Tuesday, January 18, 2011

infamous Carrot Cake. Made not plain

and by plain I mean, looking. 
because carrot cake is never plain in tasting!
SO. 
story goes like this.
A dear grandmother & favorite aunt make the best carrot cake
girl dates a guy that as it turns out, only LOVEs carrot cake for dessert (well...that and ice cream:)
girl makes best carrot cake recipe & marries guy
forever making carrot cakes for all occasions, which turns out to rub off on all guys friends- 
THUS
making more than carrot cake for him, but also his friends...
resulting in Infamous Carrot Cake


 which is now often requested for birthdays all over :)











Here it is. 
its the best recipe
I've made it into cupcakes
it has 4 CUPS of freshly grated carrots!
then slathering the cake with oh so yummy cream cheese frosting!!










But then I must admit.
For a birthday celebration delivery...
it felt a bit plain. 
I just didn't want to send it over to our friends birthday looking like this...and 57 candles would be a bit much.
SO
I made a little banner

 Kinda cute!? HUh?
I did it with 2 skewers & string & bits of ribbon 

Now yummy & un-plaind carrot cake!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

@kevinandamanda

San Diego.
and the crazy world of Twitter...
saw from a blogger I adore & follow
{and get loads of fun fab fonts from!}
the post
"going to San Diego, where do I NEED to go"
often the answers are this
no, I don't know what that is. 
Animal I mean, I know what I'm looking at!
its San Diego Zoo
And yes, it is FANTASTIC!
So is this
amazing Sea World
but truly neither of these popped into my mind;
Why? 
Because this girl likes to eat!
And after all, that's my hobby
I did mention the need to go to nostalgic Coronado...
this beachy pic doesn't do it justice
last time we went I wasn't thinking camera time, I was thinking....time for a cocktail!
We sat on the patio of this fantastic amazing captured in time hotel and watched the sun go down on one of the most charming little spots ever.
now.
on to the answer we twits tweeted
the must go to 
Hash House A Go Go 
{mind you this is 2003...the place has kinda "taken off since then!" as in the city of LV asked them to make them one there.}


THIS place was fans-tasic! Our concierge recommended it when we asked for a great breakfast & not a brunch
 we didn't want pretension we wanted creation!
We hailed a cab & headed up the hill
there was a line.
REallY?
OH yes. And they brought us ice water while we waited...because hello we're in SAN DIEGO!
we sat out in their patio, and ordered a beverage


 
mine was an Orange Crush.
Fantasticly refreshing & don'tcha love the straw!? 

His was this Mary
they didn't have full liquor license, so they went with a kickin' Mary & Budweiser
LOADED up with vegs
 next we ordered our breakfast; each ordered 1.
idiots, we knew not what we were getting into!
AND I had to order their Cinnamon Sugar Toast
I'd never seen it on a menu & its a FAV, never seen=must order
 THIS was his. 
Alllll of that. 
Yes, normal size skillet. No, not normal size breakfast.
But this place isn't just about making something outrageously huge, its outrageous combos too!
Those chunks of breakfast of champions is their Meatloaf Hash!
Cubes of meatloaf, potatoes, veg, spinach made into a hash with eggs & biscuit Oh my!
 THIS was mine. 
the plate was bigger than the screen I'm looking at now....
It was a Fried Chicken Benedict 
with mashed potatoes, between biscuits & covered with a Chipotle Hollandaise 

 there, see the size of that...CRaZZy
 We had a 3 hour breakfast that day...lots of digesting and a need to nap & jazzersize at the same time.
but it was worth it, 
an experience
 this was where we stayed, 
just across from the airport actually, 
which is great if your on a short vaca
from airport to hotel sunshine in 5-
in the middle black row...airport.


 The next time we went it was 2006 & we went back with the kiddos
 Honestly, I can't even remember what this was but we needed 15 new friends immediately. 
with forks.


 kids had pancakes
not JUST pancakes! But griddled Frosted Flakes & fresh Strawberries...oh yeah!
 They had blueberry too...served with sweet faces of syrup :)
 Then we saw this cool old sign on a old theater we loved...turns out our home town 9 hours away was somehow part of San Diego....
 thanks for the memories Amanda & inspiration to blog...
as always vacations & landmarks are fun, but its always the food that brings takes back!