. I had to make sure it was okay before feeding it to my family, didn't I?? It was so good, I had to force myself to stop eating it. Even with all the frosting I ate, there was still enough to swirl a huge mound of it onto the cupcakes. I also cheated on the chocolate topping. The recipe is for a homemade "magic shell" type topping. It's simple...only 2 ingredients...melted Hershey bars and a bit of coconut oil. I went to Schnucks yesterday to look for coconut oil. They had it, but I just couldn't make myself spend $10 on a jar of coconut oil that was the size of a jelly jar. And it's not really oil, it looks like it's the consistency of Crisco shortening. In a small jar. That costs $10. I just couldn't do it. I had Magic Shell in my pantry, so that had to do. I frosted the cupcakes and squirted the Magic Shell, letting it drizzle over the top, down the sides, and onto the counter, making a big mess. And then I scooped the mess up from the counter with my fingers and rinsed it off in the sink. Yeah, right...

Enough talk about cupcakes. I've already eaten one or two, and I need to stop talking about them. They are amazing, and I will be making them again.
There's a picture for you to drool over. Just don't drool onto your keyboard, okay?


I also baked homemade pretzels. I've never done that before, but I have always wanted to. They were super easy. Well, the 8 minutes of kneading was harder than I expected, and I kept watching the timer. I should make them every day...my arms would be in swimsuit model shape, that's for sure. My arms would be the only thing in shape though if I made homemade pretzels every day. They were sooooooo good. After they were finished baking, I brushed melted butter (you know the low fat kind), and sprinkled them with kosher salt. I wanted to be stingy and not share them with anyone, not even the kids. But I did. I shared with Rachel's girl scout leader too, when she dropped off Rachel from camp. I also decided to be nice and share them with Tony and the kids. They loved them as much as I did, and want me to make them every day. It's a good thing I have a job or I might be tempted to do that. (They were good, but they did take a long time).

It's now almost 8 PM. Tony has tried a couple of things to fix my van, but they didn't work. So now I have no car....but, I spent time doing something I love (baking) and doing something else that I love (eating). When Lauren got home this afternoon, she walked in the front door and announced, "the house smells delicious, Mom!" So I will shut my computer down soon and go to bed, knowing that while today was tough, and I worry about what I will do about my van, I ate some yummy stuff and enjoyed a quiet day of not leaving the house. That is how I danced in the rain today.

I don't think though that I will be able to convince myself that cleaning up the terrible mess that is my kitchen is dancing in the rain.