The most awesome wedding & bacon cupcakes Monday, August 31, 2009
All weddings are lovely and nice on some level, but I think it's the rare wedding that is so ass kickingly awesome that words completely fail you (unless those words are "awesome", "the best" or "ass kickingly" or any such combination of those terms to which the speaker feels so inclined). This past weekend two of my friends got married and their wedding was nothing short of spectacular. It was the sort of wedding were you got that perfect crystallization of a couple, it was just so them. And they are awesome.Ok, I know I need to stop saying that.
It was a camping wedding or could be if one was so inclined. Really, I'm not much of camper being that the last time I really dealt without indoor plumbing and went without a real bed was sometime in the late 90's, and I'm pretty sure that was a ploy to go out and drink underage away from the prying eyes of parents.
But a tent and air mattress are an easy thing to borrow and I'm sure glad I packed the extra comforters because damn, it got cold on Saturday night. I did find myself awake at 4:30am cursing the lack of shower and that I had to get up with raging headache and my lantern to find my way to my car and subsequently my purse to find the sweet release of Exedrine Migraine. Also pee.
Almost everyone had volunteered to help in some way. Before the wedding tons of people gathered in the pavilion to decorate it with chinese lanterns and twinkle lights, to set out flowers, decorate the brown paper covering the tables, arrange the cupcakes. It was the most lovely sense of community I've experienced in a long time. Here, people from all over the country, came together and were laughing and talking and having a ball while prepping the space for the wedding. It's hard to describe to people who were there because it sounds like a crazy hippie commune of happiness but really it was amazing.
The wedding itself was one of those beautiful, natural affairs in a bit of a clearing near the pavilion. There was some seating but most stood under the brilliant blue sky and listened to them read vows they'd written for each other. Vows that made us laugh and cry and sigh with happiness. When their friend (who'd be ordained via the interwebs) announced them as man and wife he said "you may now high five the bride".
I know, right?
AWESOME.
Then followed the drinking. Ok, the drinking started hours before the wedding and continued on into the night. Food was plentiful, considering they roasted a whole pig (no joke). Then came the karaoke. Me, I'm not a singer. But I'll stand in the crowd and yell lyrics right back at you while flailing about doing my best form of spastic dancing. It's not pretty but it's fun. Which is probably why I woke up Sunday morning with a throat that felt like I had taken a belt sander with 100 grit paper and gone to fucking town. Ugh.
Best parts of the reception include my awesome air guitar solo (playing the part of Ted Nugent in The Damn Yankees) during Can You Take Me High Enough and then quite possibly the coolest person I've ever met in my life. She was about my age, holding a baby in a sling (cradling his head with her one hand) and with the other holding a mic and singing Shoop by Salt and Peppa. At damn near midnight. The baby slept the whole time even though I'm pretty sure there were 20 of us in the audience screaming at the top of our lungs during her song. After her song I found her in the crowd and told her she was my hero.
My contribution to the wedding was pretty much the most talked about cupcake ever, French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream and BACON. I don't think they lasted more than 30 minutes post-wedding. Poof, almost 2 dozen gone in a matter of minutes. I got the recipe from Life With Cake and while the frosting was top notch I didn't like the way the cupcakes rose inconsistently. A good number of them puffed up and then randomly slid off to one side, in fact many of them slid in different directions even though they were made in the same batch. Since these caused a sensation and have been requested for a couple of birthdays and such I will try them again but with one of my more tried and true cake recipes. They were devoured so quickly that the bride and groom didn't even get one, which I'll try to rectify soon.
But my god, the frosting could not be improved upon. Nether could the bacon, thanks to local pork and the failproof oven cooking method. I highly recommend bringing these cupcakes when you want to knock peoples fucking socks off.
Zippy Saturday, August 08, 2009
Yesterday I finally bit the bullet and bought a road bike. It's so fun and quick, so very different than my hybrid. My hybrid bike is heavy and slow and to be honest I've been hating it so much that I haven't ridden it at all this summer. It just wasn't what I wanted, I wanted speed and lightness.This morning I went for a very short ride, since my ass is currently protesting the hard seat. I have no idea how fast I went or how far but I do know that it felt faster and really, isn't perception everything?
Perhaps it's entirely dorktastic but I like to name my bikes, cars, ipods, kitchenaid mixers. I think it has to do with the fact that I usually outlay a huge amount of cash for these items (well, it's a huge amount of cash to me). I've mentioned that I named the MG Bernard, my Kitchenaid is named Lucille, and now I've named my new road bike Francine.
Labels: bike
