party stuff.

I don't know about you but I LOVE to put together fun stuff for parties

{im in the "stretch" as I call it, from Dec-May I have 5 birthday parties}

And I found a fabulous online shop 

that has the cutest stuff & fabulous colors! 

must share

just look at the colors of bakers twine. 

love love love.

those big giant ROUND balloons. 

love love love. 

Here you go

http://shopsweetlulu.bigcartel.com/

there's much much more, to love love love.

recipes that work.

Despite the fact that our selves are bursting with hundreds of cookbooks...

I am here to tell you not all recipes are created equal. 

And as strange as it sounds 

I love a recipe that works. 

You know, you make it & its a instant winner. 

comes out just like you saw in the book & looks to die for. 

This is it. 

Ina Garten is a star in this house. I've met several celebrities but I was never as excited or swooned to meet them as I was her. I have no clue why. [insert yes, I am a lame-O]

Barefoot Contessa Easy Sticky Buns

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
• 1 package (17.3-ounces/ 2-sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

For the filling:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold 1 sheet ofpuff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly rollaround the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2-inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Be careful - they're hot! Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely.

make this. make friends.

It uses 2 baskets of blackberries...& I use an old enamelware pan I got long ago secondhand. A cast iron pan also works, love those. I've made it so many times its almost memorized, and it calls for buttermilk, which I LOVE. Buttermilk is lowfat, tangy & makes baking moist. 

Serves 8

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/4 cup for sprinkling
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon for skillet
• 2 containers fresh blackberries (5.6 ounces each)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter; pour over flour mixture, whisking to combine.

In a 10-inch skillet (preferably cast-iron), heat remaining tablespoon butter in the oven until melted and skillet is hot, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven; swirl to coat bottom of pan. Pour batter into skillet; scatter blackberries on top, and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sugar.

Bake, with a baking sheet on rack below (to catch any drips), until top is evenly browned, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen; cut into 8 wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Hope you try it. Its delish! 

Got it from:
Read more at Marthastewart.com: Blackberry-Cornmeal Cake - Martha Stewart Recipes 

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!

@kevinandamanda

San Diego.

and the crazy world of Twitter...

saw from a blogger I adore & follow

{and get loads of fun fab fonts from!}

Amanda of kevinandamanda.com

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!