i heart ... hello, cupcake!

i  love this book!

i can look through it over and over again

dreaming of the next cupcakes i'm going to make.

these pandas are the first i attempted.

i made them to celebrate paulina and thomas' birthdays.

when paulina was a baby i called her my baby panda.

in october i made these owl cupcakes.

they are my favorite!

brennan and kaitlyn helped me decorate these.

for thanksgiving i made these turkeys.

like i said before,

they were a nightmare to decorate.

thank heavens i'd already had good experiences with the pandas and the owls.

if these turkeys were the first i'd tried

from hello, cupcake!

i'm not sure i'd try any more ever again!!!

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i heart ... spinato's

awhile back i was at the park.
i overheard these two women talking.
one was going on and on about this
kind of secret italian restaurant.
she was like, "it's hard to find.
it's in this dark industrial complex.
you would never know it was there
unless someone told you how to get there."

and then she said,
"i'm from new jersey and i've had amazing authentic italian food
but this is the best i've ever had!"
at that point i was sold!
but i didn't know the name of the restaurant
and the directions she gave the other woman were fuzzy -
and i didn't want her to know i was eavesdropping
so i didn't dare ask her any details.

but then last wednesday i got a lucky break.
while at joe's farm grill with my friends
one of my friends started talking about this
mysterious italian restaurant
in this obscure industrial complex
and i said "hold it right there!
i need names and directions!"

spinato's!

it's called spinato's!

so today i went!
my cousin jennie was in town
and asked me where i would like to go for lunch.

i knew just the place!

we started with the bruschetta

(fresh roma tomatoes, fresh basil, diced garlic, evoo, and balsamic vinegar)

super good!

jennie's baby, journie,

shared some bruschetta sans tomatoes and stuff.

she wasn't loving the balsamic vinegar!

i ordered the baked spaghetti calzone -

yes, a calzone stuffed with spaghetti!

i want to kiss who every thought of this!

genius!

jennie ordered the

fresh spinach pizza
(fresh baby spinach carefully marinated in "secret seasonings”
then baked with fresh roma tomatoes, diced garlic, and mozzarella cheese)

awesome!

and finally for dessert

we had the

pumpkin gelato and peppermint gelato.

journie loved it

and i think that is a good enough recommendation!

sadly, as it turns out,

spinato's is not as mysterious as people thought it was.

it felt mysterious

because, yes, it was hard to find,

and in a totally obscure location,

and in an unfinished building...

but there are actually 3 other locations

in the phoenix area.

nevertheless,

it was sooooooo good

and i'm just going to keep on pretending

it's a special little secret place!

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i heart ... joe's farm grill

last night for visiting teaching

i met some friends at joe's farm grill.

the whole experience was fun.

it was fun being with my friends...

the atmosphere of the restaurant was fun...

even the food was fun!

i had the

grilled peanut butter & banana split sandwich

(p.b., chocolate chips, crushed pineapple,

fresh strawberries and bananas)

it was just as good as it sounds!

hmmm...

now here was something interesting...

my friends said,

"have you seen the bathrooms?

oh, you have to see the bathrooms!"

yep.

barbies and g.i. joes

and some weird puppet movie playing.

your guess is as good as mine.

p.s.

this guy's been there too!

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i heart ... zinc bistro

in honor of president's day

my bff brook and i had lunch at zinc bistro.

okay, not really in honor of president's day

but really in honor of having the day off.

(no disrespect to washington & lincoln. love them!)

to start we shared the

onion soup gratinee loved the gruyere!

for my main course

i had the

crab and truffle omelette

with bearnaise and straw potatoesit was perfection.

nice and simple and light

after the very flavorful onion soup.

our plan for dessert was

tahitian vanilla bean creme brulee

but they were out of some of the ingredients!

oh well.

that just means we have to go back.

so instead we went to grand lux cafe

for beignets.

no complaints!!!

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i heart ... pan-fried onion dip

image from foodnetwork.com

i just made

ina garten's pan-fried onion dip

for the super bowl tomorrow

and oh my!

divine

i cannot wait until tomorrow to eat more of it!

i want to eat all of it right now!

but i also want everyone to try it

so i'll have to control myself.

wish me luck!

p.s.

i would like to change the name of this dip.

it doesn't sound all that appetizing.

how about

caramelized onion dip?

much better, i think.

p.p.s.

so the game is over

(and my team won! yay!)

and guess what?

so sad,

but the dip is not as good the second day.

but it was amazing right when i made it.

so do you know what that means?

eat this dip immediately!

