Lunchtime Links for July 31st, 2015

• The Kitchn: Thai grilled steak salad.
• Crazy for Crust: Peanut butter cookie fudge bars. 
• Damn Delicious: Cheesy garlic bombs.
• Cookies & Cups: Triple chocolate Oreo bars.
• Gimme Some Oven: Pasta salad recipes.

Dashboard Confessional - July 22nd, 2015

"Hands down this is the best day I can ever remember..."

On July 22nd, while I was in Seattle, I had the chance to see Dashboard Confessional with Third Eye Blind again (I saw them in Philly back in June), this time with a Dashboard Confessional VIP package!  The VIP package was totally worth it, with an early pre-show meet & greet with Chris Carrabba, acoustic performance of a bunch of songs, signed pass, and a poster that I still need to go to IKEA to get a frame for, haha.  

Despite my brain short-circuiting the minute that Chris Carrabba said "Hi" during my turn at the meet & greet, I managed to take some photos and mostly just take in the fact that he was singing literally an arm's length away from me. He played a bunch of songs that they would not be playing at the actual concert, and it was such a great opportunity to hear some old favorites, as well as some covers/different songs. 

The concert was held in Redmond, WA, at Marymoor Park's concert venue.   It's an amazing venue with food trucks, real bathrooms (yes this is a major bonus for outdoor venues, haha), lots of alcohol vendors, and plenty of tables/seating for people to chill out in before the concert or between the sets. I was seriously impressed with how nice this concert venue was put together, and I would love to come see another show here soon if I am in town for one!

I mainly went for Dashboard Confessional, but I was once again very impressed with Third Eye Blind's live performance- so many great songs, and everyone knew all the words it seemed like.  Also, Stephan Jenkins is 50?! He seriously looked pretty much the same as he did in the "Semi-Charmed Life" video, with slightly longer hair, haha.

What a fantastic night with two amazing live bands! I love that they went on tour together, and now this makes me really want Dashboard Confessional to go on another tour immediately!  Over a week later, I'm still a little overwhelmed by the fact that I finally met Chris Carrabba....!!!

Lunchtime Links for July 30th, 2015

• The First Year Blog: Snickers bar ice cream cake.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Grilled steak fajitas.
• Crazy for Crust: Peanut butter ice cream brownies. 
• Brown Eyed Baker: Chocolate cake with whipped mocha ganache frosting.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Cookies and cream ice pops.

Nordstrom - Cupcake Pouch

I came across this cute little pouch at Nordstrom recently, and couldn't help but snap a photo of it!  It's a cute little pouch that would be perfect for makeup, or storing smaller items in a large purse - my eternal struggle with my Longchamp bags, haha.  Unfortunately, it looks like this pouch is not currently available on Nordstrom's site, but there's also a bunch of other cute and quirky sayings as well, and they would make a super cute gift! 

Lunchtime Links for July 29th, 2015

• The Comfort of Cooking: Thin chewy chocolate chip cookies. 
• Averie Cooks: Lemon butter garlic shrimp with angel hair pasta.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: S'mores ice cream pie.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Dulce de Leche brownies.
• My Baking Addiction: Peanut butter cup pancakes.

Co Co Sala - Dessert for Dinner

My friend R and I recently enjoyed a great Dessert for Dinner at Co Co. Sala, which they had as a special for a week in July.  If all of the pretty dishes weren't enough, the Dessert for Dinner set was only $22.00!  And yes, it really was a multi-course meal consisting of pretty much all desserts - well except the cheese course, haha.

I of course loved all of the chocolate courses, but I appreciated the sorbet and cheese to switch up the flavors a bit.  As always it was a delicious night of food at Co Co. Sala, and I hope they do specials like this again!

AMUSE SUCRE

CHURROS

SOME MORE CO CO.

chocolate crème brulee / toasted marshmallow / graham crumble /

chocolate brownie / chocolate malted shooter

INTERMEZZO

SORBET OF THE DAY

FROMAGE

FOUR CHEESE FRITTERS

gruyère, parmigiano reggiano, roquefort, & cheddar / 

 chipotle chocolate tomato cream sauce

PETIT FOURS

CHEF'S SELECTION

Lunchtime Links for July 28th, 2015

• Creme de la Crumb: Cake batter smoothie.
• The Kitchn: Pad Thai spring rolls.
• I Heart Naptime: Chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches.
• The Pioneer Woman: Chicken kale pasta.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Nutella stuffed French toast pancakes.

