Crisp Noodle Cake

Happy Earth Day!

Tonight’s dinner was an Earth Day celebration; a nice crisp noodle cake and TONS of veggies!

I had this particular recipe on my radar for awhile, but wasn’t able to incorporate it into my weekly meal planning until today. I was also a bit hesitant about the recipe in general. My fiancé tells me I need more confidence, since I’m always afraid my adventures in the kitchen are going end disastrously. He constantly reassures me that everything I’ve made has been delicious, and the few things that haven’t, have been at least passable.

That being said, I found this recipe on Serious Eats. It is, however, a Martha Stewart recipe. It seemed pretty basic, and really only called for a few ingredients; one of which was ginger. I personally have no aversion to ginger, but I know a lot of people (cough, my dad, cough) that loathe it. Because I don’t care either way, instead of getting the fresh ginger, I went with sushi ginger. That way, I can have it to throw into other recipes in the future, without needing to worry about it going bad as quickly. I’ve been avoiding scallions for no particular reason. Up until this recipe, if I was making something that called for it, I left it out. This time, however, I knew it was an important part of the meal, so I buckled down and bought some.

Once you get past the ingredients and mix everything together, you’re kind of left with a giant slop of egg, ginger, bean sprouts, scallions, and noodles, as you can see here:

I was unsure of the best way to grab the concoction and transfer it from the bowl to the bubbling hot oil. I decided to grab some with a fork, carry over the ends with my fingers, and as neatly as possible (without getting burnt) place the blob into the oil. Believe it or not, I managed to get it into a cake-like shape, without getting burnt!

While the noodles were cooking away, I decided to sauté some typical stir-fry vegetables as a side; broccoli, carrots, and sugar snap peas – yum! I doused them in some soy and teriaki sauces for flavor.

I don’t really know what about this recipe made me so nervous. When I broke it all down, though, it turned out to be really simple. The cakes were super crisp on the outside, and tender on the inside. To agree with Blake Royer over at Serious Eats, it was a kind of like a “noodle frittata, crisp and crunchy and yet still custardy on the inside.” There was just the right amount of ginger without being overpowering, and the scallion added a nice touch. I could definitely see adding some sautéed onion into the mix next time. It was also really great to have Sriracha as a dipping sauce.

If you’re ever in the mood for a basic Asian inspired crispy meal, I would definitely recommend this. My girl Martha knows what she’s talking about, as does Serious Eats!

Crisp Noodle Cake
[Serves 2]

Ingredients:

3 ounces rice vermicelli or angel hair pasta
3 ounces soybean sprouts
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 scallions, sliced very thin
2 large eggs plus 1 egg white, beaten
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup neutral oil, such as canola or safflower
1/4 cup pea shoots (optional)
Soy sauce and sriracha (or other chili sauce) for condiments

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the noodles until just tender; drain and rinse under cool water. Add to a bowl with the sprouts, ginger, scallions, salt, and eggs and toss to combine.
2. Heat the oil in a large (12-inch) skillet until very hot and shimmering and almost smoking (if it’s not hot enough, the cakes can be greasy), then lower the heat to medium. Divide the noodle mixture into 4 portions, then place each in the pan, pressing to flatten into a cake. Cook until golden brown, 6-7 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Turn out cakes to a plate lined with paper towels, then toss the pea shoots into the skillet to wilt.
3. Blot the cakes with paper towel and serve with the soy sauce and Sriracha.

Happy nomzing!

Our Wednesday Routine: Barilla Tortellini

This might sound ridiculous, by every Wednesday for at least the past six months, my fiance and I have dined on Barilla tortellini without fail. Sure, lot’s of families have different themed dinner nights; maybe Thursday is taco night and Friday is pizza. But I’ve never heard of say “Eggplant Pizza Friday,” something so specific as to the exact flavoring. But my fiancé and I have taken it that far. So, each and every Wednesday night we have the spinach & ricotta stuffed tortellini, smothered in red sauce and doused in red pepper flakes, with a salad. Every once in awhile, we throw in some garlic bread.

