Every Thanksgiving, my super huge family gets together for turkey, pie and some sort of team sport. Now, although I excel at eating, the idea of playing another game of volleyball or soccer with my family frightens me. Why? Because my family is the definition of competitive and they don’t take any prisoners. Everybody arrives in their Under Armour and does war cries. And then there is me. This year, I have a new plan where I will distract everyone from noticing my game absence with these gorgeous pumpkin cupcakes. I did a test run this weekend and was sad when my roses looked nothing like Deb’s. Fancy roses aside, they still tasted moist, light and fantastic.

This is what baking/cooking/making anything more complex than a bowl of cereal looks like in my kitchen. Sifting must be done on the edge of counters at dangerously precarious angles. But we are all about danger and living in the fast lane in our kitchen!

To spare you from the sad, whimpering roses, I’ll instead show you the compromise I made with the cream cheese frosting (which was really good).

They looked like they needed a little something extra, and just because I haven’t perfected the roses doesn’t mean I can’t sprinkle! A pinch of pretty pearls on top finished them off.