Georgetown Cupcake - Chocolate Mint Ganache Cupcake

In line with yesterday's Chocolate Mint Crunch cupcake, this free secret flavor from Georgetown Cupcake has a different type of mint chocolate combination.  

This Chocolate Mint Ganache cupcake looks like a regular Chocolate Ganache cupcake at first glance, but the secret is in the minty green frosting core.  I loved the little surprise frosting core and it added a nice pop of color to the chocolate cupcake!  Anyone that likes Andes mints would love this cupcake :o)

Lunchtime Links for July 27th, 2015

• Two Peas and Their Pod: Bacon Caprese sandwich.
• A Beautiful Mess: Creme Brulee topped cinnamon rolls.
• BGSK: Sweet tea slushies.
• Picky Palate: Double chocolate M&M ice cream cookie sandwiches.
• Crazy for Crust: Oreo s'mores trifle.

Georgetown Cupcake - Chocolate Mint Crunch Cupcake

So, I'm fairly certain that this Chocolate Mint Crunch cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake is identical to a previous Thin Mint cupcake, but since it has a different name I *had* to try it out, haha.  Upon tasting it, it is essentially the same cupcake, with chocolate mint cookies in the cake and a thick chocolate frosting swirled on top.  And just like the last one, I'm not a fan of mint chocolate flavors, but I did enjoy the rich chocolate frosting for obvious reasons :o) 

Lunchtime Links for July 17th, 2015

• Warm Vanilla Sugar: Smooth hummus.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: No-churn cinnamon snickerdoodle ice cream.
• Picky Palate: Creamy chicken pesto pizza bagels.
• Creme de la Crumb: Fire roasted salsa.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Skinny Bang Bang pasta. 

Georgetown Cupcake - Banana Hazelnut Cupcake

This Banana Hazelnut cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake isn't exactly a combination that I would've thought of for a cupcake - but somehow it works out really well, haha.  

The banana cake base is covered in a thin layer of chocolate ganache, and then rolled in plenty of chopped candied hazelnuts.  All together, it tastes like a Nutella banana bread with plenty of crunch, aka delicious! As you can see it's fully covered with the chopped hazelnuts, which provide an excellent crunch in every bite.  Anyone that likes banana bread will love this variation! 

Lunchtime Links for July 16th, 2015

• My Baking Addiction: Funfetti sugar cookie bars.
• Table for Two: Ultimate mac n' cheese casserole.
• Handle the Heat: Cookie butter ice cream.
• Damn Delicious: Potato and bacon foil packets.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Chocolate chip muffins.

Bath and Body Works - London Tea and Lemon Candle

A while ago, I heard about the popular London Calling candle from Bath and Body Works, and thought it sounded amazing. A tea and lemon scented candle, yes please!  While I never got my hands on the London Calling candle, I was very happy to see this London Tea & Lemon candle recently at the store, and immediately picked up a few since they were on sale, haha.

The smell is AWESOME.  I mean, if you don't like tea then probably not, but to me it's the perfect blend of tea leaves and a sweet lemon scent.  I LOVE this candle, and of course it doesn't hurt that the label is pretty cute too.  Having studied abroad in London for a semester during my Junior year of college,  I definitely have a special connection to London.  This amazing candle just helps to reinforce my love of London even more now, haha!

Lunchtime Links for July 15th, 2015

• Creme de la Crumb: Kung Pao shrimp.
• Brown Eyed Baker: No-bake Chubby Hubby bars.
• A Kitchen Addiction: Peanut butter monster cookie dough ice cream.
• BGSK: Homemade salsa.
• Handle the Heat: Funnel cakes.

Georgetown Cupcake - Chocolate-Dipped Mocha Chocolate Chip Cupcake

Chocolate + coffee is always a fantastic combination, and this Chocolate-dipped Mocha Chocolate Chip cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake is a great example of that.  This free secret flavor that was offered recently was so delicious, and perfect for anyone that loves those two flavors.  A mocha cupcake is studded liberally with mini chocolate chips, then dipped in their glossy chocolate ganache.  As it turns out, this cupcake also pairs nicely with a cup of real coffee, haha.  I really hope they bring this back again, it was delicious! 