They are actually really filling too. The bag says they serve 2 people, and that’s definitely more than enough with a side salad. They offer 4 serving bags as well, but we stick with the 2 servings instead. And, they’re always on sale; we get 2 bags for only $5! They aren’t “bad” for you, but it is pasta stuffed with cheese. So, it probably won’t be the healthiest meal you eat all week (or, it might be). I took a nutrition class in college, and the professor said that if the food is cheap, 99% of the time it’s poor quality and isn’t good for you. I mean, sure, the 99 cents you pay for mac ‘n cheese in a box isn’t exactly a healthy meal. But sometimes you just want that quick, easy, comfort. And if you’re pairing it with veggies and plan to do some type of exercise, who cares?! A cheap indulgence should be allowed from time to time!

I’ve often been the type of person that craves the same type of food for a brief period. I’ll go through a sushi phase where that’s all I want. Or maybe a cheeseburger phase. But every Wednesday, I look forward to my tortellini. The reasoning might be twofold; not only are they delicious, they’re super easy. All I need to do is boil a pot of water, dump the tortellini’s in, and let them cook for 10 minutes. Then, I can heat up some sauce, throw together a salad, and dinner is ready!

Because my fiancé does his weekly radio show on Wednesday nights at 90.3 The Core (you should listen – head over to thecore.fm from 9-10p Eastern), we need something quick and easy by the time we get home from work. We stumbled upon these guys one day in the pasta aisle, and it’s been love ever since.

The possibilities for these tortellinis are endless. Add it to some broth and throw in some veggies you’ve got yourself a tortellini soup. Sauté some veggies and throw them in, you have yourself a tortellini primavera! You can always use this as a side versus a meal too, and pair it with pretty much anything. Not interested in a red sauce? What about pesto? Or alfredo? Or maybe a cool pasta salad? Do you see where I’m going with this? These things RULE!

There are definitely other brands of tortellinis available too (such as Bertoli and Buitoni). However, both the fiancé and I have concluded after trying a few different variations, the Barilla Spinach & Ricotta is the best. We even tried the Barilla Four Cheese and weren’t impressed. But, I’d suggest trying some different varieties to find what you like!

Next time you’re in the pasta aisle and are looking for some quick and easy meal options, check out Barilla’s tortellinis, I think you’ll be glad you did!

Potato Chips and Eggs for dinner!

As I mentioned yesterday, I was planning on making a Potato Chip Tortilla this week. I had every intention of making it yesterday, but when shopping on Saturday my head was not in the game, so I left out some key ingredients. Today after work the fiancé and I headed over to the Target near our office to grab an onion and some extra eggs. The particular Target we usually stop at has a pretty impressive produce section. Well, they had no onions! Sure, they had ground beef, green dips, pre-made salads, onions, a ton of fruits, lettuce… but no onion. I decided it was just going to have to be made without the onion.

The recipe is from May’s Food Network Magazine. There was a whole section on incorporating potato chips into your meal. There was potato chip crusted pork, chocolate and toffee drizzled potato chips, and also the potato tortilla. The name can be deceiving. When I hear tortilla, I think of what I wrap my burrito in. Well not this case! This was definitely more like a fritata than anything else. It actually reminded me a lot of the delicious Chilaquiles Fritata I made in February.

I’m all for the super simple recipe. And I am no stranger to breakfast for dinner. Sure, I’m willing to get my hands dirty every once in awhile, but in most cases, after getting home from work at 6:30p, the last thing I want to do is cook for an hour or two, and not eat until it’s almost bedtime. The whole recipe wasn’t ready until about 8pm, but that’s just because it took 30 minutes to bake. I don’t mind that – I was able to do some other things while it was baking. I just hate actively cooking for a seriously long time after a full day.

