I keep reading these little items, cleverly tucked into a magazine or a blog post here and there, about how comfortable Blake Lively is in the kitchen. About how she cooks and bakes, this hot leggy blonde cheerleader surfer girl, naked under an apron, who can sauce and soufflé as well as she can spread and strut. (How annoying was my alliteration?)

Is that what this is, then? Is this still the ultimate fantasy? Is that How She Does It?

Here’s Blake at Sprinkles in New York City holding up a tray of cupcakes from a recipe she created using S’mores to raise money for OXFAM. By the way, these images are exclusive. They’re only available through one photo agency...guess which? That’s right, it’s StarTraks and, if you recall, that also happens to be the agency that took these shots and these shots; in other the words the first and most valuable shots confirmed of Blake and Ryan Reynolds, officially, as a couple last week kissing in Utah and out and about in NYC. Three sets of exclusives of the same subject...

Coincidence or Conspiracy?

You know what bites my ass about these images though?

The cupcakes, they’re to be sold with proceeds to charity, right? But with only one photo agency selling them, you limit the availability of these pictures, thereby limiting the promotion of what’s supposed to be a philanthropic endeavour. Now I don’t think that was Blake’s intention but it may have been a consequence of her pap deal. And while that deal certainly works for her when she’s trying to pimp her relationship, I don’t know that it necessarily benefits the charity quite as much as it does her career.

By the way, speaking of OXFAM, instead of Christmas gifts this year, I’ve asked for goats and chickens and mosquito nets and seeds that will help build long-term and sustainable change for women and men in developing countries. Please click here to see my Holiday Wish List!