Last night I made a couple dozen cupcakes for the ECW bake sale. It occurred to me this morning that I could have saved a lot of time if I'd called Meg and asked to borrow an extra muffin tin instead of using the only medium-sized muffin tin I own to bake cupcakes six at a time. At 20 minutes a batch, I spent a good two hours baking cupcakes.

However, I think I'm getting the hang of my mom's frosting recipe. This recipe is much simpler than buttercream frosting recipes that require heating and melting and cooling. The key is to add enough water, I think, and to make sure everything is blended together so there are no hard lumps. For my cupcake frosting I used peppermint extract instead of vanilla. Chocolate cupcakes with peppermint frosting are one of my favorite treats!

Easy frosting: 1/2 c. vegetable shortening (i.e. Crisco), 7 c. powdered sugar, 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/2 c. water

• Whip the shortening in a mixer until it looks beaten.
• Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, making sure each cup is completely mixed in before you add the next one.
  You may want to make tic marks on a piece of paper somewhere to keep track of which number cup you're on.
• Add the vanilla and a little of the water. Mix until well blended. It should start looking like frosting now.
• Keep adding the water, a little at a time, until the frosting is fluffy and spreadable. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl and re-mix to make sure it has an even consistency.