Lunchtime Links for April 30th, 2013

• Picky Palate: Chili Tortellini.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Brown butter salted caramel snickerdoodles. 
• I Heart Naptime: Double chocolate pudding cookies. 
• Brown Eyed Baker: Snickers cake. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Chewy Nutella peanut butter chip cookies. 

Lay's Chicken & Waffles Chips

You have probably seen the tv commercials for limited edition Lay's chips: Chicken & Waffles, Sriracha, and  Cheesy Garlic Bread.  As much as I shouldn't be keeping potato chips within reach at home, I had to try these out. 

These were a little more difficult to find than I anticipated - I expected Target to carry them for sure, but didn't have any luck there. Harris Teeter has been on/off with carrying these, so as soon as I saw the Chicken & Waffles flavor I picked up a bag.  

I thought they did a pretty darn good job with the savory and sweet flavor profiles that are needed for such a unique flavor.  The savory "chicken"? flavor had random notes of a sweet, syrup-y flavor that really evoked the name of these chips.  As someone who's had a number of Japanese savory flavored chips before, these were right up my alley.  These chips would fit right in with the ramen/chicken/seafood/etc. flavored chips that are prevalent in Japan, haha. Try them out if you're a fan of sweet and savory tastes in chip form! 

Lunchtime Links for April 29th, 2013

• Picky Palate: Bacon, ranch and cheddar mashed potatoes. 
• Table for Two: Starbucks' chocolate cinnamon bread. 
• The Kitchn: Soft and tender dinner rolls. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Nutella magic cake. 
• How Sweet It Is: Easy springtime Crockpot minestrone.

CVS Deals - Week of 04/28/2013

This week has a great candy deal, as well as some great deals for seasonal allergy sufferers like myself!

First and foremost - FREE CANDY!

- Hershey's or Mars single candy: $0.99 on sale with an Extra Care card, $0.99 CVS coupon (from the coupon kiosk).  I got a Snickers bar to enjoy for a snack this week, woo.

Next, a few allergy-related products:

- Zyrtec 5-count tablet pack: $6.00 on sale, $6.00 manufacturer's coupon = FREE!
- Advil allergy & congestion relief: $4.95 on sale, $3 manufacturer's coupon.
- Three Puffs Plus tissue boxes: $0.99 each on sale, $0.20/3 manufacturer's coupon.

Happy shopping everyone!

Lunchtime Links for April 26th, 2013

• The Pioneer Woman: Edna Mae's sour cream pancakes. 
• Bakerella: Brown butter and Biscoff crispy treat bars. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Baked pasta with spinach and ricotta. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Matcha milkshake. 
• How Sweet It Is: Chocolate chip cookie peanut butter s'mores with vanilla bean marshmallows. 

Haute Papier - Hautebox #1

Back in March when I wrote a guest post on my friend Hey Love Designs' blog, I mentioned Haute Papier's new subscription Hautebox service that I had signed up for.  I recently received my first box, and I was so excited to check out what was inside!

In this shipment I received a super fun cake-themed birthday card, two bright pink and green thank you cards, a "Maryland of Opportunity" memo pad, mini gold striped notepad, two metallic pencils, and one of those popular flat elastic ribbon hair ties. I love everything and they are totally items that I would pick out for myself in a store! The only problem is that I will be hard-pressed to actually use the cute cards instead of keeping them for myself, haha. I can't wait until the next Hautebox arrives :o) 

Lunchtime Links for April 25th, 2013

• Brown Eyed Baker: Malted vanilla ice cream with peanut brittle and milk chocolate chunks.
• A Kitchen Addiction: Chocolate chip brioche pretzels. 
• How Sweet It Is: Crunchy buffalo chicken salads with bacon and spicy ranch. 
• Cookies & Cups: Take 5 bars. 
• Oh Sweet Basil: Oreo Biscoff banana bread. 

Sprinkles - Cuban Coffee Cupcake

As soon as I heard about the new coffee cupcake at Sprinkles, I made it a point to go and pick one up, haha.  I love coffee desserts/sweets in general and I knew that this one would be no exception!

Here's the official description from the Sprinkles website: After late nights dancing in Havana, morning always comes too soon. Wake up with Sprinkles Cuban Coffee cupcakes! This Belgian light chocolate cake is topped with powerful dark roast coffee frosting and subtle notes of cinnamon and cocoa. Just add a glass of milk to turn your café cubano into a cafecito!