All I had to do to prepare for this recipe was crack the eggs (I really think I’m the worst egg cracker there is), beat them, add in some spices, and crush up and add my potatoes to the egg mix. The recipe only called for salt and pepper, but I decided to be adventurous and add some chili powder and cayenne pepper, since we like things with a kick! This particular recipe assumes you have a skillet that has oven-friendly handles. Well, I do not. So after cooking it on the stove-top for about 5 minutes, I had to transfer it to a Pyrex dish to put in the oven. No biggie, but kind of annoying. Since I’m a cheese lover, I also added some shredded mozzarella to the top, and let it bake.

After baking and letting it cool, it had a loaf-like consistency. I decided to have mine with a little Frank’s Red Hot, while the fiancé chose to use Sriracha. It was perfect! There was just the right amount of egg flavor (I’m not a huge egg fan), and a nice potato chip flavor. It sounds like it would be a very odd combination. But believe me, it was delicious! We just had it with a simple green salad, and were good to go. We have plenty of left overs, so I’m looking forward to having some of that with some Green Giant microwaveable veggies for lunch tomorrow!

So whether you’re looking for a brunch item, or maybe you want breakfast for dinner, all you need for this recipe is a few key ingredients, and about 45 minutes. Then you can tell everyone you had eggs and potato chips!

Potato Chip Tortilla

Ingredients:
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 white onion, halved and thinly sliced
12 large eggs
1 8.5 oz bag of thick-cut potato chips (about 10 cups)
Kosher salt & ground pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a medium nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring until soft, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and wipe out the skillet.
2. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and 1 cup water in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Lightly crush the potato chips into the egg mixture and let stand, stirring occasionally, until the chips are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the onion.
3. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the egg mixture and cook until it begins to set, about 5 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the eggs are firm and the top is golden and slightly crisp, 30-35 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and let stand 5 minutes, then slide onto a plate. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Happy nomzing!

Cheesy South of the Border Skillet

I love cheese. I love “South of the border” aka Mexican food. Put the two together, and I’m ready to devour.

I actually found this recipe on one of the may foodie blogs I subscribe to in my Google Reader, Make Life Delicious. The ingredients themselves were enough to make me immediately forward the post to my fiancé for confirmation of a dinner option. Cheese (both Mexican blend AND cream cheese), pasta, salsa, cumin? What more could a girl want?! Despite having more than enough carbohydrates in the past three days, I was definitely game for more pasta tonight. I mean heck, I burned over 3,000 calories yesterday running my half marathon!

I had actually planned to make a Potato Tortilla from this month’s Food Network Magazine. But I quickly realized I had forgotten white onion at the store on Saturday, and didn’t have enough eggs either. So, I’ll have to make that either tomorrow or Thursday. I somehow managed to not have all of the ingredients for this recipe either, but I was able to improvise successfully.

The recipe itself is straight forward – if you want to use chicken, cook the chicken. Also cook some pasta (any medium size will do – I went with rigatoni). Throw in the other ingredients to the skillet, once the pasta is done throw that in too, cook for a few more minutes, and tada! Ooey gooey Mexican cheesy goodness! The consistency was similar to the Everyday Food Pasta w. bacon and peas recipe I’ve made a few times.

As I mentioned, I LOVE CHEESE. And a lot of it. This recipe definitely has that. So, if you aren’t as serious a cheese fan as myself, I’d stick to maybe half of the cream cheese the recipe calls for. And, of course, if you’re going the veggie route, you can definitely substitute the chicken for tofu or maybe just more south of the border friendly vegetables (onions, peppers, black beans, corn, etc.)

You can also really dictate the spice level based on the salsa you choose, and if you add any other seasoning. I went with a medium-hot chunky style (so corn, black beans, onions) salsa, and added some chili powder when I was cooking the chicken. Also, the recipe called for corn. Whoops. I didn’t have any. I had some left over red onion, though, so I diced that up and added it in. Not an exact trade-off, but good enough.

Both my fiancé and I devoured our bowls, and were really impressed with the cheese and “south of the border” taste levels. I would absolutely make this recipe again. It was super quick and easy, and really filling! In my quest to be a little more vegetarian instead of halfaterian, maybe I’ll try this recipe in the future with a meat substitute.

For now, though, I’m going to go devour some more of the giant cupcake we have sitting on top of our refrigerator. So many goodies in this house! And this weekend’s dessert themed birthday party is only going to make it worse!

