GUEST POST: East Coast Cupcakes

Note from Hilary: You wouldn't believe how thrilled I was when my dear friend Susan asked if she could write a guest column for a crafty sort of project she created over the weekend with friend Kate of Philadelphia. I'm so excited to present the first-ever guest piece on "All the Cool Kids Love to Craft!" And if you are reading this, I hope you are inspired to do something crafty, take a picture of it & send it to me, because I'd love to post all of my readers' crafty projects!

Hello all. You may have heard me mentioned in this blog before. I am DJ Jazz aka Susan and, aside from being a close personal friend of the craftmaster herself, Hilary, I am also this blog's Number One Fan. No, really. Hilary informed me that I visit this blog more than anyone else in the whole world. And it's true--I love nothing more after a long day's labour (yeah, I spelled it with a "u"--suck it) than to perch in my laundry room with my laptop, cross my fingers for a new posting, and visit coolkidscrafting. Being a very uncrafty person myself I thought I'd never have anything to add, but after a successful baking venture this weekend, Hilary told me I could.

My good friend Kate was in town, and, as both of us were feeling very domestic, we decided to roll up our sleeves and bake something. From scratch. Behold, cappucino chip cupcakes with mocha buttercream frosting. Not only did we have a blast, but girrrrrl, lemme just tell you...Betty Crocker does well in a pinch but these cupcakes fluffed up so big, that buttercream frosting was so melt-in-your-mouth delectable, I may never go back. And is there any better smell in the whole world than butter and sugar that's just been creamed in the mixer? On a side note, I found myself short of vegetable oil, so I used some olive oil too and you couldn't even tell.

Fortified by our success, Kate and I then made bran flax muffins, the recipe for which in on the back of the Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal bag. I'm aware that sounded hurl-inducing, but they are my new faves. So moist, so easy, so so good. And did you know that you can substitute flax meal for shortening or cooking oil? Hence, said muffins had no added oil or butter. That's not to say I didn't slather them up with Land o' Lakes before shoveling them down my greedy gullet. If you're not on the flax meal wagon, hop on, homegirl. It's good for your heart and your palate.

Have fun baking!