The highlight of this cupcake is definitely the dark roast coffee frosting - a really rich and strong coffee flavor that is not overly sweet.  I could probably eat this coffee frosting on just about anything and try to justify it was a reasonable breakfast, haha.  

This cupcake flavor is available until April 28th, so be sure to get one before then if you love coffee and chocolate like I do!  

Lunchtime Links for April 24th, 2013

• Picky Palate: Perfect M&M cookies. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Easy Marinara sauce. 
• Brown Eyed Baker: Oreo cheesecake icebox cake. 
• The Pioneer Woman: Pizza potato skins. 
• How Sweet It Is: Caprese shells with mini meatballs. 

Shake Shack - Chocolate Hazelnut Custard

I am a devoted fan of Nutella, and I naturally assume that everyone else is as well - I mean, how could you choose to not like such a wonderful combination of chocolate and hazelnut??

That being said, I sort of figured that this Chocolate Hazelnut custard from Shake Shack couldn't be exactly the same as Nutella - if so, it probably would be in the name, no?  As it turns out, this custard did taste very similar to Nutella (go figure), but it did distinguish itself from the well-known spread at the same time.  This had a pretty strong hazelnut flavor that balanced well with the rich chocolate custard.  I would recommend this custard flavor to any chocolate and/or Nutella fans for sure!   

Lunchtime Links for April 23rd, 2013

• Cookies & Cups: Chocolate truffle pie.
• Serious Eats: Chunky chocolate chip walnut cookies. 
• BGSK: Giant layered cookie cake. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Cinnamon sugar pancake muffins.
• Table for Two: Espresso chocolate chip muffins.

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day - Candy Bar Pie Ice Cream

I hope all of you were able to get over to a Ben & Jerry's on Free Cone Day, which took place on April 9th.   I took this opportunity to try out a new flavor, Candy Bar Pie: Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Fudge Flakes, Chocolate Nougat & Sweet & Salty Pretzel Swirls.  

Based on the ingredients I knew I would like it, so no surprises there, haha. I loved the fudge flakes and the peanut butter flavor especially - mmm, you can never go wrong with that combo.  I'm not a huge "nougat" person on its own but swirled throughout the ice cream didn't really stand out too much for me anyway.  This currently is a Scoop Shop-only flavor so get yourself over to a Ben & Jerry's if you'd like to try this one out! 

Bravo TV - Bravoholic

I am so so so so so soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to announce that Bravo TV has chosen ME to be this week's Bravoholic!!!!!

For those of you that aren't familiar with the Bravoholic account, here are the details of the Bravoholic Twitter contest on the Bravo TV website.

Finally, I feel like my constant viewing and Tweeting (@kay819, by the way!) about all of the Bravo shows is being rewarded and not criticized, haha!

If you're on Twitter, please be sure to follow me at @thebravoholic between now and next Monday (4/29) morning, it should be a lot of fun!!

Lunchtime Links for April 19th, 2013

• The Kitchn: Rainbow sprinkle cake tutorial.
• Picky Palate: Grilled taco and lime chicken for tacos. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Banana bread pancakes with peanut butter syrup.
• How Sweet It Is: Crispy loaded Buffalo oven fries. 
• Table for Two: Cobb salad sandwich.

Japanese Panda Pocky

PANDA WATCH

Now that I have your attention - yes, this just might be the cutest box of Pocky I've ever seen, haha.  Since I can't really think of any other reason why pandas and cookies and cream food would be linked, I can only assume that the black and white color was the only connecting factor, haha.

The inside pouch that holds the Pocky sticks is just as cute as the outside, with a myriad of dancing pandas.  The Pocky sticks themselves were actually pretty good - it was a chocolate biscuit coated in white chocolate with little bits of chocolate biscuit pieces mixed in.  It's a big departure from the regular Pocky stick, but a cute idea for a limited edition flavor! 

Lunchtime Links for April 18th, 2013

• The Pioneer Woman: Eggs in hash brown nests. 
• Table for Two: Tiramisu.
• Serious Eats: Momofuku Ko's 5-year anniversary dinner. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Avocado egg salad.
• Picky Palate: Cheesy grown up Spaghetti-Os.