So here’s the recipe, and happy nomzing!

South of the Border Chicken & Pasta Skillet

Ingredients:
2 cup medium sized pasta (uncooked)
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb.) cut into bite-size pieces
6 oz. salsa
2 cups frozen (thawed) corn
4 oz. (half of a package) of Philadelphia cream cheese
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 cup Mexican style cheese

Directions:
1. Cook pasta as directed on package.
2. Meanwhile, cook and stir chicken in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 6 min, or until done.
3. Add salsa, corn, cream cheese and cumin; simmer on medium-low heat 6 min. or until corn is heated through and cream cheese is melted, stirring occasionally.
4. Drain pasta; add to skillet with half the shredded cheese. Simmer 3 min. or until heated through.
5. Top with remaining shredded cheese; cover.
6. Remove from heat; let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Race Recap – My First EVER Half Marathon!

I know this blog is mostly dedicated to food, but after picking up running this past year, I’ve noticed just how many people are into both food AND running! Maybe that’s because in order to eat everything that’s delicious out there, some type of serious exercise needs to be involved? At any rate, through good ‘ole Twitter, I’ve been able to connect with a bunch of people that share a love for eating and running! So because of that, I’m thinking about incorporating some of my running into this blog. But we’ll see.

Anyway, I finished my FIRST half marathon today!! The race was a first annual Rutgers University UNITE 1/2 marathon, sponsored by CGI Racing. We started on Busch campus by the Sonny Werblin Recreation Center, and ran through New Brunswick and Piscataway. It was so funny to start at that particular location, because from the age of 12 to 18 (and then after to cheer for my sister), I spent countless weekends at that location in the pool. Rutgers hosted all of the big swim meets during the winter season, and pretty much all of them during the summer season because they had two short course pools that converted into one long course pool. But enough about swimming, this post is for running!

Before the start of the race!

Today was actually pretty chilly. Both my fiancé and I were completely clueless as to outfit choices. I went with some cotton/spandex mix capris from Old Navy, a technical shirt I got from a 5k race last summer, and a throw-away long sleeve shirt from high school. Within two miles I had ripped off my long sleeve shirt, and was really glad I hadn’t worn any more layers. There was some wind here and there, and a mix of sun and shade, so I was pretty comfortable the entire race (temperature wise, that is!).

The first mile was a little difficult. When I had signed up for the race, I put myself down to finish between 2:16 and 2:30. I really had NO idea how I was going to do, because it was before I started training, and had never raced more than 4 miles. By the end of our training, though, I had completed 10 miles in 1 hour and 40 minutes, and realized that even if I kept that comfortable pace the whole time, I’d crush my goal. So I definitely lined myself up with a slower pack – just behind the 10 minute mile pacers. My first mile wound up being just under 10, because I spent most of it dodging in and out of slower runners, and trying to make room for others passing. The race had over 3,000 entrants!

From there, I kind of hit a stride for the next 5 miles or so. I kept a just over 9 minute mile pace for the first half. I really felt great those first 6 miles. I remember thinking to myself “I can totally do this again! This is awesome!” The course had four spots where you pass runners in front/behind you, and I got to see my fiancé TWICE! The second time we high-fived. That was a really great motivator. He was flying through the course, and apparently to his standards I was too! [You can read his race re-cap over at IHateFun.net]

My legs started to get a little tight after those 6 miles, but I didn’t really start to feel it until about mile 9. Holy moly. My hamstrings were NOT having fun. After mile 10 I had to tell myself that I only had a 5k left. But to be honest, I was a little scared, in our training we had never gone over 10 miles, so I really had no idea what to expect. I wound up slowing down a bit between mile 11 and 12. I realized that the end was near, and I didn’t want to look like one of those people coming down the finish line that you can tell is trying SO hard to move their legs, but just aren’t going. I ran down the main drag of the College Avenue campus (on College Ave.) and picked it up about half way, realizing I really had no more than a quarter mile left. I felt like I was going to puke, but I knew it was almost over.

