Why I decided to decline The Food Network's offer to audition for Cupcake Wars..

When I was contacted by The Food Network to audition for Cupcake Wars I was excited, nervous, flattered and willing to go on the show and bake my pants off for cupcake pioneer Candace Nelson and Frenchy Pastry Chef Florian Bellanger: The master of macaroons.

But the more I thought about it the more anxious I would get. The anxiety wasn't because I would potentially have to design a 1,000 cupcake display and bake the cupcakes within a 90 minute time frame, it was the stem of something else....

Regardless of the outcome of the competition it is likely that my business would pick up after the show aired, and I wasn't quite sure if I wanted that. Currently, my mother and I are able to bake small batches of cupcakes 3 times a day Thursday-Sunday. If it ever got to the point where my mother and I couldn't handle it, it would mean more staff members, bigger batches, and an inability to micro manage, to be precise, and to pay attention to detail. There would be no more cherry on the Key Lime Pie Cupcake, no more dollop of strawberry preserves on the Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcake, and no more homemade meringue cookie on the Lemon Meringue Cupcake (kudos to those cupcake shops that are still able to do all this while mass producing). Although business would probably be better, I personally wouldn't feel satisfied with the cupcakes being produced, which is why I have decided not to go on Cupcake Wars!

Wow, Simply Rita.....not so simple after all!