Lunchtime Links for March 30th, 2012

• Kirbie's Cravings: Easy donuts.
• The Kitchn: No bake and easy desserts.
• Picky Palate: Giant peanut butter cup marshmallow cookies.
• Tracey's Culinary Adventures: S'mores cheesecake.
• Tabatha Takes Over: Recap from TVGasm.

Girls' Weekend

This weekend I am looking forward to lots of friends visiting!  Three friends from NYC and one from PA are coming down to visit another friend in DC and I, woohoo! 



We are planning on brunch at Co Co. Sala which is always so good and super girly in my opinion, walking around the city, and whatever else we can think of. It's always fun to have college friends visit, I anticipate lots of fun gossip and late nights, haha. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Lunchtime Links for March 29th, 2012

• Kirbie's Cravings: 2 ingredient flourless Nutella cake. 
• Serious Eats: Cheerios showdown, part 3.
• The Kitchn: Halfway cookies.

Happy (Belated) Birthday Lady Gaga!

So, I scheduled my posts wrong and yesterday was actually Lady Gaga's birthday, whoops.  I'm sure she will find some way to forgive me, us being such close friends and all...haha.

Anyway- the fab Lady Gaga is now 26, which makes me in awe of how much she's accomplished and all the work she's put in to her craft at such a young age, and also makes me feel REALLY old. 

If any of you have seen the full "Marry the Night" video, you'll know that it is pretty crazy, and in my opinion, pretty epic.  There's certainly a lot going on in the video, so to speak.  Here's my favorite quote from the video - I find it to be much more thoughtful than one might expect from a music video:

When I look back on my life, it's not that I don't want to see things exactly as they happened, it's just that I prefer to remember them in an artistic way.

And truthfully, the lie of it all is much more honest because I invented it.

Clinical psychology tells us, arguably, that trauma is the ultimate killer. Memories are not recycled like atoms and particles in quantum physics. They can be lost forever. It’s sort of like my past is an unfinished painting, and as the artist of that painting, I must fill in all the ugly holes and make it beautiful again.

 It’s not that I’ve been dishonest, it’s just that I loathe reality. 

Lunchtime Links for March 28th, 2012

• Kirbie's Cravings: Cookies and cream mug cake.
• Serious Eats: Pike Brewing Company in Seattle. 
• The Budget Babe: Lauren Conrad's tan pullover and black ballet flats.
• The Kitchn: Boston cream cupcakes.
• Raspberri Cupcakes: Twix cake.

DSW - New Flats

 

I'm normally a heels kinda gal, but flats are a necessary item for certain outfits and walking situations, haha. A while back I got these two flats from DSW and I love them both! 

 The lighter ones on top are the Madden Girl Tazorr Flats in Blush, and the darker pair are the Jellypop Easy Flats.  The Jellypop ones are pretty casual so I won't be wearing them to work, but I like that both pairs have detailing on them that make them different from plain flats.  Both of these have been great for the nice spring weather we've had lately!   

Lunchtime Links for March 27th, 2012

• Serious Eats: Evolution juices from Starbucks.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Flourless Nutella brownies. 
• The Kitchn: New baby taco box.
  

Georgetown Cupcake - NY Cheesecake Cupcake

 

Here we have the final NYC edition cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake!  This super cute NY Cheesecake cupcake is a perfect representation of the city, from the taxicab fondant decoration to the cheesecake itself.

This isn't really technically a cupcake, but a cute mini-cheesecake with a graham cracker crumb crust on the bottom.   It was rich without being too heavy, really a tasty mini-dessert.  Anyone that likes cheesecakes will love this one!

Lunchtime Links for March 26th, 2012

• Serious Eats: Cheerios showdown part 2.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Red velvet mug cake.
• Eat Yourself Skinny: Asian lettuce cups.  
• Picky Palate: Starbucks iced lemon pound cake copycat recipe.
• The Budget Babe: Target's spring shoes.