Right at the 13 mile marker I saw my mom jump out from the crowd, and then my dad. Now these two went to almost every single swim meet of my 10 year swimming career (high school and college), and since I started running have been at most of those races too. It’s really great seeing them on the sidelines or up in the bleachers. My mom threw her hands up in the air, screaming for me, so I humored her and did the same back. It really was that final push I needed to give it what little I had left to get through that finish. The clock barely passed 2:03 when I finally made it to get my medal and a water. After looking up my time online, I officially finished at 2:02:15! I kept an average of a 9:20 pace!

Check me out finishing here [I’m in the bright blue and black]! (My fiance finished about 15 minutes before I did, so he was kind enough to video for me on his iPhone!):

I know it might sound a bit ridiculous since it was my first one, but man, if only I had known how close I was to breaking 2 hours, maybe I would have pushed it a little more somewhere between mile 10 and 13. My competitiveness is a bit much at times. I’ve been able to keep it completely internal, but it’s something that I focus and obsess over when I have goals in my head. I’m going to spend the next two weeks analyzing this race, trying to figure out what I could have done differently. But at the same time, I’m really not sure if I could have done anything else. At least I know for next time, I’m really not going to hurt until that 10-ish mile point, so I need to prepare my body for it.

After the race, my fiancé and I hobbled home to get ready to go out to lunch with my family as a celebration. We went to Red Robin, and I devoured a Santa Fe burger. After that, we came home and napped for an hour or two. The combination of being up at 6am and running 13.1 miles followed by huge hamburgers made it impossible to stay awake. Now, thanks to the Rita’s Italian Ice’s “Birthday club” we’re going to head over there to get some ice, since we have a coupon from my fiancé’s birthday!

I really think I’m going to do another one of these badboys. I don’t know when, though, since I still can’t really walk. I’m sure tomorrow will feel great! I’m totally wearing my medal to work, though. Let’s see if anyone notices 🙂

Here’s the breakdown of my race –
7 miles – 1:01:41 (8:49 pace)
10 miles – 1:29:37 (8:58 pace) <– that’s over 11 minutes faster than my training pace! I did 11 miles in that time!
Last 5k – 32:39 (10:32) – YIKES! I told you I slowed down!
Final time – 2:02:15 (9:20 pace)

I just want to say a special thanks to all of the people that sent over well-wishes before my race… it really meant a lot to see such support from co-workers, former teammates, friends, family, and fellow running and/or foodie bloggers!!

There’s a first time for everything – Giant cupcakes and Korean BBQ!

This particular post is two-fold. Both topics, however, surround the celebration of the birth of my wonderful fiancé who’s birthday was this past Thursday. 🙂

On Wednesday, I headed over to my parents house to make a GIANT cupcake as his birthday cake. I had seen commercials and magazine ads for the cupcake tin, but was afraid to ever get one. I finally caved and bought one, along with a real pastry bag and some food dye. Since it was a Wilton pan, I had high hopes. Baking the cake itself was easy – I used double chocolate fudge on the bottom, and French vanilla on the top. I don’t think I waited long enough for the bottom to cool, though, before slathering it with coconut-pecan frosting. From there, I added the top, and with the help of my wonderful sister, frosted it with vanilla frosting that we had dyed a light blue. We finished it off with some green/teal dots, and white sprinkles.

Luckily, I thought to take some pictures before packing up the cupcake to bring it home. Now, I only live about 20 minutes away from my parents. But in that time, despite the amazing packing job my mom did, the cake wound up like the leaning tower of Pisa. Of course my fiancé was extremely supportive and said he loved the cake as it was. I was able to save some face because it tasted delicious! I definitely think next time will be more successful, and I’ll make sure to bake it where I plan on keeping it!

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Then on Thursday, the fiancé’s family came up from South Jersey, and we went out to dinner. One of our co-workers has been raving about Korean BBQ for quite some time. So, we decided we’d give it a shot – we’re always up to try something new! Once his family arrived, though, his mom was less than excited to try it, so we figured we’d just get Hibachi instead. The first restaurant we went to cooked it in the back, so we decided against that. The second restaurant we went to said they had just seated a large party, so hibachi was out, but we could have sushi with a 45 minute wait. After wasting about an hour, we settled on our original pick, Korean BBQ.

