Pinkberry - Salted Caramel Frozen Yogurt

I tend to stick with the delicious Original Tart flavor frozen yogurt whenever I go to Pinkberry, but the Salted Caramel intrigued me enough to switch up my order, haha.  

Here we have the Salted Caramel frozen yogurt with sliced almonds and the chocolate crispy things - do they have an official name? - that I love, they are so tasty!  I loved that the caramel flavor was strong, but not overwhelming.  It went perfectly with the chocolate and crunchy almond slices- it was a perfect combination!  With summer fast approaching I anticipate a lot of frozen yogurt in my near future :o) 

Lunchtime Links for July 15th, 2014

• The Kitchn: Spicy Korean grilled chicken.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Chocolate chip cookie ice cream bars. 
• Cookies & Cups: Peanut butter pretzel milkshake.
• A Spicy Perspective: Tiramisu pops. 
• Oh Sweet Basil: Frozen yogurt banana dippers.

Pinkberry - Chocolate Hazelnut

I could probably eat Pinkberry's chocolate hazelnut frozen yogurt every day, no joke.  I think the only thing stopping me is not having a Pinkberry close to my apartment, haha.  The chocolate hazelnut frozen yogurt was like having a lightened up cup of Nutella, and the chocolate pearl topping was a tasty crunchy addition.  I can't wait until this special flavor comes back- I miss you, Chocolate Hazelnut Pinkberry!

Seattle Eats - Fumie's Gold, Seabell Bakery, Red Mango

Of course a trip to Seattle wouldn't be complete with lots and lots of sweets as well, haha.

Here we have an assortment of delicious Japanese desserts from Fumie's Gold: Strawberry Shortcake, Matcha (green tea) Tiramisu, Sweet Potato Roll, and a Cream Puff. SO SO SO SO SO GOOD. I NEED this in DC.

I also checked out Seabell Bakery, which I had not been to before. It's a cute little shop with the standard Japanese sandwich bread, filled rolls, and sandwiches. Of course I had to try the Hello Kitty and Panda chocolate-filled breads, haha.

Finally, while this is not specific to Seattle, I tried out the pumpkin frozen yogurt at Red Mango - delicious!  I got it with sliced almonds and crushed graham crackers, which added a lot of texture and made it even more "pumpkin pie" ish. 

Seabell Bakery

12816 Factoria Blvd. SE

Bellevue, WA 98006

425.644.2616

Red Mango - Bellevue Square

1031 Bellevue Square

Bellevue, WA 98004

425.451.8073

Lunchtime Links for November 2nd, 2012

• Serious Eats: All of the cream puffs at Pacific Puffs, San Francisco. 
• Bake at 350: Rosy little pumpkin cupcakes. 
• My Baking Addiction: Sugar and spice cupcakes.  
• Picky Palate: Pumpkin brownie cupcakes with vanilla bean buttercream. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Pumpkin frozen yogurt.

Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Banana Greek Frozen Yogurt

Once I heard about Ben & Jerry's new Greek Frozen Yogurt a few months ago, I knew I had to try out the Banana Peanut Butter flavor.  I've never had a banana-based ice cream before, but I have enjoyed my share of peanut butter swirl ice creams.

I think they did a great job of combining the sweetness of bananas and peanut butter with the tartness of Greek yogurt.  It was definitely lighter than a regular Ben & Jerry's ice cream, but was still creamy and tasty.  The chunky swirls of peanut butter definitely were my favorite part!

Lunchtime Links for August 31st, 2012

• Serious Eats: All of the sandwiches at Potbelly.
• Edible Perspective: Peanut butter cup doughnuts. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Nutella frozen yogurt.
• Eat Live Run: Crock Pot Tex-Mex chicken lettuce wraps. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Banana pudding cookies.

Lunchtime Links for July 17th, 2012

• The Kitchn: Matcha tea lemonade.
• Teen Mom: Recap from TVGasm. 
• Serious Eats: Reese's peanut butter cup sundae.  
• Kirbie's Cravings: Hello Kitty at Yogurtland.
• The Style Dossier: Moon-a-rita. 

Lunchtime Links for June 14th, 2012

• Serious Eats: Thai sweet chili sauce.
• Bakerella: Fourth of July cupcakes. 
• How Sweet It Is: No-bake peanut butter s'mores squares.
• Big Girls Small Kitchen: Frozen yogurt ice cream.
• Picky Palate: Perfect cinnamon rolls.

