Delightful Cupcakes!

I do not claim to be any sort of decent baker, however, I have a select few baked goods that I think I am bomb at making! 1. Candy Brownies and 2. Fluffy Cupcakes.

Last night I took a few of my favorite cupcake elements that I have made or had before, and created a new treat. Lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and rolled in coconut (my fav!).
Without revealing the complete recipe, I did want to share a few notes from the making process to maybe inspire other bakers to experiment:

1. There was no lemon flavoring or extract called for in this recipe; just lemon zest (about 2 tsp). It is JUST enough lemon flavor to provide that hint of citrus when you take a bite. The recipe also called for sour cream, which added an additional zing and moister to the cupcake.

2. I use cake flour instead of regular flour for cupcakes and it makes a world of difference, in my opinon. It makes the texture lighter and more moist.

3. Cream Cheese Frosting - All you need is cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar. I use more cream cheese than butter and sugar so its a little less sweet.

I dont exactly love cakey baked goods, so in order to test my creation, I just ate the top of the cupcake :) It was heavenly. Hopefully the folks I made these for will enjoy them!

A Cook on Some Cooks!

I woud like to start off this entry by congratulating the lovely Lyndsy & Elon Cook! I spent this last weekend at their AMAZING wedding in Malibu, CA. No detail was overloooked, and every detail made me smile :)

Here is a little montage of some of my most favorite food/beverage related elements...

I must point out that I didnt get a photo of my new favorite hor'devour, bacon wrapped artichoke hearts! Devine! I had two and would have had more, but couldn't keep up with the lovely Megan who was passing them.

Instead of the traditional cake, the Cooks had a tower of delightful mini-cupcakes, of which I had the Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting version. It was so fabulous and just the right size.

In addition to the cupcakes, they had a candy bar, complete with lemon heads, skittles, pixy sticks and these darling little mongrammed paper bags to put them in!

My personal favorite touch that I overlooked until I saw some photos by their amazing photographer yesterday, were the personalized Jones Soda bottles! I work with Jones Soda, so I was especially pleased that the Cooks took advantage of Jones' unique personal marketing opportunities. You can check these out for yourself at http://www.myjones.com/.

The entre included a spread of chicken with a pesto sauce, grilled veggies, steak and creamy, yummy mashed potatos, preceeded by a delicious balsamic dressed salad with grilled pears, blue cheese crumbles and candied walnuts - MY FAV!

Those are just a snippet of the beautiful things at this wedding! A ridiculous view, gorgeous couple, and overall a simply wonderful wedding! Congrats again and thank you for letting me be a part of it.

XOXO

Marge's 411 on Cheddar Cheese

I love cheese. I love it so much that I would choose to live on only cheese, fruit and wine for the rest of my life, no joke. My favorites include blue or gorgonzola, gruyere, feta and a classic American favorite, Cheddar!

I am very picky when it comes to quality and texture of cheese, especially cheddar cheese.

My self proclaimed grocery rule is to never stray from Tillamook for a generic sale brand i.e. Kroger, Lucerne, etc. I was in an "I have no money" mode whilst grocering last weekend and made a cardinal mistake and strayed. I should have known better and now I am now stuck with a block of sh*ty cheese which I cant quite bring myself to toss out and waste $4.50.

Cheap cheese is never a good idea. Its much more dense and bendy and has a sort of rubbery/fake cheese taste. Low fat cheese is also never a good idea. If you are going to eat it, you might as well enjoy it. I am way passed the stage of Two Buck Chuck and Kraft Singles. I am old enough to enjoy the finer things in life, such as a good Cab from my favorite local winery, and some Tillamook cheese. Amen!

If this post can do anything productive for anyone, it would be to always go with what you know and spend a little more on products like cheese and wine and good produce; skimp on things like grains, cereal, condiments and side dishes. Never again will I stray.

Happy cheese tasting!

Grocery Store Sushi?

Yes, I get sushi from the grocery store... on an occasional Friday night. Whole Foods has a great selection of pre-made sushi and sashimi that is very reasonably priced ($6 - $8 for 8 pieces). You also have a choice bewteen brown rice rolls and white rice rollls. The brown are deelish!

You can even buy edemame beans that taste like they were just made! They come pre-cooked, so all you have to do is zap them in the microwave for about 1 minute and serve!

When you dont have the time or the $$ to get "good" sushi, there IS an alternative just around the corner!