Georgetown Cupcake - Hoppy Easter Cupcake

Here we have another cute seasonal offering from Georgetown Cupcake - the Hoppy Easter cupcakes was given away as the free secret flavor on Easter this year.  This cupcake is their vanilla cake base topped with a swirl of bright yellow buttercream frosting, and a cute little fondant bunny on top.  I always prefer cream cheese frosting over buttercream, but this was a bright and fun way to celebrate Easter in a sweet way :o) 

Lunchtime Links for April 17th, 2013

• Picky Palate: Peanut butter Do-si-do chocolate chip cookies. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: One hour honey bunny buns.
• Tokyo Terrace: No-rise cinnamon rolls. 
• Brown Eyed Baker: Six-layer chocolate cake with toasted marshmallow filling and malted chocolate filling.
• Bakerella: Humpty Dumpty cake pops. 

Georgetown Cupcake - Free Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cupcake

Mmm... puffy cloud of frosting...

This Chocolate Butterscotch Chip cupcake was a free secret flavor a while back, and it was a delicious "new" Georgetown Cupcake flavor to try out.  I say "new" because it is almost identical to the NY Pinstripe Pretzel cupcake  that was sold last summer, minus the pretzel pieces.  The combination of chocolate and butterscotch was predictably delicious, and the addition of butterscotch chips in the cake was a nice bonus as well.  I definitely wouldn't mind if they brought back this butterscotch frosting again sometime, it was delicious! 

Lunchtime Links for April 16th, 2013

• Dessert for Two: Oreo brownies. 
• How Sweet It Is: Chicken enchilada pizza. 
• Eat, Live, Run: Creamy shells and cheese with chicken and broccoli. 
• Table for Two: New York-style coffee cake crumb muffins. 
• The Kitchn: Easy rosemary focaccia. 

DGS Delicatessen - Smoked Salmon Platter

For as long as I can remember, I've been a fan of smoked salmon, and I figured that a place like DGS Delicatessen MUST have a good version of it. As soon as I saw the Smoked Salmon Platter (24 hour cured and cold smoked salmon, Montreal bagel, traditional garnishes, $15), I pretty much knew that I had to try it.  

The smoked salmon was indeed, delicious. It had that nice richness that I love about smoked salmon, especially when combined with the cold cream cheese and chew from the bagel.  Now, speaking of the bagel - I know that Montreal bagels are known far and wide for being one of the best, and it was a good bagel, but it felt a little thin to me. Clearly I've grown up eating rounder, delicious NJ bagels so maybe there is some bias there, but I definitely was more excited about the smoked salmon during brunch than the bagel.   

Along with the delicious food, the service was friendly and informative, and I liked the lofted, open feel of the restaurant. I look forward to trying out more of their dishes for dinner sometime soon!

DGS Delicatessen

1317 Connecticut Avenue NW

Washington, DC

202.293.4400

Lunchtime Links for April 15th, 2013

• Cookies & Cups: Mini churro cheesecakes. 
• How Sweet It Is: Peanut butter pretzel chocolate chip cookie bites.
• Closet Cooking: Roasted Brussels sprout carbonara. 
• Brown Eyed Baker: Mini tiramisu cheesecakes. 
• Bakeaholic Mama: Cadbury mini egg blondies. 

The White House Spring Garden Tour

Yesterday morning, my friend R and I went to the White House Spring garden tour.  It was sort of a last-minute decision, but I'm really glad we got up early (for a Sunday for me at least, haha) and headed over to check it out.  I especially liked seeing the vegetable garden, which was Michelle Obama's initiative that started back in 2009.   

It was crowded but manageable, and a really great opportunity to see a part of the White House that regular people like us normally wouldn't have access to.  As you can see, the day ended up being a gorgeous day to attend this tour!

Lunchtime Links for April 12, 2013

• Eat Yourself Skinny: Chickpea and tomato salad. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: 4 ingredient chocolate mug cake. 
• Cookies & Cups: Brie and apple grilled cheese. 
• I Heart Naptime: Take 5 ice cream cake. 
• Brown Eyed Baker: Zeppoles. 

Sephora - Beauty Insider Sale

If you're a member of Sephora's Beauty Insider club, be sure to take advantage of a great deal that starts today.

Beauty Insiders Only
Celebrate Chic Week
Treat yourself to 15% off must-have beauty and shop as often as you like through Sunday, April 21. 

For online shopping, use the promo code "CHIC". If you plan on using this sale pass in the store, be sure to check your email for this Chic Week notice, and you just have to show it when you are checking out.

