My husband and I carpooled to San Francisco yesterday. Him = business meeting, me = Japantown (again).
I grazed on oyako donburi and daifuku, purchased more Japanese masking tape* from Kinokuniya Stationery and Gift for upcoming items in the “shop“, and finally, stalked by a pigeon outside of the Peace Plaza.
* You can purchase Japanese masking tape here, here, and here.
A mural inside the plaza:
My stalker, the pigeon:
Next stop was Kara’s Cupcakes at Ghirardelli Square – if you are a local or tourist, it doesn’t matter. Leave your things – and go now! Yum!
Smores cupcake to go (chocolate cake, marshmallow frosting, graham cracker crust on the bottom):
Ghi_ardelli:
After one and a half weeks of being on the road with emotional highs and lows – friends, family, a birthday and a funeral…it is so nice to be home again!
Friends of ours (another husband and wife couple) that we have known for years stayed with us one night. I made celebratory blueberry lemon cupcakes with lemon meringue frosting for our husbands’ birthdays. You can find the recipe for the cupcakes here. Just one minor change in the recipe. I replaced the buttermilk with milk plus one teaspoon lemon juice. The frosting consists of 3 egg whites, 1/4 cup of organic raw sugar, and one teaspoon of lemon juice. Whip it up on high – and yum!
The next day, the husband and I took off for a few days to South Lake Tahoe for a little birthday celebration – his 35th birthday.
Our favorite signage in the area:
Our room with a view:
A little side note: the best breakfast in South Lake Tahoe is the Red Hut Cafe. I strongly recommend the coconut pancakes. *grin*
I caught up with a friend at the only cupcakery in Sonoma County, Sift. We ordered coffee and cupcakes to go – her treat! It was very nice of her. Thanks again! I chose two flavors (this was before I knew it was her treat): peanut butter ripple – a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and ooh la la – a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I split them into halves and shared them with my husband that evening. Yum! They were so tasty. Oh, and don’t mind the smushed frosting in the first photo – the cupcakes were tossed a bit from the drive home. Insert my father’s favorite jokes about my driving here. *grin*
Like I said above, their cupcakes are great, but they are in need of a new “logo” design. Does anybody else agree or am I just being rude? Or both? Hmm…maybe I can offer some free assistance? The first thing to go would be the “S” on the cupcake wrapper. Okay. I am done now.
It is taking almost a week to get back to the blog with a couple of details about the Maker Faire. Sheeeeesh! I can’t be that busy. *grin* Anyway, so I volunteered for a couple of hours in the Craft area. So I was there working…not a lot going on at that moment. I started browsing the schedule for the different craft demos and I read Simple Sewing – Lotta Jansdotter on the main stage. Oh, wow – I could not have heard better news for the time, place or day. And I could not believe this was the first time I was hearing about it – otherwise I would have brought my book for the signing. Ugh!
Lotta:
Mobile cupcakes! They have little bicycles inside – very clever and cute. One of the drivers had a red helmet with a stem sticking out of the top for the cherry.
Plush meat and tofu:
…and good night.
May is the month that every occasion happens in our family….or so it seems. Lots of birthdays and anniversaries, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, a graduation, and the Maker Faire. Whew! I think that is it. Anyway, today I was on a mission to pick out some last minute goodies for one of the birthdays. Headed out to Bodega, but I was very unsuccessful. However, I stopped at one of the best bakeries in Sonoma County, Wild Flour Bread Bakery. It was along the way in a little town called Freestone. They are known for their wood fired brick oven baked bread. I picked up two chocolate currant scones – one for the freezer and one to share with my husband for tomorrow. *grin*
On the subject of bakeries….I did a little baking myself last weekend. I made cupcakes again. The flavor of choice was Peanut Butter-Banana Chocolate Cupcake with a Caramel Glaze. Here is the recipe. I added the baking soda and halved all of the ingredients, making only a dozen. They were very tasty and shared amongst family and friends.
I am very happy about this. Strawberries in the garden:
Thomas, sunbathing:
For my husband’s birthday, I made him a very child-like card and some yummy mini samoa cupcakes instead of the traditional birthday cake. A birthday cake is way too big for just the two of us. I placed candles in the cupcakes so he could still make a birthday wish. *grin*
For the mini samoa cupcakes, I used yet another recipe from the blog, Cupcake Bakeshop. The recipe is intended for 12 regular size cupcakes, but I halved the ingredients and time (11 minutes) and to my surprise….it doubles the quantity using the mini cupcake pan. It is a very tasty cupcake so try it if you can.
Also, I boxed the leftover cupcakes and gave them away to a family whom I know loves chocolate. They are good friends and if they are reading this….enjoy!
