Bachelorette Weekend

I'm off to upstate New York this weekend to celebrate a good friend's bachelorette weekend.  It should be a great weekend full of friends and wine, haha. Have a great weekend everyone!

Lunchtime Links for June 27th, 2013

• Food Fanatic: Copycat Red Lobster biscuits.
• Princesses of LI: Recap from TrashTalkTV.
• The Kitchn: Making whipped cream in a jar.
• Serious Eats: How to make the best fajitas.
• AOL Memories: From Buzzfeed.

The Package Tour - June 14th, 2013

Last Friday night, all of my 90s - early 2000's dreams came true, in the form of the Package Tour: featuring NKOTB, 98 Degrees, and Boyz II Men.  I don't care who you are or what your musical tastes are, there is no way you could hear any of their songs and not want to sing along and dance!   Unfortunately the lighting wasn't great for taking photos on my phone, but it was an awesome night with my friend R, filled with so many fun dance moves and cheesy ballads... I loved every minute! 

And yes, that's a shirtless Jordan Knight, hot hot hot.

Lunchtime Links for June 26th, 2013

• Serious Eats: Momofuku Milk Bar's crack pie and cereal milk.
• Picky Palate: Biscoff macarons.
• Bakerella: LoveLee soaps.
• Cookies & Cups: Deep dish s'mores cookies.
• Brown Eyed Baker: No-bake Oreo layer dessert.

Shake Shack - F Street Concretes

Yesterday, Shake Shack's F Street location in DC officially opened its doors!  One of the exciting things about a new Shake Shack location is that each one has their own specific signature concretes.

The concretes at this new location are:

- Beltway Blonde - Vanilla custard, cheesecake blondie, salted caramel sauce and banana.
- Doughnuts are Forever - Vanilla custard, Astro Doughnuts coconut doughnut, strawberry jam and rainbow sprinkles.
- SMORSEcode... - Chocolate custard, marshmallow sauce and graham crackers from Pollystyle.

I cannot wait to try these out!!! I have to admit that it breaks my heart to see a coconut doughnut of all things in the second concrete... sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Maybe I can try it without the doughnut, or better yet BYOD?

Update: I did try the Beltway Blonde and Doughnuts are Forever with my friend ME last night, and they were AWESOME. Look for the blog posts about those coming soon! 


Shake Shack - F Street
800 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20004

Lunchtime Links for June 25th, 2013

• Serious Eats: Fudgy chocolate pretzel cake.
• Food and Wine: Pork and crab soup dumplings.
• Bon Appetit: Chocolate-dipped coffee ice cream glazed doughnut sandwiches.
• The Pioneer Woman: Pan-fried kale.
• Food Fanatic: Funfetti cookies. 

Shake Shack - F Street Opens Today!

Woohoo, a new Shake Shack location in DC opens today! This one is in the International Spy Museum complex, right by the Gallery Place/Chinatown metro.  I already frequent this area for movies, Verizon Center events, and meals, so I am super excited to have a Shake Shack join the area. This really means that I have an even better chance of trying the monthly custard flavors, haha. I look forward to seeing their location-specific concrete flavors like they have for their other restaurants!!

Lunchtime Links for June 24th, 2013

• Serious Eats: TanakaSan in Seattle. 
• Bake at 350: Peanut butter swirl chocolate chip blondies.
• The Kitchn: Strawberry kitchen finds under $50.
• Cookies & Cups: Toasted marshmallow krispie treats. 
• BGSK: Peanut butter icebox cake. 

CVS Deals - Week of 06/23/2013

There are lots of great deals at CVS this week, particularly for stocking up for the summer!

- Two Coppertone sun care products: 2/$19.98 on sale, $5/2 manufacturer's coupon, $8 Extra Bucks back.
- Three Dove body washes: $5 each on sale, $5 Extra Bucks back.
- Crest Pro-Health 1 liter mouthwash: $4.99 on sale, $0.20 manufacturer's coupon, $4 Extra Bucks back.
- Two Colgate MaxClean toothpastes: $2.99 each on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon, $4 Extra Bucks back.

