delicious one

I don't know what it is about pizza dough that makes it so hard make. I attempted to make pizza dough again last night. I know, I said again. This is the first time I've written about making dough. The story is that I have been experimenting on and off with various dough recipes. I haven't found a recipe that makes me want to do cartwheels because it's so great. I use to make a dough that utilized my bread machine and it was fairly good, but just not great. I have been on a quest to find that one recipe that blows everything out of the water especially since most places around here serve subpar pizza.

The other day, I caught an old episode of "Good Eats" on the Food Network. It was the pizza episode and I figured why not give it another go as I've never tried Alton Brown's recipe. I checked the recipe out online and saw it had tons of raves. It was simple enough. I threw the ingredients in my KitchenAid and let it spin forever. It sat overnight and grew in size over the next 24 hours. I pulled it out for dinner tonight and started molding it into a ball. I could tell the texture was off. I'm not sure what happened, but it was very tough. However, overall it was still pretty smooth. Mr. Cupcake and I shaped the dough, topped it, and threw it into our 500 degree oven. We use to have these unglazed quarry tiles that were seasoned well and made good pizza. Unfortunately, we threw the tiles out when we moved. I really wished we hadn't. We now have a commercial pizza stone and I guess it's okay. I'm hoping it'll get better as it starts to season more. I searched high and low for decent sized quarry tiles out here to no avail.

Moving on. I topped my pizza with my favorite ingredients: basil, prosciutto, and fresh mozzarella. Mr. Cupcake calls these ingredients my peanut butter and jelly. I just love the flavor combination so I make paninis at least once a week for lunch. I want a panini press so I can make a panini bar at home like they have at Mr. Cupcake's work. Then Five and I would eat paninis all day, everday. Anyway, I don't normally like cheese on pizza because I think it's gross. However, I used the mozzarella to protect the basil and prosciutto so they wouldn't burn. My other favorite pizza combination is tomato and onion. That's what I normally order when we get take out.

So, how did it turn out? It sucked - a lot. There was way too much dough. The outside was crispy, but the inside puffed up quite a bit and was extremely dense. It was just too overwhelming. This is coming from a person who lives for bread.

Mr. Cupcake topped his pizza with hot Italian sausage and shredded mozzarella cheese. Mr. Cupcake loves pizza. He was excited to have pizza for dinner. He ate it, but I could tell he definitely didn't love it. At least he loved the sausage. He dropped his car off yesterday and while he was waiting, he went to Dittmer's and bought a bunch of sausages. Dittmer's is a local butcher and I think Mr. Cupcake is in love. I'm sure we'll be making more visits there in the near future especially since it's been good grilling weather.

So, yet another pizza failure. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I guess it could be any number of things. I will just have to try again. I'm not sure I'll try this recipe again though. If I ever have a pizza success, my blog will be the first to know.

Mr. Cupcake is having a wild and crazy night of poker with a bunch of computer nerds. I, however, will be spending some quality time with my blog. Unfortunately, I have been falling behind on some of my recent food excursions, so tonight I'm going to play a little catch up.

Last weekend Mr. Cupcake and I found ourselves without any food at our place. As our hunger started to consume us, I thought of the perfect cure; a big, fat burrito. I've heard raves about La Costena in Mountain View, but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it that day. Instead, we went next door and hit up Taqueria La Bamba.

Let me tell you, this place does little in the way of ambiance. There's counters on each side of the restaurant lined with chairs and most of them were taken when we walked in. We ordered up at the main counter. I didn't play close attention the entire menu since I had already set my sights on a burrito. There were three options available that I can remember: super burrito, regular burrito, and veggie burrito. There might have been one more but I can't remember.



I ordered the regular burrito with chicken and no beans (I hate beans with a passion). It came with rice, cilantro, and pico de gallo. I love cilantro. It makes everything taste so fresh and delicious. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save my very dry burrito. The dryness was bothering me so Mr. Cupcake went up and got some extra salsa. I also noticed a table with various condiments including limes, onions, and cilantro. I picked up a lime. The salsa was thin and spicy. It added a nice burn to my burrito. The lime also helped moisten it up. As I delve further into my burrito, I couldn't help but to notice how moist the chicken was. The pico de gallo was also sparse, but in those few bites where there was just enough, the burrito was quite good.

What's that? You like looking at my half gnawed on burrito? Well, you're in luck because here's Mr. Cupcake's half eaten burrito:



Mr. Cupcake ordered the super burrito with beef (I think). It came with beans, cilantro, rice, pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole. I think Mr. Cupcake liked his burrito. He thought it was big and didn't finish it. Maybe he'll comment with his full analysis. That's right Mr. Cupcake, I'm calling you out!

Our total bill for two burritos and a diet soda was just under $13. I won't be rushing back to Taqueria La Bamba, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go there. I just have to be in the right mood for a big burrito. I think my favorite local taqueria is Taqueria Los Charros in Mountain View. I don't know why, but I just really like the place. Maybe it's the crispy chips with the two salsas. Maybe it's because it's so cheap. Whatever the reason, I just like it. However, I should visit a few more places before I declare the ultimate taqueria.

Mr. Cupcake has been working a lot lately. So last night, I spent the evening perusing different cookie recipes on various blogs. I didn't really have any intentions of actually making cookies, but that was until I came across bakingsheet's blog. The recipe that caught my eye was the banana oatmeal cookies. Now, Mr. Cupcake loves bananas. It's probably right up there with rice pudding and PB&J's on his list of favorites. I had a few very ripe bananas that I'm sure would have ended up in the trash, so I decided to save them.

One of the core ingredients is oats. I really love oats in cookies. It tends to give cookies a nice chewy texture. A prime example of this is Torie's Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Martha Stewart. Mr. Cupcake's sister-in-law made these for our wedding as part of our favors and they were big hit. I have since made these minus the toffee and cherries and found it makes a nice, crispy yet chewy chocolate chip cookie. It's lovely.

Anyway, the banana oatmeal cookie recipe was easy enough. The good thing about it is that there are only 2 tablespoons of butter. That's unheard of in most of the cookie recipes I've made.



