Surprise vegan cupcakes

Last July, when my mother-in-law was dying, I spent many hours in a hospital room with my husband, his brother, his sister, and his niece. Other family members and visitors came and went, but we were the core group, the Hospital Five.

During the last days when my mother-in-law was unconscious, we spent hours playing games, like playing old television theme songs on the iPad and trying to guess them. Many of our conversations focused on food. None of us wanted to leave, so for every meal, we'd figure out where we could order food and then we'd call one of my kids to pick it up and deliver it to us. 

My sister-in-law and niece, who live in another state, kept talking about this great vegan bakery near them that makes really delicious cupcakes. "You would LOVE them," my niece said, and even showed me photos on her phone. But clearly, 300 miles is too far for cupcake delivery.

Until last Friday. Late afternoon, I heard a knock on the door. It was my out-of-town sister-in-law and her family, who had driven here for the weekend. As soon as I saw my niece carrying the white bakery box, I knew what she'd brought me. Delicious vegan cupcakes! They'd waited until the shop had opened and bought them fresh before making the trip to Snowstorm City. I put on a kettle of water for tea, and we sat right down for a cupcake taste-testing session. The chocolate cupcakes with the raspberry frosting and filling were the clear winners.