CVS Deals - Week of 03/25/2012

There's lots of great deals at CVS this week, including these Easter-related deals only from Sunday through Tuesday:

- 2 Easter M&Ms bags: Buy 1 Get 1 Free, $1/2 CVS coupon.
- Gold Emblem jelly beans: $0.99 on sale, $0.99 Extra Bucks back.
- 2 Mars Easter egg singles: 2/$1 on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon, $0.25/2 CVS coupon, $1 Extra Bucks back.

There's also a number of coupon deals on toiletries:

- 2 Softsoap hand soaps, one 4-pack bar soaps: 3/$9 on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon, $1 manufacturer's coupon, $3 Extra Bucks back.

- Schick Hydro Silk razor: $9.99 on sale, $4 manufacturer's coupon, $4 Extra Bucks back.

- Colgate Optic White toothpaste: $3.99 on sale, $1 manufacturer's coupon, $2 Extra Bucks back.

- 2 Colgate 360 toothbrushes: $2.99 each on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon, $2 Extra Bucks each back.

- 2 Halls cough drops: 2/$3 on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon, $1 Extra Bucks back.

- Tampax Radiant: $3.99 on sale, $1 manufacturer's coupon, $1 Extra Bucks back.

- Aveeno Active Naturals shampoo: $3.99 , $1 manufacturer's coupon, $1.50 CVS coupon.


Happy shopping everyone!

Lunchtime Links for March 23rd, 2012

• Serious Eats: Every dipping sauce at Pomme Frites.
• The Pioneer Woman: Seafood pasta.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Chewy cookies and cream cookies.
• Picky Palate: Creamy crock pot spaghetti.
• Blondie and Brownie: Whoopie pies at Luke's Lobster.

Birch and Barley Brunch

How can one say no to a "boozy brunch", honestly?

I had a great first meal at Birch & Barley earlier this year- pastries and baked goods are definitely the restaurant's strong suit, so brunch was a great way to try out a few of their dishes!

I started the meal with drink #1, a grapefruit mimosa, as well as the fried donut holes.

I believe these were Nutella-glazed, Maple bacon, and Poppyseed?

The restaurant sent out a gratis Sausage and Peppers flatbread for us, which was delicious and very much appreciated.  The flatbread dough was soft but still had a little chew to it, which I really liked.  

Yummmmmmmmmmm... PRETZEL ROLL!  Here is my entree, the Fried Egg BLT, in which their version is with pork belly, arugula, and tomato.  Normally this comes with a side of fries; however I swapped that out for a side salad which added some veggies and a slightly less "I'm going to die" feeling from eating this, haha.  The pork belly was rich and super tasty- however the pretzel roll was amazeballs and definitely held its own against the other inside ingredients. 

Finally, here is cocktail #2, the Michelada, which I believe is a Bloody Mary made with beer.  YUM.  This was so good and I'm so glad I tried it.  Although, I pretty much figured I would since I like tomato juice and beer to begin with, haha.

Overall this was a delicious and fun brunch with friends, and I'd highly recommend coming here for brunch if you are in the area!




Birch and Barley
1337 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
202.567.2576

Lunchtime Links for March 22nd, 2012

• Serious Eats: Momofuku ginger-scallion noodles with tofu.
• Eat Yourself Skinny: Herb crusted pork chops.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Mocha mug cake.
• Small Kitchen College: Banana cookies. 
• Tasty Kitchen: Chocolate hazelnut milk.

Georgetown Cupcake - Big Apple Crumble Cupcake

 

Here we have another NYC-based Georgetown Cupcake, woohoo! I received this free Big Apple Crumble cupcake a while back to try out when it was the free secret flavor one day.  These NYC flavors were introduced at all three locations, but are now only available at their NYC location in SoHo.  

This reminded me of their Apple Cinnamon cupcake, with the addition of a little crumble topping under the fondant apple.  I thought the apple decoration was super cute and a nice little nod to NYC.  Anyone that's a fan of apple baked goods will love this one!

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.

Luke's Lobster: Bethesda!

I don't frequent Luke's Lobster as often as I'd like, but the lobster rolls are delicious and I've enjoyed their food in both NYC and in DC.

And now, they are opening another location in Bethesda, MD!  Just steps from Georgetown Cupcake, this will be a much easier way for me to get my lobster roll fix!!

