Saint Cupcake...The Name Fits

   

     Welcome to a post dedicated entirely to Saint Cupcake!!  This is not your ordinary cupcake shop.  It has been around longer than the "cupcake craze" and is a staple in Portland.   Each little cupcake creation is as cute as it is tasty.  Fill a box with these beauties, and you have a masterpiece to be admired!  With flavors like Toasted Coconut Cream, Vegan German Chocolate, and The Salty Captain, (which is a salted caramel frosting atop a moist chocolate cake), you can't go wrong.
     Not limited to the cupcake, Saint Cupcake has a treat to please everyone. They now proudly display handmade lollipops, baked goods, cookies and even a menu, offering lunch items.  Don't feel like consuming a full sized cupcake?   Try downsizing to a "Dot", or one of their mini cupcakes.  Aren't feeling a cupcake at all?  Then, settle for an Alder Smoked Chocolate Cookie.  That's right, this is not your traditional chocolate chip cookie.  Bite into this cookie and you encounter a symphony of sweet chocolate, swirled with salty, buttery, crunchiness, and finally a smoky note in the background.  The flour that is used to bake the cookies gets smoked before being baked into this divine treat...You really must try this one!
     I happily came home with a box of wee "Dots" to sample.  I tried, The Salty Captain, Pumpkin Spice, Fat Elvis (banana chocolate chip pound cake topped with peanut butter fudge...oh my!), Toasted Coconut Cream, Vanilla with Vanilla Butter Cream, as well as a Vegan Vanilla for my mom who is dairy-free and chocolate-free.  I was excited to taste a bit of the Vegan cupcake, as I actually enjoyed eating it!  I could not taste the "vegan-ness"at all.  I'm sure you have all experienced at least one vegan moment, when you suddenly decide that you no longer wanted to swallow the vegan item that you were in the midst of consuming.  However, this was not the case at all, and I was thrilled that my mom actually got to enjoy this tasty Vegan Vanilla cupcake!

Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmmmmmmm

This is just one of the tasty food treks that I have experienced lately.  I will soon share with you more of the funky destinations that Portland has to offer...So stay tuned and have an ambrosial day!

-ACC

Happy January!

Happy January!

...Now, go sit by a toasty fireplace with a copy of Martha Stewart's new February magazine (which has some tantalizingly tasty looking treats inside!) and a cup of hot tea (preferably a nice Lupicia tea whose scents tend to conjure up thoughts of the Hawaiian Islands!!!) and have a mellow Sunday!

Enjoy!

-ACC

My handmade Jewelry Stand/Key Holder/Pin Board/ Etc.!

 Ever wish for a handy little spot to pin up the grocery list and store your key?  Or, how about a spot to pin a reminder, and a few rings and bracelets?  Whether it be a cute love letter, a grocery list, or a recipe for tonight's dinner clipped out of a magazine, I love to have a central place to keeps these kinds of things. . . .Well, LOOK AT THIS!!!  This framed pin board is the solution to any and all of my problems!And, it is precisely what I created as a birthday gift for my sister.  The idea was inspired, by browsing many Pinterest pins of handy jewelry stands and cork boards.  My creation stands alone and is very compact for those of us who have about -2 inches left in our homes for any clutter (me).   There are hooks at the top for hanging things like keys, or bracelets, or rings, and the middle is a pin board. What else could you possibly want?!


And here it is, the pretty pink Nicole nail polish was part of her gift. . .(though unrelated).

Let me know how you like it, I am thinking about making more in different variations. . .what about something that holds head scarves, hmmm. . . !!!

Striking Beet Pancakes from simplygorgeousfood.com

Ever wondered where the original color of a red velvet cake comes from?  Ever cut open a bright red beet and immediately feared for the life of the white shirt you were wearing?  Yes, beets have historically been the color altering agent used in red velvet cake, and they have a tendency to pigment anything that they get near.  Well, I was feeling slightly adventurous, (nothing out of the ordinary).  I decided to think of the most unorthodox food combinations that I could conjure up and type them into google to see if any other creative individual like myself had ever created any similar combination.  This is a small game that I play, usually when I am hungary and also when I am in need of some sort of amusement other than short-sheeting a family member's bed... Anyway, I came across this fabulous recipe for beet pancakes on simplygorgeousfood.com.  Depending on how much beet you use, the pancakes come out a perfectly pink hue, or a striking crimson red!  Mine were more red then pink. They came out very moist, thanks to the yogurt, and were flavored with a mildly sweet hint of beet.

Wouldn't these be sweet in the shape of hearts for Valentine's Day morning!  But, no need to wait until then.  These would brighten up any gloomy January day, when it is cold, and rainy, and windy, and it is as dark at 2:00 pm as it is at 8:00 am...so anyway, try them out, and let them brighten up your day!!!

  

Paula Deen's Cinnamon Roles + Penzey's Ceylon Cinnamon= A Delightful Treat!

If you take the square root of 64 and multiply it by 4.223, then subtract 1, then add on 30% of 5... you come up with something that I don't ever want to spend time figuring out.... BUT WAIT!!! Imagine if there was a simple math equation that you actually wanted to find the answer to.  Try out this one. Add Penzey's Ceylon Cinnamon into Paula Deen's decadent Cinnamon Role recipe and you get quite a clever outcome! Finally, math that you are going to want to recalculate over and over again, (and you won't ever get the wrong answer)!!!

Try making Paula's Cinnamon roles with Penzey's Spices for breakfast this weekend.  Then drop me a comment below to let me know what you think!

Happy weekend!

-ACC

Sun in the Pacific Northwest... WHAT?

Hello!  Hopefully everyone had a jovial holiday break.  Here, in Oregon, we have had a bit of a chilly winter.  This, you may have guessed if you read Saturday's post which includes a trick that I use to "stiff arm" the cold of winter.  Well, today this thing called THE SUN actually shone down upon the sun-deprived individuals of Portland.  And, not unlike when the International Space Station flies over your house, or your baby takes their first steps, or your child graduates from college...I got out the camera and started documenting this extremely special, rare and blissful event.  That's right...the life of  an Oregonian.  You learn to really milk the term, "Enjoy the little things in life"!!!

These were captured in the early sunlight, on the county drive to visit my horse, Lux!

A sleepy oat and grass hay farm.

Peaceful field in the early morning.

Sprawling, green hillside.

Looking out over the rolling Sherwood hills.  To the left is Mt. Hood.

Stay warm!

 I have some tasty, chilly weather recipes coming your way!

-ACC

Check out this video of horsemen, Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling!!