Food was the Forecast

Yesterday we went to the Phoenixville Restaurant Festival. The sun never truly came out like the forecasters said it would and weather wise it was a pretty disappointing day; however, the restaurant festival in Phoenixville was a new venture for us and it made for a nice Sunday outing.

The main reason for our trip was the cupcake business, Dia Doce. The blossoming cupcake business belongs to my sister's best friend from high school. My sister has been helping her out tremendously at local events and we went to the restaurant festival to give our support. The festival ran from 11AM-6PM and by 3PM they were sold out of the 300 cupcakes they made for the event! Dia Doce makes an array of flavors and my favorites from yesterday included the carmelized lemon basil, chocolate raspberry truffle and chocolate espresso with cookie dough filling. YU-UM!  You can order personalized cupcakes or pick from her list of unique flavors for your special event. Come June, there will be a Dia Doce cupcake truck traveling around southeastern Pennsylvania....mainly in Chester and Delaware counties to start, but you can visit her website and follow her on Twitter to find out more information on her expected stops. Cupcakes coming soon to a town near you!

Besides the cupcakes, we had a great meal at Molly Maguire's. The home store Hipster Home was pretty cool too. They sell my favorite plate pattern, which until now I was only able to find online. Phoenixville, we will be back to visit this summer and enjoy eating outside and strolling your streets in SUNNY, WARM weather!

A Few Tunes

When warm weather approaches I always start forming thoughts about what my summer music will be. Windows down, sun, hair blowing, good music. Here is a short little list of songs (in no particular order) that I am into at the moment. We'll see what ones carry on through the summer.

Young Blood by THE NAKED AND FAMOUSE

Sprawl II by ARCADE FIRE

Stereo Love by EDWARD MAYA + VIKI JIGULINA

On the Floor by JENNIFER LOPEZ

Rumor Has It by ADELE.
Of course I am liking Rolling In the Deep too, but at the moment every radio station is playing it at any given minute in the day. Rumor Has It is still a little less easy to come by and I like that.

You Are a Tourist by DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

New Slang by THE SHINS. I know it is an old one, but I heard it this week for the first time in a long time and it took me back to the early 2000s. I liked it all over again.

Check some of them out if you haven't already!

Bunny Food

Are you possibly looking for something a little healthier than chocolates, caramels, and marshmallows to have around for Easter, but still striving to present some cute and festive (and easy) treats? Try Annie's Homegrown Bunny Grahams. They come in a variety of flavors like honey, chocolate, chocolate chip, chedder, sour cream and onion, and wheat. Some are more like crackers, while the sweeter flavors are more like tiny cookies. The best thing is that they are all shaped like bunnies! Perfect for the Easter season of course. The wheat version would be great to serve with a fruit and cheese tray. The honey ones would be great to serve with a pudding dessert or just have out for the kids to nibble on. It goes without saying the chocolate and chocolate chip versions would be a hit as well.

Annie's products are organic and all-natural. No refined sugar in these treats! There are no trans fats either. You can order off line from their website, but I have found them at my local Wegman's, Whole Foods, Giant and Target stores. Target had them on special today for $1.99 a box. I have yet to see the ginger snap and snickerdoodle flavors offered at the stores, but apparently they are available online. The snickerdoodle flavor sounds great!

Annie's Homegrown makes many other products too like pretzels, cereal bars, macaroni and cheese, and other pasta products.

Peep, Peep!

My boyfriend LOVES Peeps. I am not such a fan, primarily because I am not a marshmallow lover; HOWEVER, I am excited to try this new version of the Peep that is out this year for Easter. Introducing Peepsters. They come in milk and dark chocolate. I have a bag of the dark waiting for me when I decide to dive in.

Yum Yums

I am going to try out this incredibly easy and delicious sounding recipe very soon. One of my co-workers has been recouperating at home after a fall on the ice this winter and I thought this would be a nice comforting treat to have as this bone chilling winter weather continues to hang around.

