St. Patricks Day

It's hard to tell but these cupcakes are the color chartreuse, made to match the walls of the Buttersweet Bakery in Atlanta...a funky little shop with a hip vibe.  Cupcakes are so "in" right now and it's fun to play with all the possibilities. Cupcakes are not just for kids anymore!

These are PERFECT for St. Patrick's Day. It was really difficult to photograph and show the real neon color these Key Lime Cupcakes take on. In person there is no mistaking their shade of green. They are very fun looking.

I love the unique flavor key limes give, more of a tart-bitterness, which is a good thing when it comes to baking and cooking with them.  They do pack a flavor punch but in a pinch you could get away with using regular lime for these cupcakes.  Just remember the key lime boasts a higher acidity and stronger aroma than regular limes, so it might change the overall limey-ness of this recipe.

So get your leprechaun on and make these...they are good...

It was the Monday of my freshman spring break, and rather than frolic on a Florida beach, I got my four impacted wisdom teeth removed. I developed "dry sockets," another name for pain. It was a blast.

My face blew up to gargantuan proportions, and with all the bruising, I looked like Violet from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I couldn't eat any solid foods, so after work, my dad surprised me with a coffee milkshake from McDonald's. He knew it was my favorite, and that frosty, creamy milkshake was just what I needed to soothe my aching mouth.

When he saw how much I loved the milkshake, he came home Tuesday grinning from ear to ear with a special St. Patrick's Day green Shamrock Shake (and a coffee one, just in case I didn't like the Shamrock Shake).

I was skeptical. I have never been fond of mint (it reminds me of Milk of Magnesia; not good), but after a couple of sips, its refreshing flavor left a pleasant minty tingling sensation in my dry socketed mouth.