At that point we were all ravenous and it was getting late. So we headed over to Woo-Jeon on Route 1 in Edison since it was literally 5 blocks away from our apartment. We walked in, and were immediately seated which was awesome. Each table had a little circle in the middle with a grate on top. Once we were seated, the grate was removed and replaced with a cook-top, and the flame was turned on.

From there, we were like little lost dogs. The menu was extensive, but didn’t give much description. We had all decided we’d get the BBQ, so we just needed to decide what type of meat we wanted. Despite having watched the Earthlings trailer earlier, I went with Bulgogi, which is marinated tender beef. We actually all wound up getting that. We felt silly ordering the same thing, but we figured we’d know for next time to get a little more experimental.

Once we ordered, they almost immediately started bringing out side dishes. Honestly, I knew about four of them. There was kimchi, lettuce, seafood cakes, bean sprouts, a delicious potato salad w. apples, and rice. That’s really where my knowledge ends. I’d love to know everything that I ate, because it was so incredibly delicious. There wasn’t one thing I tried that I didn’t like. They even brought out an egg soufflé on the house!

I really loved the whole cook yourself concept. That way, you’re able to control the pace, portion, etc. The only room for error is not cooking your food enough. But it would be no different from cooking in your very own kitchen. Plus, all of the side dishes can be eaten as they are, so you really just need to focus on whatever type of meat you choose (beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, cows tongue (!!), etc.)

When the meal ended, we were all stuffed, and collectively decided it was a great experience, and something we’d all want to do again soon. I’ll definitely be a bit more adventurous in my main course selection next time. It’d be great to go with someone that really knows their stuff, too. That way, we can try new and different things – everything everyone had around us looked equally fantastic.

Unfortunately I failed you all once again, and didn’t think to take any pictures. I had contemplated saving this post until after I visited a Korean BBQ again, but I just couldn’t wait to tell you all how great it was. So I suppose the only way for you to see the deliciousness is to experience it for yourselves!

I’d recommend taking a look at Yelp.com to find some local Korean BBQ’s and read the reviews. If it’s good, believe me there will be A TON.

In Loving Memory

Brendan and I, at a birthday party in 2006

Four years ago today, I lost a very close friend of mine. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long since my Scranton Swimming teammate was taken away from us. In 2006, I was a sophomore in college having the time of my life. Spring break rolled around, and everyone was excited to head home to be with their home friends and families, or to hit up Spring Break destinations.

As a senior at The University of Scranton, Brendan Giblin headed down to Panama City Florida with some friends. Only two days into spring break, on a Thursday night/Friday morning, while stumbling home from the bar, he was struck by not one, but two drunk drivers.

I find it apt to remember him today here, because I remember exactly what I was doing when I found out – eating. I was sitting at my computer, eating a tuna and apple sandwich (sounds weird, but SO good!) when a friend called, recounting the horrific story. When they got to the part where Brendan had been hit, I remember saying “He’s ok, RIGHT?”, imagining him somewhere in a hospital bed, beaten and bruised. In that moment, my whole world came crashing down. I remember screaming for my mom, hysterically crying, and not knowing where to go from there. I tried to call everyone I knew to make sure they had found out.

I spent the rest of spring break trying to wrap my head around a concept that I had up until that point, never really encountered. The idea of having to say goodbye to a dear friend that I had become so close with was something my 19 year old self just couldn’t understand.

My teammates, friends, and I spent the rest of that 2006 spring semester honoring Brendan’s life. Some of us even went so far as to get tattoos in his memory. The swim team went ahead and purchased a record board in his name in 2008, and every year after his death, there’s a memorial golf outing to celebrate his life and give back to communities he loved so much.

There isn’t a day that goes by I don’t think about Brendan. I know that’s the case for anyone that had their lives touched by him. So for me, this is just another way to honor him at 4 years gone. Love & miss, biffy.