The cookies turned out pretty well though they didn't look as nice as Bakingsheet's. As much as I like oatmeal in cookies I think the recipe called for a bit too much. Not all the oats broke down so some of them were still raw. Next time I'll scale it back 1 cup from 1.5 cups. I will also probably lower to temperature to 325 and bake for longer. The cookies looked good when they came out, but this morning they were very sticky and seemed undercooked. If I had baked them longer, they would have burned. Otherwise, I like the balance of the banana to chocolate chips. I also have to give another shout out to the trader joe chocolate chips. They melt so nicely in cookies; I'm just in awe. Anyway, I have a few more overripe bananas, so I may experiment more in the coming days.

Mr. Cupcake didn't come home until after 12:30 last night. He was surprised I made cookies and even more surprised that they were made with bananas. He also informed me that he loves oats, so the cookies turned out to be full of Mr. Cupcake's favorite flavors. This morning, he told me he really liked the cookies again because I'm not usually coherent when Mr. Cupcake comes home late. This is unusual because normally when he likes something, he'll say "it's okay". He said they were a little fluffy, but he liked the crispy outside. Looks like these cookies (with a few tweaks) are a keeper.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies from BakingSheet Blog
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter, very soft
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mashed banana (1 small/medium)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars. Beat in egg and banana, followed by the vanilla extract. Gradually, on low speed or by hand, add in the flour mixture. Stir in the oats (either whole rolled oats or "quick cooking") and chocolate chips.
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 11-14 minutes at 350F, until set and lightly browned.
Let cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 2 dozen cookies.


*Why "banna banna" as the title you ask? The first time Mr. Cupcake met my niece she had a finger puppet monkey named Cassie. She was young at the time so she called bananas, "bannas". She informed us that Cassie ate bannas. So eat your bannas.

I had some business I had to take care of up in San Francisco yesterday, so I decided to test out the public transit system. Now, I'm from the Midwest where public transportation is laughable (with the exception of Chicago) at best. My day was filled with some successes and some huge failures. I missed my train into the city because I couldn't find parking, so I had to catch the next train. Once I arrived, it went pretty smoothly and I made it to my destination. I was pleased with my navigation efforts, so when I was finished I decided to reward myself. I headed downtown to 99 Yerba Buena Lane and walked into the brand spanking new Beard Papa's shop.

It's a tiny place. Much smaller than I was expecting but cute and cheery. I order the vanilla bean cream puff because that's all that was available. The other flavors are suppose to be available soon. I also picked an extra cream puff for Mr. Cupcake. There were only two tables inside, and they were both full. So I took my order outside and sat down on a nearby chair.

Oh dreamy Beard Papa's cream puff! How I've been lusting after you for months now! And now the day has come where I finally have you! I took a bite. The outside was crispy and the inside was oozing with a speckled custard. The speckles were real vanilla beans. I really wanted to love this cream puff with all my heart, but it just didn't blow me away. I've heard of some accounts where the puff is actually warm when the person received it. However, mine was not. The custard wasn't as rich as I thought it was going to be either. Perhaps I came too early and this is just part of growing pains. It hasn't even been open a week. Based on this experience, I won't be lusting after these cream puffs anymore. However, it doesn't mean I won't be back. There's an eclair flavor I'd like to try. As we all know, chocolate makes everything taste better.

After I finished my cream puff, I proceeded to get on the wrong bus. 20 minutes later I found myself on the wrong side of San Francisco. I then got off the bus and called Mr. Cupcake who then lead me to the wrong bus stop and I had to walk back to where I started. I eventually got on the right bus and 2 hours later, I made it home. What a day.

I seem to be obsessed with coconut flavors lately. I still have fond memories of the coconut fritters I ate at Burma Superstar a few weeks ago. I visited Mr. Cupcake at work this week for lunch and had to have a coconut drink. They have actual coconuts with the hole drilled in them topped off with a straw. It's pretty sweet. So, when I made coconut macaroons last week, I couldn't bear to throw away the leftover cream of coconut. Mr. Cupcake cleaned out the fridge earlier this week and got mad at me because I never throw anything away. I figured it was time to do something with it before Mr. Cupcake goes on another fridge cleaning rampage.

I had some leftover cream from the strawberry shortcake. I didn't want it to go to waste either. My immediate thought was ice cream. I started searching the internet for recipes and I went with the one that I had all the ingredients for.

The recipe only called for four ingredients. I had the exact amount of cream and was slightly short on the cream of coconut but that didn't stop me from proceeding. It also called for milk and coconut shreds. I threw the ingredients into my ice cream maker and gave it an 18 minute spin. When it was done, it was way too soft and fluffy, so into the freezer it went not to be seen again for another day.

Yesterday, I decided to go for a walk. I'm not sure if that was a good or bad thing because it was incredibly hot. This humid 85 degree weather is killer. Apparently, it's very unusual for this time of year. Anyway, I felt like death was closing in when I came home, so I chugged some water and remembered my ice cream.

It looked so much different compared to the day before. It actually resembled ice cream. I took a bite and was instantly revived. I forgot how easy ice cream is to make and how good it can be. It wasn't overly sweet so using a little bit less cream of coconut was a good thing. It amazes me how few ingredients can produce such a tasty treat. Maybe next time I'll add pineapple and it'll be like the ice cream shop I love. Or maybe strawberries. The possibilities are endless!

Mr. Cupcake and I are going to volunteer at Kaboom this weekend. I'm thinking about going early so I can snag a few Beard Papa Cream Puffs and gorge myself before I start pouring beer. The grand opening is tomorrow, Friday, May 12. I posted the incorrect date in my earlier post. I must have turned retarded that day. Anyway, it's tomorrow, so if you go, eat 10 for me!

CI and SK came over the other night for an impromptu BBQ. Mr. Cupcake grilled up some rare steaks (I'm pretty sure I heard a few moos when they made it to the table), chicken, and vegetables for dinner. He also pulled together some bruchetta. I look forward to when tomatoes are actually in season. I'll eat them like apples. Anyway, for my part, I straightened up the apartment and made dessert. It wasn't hard for me to decide what to make. Ever since I saw the strawberries at the A La Carte Festival on Saturday, I've been completely fixated on the red berry. We bought a crate of strawberries at Costco, and I made Strawberry Shortcake.

I remember my mom would make strawberry shortcake on occasion. She usually made the biscuits out of Bisquick. Nothing too fancy, but I didn't notice because the strawberries were the star of the show. No Bisquick on this fine evening however. I consulted my trusty Baking Illustrated cookbook and made shortcakes.

