The Best of SF is Hawaiian Hangover Cake at Bluestem Brasserie

What better way to get over a Hawaiian vacation hangover than by eating a Hawaiian Hangover Cake? NONE, I say! I’ve read about this supposed Hawaiian Hangover Cake at Bluestem Brasserie on a number of different SF blogs since I’ve moved here. You want to go straight to my heart – toss coconut, marshmallow and chocolate together in one dessert (or anything, for that matter). This particular little slice of love features chocolate cake with coconut-rum pudding filling, and then topped with brown sugar and coconut syrup, a fluffy coconut marshmallow meringue and toasted, crunchy bits of coconut.

Totally worth the trip and all the hype, by the way. And all in all, Bluestem is a pretty decent restaurant. You can read my entire review on Yelp.

Currently Feeling: Head in the clouds, feet on the ground. At least trying to keep my feet down.
Currently Anticipating: Dinner tonight with Kristen before she heads back to Seattle – I’m thinking the jalapeño bacon deviled eggs at Prospect are calling my name.
Currently Loving: The location of my new office – so fun to be walking distance to the Ferry Building and Embarcadero.

The best of SF is a cheeseburger between two glazed donuts at Straw

Hold up, wait a minute. Don’t look now… it’s a bacon cheeseburger served between two sticky icky icky glazed donuts.

I know – your arteries are clogged by just reading the title of my post.

But let’s all set aside our Judgy McJudgerson tendencies for a bit and just roll around in the glory of a cheeseburger served between two glazed donuts. Gross? Totally. Amazingly cracklicious delicious? Totally. The definition of sin and heaven rolled into one.

I doubted the greasy confection, but then I took one bite of (my friend’s) order at Straw SF and immediately regretting not going for the gusto. If you get a chance to go to Straw SF, don’t miss “The Ringmaster” – ground chuck burger, bacon and cheddar between two house-glazed donuts. Perfectly sweet and salty.

But that’s not all I loved about Straw. The small restaurant in Hayes Valley seats maybe 20 people tops, but it’s kitschy cuteness that’s reminiscent of “carnival fare” is full of so many special little touches (on the menu and beyond) that you can’t help but to have just plain FUN eating at this place. I mean, you can sit in an old seat from a Tilt A Whirl!

Menus are hallowed out old children’s books, the waiters are witty, friendly hipsters (I know, the shock), dessert brought us to the childhood fair favorite – cotton candy! and the appetizers included a to-die for sweet potato tater tots dish served with blackberry barbecue dipping sauce. My friends, I have agonized for the perfect dipping sauce for sweet potato fries (ketchup and aioli just don’t do it for me), and my search is over.

You’ll leave this place charmed, nary a dent in the pocketbook, smiling, and well, in a total:

In my book, that gets a vote for one of the best restaurants I’ve been to in San Francisco.

Currently Feeling: Back to the grindstone in SF (and the sun) – feels good! Nothing but a light sweater is how I like to roll.
Currently Anticipating: An ugly sweater benefit party for One Warm Coat tonight with SF Weekly.
Currently Reading: An Invisible Thread by Alex Tresniowski and Laura Schroff.

My secret to life

Have I ever told you my secret to life, blog lovelies?!

Besides good hair product, a fabulous lip gloss and the healing power of yoga, it’s this:

Chocolate cake in a mug.

Thought you were getting some deep insight, weren’t you? Nope. My best secret to life is a three minute chocolate cake recipe that you can make with ingredients most people have lying around their house.

It cures even the WORST chocolate or sweets craving. And THAT, my friends, is what keeps me sane.

Chocolate Cake in a Mug

• 1 coffee mug
• 4 Tbsp flour
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp baking cocoa
• 1 egg
• 3-4 Tbsp milk
• 3 Tbsp oil
• Small splash of vanilla
• 3 Tbsp Chocolate chips (optional, but explain the ooey gooiness shown above)

Mix the dry ingredients in the mug. Add the egg and stir. Add milk, oil and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate chips at the end. Microwave for three minutes (or slightly less for a more gooey cake). Scoop out into a bowl and serve with ice cream, whipped cream, powered sugar or a glass of milk!

Currently Feeling: Discouraged that all this traveling has put me off my exercise/health routine – it’s so.darn.hard to start back up once you stop!
Currently Anticipating: Three birthday parties this weekend AND Hopscotch Beer and Scotch Festival in Fremont. Yowza!!
Currently Hating: That I’ve watched all the movies on Comcast’s OnDemand right now – I need some new good flicks. Dying for Black Swan to come out!

