Takeout Tuesday - Bethesda Bagels' Black History Month Bagel

 

These amazing looking bagels are available every weekend this month at Bethesda Bagels in honor of Black History Month, with half of all sales going to the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.  I picked up a few to enjoy/freeze, and they are even more vibrant in person!  Be sure to head over to pick these up this weekend if you're interested. 

Sunday Morning Bakehouse - Pastrami Croissant

A few Saturdays ago, Sunday Morning Bakehouse had a delicious special croissant for a great cause.  The Pastrami croissant has house made Russian dressing, Swiss cheese, pastrami slices, and a little pickle to top it off.  The proceeds from sales of this croissant went to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in honor of Anthony Bourdain, which was fitting with Bourdain day being a few days prior.

I loved the smooth dressing with the tender pastrami slices, and the big, flaky croissant to bring everything together.  Of course I always enjoy sweet pastries, but it's great to try savory versions like this to switch things up a bit - especially if they're going towards a great cause!

3.11 Donation - Yahoo! Japan

Yahoo! Japan is continuing their March 11th tsunami and earthquake relief efforts with the 3.11 search again this year.  Yahoo! Japan will be making a 10 Yen donation to the Tohoku recovery efforts for every person that searches for “3.11” through the search engine.

It couldn't be easier to participate in the donation effort, even if you don't read Japanese! Just go to https://www.yahoo.co.jp today, and type in "3.11" in the web search field (the light blue section at the top of the page under the Yahoo! logo), and click on the dark blue search icon with the magnifying lens to the right of the search field.  You'll be directed to the thank you note up top, along with search results about the disaster and recovery efforts.  Every click counts!

Georgetown Cupcake - Williams-Sonoma Bethesda Event

                                           

Last night was a very fun event at the Bethesda Williams-Sonoma to celebrate the new Georgetown Cupcake baking mixes!  I have been to one of their book signings years ago in Bethesda, so it was fun seeing the co-owners Katherine and Sophie again!  

What a beautiful sight, haha.  These boxed cupcakes were available to take home with a donation to a great organization, No Kid Hungry. 

Katherine and Sophie are always so nice and friendly, taking photos and chatting with everyone that came out to the store.  I was very happy that they remember seeing my photos on Instagram, haha :o)  

Champagne and mini cupcakes were served, which was a delicious way to celebrate their new product!  The mini cupcakes are so cute, and are perfect little bites for a party. Plus it lets you try a number of different flavors without committing to full-size cupcakes.  

Everyone was excited about the idea of baking their own Georgetown Cupcakes at home, and the ones that were available in the store were selling quick! Congratulations to the Georgetown Cupcake team on their new baking mixes! 

The Home T - New Jersey

I bought this NJ t-shirt from The Home. T a looooooong time ago, but I definitely think it's worth spreading the word about them.  First of all, it's such a simple but fun idea for a t-shirt, and it's super soft.  As if that wasn't enough, the company donates a portion of their profits to benefit Multiple Sclerosis research, which is a fantastic cause.  The company has branched out to offer hoodies, tote bags, and lots of other ways to show your hometown pride.  This would make a fantastic holiday gift for friends and family as well! 

Georgetown Cupcake - NY Pinstripe Pretzel + Boston Green Monstah Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, Georgetown Cupcake pitted the NY Yankees and Boston Red Sox against each other, which is nothing new, but this was way more tasty than a baseball game, haha.  Both flavors of cupcakes were sold at all Georgetown Cupcake locations, with the proceeds going to two charities.  Since I don't really have a preference for one team over another, it made it easier to just buy both, haha.   

Here we have the NY Pinstripe Pretzel: Chocolate cupcake baked with gourmet butterscotch chips and crushed pretzel and topped with a butterscotch-infused buttercream frosting.  As you can see there's a ton of butterscotch chips in the one I got - not so much pretzel pieces.  This was incredibly sweet, I think mainly due to the butterscotch buttercream frosting, but a fun cupcake nonetheless.

And here is the Boston Green Monstah: Green velvet cupcake topped with green vanilla cream cheese frosting and baseball fondant decorations.  Essentially, a red velvet cupcake that was bright green instead of red, haha.  Being a fan of their red velvet to begin with, clearly I enjoyed this one as well. 

Passport to Style - Georgetown Cupcake's Hope for Henry Cupcake

I love Georgetown Cupcake as it is, but I love them even more when they use their cupcakes for good!  In addition to numerous charity-related cupcakes they've had in the past, I recently came across some tasty cupcakes at the Passport to Style event back in October.  This was my second year attending this event, and it's a great event for some worthy causes.  Of course it doesn't hurt that there's always been great food and fashion at this event! 