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i heart ... orange creamsicle trifle

for my niece brennan's birthday dinner

i asked her what dessert she would like me to make.

she said "orange trifle".

well,

i've never seen an orange trifle,

but why not?

you can make a trifle out of whatever you want!

so i thought about it,

then put it together,

and it turned out soooooooooo good!

seriously!

way beyond my expectations!

and it had an orange creamsicle flavor

so i decided that would be the official name.

it sounds more cute, too.

paula's orange creamsicle trifle

2 pound cakes

orange juice (no pulp)

12 navel oranges from my backyard because they're the best!

vanilla pudding (recipe below)

whipped cream

1) section the oranges. you can learn how to do that here. this removes all of the white pith.

2) make pudding according to package directions, plus about 1/3 cup extra liquid to thin it out a little.

3) cut angel food cake into 1 inch cubes.

4) pour 1/2 cup o.j. into a bowl. dip cake cubes in o.j. (don't soak, just quickly dip)

5) layer bottom of trifle dish with cake.

6) layer sectioned oranges over cake (i used 6 oranges for each orange layer).

7) pour half of pudding over oranges.

8)start again with another cake layer,

and continue on with layers in the same order as before.

9) top with whipped cream


vanilla pudding

Vanilla Pudding

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pudding/vanilla-pudding/

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 cups lactose free milk
• 4 beaten egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

1. In a medium heavy saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove pan from heat. Gradually stir 1 cup of the milk mixture into egg yolks.
2. Add egg mixture to milk mixture in saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove pan from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Pour pudding into a bowl. Cover surface of pudding with plastic wrap. Serve warm or cold (do not stir during chilling). Makes 4 servings.

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i heart ... christmas sprinkles

i went into sprinkles today.

i told myself i could have one cupcake.

one.

so of course

i got two.

eggnog spice & vanilla peppermint

so now do you understand?

it was impossible to choose one and not the other!

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i heart ... hot spiced cocoa

i tried this new cocoa recipe today.
divine!
(if you love spices, that is... 'cause it's spicy!)

see that?
those are all the spices!

i made the hot cocoa in this cool machine

called the cocoa-latte.

if you are serious about your hot chocolate

get this machine!

it comes with lots of good recipes, too.

hot spiced cocoa

2 rounded tablespoons unsweetened hot chocolate mix

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

serves 2

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i heart ... rustic soup of butternut squash with roasted garlic

i don't like squash.but i want to like squash.

i love autumn so so so so much

so that means i want to love everything about autumn

and that means i need to love squash.

i do love everything pumpkin,

and pumpkin is a squash, right?

so maybe i'm on the right track

toward my goal of learning to like squash...

and now i've found something else that is helping me toward that goal.

i made this soup on sunday

just hoping so much that i would like it

because it did sound so good...

all of it, except the squash part.

and i'm happy to report,

i loved it!

rustic soup of butternut squash

with roasted garlic

from american western cooking from the roaring fork

1 1/2 cups peeled butternut squash, cut in half

1 tablespoon dark chile powder

kosher salt & cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons softened butter

water (to spin squash in blender)

2 tablespoons corn oil

1/2 cup diced yellow onion

1 tablespoon finely minced shallot

2 tablespoons toasted, seeded & finely minced chile ancho

2 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup roasted garlic puree (you can google this to find out how to do it. so easy!)

1 tablespoon roasted & ground cumin seed

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

4 cilantro sprigs

preheat oven to 375 degrees. season squash with chile powder and salt & pepper. to roast the squash, lightly grease a roasting pan with softened butter and place squash (w/seeds) seeded side down on pan. roast for 35 minutes. remove from oven and allow to cool to room

emperature. puree in blender with just enough water to spin sauce. season with salt & pepper.

in a heavy pot, heat corn oil over medium high heat. then saute diced onion, shallot and chile ancho till just tender. add squash puree, broth, roasted garlic puree, ground cumin and cayenne. allow soup to simmer till it has reduced volume by 1/4. carefully puree soup with hand-held mixer. finish by stirring in 1/2 cup cream and salt & pepper.

place remaining 1/4 cup cream in squirt bottle. ladle soup into 4 wide-rimmed bowls. drizzle cream over soup in zigzag pattern. place small mound of toasted pumpkin seeds in center. top with cilantro sprig.

serves 4

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i heart ... pizzeria bianco no. 2

i finally went back.
took long enough.
i went with my friend deena.
this time we didn't have reservations
(since you need at least 6 people for reservations)
and the wait was 3 hours.

but we entertained ourselves.
there's a nice area outside where you can wait.

while you're waiting you can order appetizers.
we ordered
the cheese plate and olives
(best olives i've ever had!)

on this visit to pizzeria bianco
i knew exactly what i was getting!

the wiseguy!