Marshmerries

Tonight was Girl Power Hour’s “Making Sense of New Media” professional development event. We had a panel of empowering women who seriously took my breath away – Monica Guzman, a Seattle journalist, famous for her work behind The Big Blog for The Seattle P.I.; Jenny Ingram, the beauty and brains of JennyontheSpot.com; Heather Meeker, my boss and brilliant marketing and P.R. mind behind Whrrl; Kristy Bolsinger, a social media powerhouse who works for RealNetworks.com; and Ruth Burr, a super smart SEO specialist who works for Point It, Inc.

It was an event I was proud to help put together – and as always Girl Power Hour featured our famous swag bags, packed full of treats! It took me all of 10 seconds to notice we had someone donate homemade marshmallows in each of our bags – Marshmerries!

I’m not joking you, the first minute I had to myself, I cracked open one of them (cause I convinced everyone I could to give me theirs, so came home with FOUR!) to devour the amazing marshmallowness. (Long-time readers should be familiar with my obsession with marshmallows. If you’re new, you can catch up here or here.)

Holy cow. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a treat so good. While the one pictured above is the holiday peppermint Marshmerrie, the one I tried was their Orange Dreamsicle Marshmerrie – an giant, orange creamsicle marshmallow, dusted with orange candy sugar with white chocolate chips on top. I about fell over and died.

I checked out her Web site, and there’s tons of flavors – Coconut Cream, Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl, etc. The best thing about it – these Marshmerries are made by a Seattle-based, female entrepreneur. And, they make awesome holiday gifts or party treats (and are only a little more than $2 a piece)! Check them out!

Currently Feeling: A little Thursday night itch to go out – but I’m trying to be good since we have day two of our all-day planning meetings at work tomorrow.
Currently Anticipating: A wide-open weekend to fill up to my heart’s content (and finally hanging out with one of my best friends, whom I don’t get to see often enough, tomorrow).
Currently Loving: The female relationships in my life – they make me stronger, smarter and more alive every day!

OMG. Totes hun-cal froyo

Last week I purchased a Cuisinart ice cream and sorbet maker from one of my online shopping obsessions RueLaLa.com. (If you’re not a member, hit me up, and I’ll send you an invite. The deals are amazing!)

No, I totally did not need an ice cream machine. This is obviously up there with one of my most frivolous purchases ever. Although, I’m pretty sure my onion saver takes the cake in that category. However, I did have a purchase credit, and the ice cream maker was significantly cheaper than the original price, so I paid approximately $30 for it after shipping. (Not bad, right?)

Anywhoosit, it came in the mail this week, and I can’t stop searching for ice cream (more specifically, frozen yogurt) recipes to try out. The recipes at the top of my list:

Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream // SeasaltwithFood.com

Champagne Sorbet // SimplyRecipes.com

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt // DavidLebovitz.com (author of The Perfect Scoop)

Macha Frozen Yogurt // CreativeLoafing.com

Coconut Banana Frozen Yogurt //RecipeZaar.com

And because absolutely nothing great can exist without the addition of bacon:

Candied Bacon Ice Cream (!!!) // DavidLebovitz.com

Now…which one to try first?! I’ll keep you all posted on my ice cream progress! (Oh, and send me your recipes or ideas if you have any!)

Purchase your own Cuisinart ice cream maker here. And view the hilarious video I’m referencing in my title here.

Currently Feeling: Tired from a busy week. I think I’m going to stay in Friday night this week – and really mean it this time!
Currently Anticipating: Heading with a girl friend tonight to the opening-night gala party tonight of Seattle International Film Festival.
Currently Worried About: My little tomato plant – it’s cold as H in Seattle this week!

STORE UNDER REFIRGERATION

This weekend, I…

…Bought one of those skirts that can be found in droves at Nordstrom and every other store. Basically, you throw them over a tucked in T-shirt or blouse, and wear it with leggings and boots. I’m in love and want to head back and buy 14 more of them.

…Hit up the newish Blush Lounge for happy hour with some girls. The entire place was a bit dead, but their $3 and $4 Asian fusion appetizers are totally worth a trip.

…Discovered my new favorite martini at Tini Bigs – a mixture of vanilla moonshine, grapefruit juice, mint and white wine. Not too sweet, basically heaven.

…Shook my booty for at least two hours at a very popular bar with the early 20-somethings. My current motto of 2010 is “bringing it back to 24.” So that was every bit of a success.

…Read about 200 pages of Stolen Lives. I’m absolutely mesmerized by it. Highly recommend.

…Went to the new Wink Cupcakes on Queen Anne for a mini red velvet (my latest obsession) before heading to West Seattle for a coworker’s baby shower, featuring cupcakes from The Sugar Rush Baking Company. (A cupcake company I’ve yet to try, so I had to eat six mini ones to get a full idea of their tastiness. Duh). Followed by another trip to Wink with my parents the next day for another red velvet (I had to let them try it.) By the way, I DID skip the Cupcake Convention that was actually happening downtown on Saturday. Mostly because I couldn’t find a cupcake partner. It’s raining cupcakes in Seattle. I think I might be cutoff from them for awhile.

