je préfère claire: Adventures in New Haven and Nutella

Yesterday I went to New Haven to see Elizabeth and Max.

This is them with some bubble tea. They always look this intense.

We went to Labyrinth Books, which was having a sale, and where we experienced the most superb customer service (the bell was empty).

I bought this book for $6. It is a scintillating read. An excerpt from the chapter on the Greeks:

'...But later, blindly led by luxury into outrage, they uprooted Carbina, a city of the Iaphygians, made the boys, girls, and women in their prime gather in the temple of Carbina, and there got up a spectacle, exposing their bodies naked for all to gaze at by day; and anyone who wished, leaping like wolves upon a herd into this wretched group, could feast his lust upon the beauty of the victims there gathered.' The gods apparently disapproved of this particular form of sensuality, for presently the debauchees were struck by lightning.

I also bought some shoes at Urban Outfitters.

And Elizabeth got a nifty top.

And this is a picture of my outfit.

NOW. Onto the baking.

We made double chocolate chunk cupcakes with nutella frosting (recipe from the wonderful crepesofwrath), or as Ms. Roberge called them, chocolate bombs. It's a pretty apt name - we each ate one and then couldn't move for an hour. This might have been because we weren't paying attention when we read the recipe, and added double the amount of chocolate. (Oops!) Other than making the cupcakes super-chocolatey, it also made them kinda crumbly and dry, so it's probably not the best idea even if you're a hardcore chocoholic. I also suggest using more nutella than sugar in the frosting, as the sugar can overpower that delicious nutella flavor. And even though the recipe cautions against overcombining the batter, make sure you don't undercombine either, or your chocolatey heaven might be interrupted by the occasional mouthful of baking soda.

Here are some pictures: