Lunchtime Links for January 31st, 2013

• Serious Eats: Coffee cake muffins.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Bulgogi sliders.
• How Sweet It Is: Bacon blue cheeseburger potato skins.
• Steamy Kitchen: Potato Dominoes. 
• Alaska From Scratch: BBQ chicken wonton tacos with sesame slaw.

Georgetown Cupcake - Caramel Praline Crunch Cupcake

This Caramel Praline Crunch cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake is a new flavor for 2013, and I was definitely looking forward to it when it came out in January! 

This is a Caramel cupcake baked with fresh praline, topped with praline buttercream frosting, a caramel drizzle, and crushed praline.

From the description, it might seem like there's a lot going on for one little cupcake.  Be that as it may, this was super delicious!  I've never been a huge fan of pralines much, but the praline flavor in the cake and frosting wasn't overwhelming at all.  In fact, I'd say the caramel flavor was stronger overall.  As far as texture, the crushed pralines were a great touch.  This was really a tasty cupcake and I'm so happy it was added to the menu rotation.  I hope they bring it back occasionally as the secret free flavor! 

Lunchtime Links for January 30th, 2013

• Brown Eyed Baker: Snickers rice krispie treats. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Spicy sweet potato fries. 
• Steamy Kitchen: Chocolate cake s'mores cookies. 
• Table for Two: Homemade hummus two ways.
• How Sweet It Is: Banana bread tres leches cake. 

Trader Joe's - Mini Gingerbread Men

Aside from the obvious reason, whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy aren't these Mini Gingerbread Men sold year-round????????

I picked these up at Trader Joe's as a last-minute cart addition, and I am so, so, so, glad I did.  The little gingerbread cookies have just the right amount of spice, and the white fudge frosting adds some extra sweetness.  These are a delicious holiday treat!

...On second thought, maybe it's best that these aren't available year-round, because I'd probably buy them way too often, haha. 

Lunchtime Links for January 29th, 2013

• Brown Eyed Baker: Chipotle chicken and corn chowder. 
• Picky Palate: Soft batch style chocolate chip cookies. 
• Table for Two: Skinny chicken and broccoli alfredo.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Truffle stuffed chocolate chip cookies. 
• How Sweet It Is: No-bake double chocolate peanut butter snack bites. 

Georgetown Cupcake - Free Vanilla Champagne Cupcake

At the beginning of the month, Georgetown Cupcake offered this pretty Vanilla Champagne cupcake as the free secret flavor of the day, woo!  I really enjoyed their Strawberry Champagne cupcake before so of course I was excited to try this one out.

This cupcake looks like the regular Vanilla Squared cupcake, but you can tell a difference in the taste, a little different than the regular vanilla flavor.  I love the idea of adding champagne to cupcakes - a fun and festive way to switch up the regular cupcake flavors.  The fondant 2013 snowflake was also a cute little touch.  This cupcake was a great way to ring in the New Year!

Lunchtime Links for January 28th, 2013

• I Heart Naptime: Reese's peanut butter cookies. 
• Smitten Kitchen: Gnocchi in tomato broth. 
• Dessert for Two: Chocolate cobbler. 
• How Sweet It Is: Creamy pasta verde with garlic brown butter breadcrumbs. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Maple glazed cinnamon French toast donuts. 

CVS Deals - Week of January 27th, 2013

This week, there are great deals on a few items that I normally stock up on (yes, that includes the M&Ms, haha):

• 4 bags of M&Ms (any flavor): 4/$12 on sale, two $1.50/2 manufacturer's coupons, $4 Extra Bucks back.
• 2 Colgate toothpastes: $2.99 each on sale, one $1/2 manufacturer's coupon, $2 Extra Bucks back ($1 Extra Buck for each item).
• 2 Febreze candles: $2.99 each on sale, one $1/2 manufacturer's coupon, $2 Extra Bucks back ($1 Extra Buck for each item).

Happy shopping everyone!

PA-bound

I swear, I have never traveled this much in the span of one month before, sheesh! I am off to exotic Pennsylvania for a few days, the blog will be back on Monday!

Lunchtime Links for January 23rd, 2013

• Serious Eats: Farmers Fishers and Bakers in DC. 
• Cookies & Cups: Chocolate covered Cheerios. 
• How Sweet It Is: Thai turkey burgers. 
• Table for Two: White wedding cake cupcakes. 
• Pioneer Woman: Sunday night stew. 