A Failed Attempt at Cupcake Camp NYC Still Ended Sweetly

This past Friday was the second annual Cupcake Camp NYC. You may find yourself asking, “What is this camping cupcake nonsense?” Well, yes, there are cupcakes, but no, there isn’t any camping. It’s basically an ad-hoc gathering for cupcake lovers alike. From bakers to writers and bloggers, and everyone in between, it’s an event to get together and mingle with other cupcake nerds. And Cupcake Camp happens all over the WORLD!

Having heard about the event awhile ago, I was pumped and ready to go. When the tickets were finally made available in March, I made sure to get myself and my fiancé a pair. Since they were free, I was more than ecstatic at the mere thought getting to see (let alone eat) some awesome cupcakes, and potentially brush shoulders with some seriously important cupcake people. You know, like my favorite blog Cupcakes Take the Cake. Or the owner of Buttercup Bake Shop! So once the day rolled around, my fiancé and I made sure to leave work 45 minutes early to get into the city as soon as possible.

Cupcake Camp was held at Happy Ending on Broome Street on the lower east side. When we were approaching our destination, my heart sunk. The event started at 7pm, and it was only about 7:10. The line was not only out the door, but down the street, and around the corner. I mean, I knew it was going to be crowded – everyone loves cupcakes. I couldn’t help but think to myself; “I got my tickets a month early! I love cupcakes way more than these people! I’m even wearing my cupcake necklace! My fiancé and I have mushy gushy cupcake love! THIS ISN’T FAIR!”

The dreaded line
The dreaded line

After whining in my head till the end of the line, we got in line, and waited. We waited and waited, and we didn’t actually get in until just a bit after 8pm. On the way in, we heard a few people echoing “There aren’t any cupcakes left!” while they walked out with boxes of leftover goodies. I sincerely hoped they were lying, but my hopes were dashed once I finally got inside. Any cupcakes that were left were already spoken for by others. There were a few authors selling their cupcake books, and everyone was just mingling and enjoying one another’s company. The bar was so packed, it was nearly impossible to move. After making our rounds, my fiancé and I left, a little disappointed, and very hungry.

I am utterly shocked at how many people were there! It was truly impressive. I mean, I know cupcakes are the “it” trend right now, but man! I suppose the word “free” might have played it’s part as well. I’m definitely going to make an attempt at next year’s gathering. But I think some camping might be involved this time. Forget about leaving work 45 minutes early – I’m going to need to take the whole day!

After that fail, we decided to head over to Dos Toros Taqueria, a place I had read about on SeriousEats. They compared it a lot to Chipotle, so as a burrito fanatic, I was in. When we got there, though, we faced our second fail of the evening. It’s an extremely small place – only one window bench with about 4 seats. And, the line was out the door. Since it was a bit chilly and windy, we decided to save that deliciousness for a day we could really enjoy it. We settled on the Thai restaurant Spice. We passed one of their other locations en route to Dos Toros and had already perused the menu, so we figured that would suffice. I really think Friday was the night of the foodies. We walked past Momofuku‘s Milk Bar and that line was even more outrageous! [I still need to get in on that chicken dinner!]

When we got to Spice, we were told we’d have about a 20 minute wait, which isn’t so bad for 9pm on a Friday in the city. Thankfully, we only wound up waiting about 10 minutes, and we were brought upstairs to our table. We decided to get an order of the spicy calamari to share. It wasn’t spicy so much as it had a nice crisp black pepper taste. The dipping sauce was sweet, tangy, and peanuty with a little kick all at the same time. I really enjoyed it.

Spicy Crispy Calamari with Sriracha honey chili sauce

For our entrees, I went with the Drunken Man Noodles, and my fiancé went for his go-to Pad Thai. The Drunken Man Noodles were broad rice noodles (my favorite!) with chicken, shrimp and squid along with chili, egg, and green beans.

