‘Kate Gosselin’ Articles at Sweetnicks

The weird. The odd. The creepy and icky. Let’s visit Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! in New York City…

It stands to reason that if we can possibly go to one of the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not places, we will.

Because I know it’s Nick jam.

Ripley’s. Weird facts. Guinness Book of World Records.

The kid is a walking treasure trove of that type of stuff.

So, of course, when I saw a Groupon for the Ripley’s in New York City, a location we haven’t yet been to, I had to get it.

I mean. Really.

I bought it a few months ago, and waited and waited and waited to use it.

Mostly because I hate the cold and the thought of traipsing around the city on a blustery Northeast wintery day did nothing for me.

So I waited until the weekend the Groupon expired, in the hopes that it would be warmer, and, of course, it poured buckets.

And I hate rain almost as much as I hate Winter.

Because flooded basement. Always. And my favorite sneakers have holes in them, so they, um, get a little squishy when it rains. And I would happily toss them in the trash, but I can’t find a solid replacement pair.

#pitypartyofone

But we persevered and set off to the city, planning to meet Sarah, her kids, and Joanne.

And no one knew anyone else was coming, and surprises were had by all.

I’m good like that. Madeline adores Joanne, so I knew that would be the biggest surprise of all.

Nick brought a friend with him as well.

Which means everywhere we went, in the THRONGS OF NEW YORK CITY PEOPLE, we counted.

One, two, three, four, five.

Which reminded me of when Kate Gosselin used to count her kids every time they went somewhere.

Although we had a couple less.

I was responsible for three.

And I wasn’t planning on losing any.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes. Divine. Simply divine.

I love the steely concentration Sweetnicks readers have. Homemade fruit roll-ups? Nah. Let’s hear about the cupcakes. My kind of peeps!

One of our neighbors had a birthday last week and, although I didn’t get my act together to make the cupcakes actually ON her birthday, I did make them this weekend. Only a few days later. I’ve got to think that a little chocolatey goodness makes tardiness seem as unimportant as Kate Gosselin’s standing on Dancing with the Stars.

I found the cupcake recipe on a non-food blog that is on my Regular Reading List. As soon as the first few people tried the cupcake this weekend, it quickly registered on the OMG scale. But I’ve got to say … it is as complicated as a boxed cake mix and break-and-bake cookies. I always feel a little sheepish when someone loves a baked good and asks for the recipe, only to have to fess up that it’s a MacGyver’d recipe from a box or two. But I shouldn’t really. No need.

When I make cupcakes, the kids go through phases. Most of the time, they’re good with just one or two and then want nothing to do with them. Occasionally, they go through them a bit faster. This batch? The latter. I’ve caught Madeline more than once this weekend dragging a chair over to the counter in an attempt to pilfer her own cupcake when I’ve said no. Little weasel. Nick has figured out that sometimes if I say no to a cupcake, I’ll say yes to half a cupcake. I’m flexible that way. After the fruit and greens have been eaten off their dinner plate.

For the frosting, I went with Barefoot Contessa’s chocolate frosting recipe (below). I don’t know what I missed or did wrong, but when the recipe was done, there was no way it resembled the right consistency for frosting. Since I had already invested the time and ingredients to it, I didn’t want to trash it, so went about saving it. I added confectioner’s sugar until it was finally the right consistency. Um, to the tune of some 3 cups or so. I didn’t measure, but it was a lot. The good news? I managed to salvage the frosting and some even thought it was better than my famous buttercream frosting. Of course, I have a ton leftover, but that can be easily rectified by baking another batch of cupcakes. And methinks this recipe will be making another appearance in our kitchen soon.

Project 365
Photo #79, April 19, 2010

My mom discovered this fun whisk recently in an issue of Ty Pennington’s magazine. It’s made by Wilton, and the center spiral is supposed to make whisking more efficient, and allow for more air to get into the mixture.

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