Lunchtime Links for July 14th, 2015

• My Baking Addiction: S'mores waffle sundaes.
• Bake at 350: Nutella chocolate chip cookies. 
• Weelicious: Avocado cucumber tomato salad.
• Cookies & Cups: Dirty chocolate chip cookies. 
• Handle the Heat: Cookie butter brownie ice cream sandwiches.

Japanese Passion Fruit Kit Kats

Fruit-based Kit Kat flavors are very popular in Japan, and they always turn out pretty accurately, in my opinion.  This Passion Fruit Kit Kat was purchased by my mom a while back on a trip to Japan, and while I can't really say I eat real passion fruit regularly, it seemed like a fun one to try out.

That being said, if you told me this was a different tropical fruit, I probably would've believed you, haha.  The white chocolate was a nice base for the strong fruit smell and flavor, and I think their regular chocolate would've covered that up too much.  The Kit Kats themselves were a very pretty pale yellow color which was fun too.  In the middle of the bag, it says "Grown Up Sweetness", which is very true - it wasn't overly sweet, more of a sweet/tart mix that adults would probably appreciate more so than little kids.  I'm happy I got to try this one! 

Lunchtime Links for July 13th, 2015

• Cookies & Cups: Dulce de Leche filled Churro sticks.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Stuffed pepper tuna melts.
• Gimme Some Oven: 6 ingredient chocolate peanut butter fudge pops.
• Damn Delicious: Cajun shrimp with garlic Parmesan cream sauce.
• Brown Eyed Baker: No-bake s'mores dip.

Georgetown Cupcake - Bumbleberry Cupcake

This Bumbleberry cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake might not look like much at first, but once you bite in to the cake, it turns into a very festive and summery cupcake!  

This cupcake consists of a Classic Madagascar Bourbon vanilla cupcake baked with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries and topped with a vanilla buttercream frosting and blue fondant flower.  As you can tell there's a lot of fresh berries throughout the cake, so this is perfect for anyone that loves the summer berry season.  And all that fruit makes this totally healthy... right?  You can find the Bumbleberry cupcake through the end of July, so be sure to go check it out soon! 

Lunchtime Links for July 10th, 2015

• Smitten Kitchen: Oven ribs.
• Damn Delicious: Garlic Parmesan broccoli and potatoes in foil.
• Crazy for Crust: Marshmallow whipped cream.
• The Kitchn: Spicy Korean grilled chicken.
• Cookies & Cups: Cowboy caviar pizza.

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod

I saw this recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod last month, and knew I had to try these soft peanut butter cookies for myself! 

I did not roll my cookies in sugar before baking, but otherwise I used the same ingredients when I made them.  Another part in the process that I did change is that I used a cookie scoop and did not roll the dough before baking.  I'm not sure if that's the reason why, but my cookies turned out noticeably puffier than the ones on the blog, haha.  But clearly that had no effect on the taste - these were amazing! Bite after bite of delicious, pure peanut butter flavor - what more could you ask for?  These were a big hit at work and were snatched up pretty quickly.  I definitely would use this recipe again for a delicious peanut butter fix! 

Lunchtime Links for July 9th, 2015

• Picky Palate: Cinnamon sugar cream cheese frosting.
• Averie Cooks: Cheesy loaded scalloped potatoes. 
• The First Year Blog: Funfetti cheesecake popsicles.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: Bacon ranch corn dip.
• Serious Eats: Japanese potato salad. 

Georgetown Cupcake - Shark Week Vanilla Cupcake

In recent years, Georgetown Cupcake has done something special to celebrate Shark Week on the Discovery network, and this year they had these cute shark-themed cupcakes for sale! 

Both Shark Week vanilla and chocolate are available in stores this week.  The Shark Week vanilla cupcake has their regular vanilla cake base with vanilla frosting tinted a pretty shade of blue.  Then, crunchy blue sugar sprinkles are added on top, as well as a fondant shark fin.  This is a super cute way to "celebrate", whether or not you actually like sharks, haha.

Lunchtime Links for July 8th, 2015

• Creme de la Crumb: Southwest chicken burritos.
• Damn Delicious: One pan honey garlic chicken and veggies. 
• Handle the Heat: Salted caramel toffee cupcakes. 
• Cookies and Cups: Skillet Frachos.
• Table for Two: Grilled flank steak with Chimichurri.