Thomas' Pumpkin Spice Bagels

As soon as I saw that Thomas' makes Pumpkin Spice products, I knew I had to try them! Luckily I didn't have to wait long, as I found the bagels at Target shortly after first reading about them.

Obviously, these packaged bagels aren't going to hold a candle to any fresh bagels anytime soon, but I appreciate the fun factor of them being pumpkin spice bagels, haha.  There are little pockets of pumpkin puree? flavoring?... well, something that you can see throughout the bagels that add extra pumpkin flavor.  I wouldn't eat these all the time but they were a decently tasty item in the ever-expanding lineup of pumpkin-flavored foods :o)

Lunchtime Links for January 22nd, 2013

• Serious Eats: Asian chocolate-filled cookie review. 
• Closet Cooking: Spicy peanut chicken rice bowl. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Cookies and cream popcorn. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. 
• Eat, Live, Run: Crock pot spinach lasagna. 

Georgetown Cupcake - Snowball Cupcake

Back in December I bought this Snowball cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake during the holidays so that it could be "officially" recorded on here, haha.  When they first started offering the Snowball cupcake a few years ago, it was a coconut cupcake with a vanilla frosting core.  The current official description is "Georgetown Cupcake's holiday inspired coconut cupcake topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting and coconut flakes".

So, this Snowball cupcake above is the same as the regular Coconut cupcake, unfortunately.  Even though I don't like coconut, I do wish that they could go back to adding a little something extra to the holiday version, just to make it more special.  If you are a fan of the Coconut cupcake though, this one is offered every day in December (as opposed to specific days the rest of the year) which is a nice bonus.      

NJ & Denver Weekend

I'm headed to NJ and Denver starting today, hopefully with lots of good eats along the way!  Have a great weekend everyone :o)

Lunchtime Links for January 16th, 2013

• Serious Eats: Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken in DC. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: French Laundry's gougeres. 
• Cookies & Cups: Biscoff crescent roll cookies. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Buffalo chicken quesadillas. 
• The Kitchn: Chicken pot pie with biscuit topping. 

Matchbox Restaurant - Pizza Making Class

At the end of 2012, N and I attended a pizza making class at Matchbox Restaurant in Rockville.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, especially from a free class (you just have to sign up via email beforehand), but this turned out to be a delicious way to start off a Saturday morning!

Before we got started, we were offered beverages and these delicious house-made pop tarts from one of their other restaurants, Ted's Bulletin. I especially loved the bacon and peanut butter one (top right), yum.

 

After our group watched the chef make an apple dessert for us to try later, and how to mix and form the pizza dough, we split up to roll out dough to make pizza crusts, and topped our own pizzas with anything we wanted. 

My first pizza had pesto, garlic, chicken, fresh mozzarella, and bacon.  The pesto was a delicious base for this pizza, mmm. 

The second pizza that I made had red sauce, sausage, ricotta, fresh mozzarella, and some red pepper flakes for a little kick.  Ok, so I probably put way too many globs of cheese on it, but it was tasty nonetheless.

Here we have the aforementioned dessert, like an apple pie without the crust - the apples were put in the pizza oven with a bunch of other ingredients so it was warm and caramelized throughout.

In addition to taking home the pizzas that I had made, we also got fantastic gift bags, which had flour, house-made pizza sauce, and a pizza recipe.  This was a great event and I have made several pizzas at home since I went, which I had never attempted to make from scratch before.  Thank you Matchbox for offering such fun events!  


Matchbox - Rockville
1699 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852
301.816.0369

Lunchtime Links for January 15th, 2013

• Smitten Kitchen: Ethereally smooth hummus. 
• Table for Two: Chicken lettuce wraps.
• Picky Palate: Snicker-doodles.
• How Sweet It Is: Garlic butter sweet potato fries with creamy feta dip. 
• Serious Eats: Couscous with crispy pancetta and butternut squash.

Georgetown Cupcake - Cookies and Creme Cheesecake Cupcake

It's no secret that I LOVE Oreos, so this new Cookies and Creme Cheesecake cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake is a dream cupcake for me. This cupcake is a "cookies and creme cheesecake with cookie crust and cookie-infused buttercream frosting".

Georgetown Cupcake has offered a number of cheesecake cupcakes before, and I've liked most of them.  This one takes things up a few notches by adding frosting on top of an already rich cheesecake base, hahahaha.  I also love the cookie crust on the bottom, so that the cupcake is not all completely soft from top to bottom. For any other Oreo-lovers out there, this is a fantastic and decadent dessert, more so than a real "cupcake" since it's all cheesecake. This flavor is available every day through the end of January!

Lunchtime Links for January 14th, 2013

• Raspberri Cupcakes: Banana bread with dark chocolate spread.
• Serious Eats: Starbucks hot cocoa review. 
• The Kitchn: Cinnamon roll recipes. 
• Blondie and Brownie: Clinton Street Baking Company's pancake month schedule. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Low fat pound cake. 

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte and Graeter's Vanilla Chocolate Chip Ice Creams

While I was in Seattle, I had the chance to try out two new to me ice creams, the first being the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I had looked around for this ice cream here and there with no luck, but was happy to come across it at a Target in Seattle.

You can sort of tell in the photo above, but the ice cream consists of a pumpkin and vanilla swirl mixed throughout.  There's definitely a hint of coffee flavor as well, which is a bonus in my book since I love coffee ice cream.  I wish they offered this ice cream year-round!

The second ice cream that I got to try out was Graeter's vanilla chocolate chip - I had never had Graeter's before but had heard great things about it from friends.  After confirming that this was the correct Cincinnati ice cream with my friend A, I quickly popped this pint into our cart at the grocery store, haha. 

I specifically got the vanilla chocolate chip ice cream because I love that flavor, but also because I had heard that the chocolate chips are homemade as well.  This was SO GOOD. The huge chunks of rich chocolate chips were absolutely delicious!   I decided to go all out and try a scoop of each ice cream in a bowl one night - mmmmmmmm.  I'm really glad I got to try out both of these ice creams during my trip!

Lunchtime Links for January 11th, 2013

• I Heart Naptime: Healthy chocolate muffins.
• Eat, Live, Run: Toasted ham and Brie panini.
• Table for Two: Mongolian beef. 
• Bakerella: Butterscotch brownie bars. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Fried pickles.

!!!!!!! Justin Timberlake !!!!!!!!!

On 12:01 EST yesterday, Justin Timberlake posted a somewhat cryptic tweet with a link:

http://countdown.justintimberlake.com/

I'm no Nancy Drew but I think it's safe to say that Justin is FINALLY back to making music??????

If there is a tour in the future I am definitely going, he is AMAZING live and a fantastic performer! I can't wait to find out in 2 days what the big announcement is!!

Lunchtime Links for January 10th, 2013

• The Kitchn: How to roast sweet potatoes in the oven.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Biscoff banana bread.
• BGSK: Mexican pork meatballs in tomato chipotle chile sauce.
• A Kitchen Addiction: Cinnamon chip breakfast cake. 
• Pioneer Woman: Butternut squash and kale quesadillas. 

Georgetown Cupcake - New Flavors in 2013

Georgetown Cupcake usually changes up at least a few menu items every year, so January is always an exciting time to find out about the changes, haha.  This year, it looks like they have definitely focused on offering more for people with dietary restrictions, which is great for people that wouldn't normally be going into Georgetown Cupcake.

Here are the new cupcakes for 2013 according to their online menu:

Everyday Menu:
- Double Milk Chocolate Birthday: Valrhona chocolate cupcake topped with milk chocolate buttercream frosting and rainbow baubles.

Specials:
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Toffee Crunch: Gluten-Free version of Georgetown Cupcake's Chocolate Toffee Crunch, topped with an orange fondant flower.
- Vegan Apple Cinnamon: Vegan apple cinnamon cupcake topped with vegan cream cheese frosting and a red fondant flower.
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Salted Caramel: Gluten-Free version of Georgetown Cupcake's Chocolate Salted Caramel, topped with an orange fondant flower.
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Coconut: Gluten-Free version of Georgetown Cupcake's Chocolate Coconut, topped with an orange fondant flower.
- Vegan Carrot: Vegan carrot cupcake topped with vegan cream cheese frosting and a red fondant flower.
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Birthday: Gluten-Free version of Georgetown Cupcake's Chocolate Birthday, topped with an orange fondant flower.
- Gluten-Free PB Fudge: Gluten-Free version of Georgetown Cupcake's PB Fudge, topped with an orange fondant flower.
- Gluten-Free Strawberry Lava Fudge: Gluten-Free version of Georgetown Cupcake's Strawberry Lava Fudge, topped with an orange fondant flower.

