Lunchtime Links for May 18th, 2023

• Crazy for Crust: Cheesy bacon skillet pancake bake. 
• How Sweet Eats: Pittsburgh salad. 
• Pinch of Yum: Salmon tacos. 
• Table for Two: Big Mac salad. 
• Smitten Kitchen: Smashed chicken meatball sliders. 

Recreating the PNC Park Pittsburgh Sandwich

I recently came across this online article about notable new concessions at ballparks, and instantly fell in love with the idea of Pittsburgh's Pulled Pork and Pierogi Stacker at PNC Park: "This tasty towering treat is a contestant in a Pirates fan poll this season at PNC Park. The stacker consists of pulled pork atop of a pretzel roll with caramelized onions and two potato pierogi for good measure."

As it turns out, I happened to have most of the ingredients for this sandwich.  In my freezer are pretzel rolls from Wegmans, mini pierogies from the grocery store, and my fridge held leftover BBQ brisket from the previous night's dinner.  So, besides the caramelized onions, I was good to go!

 

Mmmmmmmmm, Pittsburgh!  The idea of potato and cheese pierogies in a sandwich might seem weird to you, but FANTASTIC to me, haha.  The only issue is the brisket- since it was pretty dry on its own, obviously the real sandwich's pulled pork would be a better choice.  Overall though, I loved the idea of recreating a (bastardized) version of ballpark food :o)

Pittsburgh Lady Gaga Weekend Eats

I recently went on a fun-filled weekend in Pittsburgh with my friend S- the main focus was visiting our friend B and our other friend Lady Gaga, haha, but of course we had some good eats all weekend as well!

Starting off the weekend (literally, we had just walked into B and C's apartment)- BLITZBURGH CRUNCH ICE CREAM!!

One of the reasons I was so excited to try this ice cream is because it's only sold in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area - aka NOT by me, haha.  The cookie and cake crunchies were so good, mmm.  So happy I got to try it!

We've gone to Pamela's Diner a few times in past visits, but we never tire of it.  Look at those hotcakes!  The edges are crispy and buttery, oh-so-bad for you.  It also doesn't hurt that it's super cheap for the ridiculous amount of food you get.

We also hit up one of the Dozen Bake Shop locations for a mid-day snack.  I love the space and all the different treats that they offer here.  I wouldn't normally seek out a vegan cupcake, but I thought this Mostess (a play on a Hostess cupcake) was cute and tried it out.  It definitely didn't have the same richness that I normally expect in a normal cupcake, but the topping was rich and chocolately which was good.

For our pre-Gaga dinner, we all hit up BRGR, a gourmet burger bar.  They had lots of tasty choices on the menu, but I finally decided on Fire In The Hole: guacamole, jalapenos, pepper jack cheese (which I omitted), and chipotle mayo.  There was a pleasantly noticeable amount of heat in this burger, which went nicely with the creamy guacamole.  I don't know how people manage to eat a burger with fries AND a boozy shake here- the burgers are definitely not small!

 

My favorite part of dinner though had to be the FRIED PICKLES.  I love frickles in general but these were pickle spears, as opposed to the pickle slices that I'm used to seeing.  SO good.  A crunchy, hot, thick batter coats the salty pickle...mmm.  Might not be everyone's favorite but I definitely think it's an addicting taste!  

Once again a fun and tasty weekend in Pittsburgh- thanks to B and his sisters for hosting us/driving us around!  

Pamela's Diner - Shadyside

5527 Walnut Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15232

412.683.1003

Dozen Bake Shop - Lawrenceville

3511 Butler Street

Pittsburgh, PA

412.621.4740

Brgr

5997 Penn Circle South

Pittsburgh, PA 15206

412.362.BEEF 

Lunchtime Links for March 7th, 2011

• Gossip Girl: Recap from NYMag.
• Serious Eats: Pancakes across America.
• The Budget Babe: Picture frame necklace holder.
• Tasty Kitchen: Nutella cookies.
• Bell'alimento: Linguine with clams.

Lady Gaga + Pittsburgh!

This weekend I'll be heading out to Pittsburgh for a fun weekend of friends, food, and of course, LADY GAGA LIVE!!! WOO! 

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend and play "Born This Way" a few times to get into the spirit ;o)

Lady Gaga: Born This Way

I'm assuming by virtue of being my friend slash not living under a rock, you've heard Lady Gaga's new single, "Born This Way" by now.

AMAZE.  LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.

And before you start talking about the whole "Madonna/'Express Yourself'" comparison, yes, she is aware of it, and yes, she addressed it on Jay Leno on Valentine's Day. 

Anyway, the song is amazing and just super fun, and I cannot WAIT to see her perform it live next Saturday in Pittsburgh!

Lunchtime Links for October 14th, 2010

• Serious Eats: Pamela's in Pittsburgh.
• Flipping Out: Recap from TVGasm. 
• Bakerella: Oregon coast cupcake camp.
• Cookies: Nikki's double chocolate chip cookie recipe. 
• Pioneer Woman: Skillet cornbread recipe.

Pittsburgh Weekend

Just another fun, food-filled  weekend in Pittsburgh!!  This time B and I got to try lots of different places, all of which were new to me :o)  Some highlights of our weekend:

The Dor-Stop restaurant was OPEN this time around, woohoo!!  We came here for Saturday morning brunch, and the place was packed, but we were able to snag two countertop seats which worked out great. 

