Lunchtime Links for May 22nd, 2018

• Crazy for Crust: Oreo fluff pie. 
• The Kitchn: Easy ways to use a rotisserie chicken. 
• Serious Eats: The best waffle makers. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Pesto pasta salad.
• Averie Cooks: Grilled steak Kabobs.

Lunchtime Links for May 21st, 2018

• The Kitchn: One-pot macaroni and cheese.
• SoraNews 24: Hello Kitty shinkansen (bullet train). 
• Serious Eats: Chocolate skillet cake. 
• Oh Sweet Basil: Smothered honey lime chicken burritos.
• Kirbie's Cravings: 3 ingredient flourless Nutella brownie mug cake.

The Baked Bear - North Bethesda's Grand Opening

This past Saturday was the grand opening of a branch of The Baked Bear ice cream sandwich shop, located way too close to my home!  They had a great opening party with the first 300 customers receiving a free ice cream sandwich, and lots of people came out to celebrate even in the crappy weather.

One of the owners was chatting with people in line, and passed out their menu so we could try to make the very difficult decision of what to order!  For the grand opening there were no doughnuts or brownies, but there were still plenty of cookie options to choose from for the ice cream sandwiches.  I love that you can pick 2 different sandwich "halves" for a wide variety of combinations.  You never have to decide between two cookie flavors, or even a cookie and brownie!

For my free ice cream sandwich, I decided on a chocolate chip cookie, red velvet cookie, Bear Batter (blue cake batter ice cream with fudge and brownie chunks), and mini M&Ms - so decadent and delicious!  The Bear Batter ice cream is definitely one of the most "Instagrammable" flavors with the bright blue color, haha.  They definitely don't skimp on the amount of ice cream you get either, so there's a lot of ice cream to go with the cookies. I love that they offer a "hot pressed" step, to get the cookies warmed up just enough to soften up with the ice cream - so good!  I also want to note that the cookies are available for purchase on their own, which is a great options for gifts and parties when you're not really up for baking.

With summer around the corner, it's the perfect time for The Baked Bear to open up - and for me to see how many different combinations of the ice cream sandwiches I can enjoy!


The Baked Bear
929 Rose Avenue #404
North Bethesda, MD 20852

Lunchtime Links for May 18th, 2018

• The Kitchn: Garlic herb steak and potatoes. 
• Averie Cooks: No-bake Tiramisu.
• Seasons and Suppers: Herb Focaccia rolls. 
• Apartment Therapy: 30 home-refreshing ideas. 
• Cookies and Cups: Melt in your mouth chicken.

Kristin Ess at Target

Has anyone else tried the Kristin Ess haircare line at Target?  I picked up this travel set when it was on sale after Christmas, and I keep meaning to try out the rest of the products sometime soon.  The Signature shampoo and conditioner that I tried out was lightweight and didn't feel like it was weighing my hair down.  The rose gold temporary tint spray sounds awesome and looks really fun on social media posts I've seen, but unfortunately I wouldn't get anything out of that with my dark hair. 

On a more superficial note, I love the packaging of her products, especially the soft matte feel of the bottles and tubes.  That might sound totally random, but seriously - go check them out on your next Target trip.  I always love trying out new hair products, and the "Spend $20, get a $5 Target gift card" deal on beauty products this week might be just the incentive I need. :o)

Lunchtime Links for May 17th, 2018

• Kirbie's Cravings: Sheet pan honey garlic chicken.
• The First Year Blog: Reese's magic bars.
• Creme de la Crumb: Creamy macaroni and cheese.
• Handle the Heat: Coffee brownie ice cream sandwiches. 
• Damn Delicious: Honey BBQ chicken kabobs. 

Lunchtime Links for May 16th, 2018

• I Heart Naptime: Double chocolate chip pudding cookies.
• Cookies and Cups: Sprinkle refrigerator cookies.
• Oh Sweet Basil: Shortcut chicken Parmesan.
• Crazy for Crust: Unicorn cupcakes.
• Serious Eats: Lettuce wraps with sweet-spicy chicken meatballs.