The recipe wasn't hard. It's sort of like making pie or tart dough in that the chunks of butter aren't suppose to melt until it's time to bake. This was a challenge because Mr. Cupcake had the burners going and it was warm in our itty bitty kitchen. Fortunately, they turned out pretty well.


The selection of strawberries at Costco was a bit of a disappointment. The strawberries looked amazing, but didn't smell. I always use smell as the key indicator of whether or not a piece of fruit is ripe. I really wanted strawberry shortcake though and so I picked a crate that sort of smelled. As expected, the strawberries tasted like water. No problem! Just add more sugar. I dream of the day where I eat a strawberry that actually tastes like a strawberry.

I made some homemade whipped cream in my trusty KitchenAid and out came a strawberry shortcake.

Kudos to SK for the lovely presentation. And the verdict you ask? SK and CI said it was good. Mr. Cupcake said I could make it again and he wouldn't be upset. I liked the slight crispiness to the outside of the biscuit, but I think it would have been better if it was sweeter. That's an easy fix though. Overall, I was pleased with my new venture. I have been eating leftover strawberry shortcake for the last 2 days. It's not quite as good compared to the day it was freshly bake, but I have no problems gorging myself on day(s) old shortcake.

Strawberry Shortcake from Baking Illustrated

Fruit
8 cups strawberries (about 2.5 pounds), hulled
6 tablespoons sugar

Shortcakes
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface and biscuit cutter
5 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon half and half or whole milk
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

2 cups whipped cream

1. For the fruit: Place 3 cups of the hulled strawberries in a large bowl and crush with a potato masher. Slice the remaining 5 cups berries and stir into the crushed berries along with the sugar. Set the fruit aside to macerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
2. For the shortcakes: Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a food processor, pulse the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder, and alt to combine. Scatter the butter pieces over and process until th emixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses. Transfer to a medium bowl.
3. Mix the beaten egg with the half and half in a measuring cup. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture. Combine with a rubber spatulauntil large clumps form. Turn the mixture onto a floured work surface and lightly knead until it comes together.
4. Use your fingertips to pat the dough into a 9 by 6 inch rectangle about 3/4 inch thick, being careful not to overwork the dough. Flour a 2.25 inch biscuit cutter and cut out 6 dough rounds. Place the rounds 1 inch apart on a small baking sheet, brush the tops with the beaten egg white, and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. (Dough rounds can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 hours before baking.)
5. Bake until the shortcakes are golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and cool the cakes until warm, about 10 minutes.
6. To assemble: When the shortcakes have cooled slightly, split them in half. Place each cake bottom on an individual serving plate. Spoon a portion of the fruit and then a dollop of the whipped cream over each cake bottom. Cap with the cake top and serve immediately.

Mr. Cupcake was craving dessert. He decided he was going to get ice cream until he realized he wanted to finish watching his movie. Therefore, ice cream didn't happen. Earlier today, we went to the Milk Pail Market because I needed an onion. While we were there, we snagged some blackberries and strawberries.

A ripe strawberry is amazing, but it's so hard to find. Most strawberries look plump and delicious, but taste like water. The best strawberries were from the wild strawberry patch that grew in my mom's garden growing up. I picked them by the handfuls until my fingers were stained from the red juices. Those days are long gone, yet I still crave the sweet, succulent berry.

Anyway, I offered to make Mr. Cupcake some chocolate covered strawberries since I had some leftover chocolate from the macaroons. He declined. Instead he went with yogurt and blackberries. I, however, decided to romance myself and went ahead and dipped the strawberries.

The strawberries were lackluster, but just like the macaroons, the chocolate made them into something delectable. Mr. Cupcake later changed his mind and ended up eating some of my chocolate dipped strawberries. He then dipped a pretzel into the leftover melted chocolate. I tried to take a picture when he showed me, but he then shoved it into his mouth to prevent me from doing so. Mr. Cupcake is mean.

This will be the last post in my poker series. It will make more sense if you start with "poker: part 1" and make your way up.

For my final item, I didn't bake. I wanted versatility. Perhaps they wanted salty instead of sweet, so I needed that to be an option. Finally, I decided upon dip. I thought chips and dip would make for good poker food. However, this wasn't going to be any ordinary kind of dip. It had to be special. It had to be my girl crush Ina's Pan Fried Onion Dip. This onion dip is made with caramelized onions. I read raves on the Internet. I printed the recipe. I was ready.

The recipe called for sliced of onions. I didn't want to have huge dangly strands, so I threw the onion into the food processor and pulsed like a mad woman. I sauteed for 10 minutes and then let the onions do their thing for another 20.

Five being the loyal companion that he is, sat with me as we waited for the onions to finish. The onions caramelized and I threw them into my KitchenAid mixer with some sour cream, cream cheese, and mayo and thus the pan fried onion dip was born!

I tasted it and my immediate reaction was disappointment. How could this be?! The raves! The undying affection towards this onion dip turned out to be a total fallacy. Disappoint overcame me. I covered it and threw it into the fridge, and it was not to be heard from again. That is until this morning. After I ate my chocolate chip cookie, I decided to I needed to give it another chance. It is Cinco De Mayo afterall. A day to celebrate with Mexico by eating totally unrelated food! I tried it with a baked chip. Not bad. I tried it again with a kettle cooked chip. Not bad at all! I was beginning to understand the accolades and the devotion. A little time given to meld the flavors turned out to be a good thing. Unfortunately, tis only I who will be able to experience this dip. Mr. Cupcake hates dips of all kinds which is something I did not know. However, I will not experience two full cups of pan fried onion dip on my own. Perhaps I will invite over my Mexican friends and we will celebrate this day by eating dip! Except, I don't have any Mexican friends in California, so it will probably meet an untimely trash can death. Forgive me Ina!

The moral of the story: I guess I need to practice my poker food offerings. Mr. Cupcake took the leftover cookies and macaroons into work, so we couldn't eat them all. If Mr. Cupcake hosts poker again, I will be sure to be on my game.

I had a hard time deciding what to make for poker. I really wanted to make a cake, but ultimately came to the conclusion that it just wasn't good poker food. I then decided cookies were the way to go. It's easy finger food. I went simple and made chocolate chip cookies.

