Mounds of Chocolatey Goodness!

I hate that it has been a while since I have posted something, I have been so busy with a new job and a lot of other things going on! We are having a birthday party for a friend and she requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing- I made my own (check out the cool whip icing recipe, just substitute regular chocolate pudding or chocolate fudge for the white chocolate pudding) and I added some chocolate covered strawberries for good measure. I can't wait to eat some!

NYC, take THREE!

Day 3 of New York, we ventured out to have dinner at BLT- I didn't take any breakfast, lunch or brunch pictures, being that I wasn't feeling too well so I didn't really eat much that morning... The burger was THE BEST. Unfortunately I couldn't finish it, I felt a fever coming on and I could barely eat anything. I ate about 1/4 of the burger and some sweet potato fries.


Oddly enough, after some fresh air, I started feeling a bit better and we stopped by Crumbs, only the best cupcakery around! I had to have the Blackout, nothing but chocolate, chocolate, CHOCOLATE!!! Billy and I split it, Bijal had the classic and delicious vanilla, and her cousin Madalsa opted for the Capuccino. Two words: Cupcake Heaven

New York Part Deux!!!

I know! I know, it was a long time coming.... I'm going to keep the comments short and sweet... First up, PENELOPE'S.... AWESOME food... AWESOME. Did I say awesome? My sandwich was perfect. Hummus and Avocado with tomato, red onion, arugula, and a drizzle of balsamic dressing on somun(fluffy flat bread), next to a spinach salad with dried cranberries and vinaigrette- MY FAVE!!!



Billy had a grilled chicken club sandwich with fries, and Bijal had the FBLT (Fakin' Bacon) BLT!





Later that evening, we headed to Blue Hill Grill and had dinner by candlelight:



Bijal and I opted for the Hake (a type of fish I had never heard of) with baby clams I think? Unbelievably I can't remember, and Billy had the pork tenderloin.






All in all, a delicious day 2!!! Sorry it was dark in there!

A Taste of Summer...

 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE grilled fruits and veggies more than anything, I just had to make some teriyaki chicken, red bell pepper and pineapple kabobs... Great combo, if you've never had it... YUM! I love summertime foods!

Strawbelicious!

 

Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law! I made his birthday cake, a wonderful strawberry yogurt cake with vanilla frosting, courtesy of Betty Crocker! Got the recipe off the box of Golden Vanilla... Check it out!

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/strawberry-yogurt-cake?Source=SearchResultPage&terms=strawberry%20yogurt

Skittles... Taste the Rainbow!

My niece LOOOOOVES Skittles- and she wanted a Skittles cake for her birthday! Naturally, I HAD to ask if I could make the cake... I had an idea for a large Skittle surrounded by a couple of smaller ones in different colors and she said YES! I was going to place a dome upside down with one on top of it, but that would have caused a MAJOR cake wreck; the top half was too heavy for the bottom half to hold and it almost started splitting. We ended up with 4 cakes, two large domes and 2 little ones. They each had a letter like the "S" on the Skittle, except she wanted me to put her friends' initials on their favorite colors. Her name is Josie and she wanted the "J" on the blue cake, and we also had an "L" for the red cake and a "K" for the green cake. The "S" was saved for the large yellow. :o)


Surprise! Skittles!

Billy's Monster Birthday Cake!

So Billy had a special request for his birthday cake, Mrs. D's Birthday Extravaganza (Not Mrs. D as in ME, this came from a wonderful cookbook I have called "Death by Chocolate Cakes")- anyway, it's a towering hunk 'o chocolate heaven with a ganache filling and chocolate cashew mousse frosting. I didn't decorate it very well, didn't have the right tools- but it tasted delicious! The cake was supposed to have a border of mini chocolate chips, but I forgot to add those- it's a good thing I did... I know there's not such a thing as TOO much chocolate, but in this case.....