Disappointing Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

This week's new recipe was for Pink Lemonade Cupcakes. The idea of them sounded fab, and the recipe was rather easy... it's just too bad they weren't any good. It was basically a white cake mix, pink lemonade concentrate, vegetable oil and egg whites. The batter tasted pretty good, so I was hopeful. However, the bake time was too long (and I took them out 3 minutes early) and the flavor of the pink lemonade practically disappeared compared to what I had tasted in the batter.

The frosting was a simple Lemon Buttercream, and that turned out fine, but with only so-so tasting cupcakes, there was no way I was going to waste the calories to eat any of them or my reputation and give them away.

So instead of sharing that recipe with you, I'll give you one of my favorite summer side dishes. It's a recipe I've slightly adapted from the original I got from my mom's friend. In fact, I don't even do it by measurements anymore, but I think this is pretty close...

Apple Salad
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
1 Gala apple (or any sweet red apple), cored and chopped
8 oz. vanilla yogurt (I used the Yoplait Nonfat)
About 1/2 c. raisins
A dash or two of ground cinnamon
Handful of slivered almonds
About a tbsp. orange juice (fresh or not, doesn't matter)
About a 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Basically just throw it all into a bowl and toss it together. You may find that you like more cinnamon or more orange juice flavor, so maybe start with smaller amounts and add more to taste.

And as for next week's baking adventure, I'm sticking to what I know best - chocolate!