I have been experimenting with various chocolate chip cookie recipes. I like the toll house variety, but I think it's just because it brings back fond childhood memories. I use to bake a lot when I was young pup. Anyway, I have a really hard time making "pretty" chocolate chip cookies. The edges are always too crispy and they fall flat. Over the course of experimentation, I've learned a lot. It's important to make sure the cookie dough is fully chilled. It's important that the baking sheet isn't hot when putting drops of cookie dough onto the sheet. My edges are crispy because my oven is too hot. Things like that.

I still haven't found the perfect cookie, so I tried the "Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies" from Baking Illustrated. It's an interesting recipe because it uses 1 egg and an extra egg yolk and the butter is melted.

I was pleased with how the overall look of the cookie. They were big and looked pretty good. I used the chocolate chips from Trader Joe's. I had a lot of reservations about using these chips. I was afraid that they wouldn't melt properly and wouldn't give the cookie the right chocolatey gooeyness. Nestle chips melts well, but some of the others don't i.e. Hershey's. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The chocolate melted perfectly and on the plus side the chips are bigger than your average chocolate chip. I will definitely use Trader Joe's chips from now on as they are far superior to any of the other chips I've tried.

Overall the cookies were pretty good. They were a little bit chewy, but as they sat overnight, they definitely became a lot chewier. I know this because I had one for breakfast. I also would have liked them to be a little bit sweeter. I like cookie dough that is good enough to be eaten straight from the bowl. How else am I going to get salmonella? This batter wasn't really sweet enough to do that. I will have to test out some more chocolate chip cookie recipes soon.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 18 Large (I came out with 15)

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1.5 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nostick cooking spray.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.
4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with teh fingertips of both hands an pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the havles 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the havles together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough's uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2.5 inches apart.
5. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown and the outer edges start to harden ye tthe centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through thte baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a wide metal spatula.

Last night, Mr. Cupcake hosted poker for the first time. It made me happy. No, I don't play poker, but it finally gave me a reason to bake again. I have been cutting back on baking recently. The reason being because I've gained 5 pounds in the last year. My doctor confirmed my findings this week when I went in for a checkup. This is better than the 10 pounds Mr. Cupcake's uncle predicted we'd gain after our wedding. Mr. Cupcake has found his weight has been creeping up as well. I have to watch out for the heart disease that runs in his family. However, I don't have to watch out for heart disease in the guys who play poker. Yes, I know I'm going hell.

To celebrate all things poker, I went into a baking frenzy yesterday. I'm going to post each adventure separately starting off with coconut macaroons. I love coconut macaroons. I've made the Barefoot Contessa (Ina call me!) macaroons in the past and thought they were fabulous. I wanted to try the recipe in Baking Illustrated this time.

The recipe calls for 3 cups of sweetened shredded coconut and 3 cups of unsweetened coconut. I couldn't find unsweetened coconut, but the book offered a modified recipe for 6 cups of sweetened coconut. I went with that one.

Everything was going well. Here I mixed up the coconut with the liquids. This recipe is interesting because it contains coconut cream. It's the stuff that you mix in with pina coladas and can be found by the mixed drinks. It's also expensive at $4 a can at my local Safeway.

I shaped them and then popped them into the oven. They aren't very uniform. Halfway through, I tried to be creative and started shaping them in different ways. In the end, they still looked like non uniform macaroons.

I tried one, and to be honest, I wasn't very impressed. There was a distinct coconut flavor to them, but I'm not really sure I liked it. I wasn't comfortable sharing them with the poker crowd. So to make them presentable, I dipped them in dark chocolate.

Ah chocolate. My friend. My first love. The macaroons were now quite good. The chocolate enhanced them and I felt they were good enough to share.

Next time, I might try a hybrid of these macaroons with the Ina macaroons just as an experiment. Mr. Cupcake said they weren't good for poker because the chocolate melted in his hand. Fine, no more macaroons for the poker crowd.

Baking Illustrated Coconut Macaroons
Makes about 48

1 cup cream of coconut
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
4 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
3 cups sweetened flaked or shredded coconut

Modified recipe if unsweetened coconut is not available (this is what I used).
6 cups of sweetened coconut
1/2 cup of cream of coconut instead of full cup
omit corn syrup
toss 2 tablesppons cake flour into the coconut before adding the liquid ingredients.

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower - middle positions and heat the overn to 375 degrees. Line the 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly spray the parchment with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk together the cream of coconut, corn syrup, egg whites, vanilla, and salt in a small bowl; set aside. Combine the unsweetened and sweetened coconut in a large bowl; toss together, breaking up clumps with your fingertips. Pour the liquid ingredients into the coconut and mix with a rubber spatula until evenly moistened.
3. Drop heaping tablespoons of the batter onto the prepared sheets, spacking them about 1 inch apart. Form the cookies into loose haystacks with your fingertips, moistening your hands with water as necessary to prevevnt sticking. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time.
4. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets upntil slightly set, about 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack with a wide metal spatula.

Mr. Cupcake has been a busy bee lately. I didn't seen him very much last week, so to compensate we went out to dinner on Friday night. Nothing says romance like the Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City. I picked our destination because I've heard tons of good things about this place from various people.

Now, I must confess, I didn't really get into seafood until I was older, and even now I tend to be somewhat cautious. I've spent most of my life landlocked, so good seafood was more of a myth. I was afraid. I became more adventurous when I moved to the east coast in college. My first experience with lobster was in Kentucky (it was a nice place, I swear!) and I have to admit I wasn't taken by the experience. I've pretty much avoided lobster since, but was ready to give it another go.

The Old Port Lobster Shack website said it closed at 8pm, so Mr. Cupcake and I hustled to make it there by 7:30. It's tucked in strip mall so it can be a little tricky to find. The decor was bright and cheery with brown picnic tables all around. Orders are taken at the counter. Mr. Cupcake and I mulled over the large menu. Everyone I've talked to raves about the Maine Lobster Roll claiming it's the REAL thing, so that's what I ordered. It's described as "lobster mixed with mayo, lemon juice, chives, salt and pepper". It can also be ordered "naked" where mayo and butter are served on the side. I went with the mayo figuring I'd try my first lobster roll in all its glory. Mr. Cupcake had a hard time deciding what he wanted. It was either a normal sized plate of all fried food or a platter of fried food. Fortunately for his heart, he went with the fish and chips (haddock) which was the smaller of the two.