I always look forward to site-wide deals like this to stock up on products, and also to try something new out if I've been thinking about it. Happy shopping, everyone! 

Lunchtime Links for April 11th, 2013

• Brown Eyed Baker: Popovers. 
• Picky Palate: Monster Easter cookies. 
• Cookies & Cups: Oreo icebox cake. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Peanut butter M&M cookie bars. 
• Bake at 350: Reese's peanut butter egg-stuffed peanut butter cookies. 

Shake Shack - Banana Bread Custard

I was pretty excited to try out the Banana Bread custard at Shake Shack, mainly because banana bread has become a good go-to recipe when I have ripened bananas at home.  

As you can see, this custard looks like plain vanilla, but had a lot of flavor once I ate a spoonful.  My main concern with a banana flavor was that it would taste artificial - does anyone actually like those weird candy bananas??  This custard fortunately had none of that weird fake banana taste, and tasted like real bananas with a hit of a caramel-ish flavor as well.  If I had this again I would probably add chocolate chunks, as that's what I normally do when I bake real banana bread :o)

Lunchtime Links for April 10th, 2013

• The Live-In Kitchen: Skillet lasagna. 
• Little B Cooks: Peanut butter Nutella cookies. 
• How Sweet It Is: Crockpot tomato sauce. 
• Food Fanatic: Nutella cookie bars. 
• Kevin & Amanda: Cheesy sausage tortellini.

Kate Spade Outlet - iPhone Cases

Who wouldn't love to see a wall of colorful Kate Spade phone cases, right?  As soon as I saw these in the Kate Spade outlet store, I knew that I had to check them out.  Then, as soon as I saw the sign saying they were SIXTY PERCENT OFF, I knew I had to stop myself from buying ALL of them, haha.

In the end, I was able to control myself and picked up this one above.  The case itself feels very sturdy and durable (a thick, flexible rubber-ish material), but I also really like the little pops of color from the "phone" buttons.  If you also live near a Kate Spade outlet, I highly recommend checking it out if you're in need of a new iPhone case!

Lunchtime Links for April 9th, 2013

• Warm Vanilla Sugar: Browned butter peanut butter rice crispy bars. 
• Table for Two: Chicken Piccata.
• A Kitchen Addiction: Banana snack cake with peanut butter frosting.
• Picky Palate: Cheesy pesto chicken spaghetti bake.
• My Baking Addiction: Banana crumb muffins.

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day

Today's the day- Ben & Jerry's annual free cone day is today, woohoo!  Who doesn't love a day where you get to celebrate delicious ice cream? I am thinking this would be the perfect time to try out the new Candy Bar Pie flavor (Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Fudge Flakes, Chocolate Nougat & Sweet & Salty Pretzel Swirls), so hopefully they have it at my location.  I hope anyone else that also loves ice cream gets a chance to go out and celebrate!

Lunchtime Links for April 8th, 2013

• Eat, Live, Run: Thai red curry chicken.
• Serious Eats: 7 chocolate chip cookies in DC.
• Cookies & Cups: The perfect cookie base. 
• How Sweet It Is: Brown butter tilapia with toasted basil butter breadcrumbs.
• This Week for Dinner: Skillet chocolate chip cookie. 

Life is Short, Eat Dessert First

A friendly reminder, haha.

I recently purchased this Graphic Anthology print from the Scoutmob Shoppe, and it's a super cute addition to my living room decor. I love the soft cream and blue shades accented with the bright red pops of color.  If I ever eventually live in a place with a real dining room, it's definitely going on the wall there :o)

Lunchtime Links for April 5th, 2013

• Cookies & Cups: Graham cracker bars. 
• BGSK: Swiss chard lasagna. 
• How Sweet It Is: Avocado BLT with spicy mayo and fried eggs. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Magic custard pie. 
• The Pioneer Woman: Hot roast beef sandwiches. 

Dinner at Woodberry Kitchen, Baltimore

A few weeks ago, I attended a conference for work in Baltimore, MD. Ok, so just that wouldn't be exciting enough for a blog post, but getting to go to dinner at Woodberry Kitchen during that trip certainly is!  I met up with a friend from middle/high school to catch up and enjoy a great meal.

While we were waiting for our table, we got a little bowl of popcorn to snack on, which I brought with me once we were seated.  I thought it would be a little weird to just hand it to someone else that was waiting too, haha.  The bread basket was filled with a few varieties of warm sliced bread.

