Jelly Belly Cupcake Challenge

Hello Everyone

This week, thanks to my friend Erin, I found out about the Jelly Belly Cupcake Challenge.  To win you have to decorate the best cupcake with Jelly Belly Jelly Beans.

Please check out the website:  www.jbcupcakechallenge.com    to see some really great cupcakes.  Two of my favorites are the Sushi Cupcakes and the Marie Beantoinette cupcake.

I'm thinking of entering and I'm trying to decide on what to make my cupcakes look like.  Maybe something easter themed, like rabbits or carrots?   We will see... but in the meantime please take a look at the cupcakes that have already been entered.

Girls Night Desserts

Most Thursdays I join a group of girls who hang out, chat, gossip and watch Greys Anatomy.  Of course this is the perfect setting for desserts!

This past week the local Harris Teeter Supermarket was the place to be when it came to choosing desserts. One of our group brought an amazingly delicious German Chocolate Cake.  It was huge!  I opted for buying the ingredients to strawberry shortcake.  Some Strawberries, Whipped Cream and Harris Teeter pound cake and we were good to go.  Someone else brought Chocolate Fudge Brownies.

I ate my cakes separately, but one of the ladies added her brownie to the Shortcake.  Brilliant I tell you.  It was a chocolate strawberry shortcake.

The overall message of this post is that Supermarket desserts can be just as good as anywhere else.  Normally I am always for making something myself but semi-homemade can be just as good.

The Skinny Dip

This past weekend I was able to make my five year old niece very excited when I told her about a place in Norfolk called, Skinny Dip.  I love this place.  First, it serves only frozen yogurt so it is somewhat healthier than your normal ice cream parlor.  Second, you can taste test every flavor, serve yourself as much as you want and choose from a very wide assortment of toppings.   Let's just say that I was acting very much like my niece, trying to choose between all the flavors and toppings.

Most of our group ended up choosing the strawberry frozen yogurt or the dark chocolate flavor.  Where we all differed was in the toppings.  You can choose anything from brownies, to granola to fruity pebbles cereal.  I chose a cup with brownies on the bottom, followed by strawberry yogurt and topped with hot fudge.  Delicious.

Another great thing about Skinny Dip is that they charge you by ounce so you can choose how much or how little you pay by the weight of your cup.

So if you every find yourself in Hampton Roads look for a Skinny Dip and treat yourself to some great frozen yogurt!

Food on TV

Over the last few years there have been a sudden influx of cooking shows.  There are reality competitions as well as many shows featuring local restaurants and chefs across the country.  I for one love most of the shows that are popular.  My favorites are Top Chef, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Man vs. Food and recently Jamie Olivers Food Revolution.  At the end of each show I just want to cook and eat.  I'm always starving mid way through an episode of Top Chef.

I think these shows have taken good food to the masses and I think that it's wonderful.  Jamie Oliver brings healthy food to the world and many of the other shows give people a better understanding of the world of cooking.  I also like that these shows introduce us to up and coming chefs and restaurants that we may never have heard of.  I know that every time I plan a vacation I look up some of the restaurants and chefs I've seen on Bravo or Food Network and use them as my guideline for vacation eating.  There are so many fantastic places out there and I think that everyone should try everything.  I apologize if some of you out there are picky eaters but all I have to say is- STOP!  You are missing out on so many delicious tastes and experiences.

My question is- what is your favorite TV cooking show?

Winter to Spring Sickness

Well the last two weeks have been crazy!  I have not been able to post because not only did my entire family, including myself, catch the stomach bug, but we also took a trip home to New Jersey.

I felt very bad about my lack of posts but I promise there will be a few new ones coming up all weekend.

Thanks for understanding and I hope the stomach bug has not hit any of you too!

Healthy Baking

Lately I have been reading a lot about healthy baking.  Just this weekend I bought the current issue of Food & Wine Magazine that devoted it's entire issue to healthy eating.  There was a very interesting section on Healthy Baking.  It seems, and not too surprising, that most pastry chefs and bakers are overweight.  It's hard to stay away from sweets when you are making them all day.

The magazine gave us the "bad" version of a dish and then a healthy version.  Sometimes if you just change the smallest thing, your dessert can be better for you.  Try using whole wheat flour instead of white or instead of granulated sugar, use brown sugar or agave nectar or honey.

Baking for people with allergies is a totally different story.  I am looking forward to taking classes this summer on not only healthy baking but also baking for people with allergies.  This means no nuts and everything gluten free and sometimes no dairy either.  I will of course let you know how it goes.  I think it's important to learn these things and have them available.  Just because you are allergic to milk or gluten doesn't mean you can't enjoy a great dessert.

Picture of the Cookies