…Discovered avocado fries! That’s right – fried avocados. Totally fatty. Pretty tasty. You can find em at my new favorite bar, The Shelter in Ballard.

…Finally tried Cougar Gold. I’ve heard about this dang cheese for years now. For those of you not in the know – it’s a cheese made by students at a creamery on Washington State University’s campus (where my sis’ goes to school). It’s pretty good. But it comes in a large can like the biggest can of tuna you’ve ever seen. Cheese in a can? Even better when it’s imprinted with “STORE UNDER REFIRGERATION.”

…Made a pseudo plan for the triathlon I’m planning on completing this year. The parents of a friend of mine built a house on Beaver Lake, which has a triathlon in August. I think we’re planning to gather a group to compete together then have a party afterward at their house. Time to start training.

…Hit up Greenlake to burn off all the food & alcohol calories I accumulated this weekend – spring is officially here, and while it’s still a bit chilly, the bright pink Magnolia trees and sunshine were enough to make me smile and declare the weekend a total freakin’ success.

Currently Feeling: Ready for the work week – only five more days until I leave for sunny and warm Miami
Currently Anticipating: Back on the fitness wagon tomorrow with Sassy Fit. I love me some boot camp.
Currently Needing: A good savings plan to get me to Thailand in October with my best friends.

Pretty soon I’ll be calling myself a Fat Kid

Nearly a year ago, I posted a quick post called, “This is Why I call my boyfriend a Fat Kid.” It contained a picture of his freezer:

In case you’re too lazy to click through to the post from last year, that’s 1 Costco-size box of Eggos, 1 bag of “chicken fries,” 1 bag of honey BBQ chicken wings, 1 Tony’s pizza, 1 box of bacon wrapped scallops and 1 box of Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches.

Gross, right! Well I think of this pic every time I step into the kitchen at my new job and see this:

In case you can’t make it out, that’s 1 box of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, 2 boxes of trail mix (one with a special yogurt and peanut butter & jelly mix), 1 variety box from Pepperidge Farms, which includes Goldfish AND Milano cookies, 1 variety pack of Tim’s Cascade potato chips, including the always irresistible Hawaii Sweet Onion, 2 boxes of variety packs of chips, 1 box of Grandma’s Cookies, and 2 boxes of single cereal, including my all-time fav, Golden Grahams.

All of that is in our kitchen at work. For us to take when we feel so inclined! And when I say this kind of food is gross, I really mean I want to double fist it into my mouth right meow!

AAKKKK.

Between this and trying to squeeze in a new “working all day” workout routine, I’m fo sho going to turn into a fat kid.

Currently Feeling: Really great after a productive and enjoyable work week. Nothing like starting a weekend off right!
Currently Anticipating: The first Halloween party tonight! Whoop!
Currently Needing: To attend the gym I joined downtown near my new office. Why does it always take me so long to get over the hump of winter workouts at a gym? I hate it so!

Marshmallows make me smile

It is a well known Je-fact that I am obsessed with marshmallows. I used to eat marshmallow cream out of a jar with a spoon in college (before my figure had to be watched), and I actually own a Marshmallow Fluff cookbook that a former roommate gifted me (you would not believe the recipes they come up with in the thing). My love for marshmallows has followed me around since youth. (You can read my ode to marshmallows, and my complete history with them in a post I wrote years ago).

Anywho – there is a well-known cupcake shop in Seattle that creates a S’mores cupcake. It has a graham cracker bottom, chocolate cake with graham pieces and a marshmallow merigue on top. UM, GENIUS! I’ve been dying to try it ever since the cupcake was featured on Martha Stewart last year.

I finally got my chance last night at a friend’s birthday party and caught it on flim here for you guys:

As you can see, all I’m interested in is the marshmallow topping. Screw the other stuff in a S’more! Viva la marshmallows!

Currently Feeling: Like there’s not enough time today. I need to run so many errands before rush hour hits.
Currently Anticipating: A cabin weekend with all my high school girl friends this coming weekend!
Currently Reading: The White Tiger. Well, okay, I’m not currently reading it cause I finished it yesterday, after only three days. I just wanted to tell everyone how good it was! Highly recommended.

Peanut butter cereal + mango martinis = my Easter celebration

I might have just had the most boring weekend of 2009. Possibly my life. I guess there is something to be said about loving Baby Jesus – at least Baby Jesus lovers had dinner plans that included copious amounts of ham, carbs and coconut-flavored treats.

Me, well, I just ate an entire box of Peanut Butter Bumpers while sitting home by myself.