January:
- Cookies & Creme Cheesecake: Cookies and Creme Cheesecake with cookie crust and cookie-infused buttercream frosting.
- Caramel Praline Crunch: Caramel cupcake baked with fresh praline, topped with caramel buttercream frosting, a caramel drizzle, and crushed praline.

April:
- Cherries Jubilee: Rum-infused Valrhona chocolate cupcake baked with fresh cherries topped with cherry-infused buttercream frosting and a fondant cherry.
- Mocha Fudge: Valrhona chocolate cupcake filled with rich fudge and topped with mocha-infused frosting, a fudge star drizzle, and a chocolate espresso bean.

June:
- Coffee Cookies & Creme: Cookies and Creme cupcake topped with coffee and cookie-infused buttercream frosting.
- Chocolate Butterscotch Chip: Valrhona chocolate cupcake baked with gourmet butterscotch chips and topped with butterscotch-infused buttercream frosting.

July:
- Chocolate Sundae: Valrhona chocolate cupcake filled with rich caramel, topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting, a fudge star, and crushed hazelnuts.

August:
- Peaches & Cream: Classic Madagascar Bourbon vanilla cupcake baked with fresh peaches and topped with a peach-infused vanilla buttercream frosting and a fondant peach.
- Tahitian Vanilla Banana Coconut: Tahitian vanilla banana cupcake topped with a banana-infused cream cheese frosting and a fondant flower.

September: 
- Double Butterscotch Chip: Butterscotch cupcake topped with butterscotch-infused buttercream frosting and a butterscotch star drizzle.
- Cinnamon Coffee Crumb: Cinnamon cupcake topped with cinnamon buttercream frosting and a cinnamon crumble.

October: 
- Pumpkin Cheesecake: Pumpkin-infused cheesecake cupcake.
- Maple Blueberry: Maple cupcake baked with fresh blueberries, topped with maple cream cheese frosting and a fondant maple leaf.

November:
- Maple Chocolate Chip: Maple cupcake studded with chocolate chips and topped with a maple cream cheese frosting and a fondant maple leaf.

December: 
- Red Bow Vanilla Buttercream: Classic madagascar bourbon vanilla cupcake topped with a vanilla cream cheese frosting and a red fondant bow.
- Sticky Toffee Pudding: 

Lunchtime Links for January 9th, 2013

• Kirbie's Cravings: Korean fried chicken wings. 
• Eat, Live, Run: Mediterranean shrimp tortellini.
• The Kitchn: 10 warming chicken soups. 
• Table for Two: Rosemary olive oil bread.
• Eat Yourself Skinny: Tuna rigatoni with sun-dried tomatoes.

Dunkin' Donuts Christmas Ornament

Can you see that there's a theme to my Christmas ornaments? 

This cute little pink doughnut is courtesy of Dunkin' Donuts, woo hoo!  It's cute, pink, and covered in sprinkles, so you know I love it haha.  This is a perfect compliment to my Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee ornament that I got in 2011.  I hope that they have another fun ornament option this year as well :o) 

Lunchtime Links for January 8th, 2013

• Kirbie's Cravings: Lobster rolls. 
• Cookies & Cups: Oreo cookie bark.
• How Sweet It Is: Buttermilk almond crusted chicken fingers. 
• The Kitchn: French onion soup grilled cheese.
• Serious Eats: Cacio e Pepe crackers. 

Georgetown Cupcake - 40% Off Today

Georgetown Cupcake offers online order deals a few times a year, and they are always great! This offer that is valid today only is especially nice because the code is already offered in the email - sometimes they use a code that you have to figure out the answer to before being able to apply it, haha.

To receive these deals, as well as regular newsletters from Georgetown Cupcake, you can sign up at "Join Our Mailing List" on the bottom of their page here.

"Georgetown Cupcake is celebrating the arrival of 2013 with a special treat for fans!  On Tuesday, January 8, enjoy 40% off Georgetown Cupcake’s menu of over 100 gourmet flavors, including our new January seasonal flavors, Cookies & Creme Cheesecake and Caramel Praline Crunch!  Just enter the promo code 2013 on the checkout page when placing your online order. Discount will be automatically applied.  Offer valid from 12:01am - 11:59pm on Tuesday, January 8. Click here to order!"