Whipped cream with a touch of hot chocolate, haha

Pumpkin Pancakes

 

Chocolate chip pancakes

I'm not a huge fan of Guy Fieri as a person, but I love all the places he shows on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, hence why I wanted to come here for so long.  Of course we had to try the pumpkin pancakes here, and I really enjoyed them.  They were v. spice-heavy and not sweet at all.  Less of a pumpkin pie-type pancake and more of a full-on pumpkin flavor.  

Next up, we headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo + Aquarium:

 

Not gonna lie, the aquarium (which is newer) was waaaaaaaaaaaaay cooler than the zoo portion, haha!  But overall it was a fun trip and we got to see lots of cool animals.  The weather was pretty grey and drizzly, which actually worked to our advantage since the place wasn't packed like I assume it would be on a sunny weekend day.

We then hit up Oh Yeah! Ice Cream and Coffee for some great ice cream and sooooooooooooooo many mix-in options! The menu was staggering, and I'm glad there wasn't anyone in line behind us because they would've been waiting a while for me to decide, haha. 

 

Vanilla with Chocolate chip cookies

Vanilla with strawberries and pretzels 

We both went with somewhat simple mix-in choices, but both delicious!  I got vanilla (SO good, see all the vanilla bean specks) with a chocolate chip cookie mixed in.  B got the vanilla also, with strawberries and pretzels mixed in.  So good!

After seeing lots of fishies and sharks at the aquarium, I got to thinking about Shark Bites fruit snacks... they were so good, especially the elusive Great White Sharks!!  Conveniently enough, B lives above a grocery store, so we checked it out...

 

Shark Bites still exist!!!  I recall the Great White Shark pieces being a bit longer/bigger, but what the hey- I'm just happy they're actually still around!  

We rounded out the weekend with a trip to Dozen, this time one of their locations that I haven't been to yet, that serves breakfast on the weekends. 

 

Chicken Pot Pie Hand Pie

 

Vanilla Cupcake + Chocolate Chip Cookie

The Chicken Pot Pie was really tasty with a crispy, flaky crust that I LOVED.  If I had this for brunch every week, I'd be totally happy (and stuffed, haha).  The cupcake and cookie were taken back home with me, and thoroughly enjoyed that following week.

Well, I hope you enjoyed our tour de food o' Pittsburgh- can't wait for the next trip up there for even more yummy adventures!!

Lunchtime Links for January 18th, 2010

• Green Lantern: Blake Lively reportedly cast to be his love interest.
• Cute: Paris Hilton on "I Get That A Lot".
• Dozen: Bake Shop (the original cupcake shop is so cute also!)
• Baohaus: An early look at the restaurant's offerings..yum!
• Real Housewives: Bethenny will be starring in her own show.

Lunchtime Links for September 9th, 2009

• Dangerously Delicious: UK's biscuits are tested for risk levels. I can say they're all delicious, btw.
• Freezing Foods: I do this, but not nearly as extensively as this article...will def use these tips.
• Troy!: Doing good deeds and showing off his mane, haha.
• Mini Maple Pancake Muffins: SOOO cute.
• A Day Without Cats: Haaaaaaaaaa.

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to D, who unfortunately didn't make the cut for why today is such a significant day.

Weekend in Pittsburgh!

Spent an awesome weekend in Pittsburgh, visiting B and K. Fun times with Family Guy trivia, random educational museum trips, drinking games, and of course, the FOOD! A few of the food highlights...

DENIED at the Dor Stop.

After lots of hype from me (seeing Pumpkin Pancakes on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives), we ventured out Saturday morning for brunch at Dor Stop. As luck would have it, all that greeted us was an empty restaurant + a sign indicating they were on vacation for a week starting THAT day. Boooo. We went to Pamela's for some fab hotcakes instead.

Walked over to Vanilla to try out some of their cupcakes.

Having tried Dozens on our last Pittsburgh trip, we tried out Vanilla this weekend. General consensus was positive, one highlight was definitely K's choice of the Cosmo cupcake. My Red Velvet was alarmingly red, and appearance-wise, not like any other Red Velvet I've ever tried. The cake was moist, the frosting was pillowy and sweet, and the little sprinkles added a nice touch of texture. I really liked the layout of the bakery, especially the window that looks into the actual Bakery portion- pretty cool to see the bakers and decorators at work!

Primantiiiiiiiiiis.

Of course I couldn't pass up another chance to have a Primanti's Sandwich while in Pittsburgh. We got some at the Pirates game on Saturday night- while it wasn't the same as eating at a real Primanti Bros., it was perfect ballpark overload food, especially that cole slaw that I love so much.

View of Downtown from the Game.

Yes, a non-food photo for you, haha. This is from walking around the stadium prior to the awesome fireworks show!

Full-on Eat n' Park Paraphanelia.

Sunday consisted of sleeping in and a trip to Eat n' Park before heading back to DC. Of course the food there was secondary to the famous Smiley cookies, although clearly I couldn't resist the other gifts they had there too. Can't wait to use my mug!

Once again, a fab time in the Steel City. Thanks B and K for an awesome weekend, it was great to see you both!

Pittsburgh Links!

Had a fantastic time visiting B & K in Pittsburgh this past weekend... photos to come later, but for now, links to some of the places we hit up over the weekend:

• Vanilla Pastry Studio: Cupcakes, cakes, etc. Cute store with yummy cupcakes.
• Pittsburgh Popcorn Company: I don't even like popcorn but the smell (and samples) were omgunbelieveable.
• Eat n' Park Smileys: Of course we couldn't leave without some of these cookies.
• Heinz History Center: Includes an extensive sports museum (surprise, surprise).
• Primanti Brothers: Got these at the Pirates game, not as good as the restaurant but still tasty (love that coleslaw!).