Lunchtime Links for March 21st, 2012

• The Beauty Department: Gold leaf manicure.
• Blondie and Brownie: Fried pie custard at Milk Bar.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Magnolia's vanilla cupcakes.
• Serious Eats: Green papaya salad.
• Feisty Foodie: Ben & Jerry's Greek frozen yogurt product launch.

Lunchtime Links for August 4th, 2011

• The Cupcake Avenger: Fluffernutter cupcakes.
• The Pioneer Woman: Chipotle steak salad.
• A Passion For Food: Six-course tea dinner.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Yogurtland Hello Kitty promotion.
• Bakerella: Sweet shops.

Lunchtime Links for November 22nd, 2010

• A Passion For Food: Whoopie pies at Columbine in NYC.
• The Kitchn: Edible gift ideas.
• Sassy Radish: Maple frozen yogurt.
• Feisty Foodie: Kin Shop restaurant in NYC.
• Shop N' Chomp: Nerd chic looks.

Fun in Fairfax, VA: Pinkberry + Cupcakes Actually

A few weeks ago, my weekend trip to San Francisco got messed up thanks to a plane malfunction (booooooooooooooooo), which left me with a completely free weekend at home.  I made the most of it by going out to dinner, cleaning, and venturing out to Fairfax, VA for the day.  I met up with my friend M at the new Pinkberry, which had just opened that same week, woo!   

I got a mini cup of the seasonal/new Pumpkin with graham crackers.  The taste wasn't particularly pumpkin-y but honestly- I was happy to have a Pinkberry at least somewhat close to me (vs. CA and NYC, haha), woo!!  I also like that they offer a mini cup size- just enough if you're not looking for TOO much frozen yogurt. 

After we finished our frozen yogurts, we stopped in next door to Cupcakes Actually, because I figured I'd make the most of being in the area and try the store out, haha. 

We split the OMG cupcake: A banana cupcake, filled with caramel, iced with peanut butter butter cream, dipped in a chocolate ganache, drizzled with caramel and topped with either peanuts or toffee (I can't remember).

Here's a cross-section of the cupcake, so you can see all of the components.  Thank god we split this cupcake (well granted, I ate more than M did- haha) cus it was RICH!  I loved the flavors though, especially the chocolate ganache + peanut butter frosting combo- super delicious!  Being over $4 with tax though would make me reconsider buying a bunch of cupcakes from them though- that's way more expensive than Georgetown Cupcake or other local cupcakeries!  Overall, a great time in Fairfax trying out new items!

Pinkberry- Fairfax Corner

11942 Grand Commons Ave
Fairfax, VA 22030

Cupcakes Actually - Fairfax Corner

11944 Grand Commons Ave
Fairfax, VA 22030

Hamilton Beach Half Pint Soft-Serve Ice Cream Maker

I first came across this cute lil' soft-serve maker on the Unplggd blog, which I e-mailed to anyone and everyone saying "Omgggggggggg this is so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute".  Fast forward to my birthday, where my friends S and D got me one (in PINK!) for my birthday!  Thanks guys!  I was super excited to crack the box open and get started on some soft-serve.

The Unplggd post covers most of the step-by-step instructions as well as details on this product, but here's how my first experience turned out.  I froze one of the bowls (it comes with two, which is a nice touch) overnight, and did the easiest recipe option, aka plain yogurt, haha. 

...and we've got tart frozen yogurt!  As you can see in the photo, the sides of the bowl freeze up really quickly, much faster than the part that's churning in the middle.  One issue I did have is that the lid didn't fit perfectly onto the bowl, which made the churning process a little more difficult.  I'm hoping that the next time I try it out (with a liquid inside, not yogurt) it'll fit on a little tighter.  It's a cute little applicance that is great for apartment living!  

Pumpkin, Continued

As we progress further into fall, that naturally means more and more PUMPKIN!!  I've already listed some on the blog before,  but here's a few more pumpkin-related items I've come across recently:

• Dolcezza: Pumpkin gelato, tastes like pumpkin pie, mmm.
• Red Mango: Pumpkin frozen yogurt is delicious, especially with graham cracker crumbs!
• Cheesecake Factory: Pumpkin and Pumpkin pecan cheesecakes are back for a limited time. 
• Pizzeria Paradiso: Autumn Fest selections include pumpkin beer and pumpkin pizza (which I blogged about last year).
• Georgetown Cupcake: As usual, their yummy Pumpkin Spice cupcake is available every day in October.
• Starbucks: Most people that love pumpkin already know this, but Pumpkin Spice lattes and Frappuccinos are here, as well as Pumpkin cream cheese cupcakes.

