My New Mixer and Red Velvet Cupcakes!

So I finally got my hands on my Moms Kitchen Aide mixer! Its only taken me 5 years but I finally got it! (she's getting a new one) But what this means is that I'll be taking my baking to a whole another level!!! :)


The first thing that I decided to bake was Red Velvet Cupcakes... I had been craving them for weeks and wanted a really yummy one so I figured I better make it from scratch. I would consider myself a really great cook, but an even better baker. I've had a lot of women in my life that have taught me everything that I know over the years and I hope one day I can pass it on to others. 

Now heres the recipe!


Red Velvet Cupcakes:

Ingredients

3    eggs

3/4  cup  butter

3  cups  all-purpose flour

2  tsp.  unsweetened cocoa powder

2-1/4  cups  sugar

1-1/2  tsp.  vanilla

1 1oz. bottle  red food coloring (2 Tbsp.)

1-1/2  cups  buttermilk

1-1/2  tsp.  baking soda

1-1/2  tsp.  vinegar

Directions

1. Let eggs and butter stand 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 28 2-1/2-inch cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside.

2. In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, and 3/4 tsp. salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium-high 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until combined. One at a time, add eggs; beat on medium after each. Beat in food coloring on low.

3. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to egg mixture; beat on low to medium sped after each just until combined. Stir together baking soda and vinegar. Add to batter; beat just until combined.

4. Spoon batter into prepared pans, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake 15 to 17 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely. 

Frosting!

The frosting that I used was a very simple cream cheese frosting. 

8 oz of Cream Cheese (softened)

8 oz of butter (Softened)

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tbs pure vanilla

In a mixer, mix cream cheese and butter together. Then slowly add the powdered sugar to the mix and lastly add the vanilla. 

ENJOY! 

Im Back...

I know that it has been a while since I have last posted but IM BACK and cant wait to show you everything going on in my life. :) I hope everyone has been well and is excited for the Holiday Season!

:)

My Vegas weekend with Cher

I have to confess something right now before I go any further... When I was a little pre-teen/teen gay boy tucked away in the closet, covered with my Southern Baptist up bringing, I used to sneak listening to Cher in between country and praise and worship music. It gets even better though... I've never been one to pick up the words from songs that I hear and so I was, and still am always making up words to go with the song... knowing that I didn't know the correct words.

Well, one day I was singing "If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher and I thought I was sooooo cool because I finally knew the words to a song. Well come to find out that I didn't. Instead of singing, "If I could Turn Back Time" I was singing "If I could turn around, If I could find my way". The funny thing is that I did it in front of some close family friends and they started laughing at me... I'll never forget that moment. I hope Cher will forgive me. Now onto the Trip!

So I have to say that this trip was absolutely wonderful! For those of you who don't know, Cher tickets were a gift to me from Matt for quitting smoking and being so successful at it. (Isn't he awesome!) It also fell really close to our anniversary so we made it a combo trip. Here's a rundown of the trip.

Sunday:

• Travel To Vegas
• Check into our room at Caesars Palace
• Lose $20 in a slot 
• Pop open a bottle of Champagne to enjoy while getting ready for Cher
• Go to the Concert (or Experience as I like to call it)
• Lose another $20 in a slot machine
• Enjoy a night out around Vegas with Matt.
• Eat Steak and Eggs at 1:30am at the Award Winning restaurant in some shitty little casino.

Monday:

• Enjoy and amazing breakfast from room service
• Check in at the Qua Baths and Spa at Caesars Palace
• Enjoy a wonderful 1 hour massage
• Spend 5 hours in the Qua Roman baths
• Eat an amazing dinner at Marrakech Moroccan restaurant 

Tuesday:

• Check Out of Caesars
• Eat at Serendipity 3 
• Drive Home

Now for the documentation of the trip. Ill start with the hotel room. We stayed in a Deluxe room at Caesars Palace and it was amazing! Here are some photos.

The Sleeping / Living Area

The Bathroom

TV and Desk

The VIEW

Next up, I want to show you some of the video from the concert. Now I must warn you, the quality is pretty bad because they were super crazy about filming the show so I had to sneak it a few times. Also, I apologize for all of my screaming. It got a little intense at time. 

