How does one write about a friendship which has been so influential and monumental in one’s life? Where does one start?

I guess I will start with Mr. Ruch’s study hall. Mr. Ruch was my junior high school science teacher, a free spirit who played his stereo and jumped across the tabletops. His study hall was pretty empty, with five people at the most. This was where I met Krista.

Krista was the new girl, trying to fit in. Me? I wasn’t part of the popular crowd and kept to myself. A little shy. I was a choir geek, a good student, and never played any sports. I sucked at sports.

She and I hit it off right away. But we had met before. We were in kindergarten together. Before the Christmas play, she came up and pointed out spots on my neck. They turned out to be chicken pox.

Krista still has a talent for pointing things out. She is literal and practical. She is a tactful straight shooter. And always honest. I prize that, even when it makes me squirm. But even after the squirm, I prize it in hindsight. I always know where I stand with her. There are no surprises coming out of left field. She is my best friend.

I am opposite of her in a large way. I’m a dreamer and float around in my head a lot. A bit scatterbrained and not nearly as disciplined. While she grounds me, I help her fly a little. Live a little. The girl is a workaholic and needs to be dragged into a good time once in a while.

Not that she doesn’t know how. She is funny and outgoing. She has cute goofy voices and noises. She and I could go to Wal-Mart and laugh our asses off.

Her birthday was last Tuesday. I don’t think it’s coincidental that she shares a birthday with Mae West. She has moxie.

Krista loves dark chocolate oranges and usually gets one at Christmas from her hubby. So I decided to make her cupcakes in this flavor.

But there was a twist. My gal has food allergies. She discovered this only recently. She can’t do dairy and gluten. Corn and soy in small doses. This was going to be a challenge.

I own a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and sourced their gluten-free chocolate recipe for inspiration. But I wasn’t about to buy a variety of gluten-free flours I wasn’t going to use again. I bought a gluten-free baking mix instead. I also didn’t use soy milk. I used chocolate almond milk. Yum. I now love chocolate almond milk. So much better than soy. I also used drops of orange and chocolate extracts instead of almond. And a little more sugar. Because there wasn’t any gluten, I mixed the hell out of it.

I also candied orange peel, using this recipe. I didn’t add any chocolate though. Making this and sampling it was delightful. And addictive. Please people, don’t waste your peels. This is a wonderful treat and doesn’t take long. It’s natural candy!

With the cupcakes, I made an experimental batch a few days before and they came out swell. The second time around, I got trigger-happy and OVERFILLED MY CUPS. They overflowed and stuck. NO CUPCAKES. I overturned the pans and slammed the crumbs onto the counter in frustration. Edible, yes. Gift and food blog worthy, NO.

What to do?!?!?!? I sulked around the kitchen a while, then I got it. Chocolates. I mushed the cake into balls and dipped them in a mixture of melted chocolate chips, a little orange extract, and the remaining candied orange syrup. And topped them with peel. Into the freezer they went.

It worked.

She loved them. Thank goodness. Happy birthday, girlfriend.