Any other lobster roll fans out there? Or maybe more of a shrimp or crab roll fan?

Lunchtime Links for March 20th, 2012

• Picky Palate: Pioneer Woman's malted milk chocolate chip cookies.
• In Good Taste: Smoothie recipes.
• The Kitchn: Hosting a hot chocolate party.
• The Beauty Department: Curling wand tutorial.
• Cakespy: Peanut butter crunch layer bars. 

Taylor Gourmet - Kelly Drive Hoagie

 

Yummmmm, another Taylor Gourmet hoagie post!

This lovely hoagie is the Kelly Drive hoagie on wheat: prosciutto, sopressata, sharp provolone, lettuce, tomato, and onion.  This was super delicious, probably moreso because I looooooooooove me some prosciutto, haha.  It's simple and tasty, just the way a hoagie should be :o)

Lunchtime Links for March 19th, 2012

• The Kitchn: Breakfast avocado recipes.
• Picky Palate: Stovetop broccoli and cheese chicken pasta.
• In Good Taste: Shells and cheese.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Coffee cake mug cake.
• Steamy Kitchen: Cauliflower mashed potatoes.

CVS Deals - Week of 03/18/2012

This week, I did find some items that I wanted from the eligible items in the "Buy $30, get a $10 CVS gift card"deal.  Remember, you just need to spend $30 before coupons, so you can get some great deals!

- Kettle chips: $2.49 on sale, $1 manufacturer's coupon.
- 3 Air Wick twin pack refills: $5 on sale, $1 manufacturer's coupon.
- 2 Woolite detergents: $7 each on sale, two $1 manufacturer's coupons.

There's also a few deals on toiletries this week:

- Lady Mitchum deodorant: $1.99 on sale, $1 manufacturer's coupon.
- 2 Playtex gentle glide: $8.99 and $5.99 each, BOGO coupon, $3 Extra Bucks back.

Happy shopping everyone!

Lunchtime Links for March 16th, 2012

• The Kitchn: Butters, spreads and schmears.
• The Beauty Department: Bow nails.
• Serious Eats: Cheerios showdown part 1.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Pure Nutella cake.
• The Pioneer Woman: New York style chopped salad.

Wanted: Birthday Cake Oreos

A few weeks ago (March 6th), Oreos turned 100!

To celebrate, they came out with a special Birthday Cake Oreo!  Like a Funfetti cake, these have sprinkles inside the regular white frosting.  Which, to most normal people, may not seem like such an exciting revelation...

...but to me, it sounds AWESOME.  And now it sounds super duper awesome in the most frustrating way possible, since I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND THESE OREOS ANYWHERE.  I've checked in both NJ and MD, at multiple types of stores.  I've seen multiple blog posts and articles about these Oreos, so people must be finding them somewhere right??

If anyone has seen these and wants to share their whereabouts, please let me know!

Lunchtime Links for March 15th, 2012

• The Kitchn: 10 make-ahead breakfast recipes.
• Steamy Kitchen: Spicy steamed mussels in miso broth. 
• Serious Eats: Chashu pork belly.
• Picky Palate: Double cookies and cream kiss cookie bars.
• In Good Taste: Chicken tomatillo chili with sour cream and cilantro.

Love, Love, Love: Pete's New Haven Pizza

I have been to Pete's New Haven Style Apizza restaurant a few times, but only recently discovered the wonders of the "New Haven".  The "New Haven" apizza is a White Pizza, Local Chesapeake Clams, Garlic, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Pecorino Romano, Oregano. 

This pizza is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good.  It definitely helps that I'm a huge fan of linguine with white clam sauce at Italian restaurants, because this was pretty much that dish in pizza form, haha.  It's super garlic-y, well-seasoned, and the combination of the crisp crust with the clams is delicious! 

For those of you that don't know much about New Haven Apizza, and what makes it so different from New York/Chicago/etc., find out more here!