That’s right. Peanut Butter Bumpers. Do not buy that shiz unless you want to spend every day just thinking about when you can get your next fix. Last week, I scowered the cereal aisle for something low fat, organic, low in sugar, blah, blah, blah, and I stumbled across these organic Peanut Butter Bumpers that pretty much taste identical to the Reese’s cereal. Read: crack.

So, my weekend was soo exciting that after watching six hours of DVRd shows while Seattle pissed rain, doom and gloom outside, I decided to have a bowl. Then another (sixth in a row) What Not to Wear later, I was like, “I must have that in my bloodstream again immediately.” So I had another bowl.

I think I probably had four bowls of Peanut Butter Bumpers yesterday, finishing off the box and completely defeating the entire purpose behind buying healthy cereal. In conclusion: while all you bragged about your amazing Easter dinners at home with family, I ate myself into peanut butter cereal oblivion.

In other super-exciting news, I created a new drink this weekend that I think is worth sharing. I bought a liter (that’s right a liter!) of Absolut Mango for $17 at the Duty Free store in the Puerto Vallarta airport. Seriously, how could anyone pass up a deal like that? I tried to look up easy mango martini recipes, to no avail, so created my own.

Peel and separate 1/2 mandarin orange
Muddle mandarins and ice in a glass
Add 4 shots of Absolut Mango
8oz of Welch’s Mango Mandarin Juice
& 16oz Soda Water

Strain into two cocktail glasses and garnish with orange slices.

And boy, oh BOY was it good! Mango vodka is DE-lish. The martini is perfect for the summertime, or even a breakfast drink. Me, I drank it while dying Easter eggs Saturday night. That is probably only a small indication of what I’ll need to do to get through motherhood someday.

“Hold on honey. The Easter bunny can wait. Momma needs to pour herself another glass of “juice.” And get your hands out of my box of Peanut Butter Bumpers!”

Currently Feeling: Anxious for my “catch-up” meeting today, and to get a great apartment locked down. It’s such a rat race in Queen Anne to be the first to sign on a good one!
Currently Anticipating: Catching up with Bestie Amanda who also just got home from Mexico.
Currently Needing: To throw a garage sale. I’ve never done one before – but I think I have a lot of downsizing I want to do before the move.

It’s Super Bowl party time, bitches!

And that means a Sunday fun day with beer, nachos, wings, BEAN DIP, chips, meatballs and everything else that I normally wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot poll unless it were at a Super Bowl party. Ooh boy, I can’t wait!

What are YOU making? Need some ideas? Remember that really fantastic caramel corn I made for Christmas? I’m making it again, and perhaps it’d be a great reason for you to try it too. This stuff is seriously to.die.for. Baby Daddy’s dad even told him on the phone this week that they finally ate through the stash I gave them for Christmas, but they were rationing it out to make it last. I felt flattered, although I really do owe all credit to Rebecca over at Ezra Pound Cake.

Oh the joy of football and American fat food! This is the one day a year that I don’t mind sitting in a room with a bunch of drooling testosterone drones who stare ahead blankly at the TV screen without paying attention to the question I just asked you. Normally I’d threaten to cut your balls off, but not on Super Bowl Sunday! It is a day of love and thankfulness for all! (Or is that Thanksgiving?!)

If caramel corn doesn’t sound like your thing, here’s another recipe for a tasty Super Bowl treat that a friend shared with me:

Ingredients:

The Field:
1 Pound of Guacamole
15 Oz. Queso Dip For The Steelers End Zone
15 Oz. Salsa For The Cardinals End Zone
2 Oz. Sour Cream for the Field Lines

The Players:
15 Vienna Sausages
Helmets – 3 Oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese

The Goal Posts:
1 Slim Jim for Each Goal Post
1 Oz. Monterey Jack Cheddar To Anchor (each)

The Stands:
58 Twinkies
1 Pound of Bacon
1 Bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos
1 Bag of Cheetos
1 Bag of Corn Tortilla Chips
1 Bag of Chex Mix

The Blimp:
20 Oz. Football-Shaped Summer Sausage (optional) (on second thought, no, this isn’t optional. Go buy one.)

TOTAL CALORIES: 24,375
TOTAL GRAMS OF FAT: 1,285
TOTAL COST: $86.47
TOTAL DELICIOUSNESS: 1 Billion trillion dude. One billion trillion.

(Don’t you love how this is my follow-up post to watching calories and trans fats in food. What can I say. Sometimes I’m a little manic. Stay tuned for a very important post I have planned about BUSHES. And I don’t mean political.)

Currently Feeling: Stressed out about wedding planning and hurt feelings. They always seem to go hand in hand.
Currently Anticipating: TWO.WHOLE.DAYS.OUT.OF.THE.OFFICE.
Currently Contemplating: My top five favorite bands.