I thought the lobster roll was on the small side. It's probably because I'm used to everything being supersized these days. I have no concept of what is "normal" anymore. Anyway, the roll came with some crispy kettle chips, 2 slices of bread and butter pickles, a lemon wedge, and some coleslaw. The roll had the texture of a hotdog bun that was toasted and buttered. The lobster roll was good. However, between all the butter and mayo, it was on the rich side. I would probably go "naked" if I ordered it again. I use to hate bread and butter pickles, but these complimented the sandwich well. Maybe it's just me getting old and liking things I use to hate. The chips were pretty greasy, but that's not all that surprising. The coleslaw was vinegar based which is what I prefer. Overall, it was a pleasant experience.

Mr. Cupcake ordered the fish and chips and wasn't very impressed. The fries were pretty good, but the fish was weak. The batter was too soft and didn't have a crunch to it. It was also very greasy, and the tartar sauce was bland. Mr. Cupcake said he wouldn't hurry back for the fish and chips, but maybe he'd go back and order a full lobster.

Our total bill for our two dishes and a beer was $30 before our tip to the bus boy. It's definitely worth a visit. If anything, it's great people watching. I'm not sure I'll rush back, but I'm still trying to determine how much I like lobster. I have to say my sandwich was pretty good. I'll attribute it to no longer being landlocked. Though, I think they fly the lobsters in from the east coast, so my reasoning doesn't really work. Oh, and they didn't close at 8pm. I'm not sure what time they close, but the place was still bumping after we left. Finally, be sure to tip the bus boy. The poor guy had to pick up all the leftover lobster shrapnel, and no one left a tip.

CI and C came down to the South Bay on Sunday, and we met up with them for dinner. We decided to check out Xanh in downtown Mountain View. Xanh is a new Vietnamese fusion restaurant that I've heard good things about. I had my nails done and the nail lady said the food there was good. She's Vietnamese, so I figured she'd probably know. Someone else also told me they really enjoyed the food. I didn't know what to think because the exterior is a little too chic for downtown Mountain View.

It was pretty busy for a Sunday night. We had about a ten minute wait. We went ahead and ordered a couple of appetizers when we were seated.


C ordered a Traditional Roll (shrimp, pork, rice noodles, green apple, lettuce, cilantro, mint, cucumber, and shallots). It came with a peanut sauce. I thought this roll was pretty good. It had a nice mix of flavors. I also liked the peanut sauce.

Mr. Cupcake ordered the Spicy Ahi Tuna Roll (ahi, mango, lettuce, cilantro, mint, and shallot). It came with a "spicy vinaigrette". The roll was deficient in the amount of available ahi. I could taste a little bit, but it was definitely heavy on the lettuce and noodles. I also wouldn't call it spicy.

We decided we would share after we ordered. C and I both ended up ordering the Bun Thit Nuong (rice noodles, cucumber, green apples, cilantro, mint, carrots, and shallots) except she ordered it with pork and I ordered it with shrimp.

When it came out and our waitress mixed up our dishes in front of us. It also came with a bowl of nuoc cham vinaigrette that was suppose to be poured on top. I was disappointed because it only came with four shrimp. I have to say the shrimp was the highlight of the dish because the rest of it didn't really work for me. The noodles were way too soft which gave the dish an overall bad texture. C said she was expecting more lettuce and also seemed underwhelmed.

CI ordered the Peppercorn Beef (beef tenderloin with potatoes and asparagus). Mr. Cupcake thought the beef was too dry. To compensate he had to dip it in the sauce a few extra times. I didn't try the beef but I really liked the potatoes.

Mr. Cupcake ordered the shaking beef (filet, garlic, spinach, and onions). The server brought it out and proclaimed that it was their best offering. CI inquired if that meant the rest of the food was subpar. The server quickly said no. Mr. Cupcake thought this dish was good. He said the beef was tender and the marinated greens complimented it well. I tried it but wasn't amazed. But then again, I don't really care for beef.

We looked over the dessert menu, but decided to opt out and go somewhere else. They were already out of a couple of dishes. Besides, I really hate having a lackluster dessert. It's my favorite part of the meal and if it turns out to be bad, then it puts a damper on the entire experience.

Our total bill before tip was about $90. I don't really like to go out for fusion food that much because it's so hard to do well. Maybe I'm not hip enough. It just seemed expensive for what it was. Next time I will probably just go to a more traditional Vietnamese restaurant instead. I just have to find a good one first.

I have been stalking the Muginoho website for the last three months. They are opening up a Beard Papa's in San Francisco and I can't wait. According to the website, the grand opening is scheduled for May 10 in the Yerba Buena Lane Store at 99 Yerba Buena Lane.

I've never had one of these dreamy cream puffs, but I've seen pictures on various blogs and that was enough. I told R to get one when he was in Hawaii. He was skeptical, but then fate kicked in and he walked past one. Impulse got the best of him and he caved. He said it was perfect and took a picture.

My Google calendar is marked. It's things like this that make me want to move into the city. If anyone makes it there before I do, let me know how it is. ;)

The Cherry Blossom Festival was a bust, but we didn't let it ruin our day. R's good friends CI and C are in the process of moving to the Bay area. They spent the day apartment shopping, so the plan was to meet up with them at Burma Superstar for dinner. This restaurant has been on A's wish list for some time now. Burma Superstar is a small restaurant in the Richmond district and the word on the street is that it's always packed. Before we went, Mr. Cupcake called and put us on the waiting list (they don't take reservations). We had about an hour to get there.

When we arrived, there was quite a line outside the door. Since we called ahead, we only had to wait about another 20 minutes which wasn't bad. CI and C didn't rent a car, so they took the bus. They still weren't there when the hostess called us. She was hesitant to give us our table since our entire party wasn't there. She apparently gets in trouble when she does this. We told her that if they didn't show up soon, we'd order for them. We went ahead and ordered some appetizers and stalled for a bit. I was relieved when they showed up 10 minutes later.

I'd never had Burmese food before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I started the night off with some fresh coconut juice and was excited for what was to come.

Here we have the Rainbow salad. It contained 22 ingredients that included noodles, green papaya, tofu, onions, dried shrimp, and a tamarind dressing. It was quite tasty. The salad had very fresh flavors and I would easily order it again.