Half Breed

If I Could Turn Back Time

Believe

I have some audio clips as well that I want to try to get up on my blog, but Im going to have to reformat them. Now onto the relaxing part of the trip.

On Monday Matt and I enjoyed an amazing day at the Qua Baths and Spa located in the Augustus tower at Caesars Palace. This place was amazing! There were 4 different saunas ranging from dry to wet and herbal infused, and a really amazing arctic room that actually had snow falling in it. But my favorite were the Roman Baths, 3 different mineral water based jet baths. So relaxing, definitely a place to spend hours relaxing the stress away. Here are a few pictures that I found online. 

After a very relaxing day at the Spa, we went to a Morracan restaurant called Marakeech just off the strip. A few of our friends had been raving about it so we knew that it was a must while we were in Vegas on vacation. Its a 6 course set menu just under $40 that is amazing! Make sure you eat light during the day because you'll leave stuffed. Its a really cool experience. They start off by washing your hands with rose water and there are beautiful belly dancers there to entertain you as well. Here is a little more information about it. 

Six-Course Moroccan Feast
All courses served with Homemade Moroccan Bread.
Appetizer
Moroccan Style Shrimp Scampi in lemon, wine, and garlic sauce. (acknowledged as the best in Las Vegas)
Harira Soup
Traditional Moroccan Lentil soup with rice, lemon, and spices.
Marrakech Salad
Hummus, accompanied by assorted vegetables in Moroccan seasoning.
Beef Kabob
Filet Mignon marinated in 7 moroccan spices and grilled to perfection.
Main Course
Royal Cous Cous platter served with Cornish Game Hen in a traditional raisin-vegetable sauce.
B'stilla - Dessert
Our Version of the Moroccan Classic transformed into a Dessert. A fillo dough pastry stuffed with nuts, fruit, and sugar. Then topped with heaps of powdered sugar and cinnamon. Served with Moroccan Tea


For more information visit.

http://www.marrakechvegas.com

On Tuesday it was time for us to say Goodbye for now but we thought we couldn't leave without eating at Serendipity 3. The peanut butter frozen hot chocolate for 2 was a perfect way to end the best trip to Vegas I have ever had. 

Thanks for visiting the Chronicles of and Ex Smoker... Come back soon for my next blog about my guilty pleasures of TV. :)

HALLOWEEN IS MY FAVORITE!!!

Every year my nose is the first to welcome my favorite season and holiday with the scent of pumpkin spice candles and the smell of Harvest. This year I was so fortunate to be able to purchase the Martha Stewart Halloween Handbook! It has given me so much enjoyment and ideas for my favorite season that I recommend it to everyone! Its the best $9.95 I've ever spent on a magazine... even better than Freshman or DICKS... just sayin.

I call it the Bible... you can call it whatever you want. Some of my friends say that its a collectable drag handbook, just look below at Martha... you'll see what Im talking about.

But thats enough about Martha... now onto me. :) I am debating on what to go as for halloween. Last year I went as Lady Gaga, and was a pretty damn good little monster if I say so myself.

This year I am debating on going as either Rachel Zoe, or Anna Wintour. Both are totally amazing, but I don't know if people would recognize me as Anna. I do have to say that I do a really good RZOE impression. Let me know what you think and Ill keep you posted as it gets closer to Halloween. Here's a few pics to see my motivation.

Anna Wintour

Rachel Zoe

Regardless I'm going to have to get down to 88 pounds in a little more than a month... I think that I can do it, Im just gonna have to switch my diet to only coffee from Starbucks.

A gay boys dream coming true.

I never thought that this dream would come true, but in just 5 days it is! I AM SEEING CHER LIVE IN CONCERT!!!!! WOOT WOOT! I seriously can't wait! I don't think that Matt (My Partner) knows what he has in store for me. Im going to be crying my eyes out... and if its anything like when I saw Idina in Wicked... a little crazy fan might come out too!

Im sure that I will post tons of pictures and will try to take some video of the concert to post. I NEED to figure out a way to meet her... I'm open to any suggestions.

Standing at Attention!

Little Darci standing at attention. :)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

A New Hobby...

So I just quit smoking about 2 months ago and I still haven't found a good way to occupy the time that I used to take to smoke... So Im gonna try this, its gotta be better than eating all the time.

Lets see if this works out.