cupcake royale

In case you couldn't tell from reading this blog, I love sweets, especially baked goods (both making and eating them). The last time I was in Seattle, I visited the famous Trophy Cupcakes and I thought their cupcakes definitely lived up to the hype.

During my recent visit, I went to another awesome cupcake shop called Cupcake Royale. My cousin and her husband live right around the corner from their Capitol Hill location, so we stopped by to pick up a batch of their new strawberry cupcakes. We got strawberry shortcake, plain strawberry, strawberry velvet, and a coconut cupcake just for me. They all tasted delicious! The cakes were soft and rich and the buttercream was packed with fresh strawberry flavor. I shared these with three other people over the course of a couple of days. Though, if forced, I probably could've managed to finish the whole box on my own.

Have a great weekend! Eat something sweet!

pizza & cupcakes

Last month, I flew to Seattle to visit family and celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday. I also ate some stuff.

roasted mushrooms & truffle cheese pizza

chocolate & graham cracker cupcake with marshmallow frosting

And, of course, I made sure to visit to my favorite ice cream shop, Molly Moon's. This time around, I got a scoop of their famous salted caramel. So, so, so good. I love Seattle.

new york eats

Since it was my first trip to New York, I decided to stick to the classics. Every meal basically consisted of some variation of bread, cheese and/or some type of meat. I probably should mention that, until recently, I hadn't eaten red meat in over 12 years. The reason I decided to start was so that I could enjoy a New York hot dog, which is just as arbitrary a reason as the one that made me decide to stop in the first place (I just felt like it).

Here are a few highlights from my NYC food adventures:

On our first night in New York, we went to Lombardi's for dinner, where I received an embarrassing amount of attention (and a free drink!) from the bartender and, more importantly, had the best pizza of my life. This is saying a lot, since I consider myself somewhat of a pizza connoisseur. I've been to the best pizza joints in California (Northern and Southern), Las Vegas, Chicago, Seattle, and New York. Of course I expected New York pizza to be the best, by far. It did not disappoint. This slice of pizza is the slice against which all other slices will be compared.

Gray's Papaya. This is what I gave up over a decade of red meat abstinence for. And you know what? It was worth it. My friend and I got the recession special: two frankfurters and a drink for $4.45. There is only one frankfurter in this photo because my friend stole the other one before I could get my camera out.

B.L.A.T. sandwich from Friedmans Lunch. This wasn't a planned visit; we just got hungry while walking around Chelsea Market. This sandwich was a nice surprise, though. A bit heavy on the L, but the addition of A (avocado), plus a good amount of herbed aoili, made up for that. I just had my very first B.L.T. a few months ago, but it's already my favorite sandwich.

On our final night, we had dinner at S'Mac. S'mac is a delightful restaurant in the East Village that serves macaroni & cheese...and only macaroni & cheese. There are four serving size options: Nosh, Major Munch, Mongo, and Partay! How could I not love this place? My friends and I shared a Major Munch-sized "Garden Lite," which was incredibly good. It was packed with veggies, so it wasn't just the constant taste of cheese and more cheese, which could get overwhelming after a while.

We ate much more than this. These were just the things that I decided to take photos of. Even after all this gluttony, I somehow managed to lose weight during my trip. How the hell did I manage this? My feet would probably tell you that it's because of all the walking we did, but I'd like to think it's because New York is just that amazing.

new york snaps

Non-food-related New York highlights:

• First subway ride and walk through Manhattan to visit the Met
• Strolling though soggy, gloomy, beautiful Central Park
• Attending a taping of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• Exploring Strand Book Store (and buying way too many books)
• Running into Patricia Clarkson and her dog while walking to Chelsea Market
• Meeting Mindy Kaling at Magnolia Bakery later that day
• Seeing the original Batman masks on display at the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA
• Visiting 30 Rock, where my television alter ego, Liz Lemon, works

New York food post to follow!

nyc

Just got back from my first trip to New York City. I'll blog about it later, when I'm slightly less exhausted.

strawberry fields

I went to Serendipity 3 in Vegas and ate this. I think I'm still recovering.

seattle

Last month, I went to Seattle to celebrate my grandmother's 89th birthday. It was such a fun, relaxing trip. The weather couldn't have been more perfect.

I arrived on Friday and had a couple of days to enjoy the city before heading to my relatives' house in Port Orchard for the big birthday celebration. My cousin and her fiance escorted my other cousin and I all around Seattle and took us to some amazing eateries, including The Crab Pot (so epic that it was featured on the show Man v. Food) and Molly Moon's ice cream shop (monster-sized scoops and the most delicious homemade waffle cones, ever). We visited Gas Works Park, went to Pike Place Market to buy a bouquet of flowers for our grandmother, rode to the top of the Space Needle, and did some shopping inbetween. All I bought was food (sprinkles and flavored honey) - big surprise.

I'll be going back in August for my cousin's wedding. Can't wait!

spectacular views

Hello there! I just got back from a week-long vacation to Catalina, Mexico, and San Diego. I was so busy preparing for the trip that I completely forgot to mention it on the blog - sorry! I had an amazing time, especially in Mexico, despite the somewhat gloomy weather. Horseback riding was my favorite part of the trip. My horse, Morito, was small and fat and had an awesome mohawk. He would try to eat every flowery plant that we passed (he was particularly partial to the purple ones), and when I tried to steer him away, he made a frustrated noise and took a huge chomp out of the next plant that he saw. Stubborn with a big appetite, just like me! Back at the ranch, I met two little cats named Tigre and Pantera (the latter is pictured above). They were so relaxed and friendly. I had a very strong urge to smuggle them back home with me, but I controlled myself.

This weekend will be spent unpacking, unwinding, and catching up on all the luxuries of home that I've been missing all week (i.e., DVR and interweb). Regular scheduled blogging should resume very soon.

las vegas, las vegas

This week has been crazy busy. It started out with a family trip to Las Vegas on Sunday. It was my second time staying at the lovely Palazzo hotel. I was sad to learn that one of my favorite spots, Mainland, had closed down since my last visit. Mainland was a fun, modern Asian fusion restaurant tucked away in a tiny corner of the Palazzo's second-floor shops. Their food was kind of hit-or-miss, but their toasted marshmallow milkshakes were incredible. The last time I was in Vegas, I had one every day that I was there (both with and without Malibu Rum). I guess now I'll have to go elsewhere for my toasted marshmallow milkshake fix. But even if I do find another place that makes this wonderful concoction, I doubt that anyone could even come close to topping Mainland's.

Anyway, enough with my sad rant. I have come here (at 2am!) to announce that I'll be going on yet another trip to good ol' Las Vegas this weekend, this time for my friend's birthday celebration. While I do go there fairly often, I think this might be the first time that I've made two trips in the same week. I'll be back next week with photos and whatnot. Until then, take care and have a great weekend!