Lunchtime Links for January 7th, 2013

• How Sweet It Is: Creamy tomato soup with brown butter garlic croutons. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Dinner at the French Laundry. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Roasted cauliflower and cheddar soup. 
• Top Chef: Recap from TVGasm. 
• Cookies & Cups: Peanut butter cup spread. 

Georgetown Cupcake - Maple Walnut Crunch Cupcake

This Maple Walnut Crunch cupcake was a great addition to the fall menu at Georgetown Cupcake. It consists of a "maple-infused cupcake baked with fresh walnuts, topped with a maple cream cheese frosting, crushed walnuts and a fondant maple leaf."

The whole cupcake was great, but my favorite part was definitely the maple cream cheese frosting.  It was light and fluffy, and tasted like a stack of pancakes in frosting form :o)  The walnuts in the cake and on top of the frosting added some texture to the rest of the cupcake.  Another great new addition to the Georgetown Cupcake archives!

Lunchtime Links for January 4th, 2013

• BGSK: Chocolate mousse pie. 
• Table for Two: Chicken noodle soup. 
• Picky Palate: Pepperoni pizza mac and cheese. 
• The Kitchn: Meyer lemon spotlight. 
• The Pioneer Woman: Perfect potato soup. 

Shake Shack - January Custard Calendar

It's time for a new month of Shake Shack custards, woo!

Monday: Pretz-idential Caramel
Tuesday: Mud Pie
Wednesday: Chocolate Hazelnut
Thursday: Mom's Coconut Cake
Friday: Thin Mint
Saturday: Red Velvet
Sunday: Cinnamon Cream Cheese

A few repeats from past months, but I am definitely excited to try the Pretz-idential Caramel and Cinnamon Cream Cheese custards!

Lunchtime Links for January 3rd, 2013

• BGSK: Hot blue cheese dip with sweet potato chips.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Matcha shortbread cookies.
• Picky Palate: Sausage and potato bake. 
• Cookies & Cups: Hot chocolate Bundt cake. 
• How Sweet It Is: Crockpot pulled pork and beer cheese grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Graffiato - Pumpkin Tortellini + DC Brau Can-glass

When my best friend I was visiting back late last year, we had a wonderful dinner at Graffiato.  One of the seasonal dishes that was on the menu was this pumpkin tortellini below.  These were pillowy puffs of pasta and pumpkin, with chopped hazelnuts scattered through as well.  Without the hazelnuts, the pasta was almost a little too soft, but the pumpkin flavor was still delicious.

During our dinner, I also enjoyed the design of this DC Brau can-glass.  Maybe there's a real name for this but to me it'll be a can-glass, haha.  It was just the right amount of "sit-down dinner classy" + "why can't I just drink from the can?" :o)

Lunchtime Links for January 2nd, 2013

• Serious Eats: Shake Shack's chocolate bar. 
• Picky Palate: Peanut butter Snickers brownie skillet. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Gingerbread cinnamon rolls. 
• Cookies & Cups: Peanut butter banana fudge. 
• Closet Cooking: Cookies and cream popcorn. 

Godiva Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffle

So, I didn't plan this out very well, but I figured it was better late than never to get my "pumpkin" posts on here.  What can I say, a lot more fun and food got in the way during the fall/winter, haha.

I got this Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffle as part of the monthly free chocolate program at Godiva, just for being a member of the free Godiva club.  The bright orange color was a little off-putting, but of course I had to try out a pumpkin "chocolate".

Luckily, the actual taste of this truffle was far from off-putting :o)  As you can see from this cross-section, there's a layer of pumpkin filling as well as a layer of cheesecake filling, which makes for a great combination of flavors.  It really was like a bite-size pumpkin cheesecake, a perfect little bite for any pumpkin lover.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2013 everyone!  Here's to another year of good food and fun times!

If you're looking for something else to do with the bottle of bubbly besides drinking it, here's a great recipe from Georgetown Cupcake for Strawberry Champagne Sparkler Cupcakes - so cute and delicious!

On a less fun note, I guess I don't have much more time to come up with resolutions for this year, huh?  If anyone has any good resolutions, please share!