For my dinner I chose the Quinby Inlet Clams & Noodles with Cream, kale, parsley, garlic, and chile crumbs.  There were lots of delicious clams mixed in with the pile of chewy house-made noodles.  This was a nice comforting dish for a cold Sunday night.   

Of course we couldn't pass up on dessert here! After some deliberation we went with The Kitchen Sink: Cookie dough ice cream, hot fudge, brownies, blondies, whipped cream, and toffee. 

As expected, this was delicious and a sweet way to end a great meal. As much as I would've initially wanted to get two desserts to try, I'm glad we didn't because we barely made it through 1/2 of this one, haha.  I look forward to even more meals at Woodberry Kitchen, it's always a treat!   

Lunchtime Links for April 4th, 2013

• Cookies & Cups: Chocolate chip and peanut butter popcorn bars.
• The Pioneer Woman: Drop biscuits and sausage gravy. 
• Food Fanatic: Copycat Starbucks chocolate cinnamon bread. 
• The Kitchn: Make-ahead lunches in jars. 
• Serious Eats: Cappuccino cupcakes. 

Georgetown Cupcake Bethesda - Sparkly Mixer

I want- nay, I NEED - this blinged-out KitchenAid mixer at Georgetown Cupcake! Each of their locations has its own special crystal-encrusted mixer on display, and this particular one can be found in the window of the Bethesda, MD location.  I can't imagine actually using this (cleaning the body of the mixer might be problematic), but it sure would be fun to have displayed in my kitchen! 

Lunchtime Links for April 3rd, 2013

• A Kitchen Addiction: Brown butter white chocolate M&M cookies. 
• I Heart Naptime: Stuffed cheesy garlic bread.
• Table for Two: Cafe mocha cookies. 
• Picky Palate: Garlic Parmesan style baked mashed potatoes. 
• Bakerella: Magic Munch.

Stachowski's Market - Four Meat Grinder

A while back, N and I stopped in Stachowski's Market in Georgetown to check out their dinner options. I had seen their 4 Meat Grinder on Serious Eats, so I was excited to try it out for myself. 

This 4 Meat Grinder is NO JOKE. It was massive and packed to the gills with meat (salami, coppa, mortadella, sopressata), tomatoes, lettuce, onion, and peppers. I could barely hold it together to take a bite- and yes, the photo above is 1/2 of one order, haha.  Stachowski's is a little off the beaten path if you're used to only going around M street in Georgetown, but it's well worth the detour if you're a fan of food like this! 

Stachowski's Market

1425 28th Street NW

Washington, DC 20007

202.506.3125

Lunchtime Links for April 2nd, 2013

• How Sweet It Is: Beer battered shrimp lettuce wraps with mango avocado salsa.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Peanut butter filled pretzel bites. 
• Eat, Live, Run: Simple French bread pizzas. 
• Kevin & Amanda: Cinnamon sugar soft pretzels with salted caramel dipping sauce. 
• Table for Two: Pork carnitas. 

Shake Shack - April Custard Calendar

Time for another brand new custard menu at Shake Shack, woo!

Monday: Arabic Coffee Crunch
Tuesday: Honey Roasted Peanut
Wednesday: Red Velvet
Thursday: Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
Friday: Malted Marshmallow Milk Chocolate
Saturday: Salted Caramel
Sunday: Boston Creme Pie

Mmm, the Arabic Coffee Crunch is definitely on my To Try list!

Lunchtime Links for April 1st, 2013

• Kirbie's Cravings: Four ingredient Nutella mug cake.
• How Sweet It Is: Angel food French toast.
• A Kitchen Addiction: Sweet and spicy chicken over rice. 
• Smitten Kitchen: Buttermilk biscuits. 
• My Baking Addiction: Chocolate chocolate chip cookies.

Shake Shack - Shackbury Easter Egg Concrete

I looooooooooooove when Shake Shack offers seasonal specials, and this Easter concrete special was no  exception!  This Shackbury Easter Egg concrete is a vanilla frozen custard blended with caramel sauce and milk chocolate chunks.  As you can see, there were plenty of milk chocolate chunks blended throughout, and the caramel swirls were delicious as well.  The chocolate chunks were definitely my favorite part - lots of delicious texture, mmmmmm.  Unfortunately, this was only available over Easter weekend, but I really hope they bring it back again!!