These are called Yum Yum Brownie Muffins (from the Cooking Channel) and you simply take a box of Devil's Food Cake mix and combine it with a 15oz. can of pumpkin pie filling to get some of the richest muffins ever. Click on the below link for all the steps and details. Then get a glass of cold milk to pair with these treats! I think you will need it!

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/lisa-lillien/yum-yum-brownie-muffins-recipe/index.html

Girl Scout Cookie Time!

Today was Girl Scout Cookie Day! My order of Thin Mints (4 boxes!) arrived via my co-worker whose daughter is a Brownie. Of course I would have liked to have ordered my other favorite, the Peanut Butter Patties, but I like to get my money's worth. You get the most for your money with the Thin Mints and they keep well in the freezer, which is what I intend to do with three, if not all four of the boxes...straight in the freezer upon getting home today. Obviously they are great straight from the box, but they are also great as an ice cream topper all crushed up. If you want to get your chocolate mint fix and don't have any Thin Mints on hand, check out this video on how to make this Girl Scout Cookie inspired martini. So easy! If you have your own ideas on how to use Thin Mints please comment below. Thanks!

Laughter

It is lavish to be able to laugh and this video of compiled animal footage combined with commentary really hit my laughter nerve today. Thanks to one of my sisters who sent it to me. Check it out! Click Here for a bigger version or simply click on the video below.

Camels and Coffee

There are two places in the small town of Culpeper, Virgina that we always have to visit when we are in town visiting family. On East Davis Street you will find the town's main retail section, where The Cameleer and Raven's Nest Coffee House are located. They are only two of the special businesses in town.

The Cameleer sells Aboriginal merchandise, much like a Ten Thousand Villages for those who are familiar with that store; however, there is something very different about The Cameleer. They sell traditional crafts from many countries including Sweden, Australia, Chile, and Poland. They also offer many contemporary goods for buyers. You can shop their array of jewelry, clothing, home decorating items, woven rugs, kitchen goods, soaps and stationary. At Christmastime they have many unique ornaments and tradtional, cultural Christmas items. I love visiting The Cameleer everytime to see what new items they have decided to bring in to the store. You can also shop online if you cannot get to the store on East Davis Street.  

While shopping in town, a caffeine pick-me-up is always needed. For that we head down the street to Raven's Nest Coffee House. The business is built around Raven's Brew Coffee, which has spectacularly clever names for all of their roasts. Deadman's Reach is their high speed, dark roast. Cherry Karma and Wicked Wolf are geared more towards the sweeter/richer side of the coffee spectrum. Anyway, it is always a treat to order one of their coffee creations (latte, chai or other), a baked good (I always go for their pistachio baklava or scones), a breakfast sandwich, or something for lunch. Art abounds on the walls asking the coffee sippers to gaze at them or even buy them. You can sit in the sun by the wall of windows overlooking the sidewalk or by the cozy electric fireplace. If you need something else to do while you eat and drink, talk to the friendly employees, pick up one of the many magazines or newspapers to read, or play one of the wooden board games that are available to customers. It is the perfect place in town to sit and plan your Virginia wine tasting route or read and learn about the places you want to visit during your next Virginia getaway! If you can't get there, you can always visit the Raven's Nest on their Facebook page.        

More Chocolate

Well, whenever I do actually blog I find myself always turning to food or confections. Coming off from the holidays I thought I would write about one of my favorite chocolates, Guylian. Not only are these Belgian chocolates whimsically shaped as seashells and seahorses, but the creamy chocolate praline truffle centers are to die for. Guylian offers an array of products, but their marbled white and dark chocolate sea shapes are their signature. How appropriate since with every box purchased, a portion of the profits are donated to Project Seahorse, which is an organization that helps protect and conserve marine ecosystems. For a chocolate you can buy almost anywhere including grocery stores, they are exceptional and I only try to buy them around the holidays or for special occasions. You can visit their website to find out where you can buy them in your state!