Cupcakes for everyone...except the baker

My television says that each rider in the Tour de France will burn 130,000 calories or 37 pounds riding in this race. Now I know the shortcut to losing a lot of weight in a short period of time. Of course, there must be some part of this formula that includes eating back the lost calories in order to actually complete the race.

That being said, I will be continuing my weight loss program in the more traditional fashion. Today, being part of a three-day holiday weekend, includes fireworks and a BBQ at our friends’ house in San Francisco.

In preparation for this visit, I baked cupcakes yesterday…not just any cupcakes, GORGEOUS cupcakes. I’m not taking any credit for their beauty, the cupcake kit made it easy.

Let me tell you more. When I was getting ready for launching our company’s pet product, supercollar®, on HSN (Home Shopping Network), I was required to complete a two-day orientation program at their headquarters in Tampa. In my class of about 40 people, there were only a handful of “mom and pop” startup companies, and I got to be friends with a woman who started the cupcake company, Very Different Cakes.

She developed a kit for HSN that includes all the “fixins” with the exception of perishables like eggs, butter, and oil. When her product launched two weeks ago on the HSN website (she didn’t do the TV thing), I was there to order.

My kit arrived and with her ingredients and instructions, I made beautiful cupcakes with yellow frosting and covered them in “pearls” and daisies…all edible. The kit is designed to make 24 cupcakes or two batches of 12. I made 12 and then had my husband try one of them before bringing the other 11 to the party. Even though they are beautiful to look at, I wanted to make sure they tasted as good as they look.

SUCCESS on all counts…beautiful and delicious. They will be going to the party. Or, I could send them to the Tour de France to help those skinny guys gain back a few of those lost calories.

Happy 4th!

Talk to you soon.