Lunchtime Links for March 14th, 2012

• Blondie and Brownie: Pierre Herme macarons.
• Emily Bites: Buffalo wing hummus. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Flourless peanut butter mug cake.
• Serious Eats: New cupcake shops in NYC.
• Cupcakes and Cashmere: Peanut butter ice cream sandwiches.

CVS Deals - Week of 03/11/2012

There's a few great deals this week at CVS, starting with some cold and allergy medication, which is great for this time of year.

- Zyrtec 5 count: $5.99 on sale, $5.99 Extra Bucks back.
- Pedia Care cold medicine: $5.99 on sale, $5 Extra Bucks back.

There's also a few health/beauty items that are a good deal with coupons:

- Colgate Optic White toothpaste: $3.99 on sale, $1 manufacturer's coupon, $2 Extra Bucks back.
- Schick Hydro Silk razor: $9.99 on sale, $4 manufacturer's coupon, $4 Extra Bucks back.

Happy shopping everyone!

Lunchtime Links for March 13th, 2012

• Serious Eats: S'mores pie.
• Tasty Kitchen: Asian pork tenderloin. 
• Emily Bites: Cheesy taco pasta.
• Brunch and the City: Brunch at Oyamel.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Banana chocolate chip cookies.

Chobani Apple Cinnamon Yogurt

I'm a big fan of Chobani yogurts, for both breakfasts and in my smoothies.  I was pumped to find some new flavors that came out earlier this year, and tried out this Apple Cinnamon flavor.  

Chobani definitely hit the nail on the head with this flavor - it was like a yogurt version of an apple pie, haha.  It was a nice balance of flavors so that neither apple nor cinnamon was too overwhelming.  If anyone is a fan of apple pie but wants to be a little healthier, I think adding some crumbled graham crackers or something crunchy on top would make this a nice apple pie/crumble substitute.  To be honest, I am not one of those people - I don't like fruit pies in general, haha - but I liked this yogurt for a nice afternoon snack :o)

Denver- bound!

Hi everyone! I am off to visit my friend E in Denver for a long weekend starting today!  I have only been to Denver once for work, so I am excited to check out the sights and food of the city outside of the confines of a conference room, haha. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Lunchtime Links for March 7th, 2012

• Kirbie's Cravings: Nutella swirl quick bread.
• The Kitchn: Korean seasoning sauce.
• Tasty Kitchen: Fresh strawberry cheesecake. 
• Serious Eats: English muffin loaves. 
• The Feisty Foodie: Francois Payard bakery.

Bai Drinks

Thank you Bai for sending me a full lineup of flavors!  I received these drinks a while back via Twitter - again, the power of social media :o)

On this row we have: Mango Kauai, Costa Rica Clementine, and Congo Pear.

And here we have Jamaica Blue Berry, Ipanema Pomegranate, Kenya Peach, and Sumatra Dragonfruit.

I tried the majority of them (and gave a few to friends) and I really liked them overall!  I've never heard of the coffeefruit before trying these Bai drinks.  And yes, there really is caffeine in these drinks, which  I was reminded of the hard way.  I drank some the night that I got them, and definitely had trouble falling asleep that night, haha.  My favorites were the Ipanema Pomegranate and Mango Kauai.  The flavors were pretty sweet but still refreshing.  The great thing is that each one stayed true to the flavor on the label, so it was interesting to try out the more exotic fruits.  Give it a try if you're a fan of fruit drinks!  

Lunchtime Links for March 6th, 2012

• Picky Palate: Hearty chicken barley soup with vegetables.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Pumpkin coffee cake.
• Bakerella: Butterfly cupcakes.
• Raspberri Cupcakes: Funfetti marshmallows. 
• The Pioneer Woman: Pork chops with pineapple fried rice.

CVS Deals - Week of 03/04/2012

Hi everyone!  I'm out of town this week but still made sure to hit up CVS for this week's deals, haha!

This week there's another Buy $30 get a $10 CVS gift card deal, so I picked up a few items that were eligible:

- 2 Lysol toilet cleaners: 2/$5 on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon.
- 2 Lysol disinfecting wipes: 2/$5 on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon.
- 2 Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strip kits: Buy 1 Get 1 50% off on sale ($9.99 and $4.99), two $1 manufacturer's coupons.
- 2 Blue Diamond almond cans: 2/$5 on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon.