In addition to a number of fun items in our swag bags for attending the event, there was a signature bright pink box with a salted caramel cupcake inside.  The fondant decoration is specifically for the Hope for Henry foundation, which was one of the charities that our tickets and donations went to:

"Hope for Henry Foundation (HFHF) improves the lives of children with life-threatening illnesses by providing carefully chosen gifts and specially-designed programs to entertain and promote comfort, care and recovery. HFHF brings smiles and laughter, hope and magic into the lives of these children and their families."

Cupcakes for a charitable cause makes them all the more better, in my opinion :o)



Pink Jams! Take a Bite

 For the month of October, Pink Jams! has a great DC-area event going on where people can eat great food and help out a great cause!  

Here's the background information from their site:

Take a Bite out of Breast Cancer is an outreach and fundraising campaign focusing on educating Washington, DC area residents about the importance of early detection and awareness, and supports Pink Jams!, a DC area non-profit promoting breast cancer awareness to young men and women. By combining this important message with fashion, art, social events, and live music, Pink Jams! is reaching out to men and women under the age of 40.

For the entire month of October, chefs and restaurateurs will commit their establishments for one day, a week, or the entire month, and generously donate a portion of their food and beverage sales so that Pink Jams! can continue their work to save lives. 

For more information, including the participating restaurants, please check out the link here. 

DC State Fair Bake Sale on Sunday

I wanted to put up a short post about a great event going on in DC on Sunday, July 17th - There is going to be a bake sale at Zorba's Cafe in DC as a fundraiser for the DC State Fair! 

There should be lots of yummy homemade treats and fun bloggers/bakers in attendance hopefully - so if you are in the area, definitely check it out!

Georgetown Cupcake - Thin Mint Cupcake

 

The Thin Mint cupcake was a special flavor for the month of April, with the proceeds going to the Girl Scout council of the Nation's Capital annual giving campaign.  

This Girl Scout cookie-based flavor is a chocolate cake with crushed Thin Mint cookies baked inside, topped with a chocolate ganache and decorated with fondant Girl Scout decorations.

Even though I'm not a fan of mint chocolate, this was really rich and tasted mostly of chocolate which I liked, haha.  The little bits of cookie inside were interesting and added a nice texture to both the cake and the frosting.  I wish they'd do the other Girl Scout cookies as cupcakes next time- mmmm Tagalong cupcakes!   

31-cent Scoop Night @ Baskin-Robbins!

If you are near a Baskin-Robbins, tonight is the 31-cent Scoop Night, from 5-10pm! 

Details here:

"Join us for 31 Cent Scoop Night at Baskin-Robbins® and help us honor America's firefighters. The Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation is donating $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation™. Participating stores will reduce prices of ice cream scoops to 31 cents*. At some locations, you may also have an opportunity to make a donation to your local fire charities."

For more information about the event, go to the Baskin-Robbins event site here.

Lunchtime Links for February 10th, 2010

• Tattoos: Umm...whoa. Scary.
• Interesting..?: Chocolate-avocado cake.
• Chef Tom: A look at Colicchio & Sons Tap Room.
• Jersey Shore: Um...what?  Fashion week???
• Lady Gaga: And Beyonce at the "Telephone" video shoot.
• Lady Gaga 2: Viva Glam Gaga lipstick by MAC, out today. 

Lunchtime Links for January 20th, 2010

• Dos Toros Taqueria: Serious Eats does a delicious looking menu review.
• Random: Gretchen from Real Housewives OC is a singer now, apparently.
• Random: A NJ clothing store-centric reality show is in the works.
• Alton Brown: Interesting "diet" sandwich.
• Wendy's: Buy a key tag, get a free Jr. Frosty with every purchase.

Lunchtime Links for December 28th

• Jaleo: I hate bourbon and this even sounds delicious to me.
• Cheap Jap Blog: Great story- Who doesn't love a great (cheap) find?!
• DIY Tube Pan: A great idea for people like me that don't want to buy a Bundt pan. 
• Haha: Arnold Palmer making an Arnold Palmer. 
• Eeeek: Signs your kitchen is making you fat.
  

Lunchtime Links for November 27th, 2009

• Real Simple: Holiday giveaway.
• Cooking Light: Staff holiday favorites.
• Gossip Girl: Recap from TVGasm. 
• Hostess Gifts: Some holiday hostess gifts from The Kitchn.  
• Art Smith: New show on TLC coming up! 

Lunchtime Links for November 19th, 2009

• CCC: Midtown-ish round of the Chocolate Chip Cookie review.
• Ooh La La: Eric Ripert's jacket, and other cooking-related items up for auction.
• Ma Peche: Another look at the latest David Chang restaurant's offerings.
• The City: Recap of Tuesday's episode.
• The Hills: Recap of Tuesday's episode.