Happy shopping everyone!

Lunchtime Links for June 21st, 2013

• Serious Eats: Pearled couscous with tomatoes, Feta, and spinach.
• Food Fanatic: Oreo cupcakes.
• The Pioneer Woman: Watermelon pico de gallo.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Chocolate Bundt cake with chocolate fudge icing.
• The Kitchn: Cucumber kimchi bites. 

4th Blogiversary! + Tiny Prints Contact Cards

Tomorrow marks the 4th anniversary of my blog, woohoo! Each year has been filled with fun moments and of course FOOD.  I love sharing new items and information with you all, it's been so much fun!  Thank you to all of you that stop by, read, and comment!

I thought my blog anniversary would be a good time to also talk about my blog contact cards that I recently ordered from Tiny Prints, since this review has to do directly with my blog - how v. Meta, haha.

I've mentioned Tiny Prints before in a guest post over at Hey Love Designs because I really like their designs for cards, so it was definitely one of the first places I looked at for contact cards. I say contact cards mainly because I don't particularly associate this information with a business, if that makes sense.  It's a great way for me to pass on my contact information at food blogger meetups or if I meet anyone out that also has a blog or an interest in food, stuff like that.

Originally, I was looking for strictly food or sweets-related designs in the contact card section, since I thought they would match my blog. As you may be able to tell, there are LOTS of parent contact cards here as well, which I obviously don't need, but I think this is such a cute idea for parents that meet other parents at events.  But then I started looking at more of the business cards and really liked a lot of the designs in there too.  Even though my blog is mainly about food and sweets, I realized that it should also reflect my personality as well, and not necessarily JUST food.

I finally decided on the Hello Intro design, in the rectangle shape as you can see above. I love the pop of coral color, and the casual script of the hello across the front of the card.  I was able to include all of my blog-related contact information on the back easily, and each line is clear and not cluttered with too much text.  I know to most people it might be "just a card", but I feel like this design captures the lighthearted and never-too-serious nature of my blog pretty well :o)

As far as my ordering experience with Tiny Prints, I was able to personalize the card quickly and I received the order within a matter of days. I am very pleased with the paper and ink quality, and they looked just as good as they were online.  If anyone is looking for personal / business cards, or thank you cards, I would recommend giving Tiny Prints a try!

Tiny Prints is currently offering a 20% Friends and Family sale discount, with no minimum purchase required, until June 25th.  The discount code is " FNF13 " - I may pick up a few more cards myself with this great discount!


(Note: I was not compensated by Tiny Prints for this post, I ordered and paid for these cards entirely on my own. I was recently approached by someone from Tiny Prints asking if I would consider writing a review of my new cards; I was already planning on writing this review, haha). 

Lunchtime Links for June 20th, 2013

• My Baking Addiction: Chocolate swirl coffee cake.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Pepperoni pizza pretzel rolls.
• Bakerella: Mini minion cake pops.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Caprese garlic bread.
• Food Fanatic: Peanut butter pretzel bars.

Baked & Wired - Tessita Cupcake

Mmmmmm, chocolate hazelnut!  This delicious cupcake from Baked & Wired consists of vanilla cake with dulce de leche filling and chocolate-hazelnut satin icing.

As expected, this was a rich and fantastic cupcake!  I loved the thick frosting and all of the flavors in this cupcake.  What may appear to be a simple chocolate frosted vanilla cake is much, much more tasty when you take that first bite! 

Lunchtime Links for June 19th, 2013

• Picky Palate: Double chocolate Butterfinger layered cake.
• Warm Vanilla Sugar: Peanut butter cup cookie dough crumble bars.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy.
• Oh Sweet Basil: Browned butter, dual chip chocolate chip cookies stuffed with Nutella, dulce de leche and topped with sea salt. 
• Cookies & Cups: Cinnamon roll cookie bars. 

