Vyvacious

One summer in high school, I attended a program called Summer Leadership Academy (SLA).  We had various prominent speakers and got to take mini field trips to further enhance our leadership.  All I remember is that I was meeting new people and having the time of my life.  The last day, a big crowd of us who had become close were hanging out when one of the guys, let’s call him Drew, approached me.  Drew said loud and clear, “When I first met you, I hated you.”  I was in utter shock because this had become one of my good friends at the time.  I was going to speak up but he continued, “I hated you pretty much for 8 out of the 10 weeks of this program.”  I could barely stutter out a “Why…?” as he forged forth, determined.

I thought you were fake.  I thought you were too damned happy.  No one can be that damn happy and bouncing off the walls and not fucking fake it.  I hated you and the positivity you oozed.  I hated that no matter how much people tried to bring you down at first, you gave them the ultimate F-U by continuing to smile and love life.  And slowly, I, along with everyone, started realizing that this happy person was simply you.

I bring up this story because I encounter this all the time.  Needless to say, after his little speech, I was floored.  It took me some time to process that people couldn’t stand my nature in the beginning.  It took me some time to realize that maybe I really am that dense that I didn’t notice or rather didn’t care :)

I was reminded of this when commenting on a post this morning.  Le Clown likes to poke fun at my emoticons.  Or rather, what I mean to say is, it makes his eyes bleed because he hates emoticons.

I’ve had a few friends comment on my Facebook status saying that when they read it, they’re brought to tears from laughing so hard because they can hear me saying it in that exact manner.  How else do I project my guffawing laughter, my snort when it all becomes too much, my constant need to exclaim loudly whenever I’m excited (which is always)?

Le Clown advises that “words well placed together will carry a bigger punch than a smiley face”.  Ah well, but my words are not well placed together.  I had a friend once say to me that he enjoyed my diction and verbosity.  He likes my diction?  Great.  My choice of words appeal to him.  Verbosity, on the other hand…some of Wikipedia’s synonyms are “wordiness and informally verbal diarrhea”.  Thanks best friend, just thanks.

Guess what, folks?  I like my wordiness, my smiley faces, my over-the-top  bubbliness because at the end of the day, I’m the one who gets super excited over Batman paraphernalia like Batman-inspired cupcake liners, Chocolate Shortie Cakes (because they’re so darn fluffy AND rich), and my Vyvacious blog stamps.

Psssst, by the way, SOMEONE’S making Vyvacious-inspired holiday cards…

Maybe one day, I’ll be eloquent and hilarious enough to not promote the use of emoticons as Le Clown urges but really…I just enjoy using them over-excessively.  So who’s the real winner here?

Me, bitches.  ME. ‘Cuz I’m the one with a shit-eating grin on my face and a mouth stuffed with Chocolate Shortie Cakes.

:D :P :) ;)

Chocolate Shortie Cakes Recipe

Note:  These little baby cakes are like an individual mini cake for one that are super cute and delicious!  My friend Kristy rants and raves about it HERE! :)

Makes 24

Click here for a print-friendly copy :)

Ingredients:

• 1 box Devil’s Food Cake (dry mix)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup coffee
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• Small amount of Crisco for greasing

Equipment:

• Large mixing bowl, hand mixer, rubber spatula, medium ice cream scoop
• Whoopie pie pan (12 cavities), toothpick, cooling racks

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients minus the Crisco in a large mixing bowl.  Mix on low until dry ingredients are incorporated into wet then mix on high for another 30 seconds.
2. Grease the whoopee pie pan cavities with Crisco or something similar so that the Shortie Cakes don’t stick to the pan.
3. Using the medium ice cream scoop, fill each cavity with batter.  If you have 2 whoopie pie pans, feel free to use both and then swap the pans midway through baking to ensure even cookie.  Otherwise, set aside the other half of your batter to use once the first batch is done.
4. Bake the Shortie Cakes at 350 degrees F for 8 mins.  Test with a toothpick, if it comes out mostly clean then remove immediately so that the Shortie Cakes aren’t overly done.  Mine personally took about 9 minutes.
5. Let the Shortie Cakes rest for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.  Rinse and dry your whoopie pie pan then fill each cavity with the remaining batter using the medium ice cream scoop.
6. Repeat step 4 to bake the Shortie Cakes and step 5 to cool them.

Now inhale and bask in the gloriousness that is a decadent Shortie Cake.  Store in a sealed container at room temperature.

Stay tuned for my next post that includes a yummy icing recipe.  Which would you prefer based on your preferences?  Brown sugar buttercream or whipped cream frosting?

Until next time, y’all! :)