Chocolate Cupcakes

<p>I live in Northern Indiana with my husband of 37 years and best friend, Evan. Due to unfortunate circumstances and God's grace, we are raising our two beautiful grandchildren from our daughter, Chris, who lost her battle with breast cancer after a hard, four year battle. It is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. God has blessed us with these kids and it is an honor to be able to raise them. That's not to say, it's easy. Organization is the key. We do lots of meal planning and advance preparation. <br /><br />Evan &amp; I enjoy eating out at fine restaurants and then trying to re-create gourmet meals at home. Unfortunately (?) we are such good cooks that we are usually disappointed when eating out because we know that what we prepare tastes better (and less expensive). Therefore, we usually only order something that we haven't made at home. <br /><br />We love to cook together and spend many hours cooking for family and friends. Quite honestly, Evan is the better cook in the family. He has a knack for knowing what flavors and spices blend well together and has created many original creations. <br /><br />I love to find and try out new recipes - which is why I visit Recipezaar often. We've added many of your shared recipes to my public cookbook titled Permanent Edition. I only post recipes that are our favorites and feel that others will enjoy them. I look for ease of preparation AND outstanding flavor. If I post a recipe that's a little more work, it's because the end result deserves the extra effort. <br /><br />If we had a month off with no work, no responsibilities, and no financial issues; we'd spent time on the ocean in Oregon. My husband grew up in Seattle and spent summers at Cannon Beach (Oregon). I've only been there twice but absolutely love the area. <br /><br /><img src=http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/Animation6.gif alt= /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/PACsticker-Adopted.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/vjuhl/MEPcookathon.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><br /><img src=http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/Permanent%20Collection/PACSpring09Participation.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><br /><img src=http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/Permanent%20Collection/PACSpring09Iwasadopted.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><img alt= /><br />src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PACfall08partic.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket&gt; <br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/IWasAdoptedfall08.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PAC08Main.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/adoptedspring08.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r317/j_welcome/pics2/food/PRMRcopy.jpg alt= /></p>