Dessert Keychains

A while back I got these super cute dessert-themed keychains from Japan, courtesy of my uncle.  They were freebies that came with certain bottled drinks as part of a promotional giveaway during the summer a while back.  We have a raspberry macaron, Mont Blanc (chestnut cream dessert), and a cream puff.  All three of these are some of my favorite sweets, which makes them even more fun! 

Lunchtime Links for June 18th, 2013

• Cookies & Cups: White chocolate chip cookies. 
• Steamy Kitchen: Korean kalbi baby back ribs.
• Picky Palate: Salted brown butter dark chocolate chip cookies. 
• How Sweet It Is: White pizza lasagna.
• The Pioneer Woman: Mocha brownies.

Shake Shack - Honey Ricotta Chestnut Custard

I always love when Shake Shack offers more unconventional flavors like this Honey Ricotta Chestnut custard.  When I first heard about this flavor, it actually sounded like a really tasty dip or appetizer, haha. This custard was creamy and I really tasted the honey mixed in throughout.  I didn't get too much of the chestnut flavor except for a few spoonfuls, but overall this was a great combination of flavors for a unique ice cream. 

Lunchtime Links for June 17th, 2013

• How Sweet It Is: Homemade BBQ sweet potato chips.
• A Kitchen Addiction: Salted caramel pretzel cheesecake.
• Table for Two: Lightened up General Tso's chicken.
• Picky Palate: Frosted Flakes macarons.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Chinese beef and broccoli.

Georgetown Cupcake - Vegan Cranberry Spice Cupcake

I tried this Vegan Cranberry Spice cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake really out of curiosity than anything else.  This cupcake is a "vegan cranberry spice cupcake topped with vegan cream cheese frosting and a red fondant flower".

I'm clearly not an expert of vegan food, but overall I thought that this cupcake had a nice mix of flavors and didn't really taste that different than a regular cupcake.  I think the liberal use of cranberries in the cake definitely helped to add lots of flavor to this cupcake. For any vegans out there, Georgetown Cupcake offers a vegan option every day - this particular flavor is currently available on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Lunchtime Links for June 14th, 2013

• Cookies & Cups: Brown sugar banana bread.
• How Sweet It Is: Strawberry mint lemonade.
• Table for Two: Triple chocolate cookies.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Mozzarella pesto stuffed chicken breasts.
• The Pioneer Woman: Homemade lemonade.

Peanut Butter Toast Crunch Cereal

When I recently received a coupon from Target for a free box of General Mills cereal, I took this opportunity as a chance to try out something new.  As soon as I laid eyes on this Peanut Butter Toast Crunch, I knew I HAD to try it out.

I've had the regular Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal before on occasion, so I wasn't really sure how different these would be.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the peanut butter flavor and smell really stand out as soon as you open the bag.  

These were crunchy little squares of peanut butter sugar, and tasted more like a dessert than anything that someone should have for breakfast, but to each their own, haha.  I'm glad I got the chance to try this cereal, and I'm debating on using these mixed into cookies - I'll see how it goes! 

Lunchtime Links for June 13th, 2013

• Kirbie's Cravings: Nutella banana milkshake.
• Table for Two: Peanut butter sandwich cookies.
• BGSK: Whole wheat BBQ chicken pockets.
• The Kitchn: Deep dish chocolate chip cookies.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Peanut butter-pretzel chocolate chip cookies. 

J.Crew iPhone Backup Battery

Generally speaking, I'm pretty good about charging my phone, but I still wanted to try out this J.Crew backup battery to have on hand for emergencies.  Also, it came in a bunch of cute colors, which always helps.

The main (obvious) key here is to make sure you charge this backup battery before you actually need it - which sounds dumb but I feel like it's necessary to spell out, haha.  Once it is charged, just throw it into your purse for an easy way of charging your phone on the go.  It does make the phone a bit bulky to hold (since it plugs into the bottom of your phone, adding some extra length), so I'd recommend charging it in your purse or when you're not using it right away.  I really liked having this while I was in Japan, when I'd be out all day and wanting to photograph everything in sight.  The hot pink color of the one that I got also makes it easy to find in my cavernous pit of a tote bag :o)

Lunchtime Links for June 12th, 2013

• Kirbie's Cravings: Tiramisu brownies.
• Dessert for Two: Ricotta pound cake cupcakes with whipped ricotta frosting.
• Smitten Kitchen: Lobster and potato salad.
• Picky Palate: Cinnamon and white chip cookies.
• Cookies & Cups: Easy chocolate buttercream.