Our other appetizer was the Burmese Samusas. It normally comes with five samusas, but our waitress asked if we wanted six. The samusas were stuffed with spices, potatoes, and minced chicken. I wasn't taken with these so much. They were good, just not amazing. The outside was light and crispy, and the inside had lots of potatoes and spices. I've had similar elsewhere, so I'd rather try something else next time.

When we ordered, we weren't expecting to share, but as all the dishes arrived, we changed our minds. I'm not sure who ordered what and what some of the dishes were, but I'll do my best to remember.

I really wanted something with coconut for dinner because I love coconut. I debated over two coconut noodle dishes, but I couldn't decide which one I wanted, so I asked our waitress. She suggested a completely different coconut noodle dish and said it was her favorite. I went with it. I have to say the noodles didn't blow me away. It was surprisingly bland. Fortunately, we were sharing dishes, so I wasn't the only one stuck with the bland noodles.

This was a spicy shrimp dish. I'm not sure which one it was. We ordered two shrimp dishes that were similar, but the other one was better. This one was just shrimp in a spicy sauce.

We ordered three types of rice to go with our meal. I'm not sure which one this was, but it was good. However, it wasn't as good as the coconut rice. The coconut rice so moist and coconutty. I could have easily eaten just the coconut rice and been happy. I didn't take a picture though. There was so much food coming at us that it was too hard to keep up.

I think S ordered the sesame beef. I'm glad he did because it was so good. I don't even like beef, but I loved this dish. It had just the right amount of sweet and tanginess to it.

This was the other shrimp dish. I remember liking this one a lot more. I think it was in a curry sauce. I know, not very descriptive. I'm a bad food blogger. I was overwhelmed because there was so much food. It was hard to take in. Yes, I have many excuses. There were two other dishes that I didn't get a picture of. They were both very similar. One was beef and the other was pork but both had potatoes. In hindsight, we should have ordered a more diverse selection because we had some very similar dishes. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I was stuffed after dinner. I decided to pass on dessert. I know, travesty! I just didn't think I could do it after all that food. Fortunately, Mr. Cupcake could. He went with the Coconut Custard Fritters.

OMG. I would go back just for these fritters. The outside was so crispy and perfect. The inside contained a soft, translucent coconut filling. The fritters were warm and the ice cream and strawberries pulled the whole dish together. Amazing. I'm forever grateful that Mr. Cupcake didn't pass on dessert that night.

Our total bill including tip was $180 for 6 people. Everyone in our group was extremely satisfied. We could have hung out at our table for awhile, but it was after 9 and the crowd outside was still large. We felt bad, so we took off so someone else could experience the euphoria of Burma Superstar. It lived up to the hype, but definitely call ahead if you go. I look forward to many more visits in the future.

I just had an interview, and I'm all bothered by it. I need to stop thinking about it - but I can't! Okay, enough self pity. Blogger to the rescue! Oh wondrous blog, how you make all my sorrows go away.

Last weekend A, S, Mr. Cupcake, and I went to Japantown for the Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco. I was anticipating seeing lots of cherry blossoms in bloom. Instead, there were only a couple of trees here and there. It was a little disappointing. Fortunately, that wasn't the only reason for going. There was also a food bazaar chocked full of interesting little treats to be had.

We walked through the bazaar and because some of the lines were really long, we thought the best strategy would be to split up. A and S went for the BBQ and we went for the strange little balls that had an impossibly long line. We figured with the long line meant there had to be good food.

We waited in line for about 20 minutes for these little balls, and the consensus was that it wasn't worth the wait. It's hard to describe them. They were doughy and had a ton of ginger. A and Mr. Cupcake thought the ginger was too overpowering. There was suppose to be ground beef, but I didn't taste any. We bought 24 balls and had at least 8 leftover. We should have sold the leftovers to the people waiting in the long line.

A and S waited in line for the BBQ pork. The line for the BBQ was long as well, but the operation was more efficient. We had two plates of pork and it wasn't anything to write home about. A thought she could make a better sauce which I could definitely believe. The pork was also very boney. Another disappointment, but we were hungry so we ate it all.

Mr. Cupcake went to get a drink and noticed that there wasn't a line for garlic fries. Now, garlic fries probably aren't Japanese, but they are good. I think it's a local delicacy. I love french fries, but I have to be careful because I get heartburn if I eat too much greasy food. Getting old sucks.

We kept seeing people carrying around green tea ice cream ice cones. I picked one up for Mr. Cupcake. He was waiting in line for something else. I took a bite of the ice cream but wasn't enthralled. I don't really like green tea ice cream. I always want it to taste like mint chocolate chip but it never does.

While I was waiting for ice cream, Mr. Cupcake was waiting for these red bean pancakes. When I was waiting for the doughy balls, some girls were eating them in line and kept raving about how great they were. I decided I had to have one. The pancakes had a very familiar taste to them. A had seen a bunch of Bisquick and we put two and two together. If I had known they were made with Bisquick before hand, I probably would have passed. I could have made these at home - not that I would.

The food bazaar turned out to be a bust. I was happy to be outside though. It seems like sunny days are few and far between lately. I doubt I will be back next year, but I always like to try things at least once. Next time I'll just go to a good Japanese restaurant instead.

My brain is fried. Life suddenly became very busy. I'm going to ignore it all though and blog instead. I feel like my poor blog has been neglected lately. I have a backlog of things I need to report, but it'll have to be over the course of the next couple of days.

Last week, AB came to San Francisco with her friend C. She and I use to be in the same group when I worked in Kentucky. I met up with them and we ran around San Francisco. I'm sure they won't want to visit me again after I had them climb the hills around Lombard Street. ;)

I talked to AB before she arrived and she said she was up for sushi. My immediate thought was Hama-Ko. I was excited. It's a mom and pop shop in San Francisco with very few seats, and they apparently serve up hard core sushi. No frou frou rolls or anything like that. We were set. Then the day that we were suppose to meet, it occurred to me, I should ask them if they really like sushi. I'm really glad I asked because it turned out they don't like anything weird. I did some research, and settled on Takara Japanese Restaurant in Japantown. It was named one of the top 100 restaurants in San Francisco by some magazine. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

After our adventures on trolley cars and Lombard Street we met up with Mr. Cupcake for dinner. Takara is located in the Miyako Mall on the second floor. It was Thursday night, and we were seated immediately. I was excited when I saw mochi on the appetizer menu. We ordered it and also some tempura as a safety dish.