For those of you that are Easter candy fans, there's some great Extra Bucks deals:

- Gold Emblem jelly beans: $0.99 on sale, $0.99 Extra Bucks back.

Mars Easter candy: Buy $12 get $3 Extra Bucks back:

- Snickers eggs multipack: 2/$6 on sale
- Dove Easter chocolate bag: 2/$6 on sale
With these, I used one $1/2 manufacturer's coupon.

Finally, there's some great deals using recent manufacturer's coupons:

- 2 Dentyne Ice gum packs: 2/$2 on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon.
- Revlon nail polish: $4.79, $1 manufacturer's coupon, $3 Extra Bucks back.


Happy shopping everyone!

Lunchtime Links for March 5th, 2012

• The Budget Babe: Merona for Target Spring 2012 lookbook. 
• The Kitchn: Brown rice bowl with lemongrass, tofu, and cashews. 
• Picky Palate: White and chocolate chunk cookies with marshmallow bits and toffee. 
• Sprinkles: 24-hour cupcake ATM in LA.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Microwave matcha mochi cups.

Georgetown Cupcake - Black and White Cookie Cupcake

 

As you all know - and yes, the assumption is that you MUST know, haha - Georgetown Cupcake recently opened its doors in NYC.  To celebrate, they have several NYC-based cupcakes that are really cute!  They offered all of them as the free secret cupcakes prior to the NYC store opening, and at all stores until the end of February. 

This one is the Black and White Cookie Cupcake, and definitely the most interesting-looking of the new ones.  It's a marble cake cupcake with a vanilla and chocolate swirled frosting on top.  I loved the look of the frosting, it was a creative way to get the "black and white cookie" effect!  It was interesting too because the chocolate ganache frosting and the vanilla frosting had very different textures.   I would love for a "marble cake" cupcake like this to be in the regular rotation outside of NYC!

Lunchtime Links for March 2nd, 2012

• In Good Taste: Baked chicken with spinach, roasted peppers, and melted mozzarella. 
• The Kitchn: Making potato chips in the microwave. 
• I Wanna Be A Domestic Goddess: Banana cream pie cupcakes. 
• Serious Eats: Fast food fried fish sandwiches. 
• Good Life Eats: Sweet and sour Asian meatballs with vegetables.

Family Guy - Peanut Butter Jelly Time

I can say with complete certainty that this prize was the highlight of my day, haha.

I recently had a work meeting at Dave & Buster's, and collected a fair amount of tickets/points throughout our day there.  I honestly couldn't find anything else that I wanted (it's about 99% kid-oriented prizes, haha) and I kept seeing this doll and cracking up just from seeing it.  And now it resides on my living room couch, haha.


For those of you that are wondering why this doll has any significant meaning whatsoever, this is Brian Griffin, the dog from Family Guy, in a banana costume.  In the episode titled "The Courtship of Stewie's Father", Brian dresses up in a banana costume to cheer up Peter, to the tune of the random but crazy popular internet video "Peanut Butter Jelly Time".  It's definitely worth You Tube-ing because it's pretty hilarious :o)

Lunchtime Links for March 1st, 2012

• The Kitchn: Homemade Nutella. 
• Beantown Baker: Peanut butter chocolate chip and bacon blondies.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Nutella monkey bread.  
• The Budget Babe: LC Lauren Conrad for Kohl's.  
• Serious Eats: Peanut Butter sweet rolls.  

Shake Shack - March Custard Menu

 A new month = a new set of custard flavors at Shake Shack!!

• Monday: Salty Chocolate Peanut Butter
• Tuesday: Root Beer Freeze
• Wednesday: S'mores
• Thursday: Buttery Caramel Cocoa Nib
• Friday: Maple Bacon Banan-za
• Saturday: Mint Chocolate Chip
• Sunday: Fluffernutter

Right off the bat, I'm thinking Monday, Wednesday, Sunday, and possibly Friday due to curiosity will have to be on my list :o)