(wood roasted onion, house smoked mozzarella, fennel sausage)

but deena was smart and thought we should
order another pizza that would be very different from the wiseguy
and then share them.
i hesitated for a second.
i didn't think i would want to share my wiseguy!
but i wanted to try something new too,
so that's what we did.
we decided on the margherita.

super good choice!

(tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil)

after my first visit to pizzeria bianco

i thought the wiseguy was my favorite.

but there is now officially a tie!

i would totally recommend getting these two pizzas together.

it was pure heaven!

taking a few bites of the wiseguy,

then taking a few bites of the margherita...

so different.

both hitting the right spot!

(i need an excuse to go back soon!

stephanie,

wanna go there when you're home for thanksgiving???)

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i heart ... this rainbow cake

i found this cool cake on omnomicon.
i fell in love.
mostly i fell in love with how
it would blow the minds
of my nieces and nephews.
('cause you know i'm all about my nieces and nephews!)
i made it today for our sunday family dinner.
and it worked.
their minds were blown.

yes, i am aware of what this looks like.

omnomicon's rainbow cake

2 boxes white cake mix

24 oz. of clear diet soda (like diet sprite)

gel food coloring

(the recipe doesn't call for it, but i added 2 teaspoons coconut flavoring!)

whatever icing you want

(i used whipped cream)

1)mix the cake mixes with the diet soda. it will be lumpy. follow the instructions on the box (besides the oil, eggs...).

2) get out 6 bowls, for the 6 colors of batter. put an even amount of batter into each bowl (a little less than 1 1/2 cups per bowl).

each bowl needs its own spoon!

3) stir colors into each bowl. it takes a lot of food coloring!

4) spray the pans very well. drop first color into pan. drop 2/3 cup at a time. drop it like you would pancake batter.
drop the next color in the center, right on top of the first. you can choose the order of the colors.(omnomicon did red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple...and then the opposite in the other pan. hers looked better than mine, so i'm doing mine her way next time!)

do not stir the colors!!! leave them alone!!!

5) bake according to package directions, but might need an extra 5 or 10 min. because of the soda. let it cool completely before removing to wire rack.

and finally, look at this cool view from the bottom!

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i heart ... my mom's mud pie brownies

every time my mother makes

these brownies

i just die!

i could eat all of them!

(and i almost do)

this recipe was given to my mom

by her friend debbie.

they are so perfect!

the coconut

the pecans

the chocolate frosting...

everything i love!

mississippi mud pie brownies

1 brownie mix (9x13 size - and hershey's is the best)

1 and 1/2 cups coconut

1 and 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 jar marshmallow cream (a million times better than marshmallows!)

make brownie mix as instructed on box.

add in coconut and pecans.

bake as directed.

when done,

spread 1 jar of marshmallow cream

over top.

(dollop by the spoonfuls

over the entire top,

then spread evenly)

let cool completely before frosting.

frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup cocoa

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

mix butter and vanilla with beaters.

in separate bowl,

mix powdered sugar and cocoa.

beat in powdered mix with butter mix

alternating with the evaporated milk.

spread.

refrigerate a few hours before serving.

keep stored in refrigerator.

i heart ... how this boy loves salsa

my nephew thomas

yes, it's true.

thomas loves eating salsa by the spoonfuls!

no chips necessary.

just a bowl and spoon.

(and please don't worry.

it's baby-safe salsa.

homemade by stacy)

i heart ... a perfect day (no. 2)

i had yet another perfect day.

i spent it with my cousin/bff, brook.

first,

we saw julie & julia.

loved!

i never knew julia child was such a

happy, positive person.

just the kind of person i like.

i enjoyed every second that julia/meryl streep

was onscreen.

we saw "julie & julia"

at scottsdale fashion square

so, of course, after the movie

we had to do a little shopping!

that should go without saying!

(so i guess i needn't have mentioned it)

(also, i guess i don't need to mention which store

we spent most of our time in)

we knew that after seeing "julie & julia"

we would feel the intense need

for some scrumptious and beautiful food.

so after shopping we headed across the street to

olive & ivy.

and the food was exactly what we had in mind -

yes, it was scrumptious and beautiful!

when the weather is cooler

we're going back to enjoy their beautiful patio!

and even better,

one of these days we're going to have a girls' night

and reserve their beautiful

white room!

our waitress tried to tempt us with a

peach cobbler cheesecake for dessert

(yes, a cobbler and a cheesecake in one!)

but we could not be deterred from

the very dessert we had in mind...

sprinkles, of course!

and thus ended our perfect day.

i can't wait for the next one!