To be updated throughout the evening as my cooking/dining experience unravels:

5:30pm I’m back from Whole Foods with $73 worth of ingredients. These are going to be the most expensive cupcakes ever baked.

5:31pm Then again, these babies are $3 a pop at Sweet in Boston. So maybe not.

6:05pm Pulling out the recipes. These are going to be low-fat cupcakes, so I’m substituting unsweetened applesauce and low- or no-fat cottage cheese and cream cheese.

6:08pm My friend Mandy just emailed me, “I have faith in you Lena.  Just make sure not to pack the flour into the measuring cup, read your recipe all the way through before you start, and don’t confuse baking powder and baking soda.  You can do it!” Okay, there’s baking powder and then there’s baking soda. Got it.

7:16pm I’m on the floor and covered in salt and flour. I look like I came out of a chick flick.

7:48pm The Red Velvets are IN THE OVEN!!! And shit, now my keyboard is red.

7:53pm My cupcakes are LEAKING. Fuck. I put too much batter in.

8:03pm My eggs and sugar are NOT falling like a “heavy ribbon”, dude.

8:04pm My red velvet cupcakes look like crap.

8:50pm Okay, the red velvet cupcakes taste okay. I’m not sold on subsituting cottage cheese into the low fat frosting. The cinnamon ones also look really good. They definitely make the first batch of red velvets look defective.

9:40pm Yes, it’s four hours later and I’m STILL baking. Fuck.

10:05pm Oh, did I mention that we ordered sushi? I kind of gave up on the “dinner” portion of this dinner.