Cupcake Friday Project

This summer, I started a wonderful side-gig of working on my friend Jamie’s beautiful food truck. Luscious Bakery is a unique brunch bakery truck, specializing in homemade brunch-inspired items featuring fresh, quality ingredients, as well as other baked goods (like Jamie’s GINORMOUS cookies … god they’re delightful!)

The truck has a 500 lb convection oven mounted inside, so Jamie is able to bake cookies fresh on the truck, as well as warm up bakery sandwiches, quiches, cobblers, biscuits … it’s absolute genius! I love working with Jamie, since we have similar baking styles (focus on fresh, fresh, fresh!), and she’s been an amazing mentor.

And apparently, I’m rather good at working the window! Even though I can be a fairly shy person, there’s something about food that makes me pretty chatty. Not sure what you want to eat when you visit the truck? Well, I’ll chat with you about my favorite items, make suggestions, and be my sassy self! It’s a lot of fun, and I see it as one more step along my culinary learning journey.

… you have everything from whole cookies to broken pieces, with crumbs collecting in all the corners.

Yes. It’s been almost 2 months since I posted last. Part of it is because I’ve been extremely busy baking and writing for Table Matters. It’s been a great opportunity to team up with the online food magazine, but it’s also a fair bit of work coming up with 2-3 new recipe concepts per month. And on top of that, I have my dedicated cookie/caramel corn clubbers I’ve been baking for.

The other part is harder to talk about. But it’s definitely affected me. It’s hard to bake … to create something new and inspired … when your energy is close to zero and depression and anxiety crawls up your spine, reaches up over your shoulders and tries to fold your body in half. It’s easier to watch countless episodes of Criminal Minds on Netflix. But it’s definitely not as fulfilling.

My husband Ray and I decided we needed to separate in late August. He moved out in October, and life has been a series of ups and downs. It’s been bittersweet and difficult, and we’re both trying to move forward and make this as easy as possible for both of us. I hope that our friendship can weather this storm, but I also have to remember that this is a process that takes time.

So that’s where I’ve been and where I am now. That said, I have SO many recipes I need to share, so I’m going to make the effort to post 1-2 times a week, and of course I’ll repost my Table Matters pieces.

Is there something you’d like to see in particular? Specific recipes? Tips? Let me know!

If you’re a baker, and a lover of cupcakes, you might have a t-shirt or 2 from Johnny Cupcakes. I receive their emails regularly, but they tend to be for new t-shirt designs or hot sales. So when I saw this particular email, I was amused (and yes, this is the marketing day-job side writing …)