Drunk Man Noodle

Our food came quickly, and it was actually really good. Being the spicy lovers that we are, we asked for extra spice. Surprisingly, despite the restaurant’s name, the food wasn’t spicy. That would be my only gripe about the place. The service was friendly, but they didn’t check-up on us once. It worked out since everything was fine, but if it hadn’t been, I wonder if we would have had trouble flagging someone down. At any rate, for a $30 dinner in the city, I really can’t complain.

To end our night on an even higher note, we headed over to 16 Handles. My fiancé and I actually went here on our fourth date, after dining at the Telephone Bar which is sadly now closed. 16 Handles really is as great as it sounds. There are 16 different flavors of frozen yogurt that you get to choose from yourself, followed by a plethora of toppings. It’s all done buffet style, so you get to pick your cup size, yogurt and topping choices, and then pay by weight. They have everything from sweet to tart flavors, non-dairy and low fat options, and both fruity and candy-like toppings. Being the sweets junkie that I am, I went for red velvet, cookies & cream, New York cheesecake and peanut butter yogurt (just a dollop of each!). I then topped it off with some cookie dough bites, brownie bites, crushed graham crackers, crushed Oreo, and mashed Reese’s peanut butter cups. Oh. Yes. Take a look at the masterpiece!:

16 Handles of deliciousness

So all in all, despite not getting a cupcake, I think I had a successful foodie evening. And I made up for the lack of cupcakes by getting a Crumbs cappuccino and half baked cupcake Saturday. Plus, I’m on Sunday I was able to whip up some peanut butter cupcakes from my 500 Cupcakes recipe book! Maybe next year I’ll be adventurous and bake my OWN cupcakes for the event! We’ll see 🙂

Peanut Butter Cupcakes!

Since our half marathon training is coming to an end, we only had to run once this weekend, and it thankfully fell on Saturday. So, this left me with lots of options for my Sunday. I haven’t made cupcakes in awhile, so I figured I’d give them a whirl.

I got the 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly for Christmas, but hadn’t actually made any recipes from the book until today. The book itself is really cute and displays nicely in my kitchen, but I found myself shying away from it and going to the internet to find recipes instead. Well, last night I buckled down and decided on a recipe from the book; Peanut Butter Cupcakes!

The recipe is pretty straight forward – eggs, peanut butter, sugar, butter and flour. I didn’t have any self rising flour, so I added a teaspoon of baking soda. I also snuck a taste of the batter before putting it in the cups, and it seemed to be missing something. So, I also threw in a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Look at me, getting all inventive with my recipes! I decided to use my hand mixer this time, and it was much easier. I still want a stand mixer, though!

The batter itself was really thick. I had trouble getting out of the bowl and into the cupcake wrappers. I wound up using two spoons – one to grab the batter from the bowl, and another to then scrape it off of the first spoon. They looked like messy blobs when they went in the oven, and I was sure they were going to come out looking equally messy. After 20 minutes, I was surprised at how cupcake-like they looked!

The recipe came with a peanut butter inspired icing, but I decided to go chocolate. I mean, what goes better with peanut butter than chocolate? Just ask the people at Reese’s. There was a chocolate buttercream recipe in the book, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I was low on butter, didn’t have any milk, and I didn’t think it was worth a trek to the store, when I have to go later for my weekly grocery shopping anyway. I had some left-over frosting, so I iced one with chocolate, and one with vanilla. Then I remembered I had some semi-sweet chocolate chips. So, I decided to melt them! The cupcakes have a really glossy sheen on them, and they look as delicious as they taste! Though, as you can tell, I need to work on my icing skills.

Here’s the recipe for the Peanut Butter Cupcakes. If you’re in the market for a cupcake cookbook, I definitely suggest this one. There are TONS of variations for each of the recipes, and clearly if you stray a bit, they still work out well!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
4 eggs
1 cup crunchy peanut butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 18 paper baking cups in muffin pans.
2. Combine butter, sugar, flour, and eggs in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Stir in the peanut butter until well combined.
4. Spoon the batter into the cups. Bake 20 minutes. remove pans from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack. Frost & enjoy!

Happy nomzing!