Lunchtime Links for August 31st, 2010

• The Kitchn: Making low-fat froyo at home.
• Sassy Radish: Gazpacho recipe.
• Serious Eats: Gluten-free S'mores pie recipe.
• Budget Babe: What to wear to a backyard wedding.
• Tasty Kitchen: Nutella and banana wontons.

Newseum + Tangysweet (Gallery Place)

View from the Newseum balcony. 

A few weekends ago P and I checked out the Newseum, the museum of news (go figure), and they weren't kidding with the name!  This place is packed with all sorts of interesting artifacts and tons of information about about a billion different historical events.  It was serious information overload, but seeing the actual objects that are a part of history was really great.  Definitely better than just reading signs about what happened, that's for sure.  There were, obviously, a good percentage of depressing things to see (being that it's a news/history-based collection), but overall an enjoyable and worthwhile experience.   The normal tickets are  $19.95 (adult), but I got tickets through Groupon for $10 each, which made it even better.

Original Tart Yogurt + Red Velvet Crumbles

After the Newseum, P and I walked down to the Penn Quarter location of Tangysweet, where I redeemed a half-price $50 gift card from LivingSocial and we each got original frozen yogurt with red velvet cake crumbles on top.  The yogurt and the red velvet cake were better separate vs. in a cup together.  The tangy yogurt doesn't really mesh well with sweets, in my opinion, so next time it'll be back to fresh strawberry topping for me! 

Review: YoCake, Montgomery Mall

I first heard about YoCake via a Delleicious post online, and was pretty excited about having another tart yogurt option close to me.  The cupcakes- I was a little iffy about, considering my til-death-do-us-part-allegiance to Georgetown Cupcake, and my previous disappointment with the Red Velvet/Tangysweet cupcakes.  But obviously I was still going to try the yogurt and the cupcakes, duh.     

Tart with Strawberries; Vanilla with Blackberries

Luckily I had a willing and enthusiastic visitor that weekend, B, to come along with me to try this place out.  We both liked our respective yogurts, although I think B liked his vanilla yogurt moreso than my tart yogurt.  That's pretty common- tart yogurt is a v. polarizing flavor in my opinion, especially since a lot of people think of frozen yogurt as being more like soft serve ice cream or custard, rather than something that isn't v. sweet at all.  I liked the tart yogurt, it was pretty much what I expected, and the strawberries were fresh and not mushy.  

 

Mall Lighting is not-so-flattering.

Onto the cupcakes.  We picked up 6 to go, to bring over to our friends' place/eat later.  I'm not 100% sure what all the flavors were, but I'm pretty sure it was (Top Row) Amaretto, Raspberry Lemonade?, Red Velvet; (Bottom Row) Chocolate, Strawberry, Coconut.

Overall I think everyone's opinion of the cupcakes was "Good, not great".  The frosting in general seemed to fare better than the cake portions- the cakes were dense and dry, and not v. pleasant to eat.  For being comparable price-wise to other cupcakeries in the DC area, pretty disappointing. 

Final Verdict?  I'd definitely come by here again for some frozen yogurt- it's conveniently located in a mall that I go to pretty often, and it's a welcome addition to the food court there.  I'm sure enough people will be intrigued by the cupcakes to keep them selling, especially since there are no other "bakery" options in the mall that I know of (besides the pastries in the coffee kiosks I guess).  I will probably plan on coming back and trying out a cupcake again in a few months, maybe to see if they've tweaked any of the issues out with the cake portion of the cupcakes.   

I <3 NYC

Back from a fun fun weekend in NYC! Weather held up for the most part, walked around a bunch, good times with good friends!

On to the food... some highlights:

Pork & Egg Bun... Deeeeeeelicious.

Saturday- First stop, Momofuku Milk Bar for some tasty treats. The place is small but jam-packed with so many amazing things. M and I both got the Pork & Egg bun- if we had known how big they were, we definitely could've split one. It was so amazing- pork belly slices, an over easy egg, cucumbers, hoisin sauce. A squirt of Sriracha (available at each table) was great, but isn't necessary to make this taste Awesome.

