Eddie Izzard marathon. IJS.

It is a gazillion degrees here, and my favorite local nail salon has no air conditioning. And yet...cheap nails and waxing and close to home. Worth it, I think. So long as I don't have to wait much longer.

It's stopped raining, so I think I'll walk over.

It just occurred to me that mom is at my brother's for the 4th of July. One of the occasions he uses to try to blow up the neighborhood and himself.

I can just hear her fretting.

Cooking question: I want to make cupcakes. I've got a recipe. I just realized that the icing requires melting some chocolate. I don't have any of the bar-type baking chocolate, but I do have cocoa powder. The side of the container has the little chart saying that mixing the cocoa powder with some oil will substitute for baking chocolate. Will this still work in icing, or will it make it too runny or too grainy or something? (I've already discovered that pretty much every icing recipe I've made from this book has been too runny, so I don't want to risk it being even runnier.)

Hil, I wouldn't use the oil, I'd just add a little more of the butter, shortening, etc. that's called for in the recipe. And i always use less of the fat that they usually call for when substituting the cocoa for chunk chocolate.

Thanks, Sue. I'll give that a try. (I promised a friend birthday cupcakes, but I really don't feel like walking the third of a mile of so to the grocery store and back just for a bar of chocolate.)

OK. Cupcakes are in the oven. The batter was yummy. Now, time to make the first of the three icings. (These are a vegan version of the Hostess chocolate cupcakes. One icing/frosting thing for the filling, one for the chocolate on top, and one for the white swirls. A lot of work, but they totally look worth it.)

Ooh, that sounds awesome.

Moooooom, Hil is making me want cupcakes!

I think I'm having strawberry shortcake for dinner. And a salad of romaine and strawberries and balsamic vinegar.

That's reasonable, right?