That Graduate and Cupcakes

This week was a successful week in both my film watching endeavors, as well as cooking.

Let's start with the cupcakes.  I made chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter- butter cream frosting, which came out great (of course I forgot to take any pictures...again).  I found a recipe from scratch (that's right, no more boxed cake for this girl!), and it was easy and delicious.  I am never buying boxed cake again.  The cake was so moist and chocolatey, I didn't think it could taste any better until....PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING.  Can you say amazing?!?! Granted I love peanut butter, so I'm a little biased, but this frosting was amazing.  I was ready to have it on everything and anything I ate that day. Once paired with the chocolatey cupcakes, I was ready to marry whoever put this recipe together.

**Things I learned from baking:
When I recipe calls for room temperature butter, especially one that heavily relies on consistency, USE ROOM TEMPERATURE BUTTER.  It makes the world of difference.  I ran out of frosting to I tried to make more without room.. I found tips on how to solve this problem, and most suggested microwaving it at 5-10 sec intervals.  Although it sufficed, it was still not as smooth and thick as the first batch.

Best part: Eating the cupcakes, hands down.
Worst part: Making that second batch of mediocre frosting.  It was almost a sin to alter that beautiful peanut buttery goodness of icing.

NOW, on to The Graduate....
I've been wanting to watch this movie for a loooooooong time, so I was beyond happy when I fished it out of the fish bowl.  I have heard so many great things, especially about how innovative it was in the production of film making at that time (which was 1967).

I was sold within the first ten seconds, with my favorite Simon and Garfunkel song, The Sound of Silence, open the movie.  Turns out that the entire movie's soundtrack consist of songs from Simon and Garfunkel, which was an awesome surprise.  (What I coincidence that I picked two movies in a row that had soundtracks based solely on one music group....weeeeeeird).  Right off the bat I could tell this was going to be an indie-like movie.  The style was subtly artistic throughout the movie, which I really enjoyed.

I was further surprised (even thought I should have saw it coming) when I realized that the Mrs. Robinson concept (as well as the song) originated from this movie. A cultural reference that almost everyone is familiar with, and I had no idea that it came from The Graduate.  This definitely got me excited for the rest of the film, which did not disappoint.

I'm not going to spoil the plot line because I want EVERYONE to watch this movie, but the storyline is very intriguing and and easy to follow.  Dustin Hoffman was amazing in his role as Benjamin, the newly college graduate with no clue as to what he wants to do with his life next.   The movie follows his life as he deals with this very confusing time, as he chooses unconventional outlets to solve his emotional issues. Anne Bancroft, who played Mrs. Robinson, played the role perfectly.  Watching the two act opposite of each other was nothing short of magical. Hollywood's plot lines have definitely progressed since then, so this movie might not be as interesting to some compared to the more modern day movies, but witty dialogue and character development was enough to keep me interested all the way to the end.

Best part: I can finally see what everyone has been raving about.  I absolutely loved this movie! I highly recommend if you have not seen it.
Worst part: NOTHING