A Day In The Life Of A Cat

Martha Stewart had a 12 year old girl on her show Saturday morning who has terminal cancer. It's sad, she's only 12 and is going thru this. As I'm sure you all know, the Make-a-wish foundation grants wishes to these kinds of children. This girl's wish was to cook with Martha on her show. And, of course, her wish came true :) Martha asked her how she had come to know of the show, and the young girl told her that when she was home sick during her chemo, she'd watch Martha's program. She seems a very sweet girl and Martha was so nice to her - feeling honored that she'd be someone's wish. They made Easter cupcakes, and I gotta tell you, these cup cakes looked sooooo good. I'll post the recipe, but I just thought I'd share that with all of you. It was a Good Thing for Martha to do :)

Okay, from cupcakes to mosquitos.

I have three bites on my legs and they are making me crazy with the itching. One is the size of a quarter. I got to wondering...."what makes them itch?". So I started reading up on the subject. Turns out we are allergic to mosquito saliva. Yeah, I know, it's gross. Some people are so allergic to it, that they have to buy small pumps to suck the saliva out and help reduce the tiny infection. And get this - mosquitoes, or the diseases transmitted by mosquito bites, will be responsible for the deaths of one in every seventeen people currently alive. Worldwide, mosquitoes transmit disease to more than 700 million people annually, including malaria and dengue fever, yellow fever, filariasis, West Nile Fever and viral encephalitis. Mosquitoes are found everywhere except Antarctica. In the USA, mosquito borne diseases are uncommon and mosquitoes are mostly just an annoyance. However, just one bite from an infected mosquito can transmit disease and currently the USA is faced with an epidemic of West Nile Virus. Yikes!!

Okay, I guess that's about all you need to know about mosquito bites. Here's the recipe.

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Jumbo Size Cupcakes

3 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees with a rack in the center.

Line jumbo muffin pans with paper baking cups; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. With mixer running, add eggs and vanilla extract; beat until combined.

With mixer on low speed, add 1 cup reserved flour mixture; mix until combined. Add 1/2 cup buttermilk; combine. Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, ending with flour, until all has been incorporated.

Divide batter evenly among baking cups. Bake until light golden brown and a cake tester inserted into middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Rotate pans halfway through baking. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool.

To decorate, frost each cupcake with about 3 tablespoons buttercream.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine egg whites, sugar, and vanilla in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar has dissolved and whites are hot to the touch, 5 to 7 minutes.

Transfer bowl to the electric mixer. Using whisk attachment, mix on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed, until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, beat butter until creamy and fluffy.

At low speed, add butter to egg whites, mixing until smooth. Add vanilla, and continue mixing until incorporated. Use immediately.