The mochi was very different than any other mochi I've had before. It probably means it was authentic. The mochi (white pile) was stringy but very soft and almost delicate. I didn't really like it at first, but I had to say it grew on me. The sauce was soupy and savory, but I don't remember what it was. No one else really cared for the mochi. I'm not sure if I'd order it again. Ask me in a week.

The tempura was pretty standard. There were three pieces of shrimp, a carrot, zucchini, onion, and green beans. The overall serving size seemed small.

For the main event, we ordered a variety of sushi. Here we have spider roll, omelet, salmon, toro, shrimp, halibut, a ton of California rolls, and a spicy tuna roll. Toro is my absolute favorite sushi. My favorite way to have it served is when it comes with a thick slice of toro, a piece of seaweed, and a bowl filled with sesame oil with sea salt. I only know of one place that serves it that way, and it's amazing. Most places I've been to serve it on rice. This place was no different. I think the piece I ate had a bone in it. Whatever it was, it was too hard to eat. I was a bit put off but I will always love my friend toro. The spider roll (deep fried soft shell crab) was also weird. There were a bunch of herbs that overpowered the soft shell crab. AB enjoyed the omelet (cooked egg on rice). I don't think I've ever seen anyone order omelet before until that night. No one else was up for the challenge, so we left both pieces for her.

Once all the sushi was gone, we ordered more. I forgot to take a picture though. We ordered scallop, more toro, tuna, and another spicy tuna roll. This time the toro didn't seem super fresh. At this point, I felt like my friend toro was testing my love. No worries, though, I'm fiercely loyal. I was happy with the scallop though. The translucent color and texture grosses Mr. Cupcake out. I find that it's so soft and lovely. And besides, it's the marshmallow of the sea! How can anyone not like it?!

Our total bill was just under $100 before tip. It wasn't anywhere near the best sushi ever. However, it was fun to gossip with AB, so it was still an enjoyable evening. I doubt I will go back to Takara anytime soon because there are so many sushi places to try in San Francisco. AB, come back and I promise I won't make you climb the hills of San Francisco again.

Hooray for free cone day! I went to Ben and Jerry's today. Twice. I went once with Mr. Cupcake, R., and K., and then a second time with a recruiter. Oh sweet gluttony.

More reviews are to come. I had an eventful weekend and some really amazing food. Stay tuned.

Mr. Cupcake and I recently discovered the Steven's Creek Trail. We took a stroll this evening after dinner. The trail is four miles long. We didn't walk the whole way, but we did go a decent distance. Afterwards, Mr. Cupcake said he'd reward me with ice cream.

Ah, ice cream. I don't always love ice cream. Sometimes it's too rich and upsets my stomach. For instance, I don't particularly care for places like Cold Stone Creamy. The ice cream is so rich and thick. I know a lot of people love it, but it just doesn't do it for me. I do love gelato though. Maybe I like it for its lower fat content. Maybe I like how dense it is. Whatever the reason, I love it. I haven't had amazing gelato since I've been in the Bay area though. Actually, I haven't had amazing gelato since visiting Italy.

Anyway, I decided to take Mr. Cupcake up on his offer. Before we went, I did some research on chowhound because we don't really have a regular place. The chowhounds kept talking about a place called Tango Gelato. Many of them say it's the best gelato in the Bay area. The only problem is that they were referring to the one in San Francisco. I visited the website anyway figuring maybe I could visit the next time I'm up north. To my surprise, there was a place in Los Altos that offers Tango Gelato. I was elated. I grabbed Mr. Cupcake, and we were off to Italian Deli and Gelateria in Los Altos.

When we arrived in downtown Los Altos, it was a little after 9pm. The entire main street was dead! It's Friday night. wtf?! Of course the gelateria was closed. I made a mental note to add it to my wish list though. Mr. Cupcake and I were ice creamless. After a bit of indecision, we chose Real Ice Cream in Santa Clara. We've been once before. I wanted to go because I was craving coconut. Coconut is rapidly becoming one of my favorite flavors. Though, it'll never surpass chocolate.

Real Ice Cream can be a little tricky to find because it is tucked behind a seafood restaurant in a strip mall. When we arrived, the hours said they closed at 9pm. It was 9:40, but there were people inside. We walked in, and the man behind the counter said he's serve us ice cream to go. I was happy because it would have been depressing to drive that whole way and not have any ice cream. Real Ice Cream has more unusual flavors compared to the typical ice cream shop. They carry flavors like rose water, saffron, and mango. They also offer more traditional flavors like chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.

I went with the coconut pineapple and it was pure hawtness. There were bits of coconut and pineapple in the ice cream and the flavors really married well together. Real Ice Cream doesn't use eggs and they make it all in house. The other thing I like is that the ice cream is not overly sweet like a lot of other places. Again, pure hawtness.

Mr. Cupcake opted for a scoop of pistachio and a scoop of cashew raisin. We took a picture with his camera phone, but it wasn't having it. All we could get were blurry picture, so no picture of his food for you tonight. Mr. Cupcake enjoyed his ice cream though. The cashews were kind of weird because they were chewy, but still good. We'll be back again for sure.

Mr. Cupcake recently updated my gallery software, and now it's not playing nice with blogger. I tried writing about my sushi adventures from last night, but I couldn't get the images to work. Hopefully I'll get that sorted out and you can learn about my love for toro.

Last thing: Tuesday April 25th is Ben and Jerry's free cone day. Be there or be square.

Mr. Cupcake and I went shopping for new mattresses on Saturday. It turned out to be a lot of work laying on mattresses and dealing with the sleazy salesmen. We were famished after the first store, so we headed out to University Ave in Palo Alto to find some grub. I wanted Italian food. I always want Italian food. I love Italian food. We perused the street, and eventually settled for La Strada. It was the only Italian restaurant filled with people.

I was a little disappointed when I started looking over the menu. There didn't seem to be very many pasta dishes other than ravioli and seafood. I don't usually care for ravioli because most places stuff the ravioli full of cheese. It really turns me off. Mr. Cupcake narrowed his decision down to two dishes. It was either the Casonsei alla Bergamasca (ravioli filled with homemade sausage and topped with brown butter) or the Chitarrine con Sugo d' Agnello (shoestring pasta with braised lamb in a Montepulciano wine). I told him I'd get the ravioli and then he wouldn't have to decide. I agreed to the ravioli because there wasn't any mention of cheese.