Georgetown Cupcake - Lemon Coconut Cupcake

Yup, another coconut-based cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake - I think you know where this is going, haha.  In my quest to try as many of their flavors as possible, I had to go and try this free one out.

All coconut gripes aside, I think this is a great combination.  The lemon cake was delicious and light, without tasting too artificial or overly sugary.  Coconut and lemon seem to just go together pretty naturally in my opinion, and anyone that is a fan of either flavor would love this one!

Lunchtime Links for June 11th, 2013

• Kirbie's Cravings: Cronuts.
• Cookies & Cups: Skillet chocolate cake.
• Serious Eats: Frozen cookies n' cream pie.
• The Pioneer Woman: Chocolate strawberry Nutella cake.
• My Baking Addiction: Oreo cheesecake bars.

Farmers Fishers Bakers' Brunch

Man oh man - the brunch at Farmers Fishers Bakers really goes all out! M and I tried out this weekend brunch recently and I really thought the variety of items was great. I also really loved how there were a number of food stations AND passed dishes that went from table to table, offering fresh items as well.  And don't worry about missing any of the tableside items if you are up at the buffet, because they come back A LOT, seriously.  I started to feel bad for the Eggs Benedict server that we had to keep saying no to over and over again, haha.

As you can see there is much more than your standard brunch fare here - on this plate I got a bruleed grapefruit, watermelon (with mint?), salsa, freshly made guacamole, chips, thick-cut bacon, kale salad, and a dab of crab dip, I believe.

One of the tableside items was this deliciously gooey cinnamon roll, yum.

The fried chicken was. AWESOME. I totally would've gotten more if I hadn't gotten all of this other food haha.  On the bottom right is a pulled pork taco in a crispy corn tortilla, like a corn crepe almost, as well as some rice/pasta mix, a meatball, and grits.

There are also a lot of desserts to choose from, and anyone that's a fan of sweet items during brunch is welcome to grab a few desserts as your meal, haha.  This beignet was puffy and sweet, but not hot, unfortunately.

Yay for cute desserts in a jar! This banana pudding was really good - the wafers inside weren't soggy and stayed crunchy which I liked, and that whipped cream on top was especially delicious.  

Overall I thought the brunch at Farmers Fishers Bakers had a TON of dishes to choose from and it was a relaxed and fun way to get to try a little bit of everything.  We never felt rushed during our meal, which was nice because we could chat leisurely as we ate, and take breaks in between hitting up the buffet area, haha. I would definitely come back again for brunch! 

Farmers Fishers Bakers

3000 K Street NW

Washington, DC 20007

202.298.8783

Lunchtime Links for June 10th, 2013

• Kirbie's Cravings: Blooming Nutella chocolate s'more pull apart bread. 
• The Kitchn: Making fresh pasta in a food processor.
• The Live-in Kitchen: Chocolate covered banana bread bites.
• Picky Palate: Cinnamon Toast Crunch macarons.
• Sweets with Sara: Nutella muffins with peanut butter chips.

Georgetown Cupcake - June Flavors

This month at Georgetown Cupcake we have 2 new June-only flavors, which also happen to be recent "secret" flavors that I blogged about:

- Chocolate Butterscotch Chip 
- Coffee Cookies & Creme

Both cupcakes are delicious and I highly recommend trying them out this month while they are available every day!

Lunchtime Links for June 7th, 2013

• Table for Two: Spaghetti O's with meatballs.
• Bakerella: Chocolate chip confetti cookies. 
• How Sweet It Is: BLT chopped salad with corn, feta, and avocado.
• Kevin & Amanda: Brown butter salted caramel mocha cookies.
• The Pioneer Woman: Loaded nachos.