We also got samples of both the Strawberry Shortcake and Cereal Milk soft serves. Yes you read that correctly, Cereal Milk. And wouldn't you know it, it REALLY tasted like the milk in a bowl after you've eaten all the cereal. So Cool!! I couldn't leave without buying one of their sweets- picked up a Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow cookie- bonus, the one he gave me was broken off on one part so he gave me two, woo. I tried this cookie later on Sunday before I left, and it was just so rich and crispy/smooth/buttery/I'm running out of adjectives, haha. So good!

Vanilla Custard, Shake Shack

After walking around for a while, we hit up Madison Square Park for the famed Shake Shack. I first got a custard, thinking I was still too full from the Pork & Egg bun to get a burger. But since M wanted a shake anyway, we got into the "not custards" line and waited it out, for about 30-45 minutes total.

I could eat my computer screen right now, seriously.

I am so glad we did, and I told myself to just get the burger, since we were all the way here and already waiting in line anyway. Oh. My. GOD. The Shackburger (meat, cheese, tomato, lettuce, Shack sauce) was UNBELIEVEABLY good. Like Wow-So-Glad-I-Got-This-I-Can't-Finish-It-But-I-Want-To-But-I-Might-Explode-But-It's-So-Amazing-I-Wonder-If-I-Can-Take-It-Back-To-MD-And-Save-It-So-I-Can-Extend-This-Enjoyment-For-Another-Day... kind of "good". Seriously, I don't even care if you went to a churrascaria moments beforehand, if you are anywhere near MSP (or not, even), just suck it up and wait in line for this baby. SO AMAZING. In other news, M got an order of fries which I sampled as well- crispy and salty with creamy potato-y insides, a delicious order in itself.

Hello long-lost loveeeeeeeeeee.

Finished off the weekend with some breakfast at Pinkberry before catching the train back to DC. They have a few new toppings, including the Valencia Orange slices pictured above. Even though I've been lucky to have other tart frozen yogurt places pop up nearby, they are just still not the same as Pinkberry. So glad I got some before heading home!

M & E, it was great seeing you both!

DC Eats: Hank's Oyster Bar

Hank's Oyster Bar is one of those places that you go once, and think, man I should really come here more often... and then you never do. Not because you don't want to, but because it's far (from me in MD), small, crowded, doesn't take reservations, and it manages to slip off your radar after a while. But sometimes plans work out, the weather's great, and there happens to be NO WAIT for a table at Hank's... a night of good eats is in order!

Mmm... slippery.

Glass of white wine and some freebie Goldfish crackers in hand, we took a look at the menu. I was at Hank's pretty much for the Lobster Roll, but T had never tried oysters before so we each got 2 ($2.00/oyster). I believe he got one from PEI (Prince Edward Island) and another one I can't remember. I also got 2, shown above, both from WA, one was called a Hootenanny and the other one didn't have a funny name so I can't remember, haha. Notice how I thought I was being smart and getting the names down on the ticket in the photo, neglecting to realize that it's completely obscured by the plate. Both of my oysters were fresh-tasting and I liked their mignonette (top left, next to the lemon) with the oyster the best.

Hello Loverrrrrrr

And here we are with the star of the show- the LOBSTER ROLL ($23.00). I had high expectations for Hank's version of a classic, and this did not disappoint. Huge chunks of lobster with just the right amount of mayo and other crunchy fillers (celery? onion? Not 100% sure), on a buttered split roll....yummmmmm. I got the roll with Old Bay fries, but you can substitute any of their sides (T got the collard greens). The fries were ok, not great, next time I get this I will try it with a different side. It might seem like a lot to spend on, well, a sandwich, but this isn't just any old sandwich my friends, it's fabulous, delicious & juicy, and I Love Love Love it. (Channelling my inner Teresa from RHoNJ).

Hank's does not offer dessert but will bring out a little dish of broken up chocolate for each table with the check. Clearly that didn't stop us from going to Mr. Yogato right around the corner from Hank's.

Domo arigato, Mr. Yogato

I got the original tart with fresh strawberries, and T got the chocolate-hazelnut with Cookie Crisps. I was way too full to finish all of mine but it was a great end to the meal! Works out really well that Hank's doesn't serve dessert, since you can walk 10 feet to Mr. Yogato, grab some froyo, and walk around Dupont. Definitely want to come back to Hank's again this summer for another Lobster Roll!

- Hank's Oyster Bar
1624 Q Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
202.462.4265 (No reservations; call ahead to put your name on the seating list)

- Mr. Yogato
1515 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
202.629.3531