While we waited for our food, the waitress brought out bread and a small container filled with some sort of seasoned tomato paste. The bread was warm, spongy and had a crispy crust. I couldn't get enough. The waitress had to fill our basket 3 or 4 times. I wasn't sure what to think of the tomato paste at first. It eventually grew on me though and I ate the whole thing. I should have taken a picture, but I guess the famine had taken its toll and I forgot.

I was impressed by the overall presentation of my meal. The ravioli reminded me more of dumplings, but they were very good. The ravioli was filled with little sausage meatballs. I also loved the fact that they make their own pasta and sausage. The dish was topped with roasted garlic cloves (yum!), sage, and guanciale. I thought the guanciale was bacon, but after doing some research, I now know it's the jowels of the pig. Tasty nonetheless.

Mr. Cupcake loved his dish. The meat sauce was like a hearty ragout. He also loves fresh pasta. We traded plates about halfway through and agreed that both meals were excellent.

Our total bill before tip was $30 for two dishes and an iced tea. We'll definitely come back to La Strada. I wasn't expecting to have such a pleasurable meal for lunch that day. I haven't had good Italian food since I've been out here, so this was a nice surprise.

My new camera arrived on Friday, and I couldn't be more excited! To celebrate this joyous occasion, Mr. Cupcake and I went for XLB. XLB is short for xiao long bao aka Shanghai dumpling. It's basically a dumpling filled with broth and meat/vegetable. I've only had XLB once before at Koi Palace. A is a huge fan of XLB and raved about Hu Chiang Dumpling House. It definitely piqued my curiosity.

We arrived at HC Dumpling House around 8pm on Friday night, and the place was packed. Mr. Cupcake put us on the waiting list. We waited about 20 minutes, which wasn't bad because apparently the wait can be over an hour on the weekends. I was happy once we were seated because I was starving.

The menu was a little overwhelming because the English descriptions were lacking. I could identify one type of XLB, but wasn't sure about the rest. Our waitress was pushy at first and wanted us to order. We went ahead and ordered the house special XLB and some green onion pancakes. She put the order in and we debated a little bit longer. When the waitress came back Mr. Cupcake and I decided we'd split the braised pork. The waitress then advised us we probably wouldn't like it because the skin was still attached. She suggested the kung pao shrimp instead and Mr. Cupcake and I agreed. We also order a plate of long beans. Mr. Cupcake loves long beans.

The green onion pancakes came out first. It was accompanied with a hoison like sauce. Mr. Cupcake and I didn't really like the pancakes. It tasted like there was a lot of flour on the pancake, and had the texture of a tortilla. Pass on these if you go.

Then came the main event: The XLB had arrived! The bamboo basket contained 8 little dumplings and we devoured all of them. The dumplings were filled with a ball of minced pork and broth. It was tricky to eat because the broth was so hot, but very good nonetheless. We enjoyed the dumplings a lot and wished we had ordered more.

I was not impressed with the Kung Pao Shrimp. The shrimp had a shrimpy flavor that was very unsettling. I couldn't eat very much of this. Mr. Cupcake tried dousing the shrimp in the sauce to mask the flavor. He concluded that not all the shrimp had the shrimpy flavor.

Looking back at the picture I don't think these were long beans. I think they were French green beans in a sweet and sour sauce. Either way Mr. Cupcake thought the beans were over cooked. I thought they were okay. I doubt I'd order it again though.

Our total bill not including tip was $35. The highlight of the meal was definitely the XLB. I did more research when we came home and found out that all the other dumplings on the menu were indeed XLB. I will go again, but just stick with the dumplings. I saw a lot of people with some kind of fluffy, doughy thing. They topped the doughy thing with a filling and then folded it over and ate it like a sandwich. I'll order that too if I can figure out what it was.

I have a few more reviews to do a little later on. Mr. Cupcake and I were out and about shopping for a new mattress this weekend. It's tiring work, so of course we rewarded ourselves with food.

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching Martha and was inspired to paint eggs, so I invited A over. It's probably been like 6 or 7 years since I colored eggs, and even longer for A. I think she said something like 5th grade, so it was a good time to give it another go.

I had Mr. Cupcake help me pick up some supplies for the decorating festivities. I was just going to buy the tablets, but he insisted that I buy the stuff that comes in vials. Well, they don't sell the stuff in the vials here, so we gave up. The day of the big event, I ran all over looking for paint in vials again and couldn't find any. Finally, I found a paint palette at Target. It was the last one, so I grabbed it. I also picked up a cute Hello Kitty kit.

I had been dreaming of coconut cupcakes that week, so I decided it'd be a good time to make them. For some reason I thought Baking Illustrated had a recipe, but it turned out there was only a coconut cake recipe. I was a little disappointed, but remembered my secret girl crush, the Barefoot Contessa, had a lovely coconut cupcake recipe that I'd been wanting to try for some time now. Ina (as always) had a very straight forward recipe except I misinterpreted 1.5 pounds of confectioners sugar for 1.5 cups for the frosting. I was sad because I didn't have enough sugar. A tried the frosting and said it tasted like butter. No problem. A and I ran over to the evil Safeway nearby, bought a pound of confectioners sugar and the frosting was saved! We frosted and topped them with coconut and the cupcakes were lovely.

Ina didn't let me down. The cupcakes were tasty and I was happy again! They should be tasty considering the recipe calls for 6 sticks of butter. Mr. Cupcake took the leftovers to work and someone left a post it that said "Great cupcake! It was delicious! :)" Ah, validation is good. I<3 ina.

After we taste tested the cupcakes, we went on to decorating our eggs. We decorated until A's fingers were an unrecognizable color.






Mr. Cupcake and S had gone to play poker, so when they came back they tried to guess who the eggs belonged to. Mr. Cupcake had good reasoning why the eggs belonged to me; he knows me so well. They were able to do it, but can you? Leave a comment and I'll give the answer in my next post.

I'm also happy to report that the dye finally came off A's fingers. :)

A new memory stick just arrived via DHL 20 minutes ago, my camera should be here in the next few days, and my DSL appears to be back to normal again. Yay! Once I have my new camera, I'll be back in business and my blog will be focused again. Oh and FYI, Amex refunded the entire cost of my broken camera. Love them.