Lunchtime Links for January 31st, 2011

• Serious Eats: Red Hook Lobster Pound.
• She's Becoming Doughmesstic: Caramelized banana Nutella cupcakes.
• The Arugula Files: Meyer lemon cake.
• Cupcakes for Breakfast: Homemade Hostess cupcakes.
• Jersey Shore: Recap from TVGasm.

Cupcake Magnet

I got a fabulous care package from Shop N' Chomp recently, and just had to share the magnet that was included- LOVE!! And totally accurate, haha.  Thanks for the lovely gifts!!

Lunchtime Links for January 28th, 2011

• Top Chef All-Stars: Recap from Serious Eats.
• Jersey Shore: Recap from Gawker. 
• Bakerella: Valentine's Day cake pops.
• La Fuji Mama: Nutella fruit tartine.
• The Budget Babe: Black flats under $40.

Shinzi Katoh Air Freshener

 

On our day trip to NYC over the holidays, we walked through the holiday market in Bryant Park - lots of cute little shops with jewelry, crafts, food, and all sorts of little gift-y items.  I was excited to come across a Japanese-theme shop that sold lots of stationary, calendars, and decorative items, to name a few.  I saw this Shinzi Katoh air freshener and picked up a few- so cute!  Shinzi Katoh has a very whimsical and distinct look, as you can see in their website.  I only have a few of their bento accessories but am always on the lookout for cute items like this one.  What a nice surprise find in Bryant Park!

Lunchtime Links for January 27th, 2011

• Serious Eats: Afternoon tea at Podunk.
• Buns In My Oven: Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies.
• Top Chef All-Stars: Recap from The Kitchn. 
• The Pioneer Woman: Sour cream enchiladas.
• Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Recap from Gawker.

Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake Mix

Since it was the holidays and all, I figured it'd be a good time for me to try out the Sprinkles red velvet cupcake mix that my mom got me from Williams-Sonoma.  I opened up the Pringles-esque container and found cake mix, candy decorative dots, and the REAL recipe, haha.  If you've ever picked up one of these canisters at Williams-Sonoma before, you might notice that they do not include the full recipe on the outside packaging, only the extra ingredients that are needed.  I guess they don't want people to just copy the recipe without buying the mix?  But to be honest I'm not entirely sure why they do this, because presumably you'd need to buy the cake mix inside to make the "official" Sprinkles cupcakes anyway, but oh well.

After a somewhat turbulent mixing process - aka I got bright red cake flour ALL over the counter and even up on top of the stove hood............ - I popped these into the oven and shortly wound up with these little puffy red mushrooms, haha.

Then, after frosting with the cream cheese frosting (not included) and decorating with the candy dot (included):

 

...we've got Sprinkles cupcakes!  Appearance-wise, I think these turned out really well- the domed shape of the cake helped to create a nice and tall cupcake with a swirl of yummy frosting on top.  Overall the recipe was super easy- just be mindful of mixing the bright red flour carefully, haha.   To be honest I liked these much better than the real Sprinkles cupcake I had in LA, but that's because I most likely did not get a fresh-baked cupcake when I went there, haha.  

One possible drawback might be that you're paying $12 for essentially just cake mix.  I'd be inclined to agree, but as a gift, I think it's super cute (and ships well, which is a nice bonus).   If anyone's on the fence about it, I say: wait until seasonal flavors go on sale to try it out (usually the fall flavors go on sale after Thanksgiving), and/or convince someone to get one for you as a gift :o)

Lunchtime Links for January 26th, 2011

• Serious Eats: Black bean and sweet potato chili.
• Smitten Kitchen: Baked potato soup.
• Big Girls Small Kitchen: Soba noodles with ginger chicken meatballs.
• Tasty Kitchen: Butter cake.
• CHOW: Ginger chicken noodle soup.