Cupcake Diaries :- Series 19

The Topic Of The Town

I love Fridays! Almost every Friday, my three best friends- Alexis, Mia, and Katie- and I have an official meeting and baking session for our Cupcake Club. Each week we try rotate where it takes place, so that makes it a little more interesting, and a lot of times we stretch it out into a sleepover too. It's just fun and kind of relaxing to know I don't have to worry about Friday plans. I'm always guaranteed to be chilling with my BFFs! It's also pretty cool to have something to look forward to all week.

Some weeks we have very little business to cover, but this week we had a lot! Alexis ran the meeting as usual.

"First on agenda is a cupcake competition- birthday party for Isabel Gormley in two weeks. She'd like two dozen unfrosted cupcakes; a mix of vanilla and chocolate- so half are chocolate cake and the other half are yellow cake. Then we'll send the frosting on the side, vanilla and chocolate. They are going to have a contest so all the kids can ice and decorate the cupcakes themselves."

"That is so cute!" cried Mia, lounging on my TV room sofa. "Wouldn't she maybe like some fondant roses on a sheet? Or containers of toppings?"

It's become almost boring for us to make basic cupcakes;  we do it so rarely. We've made so many over-the-top cupcake designs in our day. Mia is very creative idea-wise, and Katie is great at execution. Alexis make sure we charge properly for them. I'm good at promoting and networking to get us jobs.

"Actually, it would be cool to create a cupcake competition Kit for parties. Maybe we could advertise that on our website!" I said.

Alexis tapped her pen with her teeth. "I agree. If we could get the pricing right, it might be worth offering it for a limited time to see how it does." She made some notes in her book. She's very strategic with how we spend our money, which is a good thing.

"Should we tint the vanilla frosting at least?" suggested Katie. "We can give then different colours, like pink or purple...?"

Alexis made some notes in her book. "I'll e-mail Mrs. Gormley and ask her, and also I'll see if she wants us to create the kit for them. The Gormleys are good clients. She'll probably be up for it."

I nodded. "What else is in the lineup?"

"We have the PTA meeting coming up, so let's do a complimentary order with fliers or little cards with our contact info to hand out. Maybe two dozen minis, since the parents don't eat much. Then"- Alexis consulted her notes- "we have a retirement party for Emma's mom's friend at work, another librarian. They'd like us to do something pretty... There are your fondant roses, Mia! And that about wraps it up. Anything else?"

Katie nodded and held up a sheet of paper torn from a magazine. "I want to try this new pink-lemonade frosting. It's supposed to be delicious, and it might be cute for a light, floral spring cupcake."

Alexis noted it, and we all agreed. Then there was a pause, and Mia looked up with a devilish grin. "Can we just gossip now for a minute about the number-one topic in town?"

Alexis groaned and put her hands over her eyes.

"When will it end?" she cried.

Katie and I grinned at each other. "Do you have a new scoop?" I asked Mia.

"No! I thought you might, of all people, since you're so buddy-buddy with Romaine!"

The topic of the town was that Romaine Ford, our one and only homegrown superstar- model turned actress, singer, Oscar Winner, and more- is premiering her new movie right here in Maple Grove in just a week! Already shopkeepers are offering premiere promotions and decorating their store windows like it's the Academy Awards. It's sort of annoying because everyone acts like they're Romaine Ford's best friend, or like she shops at their stores all the time, which they aren't and she doesn't. Even the local paper has been going around and interviewing people about her, who I'm sure don't even know her, which drives me nuts.