National Donut Day - Dunkin' Donuts & Krispy Kreme

Image courtesy of the Dunkin' Donuts Facebook page


Happy National Donut Day everyone! I saw some signs up my local Dunkin' Donuts earlier this week and I wanted to share the tasty news with everyone. Today, at all participating locations, you can get a free doughnut with any beverage purchase, woohoo!

Also, over at Krispy Kreme, you can go and get a free doughnut today as well, no purchase necessary!

Image courtesy of the Krispy Kreme e-newsletter

I may take this opportunity to try out a new (or new to me) doughnut flavor, haha. I hope you all celebrate too!

Lunchtime Links for June 6th, 2013

• Table for Two: Espresso chocolate chip ice cream.
• Picky Palate: Frosted Flakes white chocolate chip cookies. 
• Cookies & Cups: Karamel Sutra cupcakes. 
• My Baking Addiction: Tiramisu brownies. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Cake mix waffles.

thinkThin Giveaway - Winner!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:11Powered by RANDOM.ORG


(For some reason it keeps going back to "100" in the Max field above, I did do this with the right number!)
The winner of my thinkThin Wellness box giveaway is #11, Jordan, whose favorite healthy snack is:
I love broccoli with hummus or edamame (fresh or dry-roasted) for a quick, healthy snack. I've tried ThinkThin bars before and absolutely love them. 
I got lots of great responses about everyone's favorite healthy snacks, like fresh fruit, nuts, vegetables, and yogurt. Thank you to everyone that entered! 

Lunchtime Links for June 5th, 2013

• Kirbie's Cravings: Best soft chocolate chip cookies.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Buttermilk fried chicken.
• Serious Eats: Potato chip taste test.
• How Sweet It Is: Mini cream cheese and chive biscuits. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Lemon pepper shrimp orzo.

Shake Shack - Salted Surrealism Custard

I managed to try two out of the three Phillips Collection/Shake Shack collaboration custards, which isn't all that bad- especially considering the one I didn't try had a coconut custard base......... yeahhhhhhhh. 

This one was called the Salted Surrealism custard: Inspired by Jean Dubuffet featuring salted caramel banana frozen custard blended with dark chocolate fudge ripple.

Now this one, I could definitely be happy with trying out. I love salted caramel, bananas, and chocolate - so this was an instant winner in my book.  It was rich, creamy, and like a chocolate covered banana in custard form.  This would be an excellent combo to make at home if you like these flavors as well! 

Lunchtime Links for June 4th, 2013

• Eat, Live, Run: Double chocolate fudge cookies. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Spinach basil pesto.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Katharine Hepburn brownies.
• Cookies & Cups: What a Cluster bars.
• Picky Palate: Cookies and cream double stuf macarons. 

The Bravoholic Swag Bag

As if being the Bravoholic for a week wasn't enough, Bravo TV also sent me a fun swag bag after my stint was completed!  

Included in the fun bag (which I am totally keeping, love it) was a Watch What Happens Live glass coaster set  and a set of Mazel shot glasses.  My home drinking needs will be all the better with Andy Cohen's face all over everything, hahaha. Thanks again, Bravo! 

Lunchtime Links for June 3rd, 2013

• Serious Eats: Banana peanut butter ice cream sandwiches.
• The Kitchn: Sour cream pound cake.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: French toast muffins.
• A Kitchen Addiction: Fresh strawberry lemon yogurt cake.
• The Pioneer Woman: Chocolate chocolate white chocolate chip cookies. 

Shake Shack - June Custard Calendar

Happy June, everyone!

Monday: Cherry Chip
Tuesday: Buttery Caramel Cocoa Nib
Wednesday: Fromage Blanc Raspberry Swirl
Thursday: Root Beer Freeze
Friday: Mud Pie
Saturday: Peach Pecan
Sunday: Coffee & Donuts

I will definitely try to get to Shake Shack for Tuesday and Friday's offerings - yum!