Baking!

Lolly, the ETA in Yogyakarta, recently moved into a new living situation. Last weekend was the first time that I had visited her at her new residence. Before, she was living in a dark, musty, little room in her school. Now she lives in a beautiful cluster of small apartments and rooms around communal kitchens and living spaces that are shared by the Indonesian and foreign residents of the compound. It is truly gorgeous and Lolly is much happier living there. My favorite part of her new home is the ... OVEN! There is a real oven there. So, the first thing on my agenda for the weekend was, of course, baking!
And bake we did! I wanted to make cupcakes. Inside-out cupcakes to be exact. A trip to the local grocery store proved that we were going to have to adjust the recipe and make due with what we could find. Instead of cupcake or muffin tins we found mini pie tins. Some of the ingredients were non-existent, but we found suitable substitutes. I was a little nervous that changing the recipe so much and using such a strange oven might have some ill effects...
We were so proud of our creations! I always love baking, but it is also a stress reliever for me. It felt great to be back at it again.

A "C" of cupcakes for Colgate and the Colgate Men's Ice Hockey team who love my baking [Inside-out cupcakes are #12's favorite] and who secured a by for the first round of playoffs! Congrats boys! Go 'Gate!!!
Lolly approved and the "cupcakes" were a success! Here she is wincing that I've caught her on film turning her cup inside out to get the last lingering bits of chocolate. What more could a baker want?