Hello Lucky for Target Cards

The Hello! Lucky card collection at Target is AMAZING!!! There are way too many cute cards that cover all sorts of different occasions.  As you can see in the photo above, they're all very colorful, and most if not all of them are letterpress cards, so they feel very substantial and high quality.  

  

On my first time through, I restrained myself and picked up these three cards above.  I love how they're all different types of designs, so I'm sure you will be able to find many cards that catch your eye.  From a quick look through, there were mostly birthday cards, including lots of cute kids' themed cards as well.  I'm planning on keeping the coffee and doughnut one to frame for my apartment, and I'm sure I will pick up a lot more on my next Target run, haha! 

Lunchtime Links for July 7th, 2015

• Creme de la Crumb: Grilled corn salsa.
• The Kitchn: S'mores recipes.
• Damn Delicious: Garlic bread croissants.
• Gimme Some Oven: Grilled pizza.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: S'mores banana bread.

Georgetown Cupcake - American Birthday Cupcake

A few days late, but I just had to share this super festive Georgetown Cupcake cupcake from the recent holiday weekend.  This is the American Birthday cupcake which was offered as the free secret flavor on the 4th of July.  It's a Vanilla Squared cupcake with a pretty red and blue swirl on the frosting, and a gigantic red, white, and fondant star. While the flavor wasn't necessarily anything new, I love how they took a classic cupcake flavor and went all out with the decorations.  I loved how bright the fondant star and swirls on the frosting were - so patriotic!

Lunchtime Links for July 6th, 2015

• Creme de la Crumb: Baked garlic Sriracha fries. 
• My Baking Addiction: Salted chocolate chunk cookies. 
• Damn Delicious: Sheet pan recipes. 
• Sugar & Cloth: Iced caramel Macchiato.
• Dessert for Two: Shortcut Tres Leches cake.

Georgetown Cupcake - Strawberry Peach Cupcake

This light and fruity cupcake is Georgetown Cupcake's Strawberry Peach cupcake, which consists of a strawberry cake base and fluffy peach frosting.  The color is pretty faint in the photo, but the peach frosting was studded with fresh peach pieces and a really pretty color.  The strawberry cake portion was also filled with chunks of fresh strawberry, making this a very pretty cupcake overall.  I am admittedly not the biggest fan of fruit-based sweets, but even I could appreciate the use of fresh ingredients and how pretty this cupcake looked, haha. 

Lunchtime Links for July 2nd, 2015

• Damn Delicious: Easy grilled chicken.
• Love and Olive Oil: Sea salt and vanilla fudge chunk ice cream. 
• Picky Palate: Roasted broccoli Mandarin sesame ginger salad. 
• How Sweet It Is: Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzard.
• Gimme Some Oven: Parmesan baked sweet potato fries.

Georgetown Cupcake - July Cupcake Flavors

Georgetown Cupcake is offering a number of summery and fun flavors this month!

- Bumbleberry: Classic Madagascar Bourbon vanilla cupcake baked with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries and topped with a vanilla buttercream frosting and blue fondant flower.

- German Chocolate Fudge: Valrhona chocolate cupcake with a caramel and pecan core, topped with a caramel buttercream frosting, toasted coconut flakes and a fudge and caramel drizzle.

- Key Lime Cheesecake: Key lime cheesecake cupcake with a graham cracker crust, topped with a key lime frosting and a candied lime.

- 4th Of July Cupcake: Red velvet cupcake with fondant US flag.

Lunchtime Links for July 1st, 2015

• Picky Palate: Creamy chicken Fajita pasta. 
• Bakerella: Brownie caramel sandwich cookies. 
• Averie Cooks: Loaded chicken taco salad with creamy lime-cilantro dressing. 
• The First Year Blog: Caramel Macchiato mud cake.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Cookies and cream brownies. 

Shake Shack - July Custard Flavors

Happy July everyone! Here's the lineup of custard flavors at Shake Shack this month.  Enjoy!

7/1 - 7/5: Caramelized Peach
7/6 - 7/12: Blueberry Lemon Curd
7/13 - 7/19: Malted Chocolate Cheesecake
7/20 - 7/26: Raspberry Fromage Blanc
7/27 - 7/31: Salted Buttery Caramel