The Road to Sweetness...

A tale of two sissies and their journey to open the Skinnie Minnie Bakeshop.

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Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Red, White, Blue, and Yummy

Our parents taught us never to show up to a party empty-handed. Can't say I always abide by that rule, but Flour & Sun Bakery in Pleasantville, New York, gave me a good excuse today to follow it.

I knew they were offering Memorial Day-themed cuppies this weekend and have been meaning to try this place out since it's so close to me, so I dragged Marc along to pick up a few on our way to a barbecue.

They had Caramel Apple, S'mores, Rainbow Cloud, and a few other regular varieties to choose from. We bought two Rainbow Cloud, two Red Velvet, and two S'mores. When I went into the kitchen to grab a shot of them, one had mysteriously disappeared. And the thief had knocked over one of the Rainbow Clouds in his haste. Hmmmmm....

I helped myself to the disturbed Rainbow Cloud. Would that be considered rude, Mom?

They had died the cake with red and blue food coloring on the inside too! And it was scrumptious!

I tried to coax Marc into going inside and stealing one of the S'mores ones, but he refused.

Pussy.

Anyway, hope everybody had a really nice Memorial Day weekend. We did...


Can't you tell?

Haha!

~AnnMarie

Friday, May 28, 2010

It's a very important day...

My little sister is 24-years-old today. And I'm sad I can't be with her for it.

But she's on her way to a much deserved shore weekend. After all, she needs to build up her strength for Cuppie Tour.

So since I don't get to see Nicole today, and because she will be at the beach this weekend and I most likely won't, I thought it only fair that I go treat myself to a cuppie in her honor.

Then I remembered how small those Cuppie Tour tanks are and settled for a Starbucks instead.

So here's a cheers to you Coley Stromboli!

Love you to pieces. Marc, Ron, and I will have a drink in your honor tonight. Magic Hat for me and Marc, a cold stiff water for Ron.

25 spanks to you,

<3
Ammy

Thursday, May 27, 2010

ICE, thumbs down…so far

Sorry we haven't touched base in a while. Those damn day jobs again…

But I'm thrilled to report I actually have tomorrow AND MONDAY off! And couldn't be more excited. It will give me lots of time to catch up on stuff that has had to fall to the wayside. Stuff such as The Road to Sweetness.

So while we might not have been too vocal, we have remained active in our quest. Between my sister, me, and my mother, we've gotten through two of the Institute of Culinary Education's recreational classes over the past couple weeks, and must say we haven't walked away too enriched.

Two Saturdays ago, I took Basically Baking with Nick Malgieri, and my mother and sister took Low-Fat Baking with an unnamed instructor who claimed "these aren't my recipes, I just teach the class," last Sunday.

On the contrary, Mr. Malgieri took particular ownership of his recipes, as he's "only been a baker for 40 years, what do I know?" he asked nobody in particular.

His antics made the class, as many of us were too scared to make a move lest we get yelled at for not doing it correctly.

"I didn't see it!" exclaimed one class member as a dirty look was shot his way when it was realized that he'd neglected one egg that was needed for a recipe he was assisting with.

While definitely a fun experience, we have to say we've gotten no new information or tips to use for the Skinny Minnie Bakeshop. We had high hopes for Low-Fat Baking but Nicole said instead of focusing on ingredient alternatives, it was all about portion control.

One perk was that while I'm not sure what my mother and sister walked away with, I came home with a feast of muffins, focaccia, cookies, cakes, and more! Here's a couple shots of our final products:
(Mr. Malgieri agreed to swap some of that focaccia you see there for some drinks from the bartending class going on across the hall. Smart move.)

Up next for me will be Everyone Loves Cupcakes next month.

This is how the description reads on my receipt:

Everyone loves cupcakes---they’re fun to make, great fun to decorate, and the MOST fun to eat. Chef-Instructor Loren Banco will teach you to make your choice of old-fashioned yellow, double chocolate, and peanut butter with chocolate truffle center cupcake batters, and then assorted buttercream frostings including raspberry, amaretto and chocolate espresso. A variety of decorative techniques will be demonstrated, from which participants will be able to choose to personalize their own creations.

Hopefully, the specific cuppie classes prove more useful!

We'll let you know.

~AnnMarie

PS, only a few days left to vote for our Cuppie Tour 2010 stops! Don't forget to cast yours...

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Cuppie Tour '10 poll!! (look to your left)

OK, so Cuppie Tour '10 has been moved to June 12th, which Nicole is not happy about, but it can't be helped. We've come up with 10 possible stops for the tour and need YOU guys to help us whittle it down to 7.

It's on the left side of the page, directly under our picture. So get to voting! We'll close the poll on June 1 and announce the winners later that day.

Can't wait to see the results!

~AnnMarie

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

What's better than a cupcake version of your favorite cookie?

Samoas are my FAVORITE girl scout cookies and Flour & Sun Bakery in Pleasantville, NY (just around the corner from me! I might add) has come up with a Samoa Cupcake!

PRAYING right now that the flavor wasn't just a "special o' the day."

~AnnMarie

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Cuppie Tour date change

Forgot I have a must-attend family party on June 5. Gonna have to postpone cuppie tour 'til the week after I think.

~AnnMarie

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Cuppie Tour tanks

After a long day at work, I came home to find a pleasant surprise!

Cuppie Tour tanks are in, and the bad news is, it looks like I'm gonna have to lose a significant amount of weight before June 5 if I plan to fit into mine.

I'm hoping they stretch.

This is the back:

hehehee.......:)

~AnnMarie

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Cuppie Tour '10

It's May again, and at the end of the month, Nicole will be turning 24-years-old.

I'm trying to prepare her, as 24 is a rough one. For me, that was the year it really set in that no, I would not be going back to college EVER AGAIN, and that I was damned to this life of getting up and going to work EVERY DAY.

I mean, "they" had warned me, but I guess I just never really believed "them."

Anyway, before I digress...last year for her birthday, we started what will hopefully be a very long and carried tradition, and it was probably what spawned our cupcake obsessions: "Cupcake Tour."

Or more aptly known as "Cuppie Tour."

What we did was made a map of five cupcake havens throughout New York City and followed it throughout the day. No taxis were allowed (unless we got lost, which we did on our way to Babycakes) and we were only allowed to walk and/or take subways.  I met Nicole at Port Authority and we went from Cupcake Cafe (545 9th Ave.), to Buttercup Bake Shop (973 2nd Ave.) to Magnolia (401 Bleecker), to Babycakes (248 Broome St.), and we finally ended at Sweet Revenge (62 Carmine St.).

Cupcake Cafe: Voted overall least favorite, but great atmosphere

Buttercup Bake Shop: This is Nicole's favorite and my second favorite as far as flavor goes. Delicious but Magnolia (my #1 will always hold a special place in my  heart). For those of you who aren't icing fans, Nicole is not either yet she admittedly "could eat a tub" of Buttercup icing.

Magnolia: Ammy's fave. Nicole's second fave.

Babycakes: We got lost on our way there and were losing enthusiasm/energy at that point. So we decided to split one and were impressed by the amount of flavor accompanied with freshness. If I remember correctly it was a carrot cake cuppie we got.

Sweet Revenge: We thoroughly enjoyed this place as it again had great atmosphere and the cupcakes were fantastic, served in parchment paper which was a very nice touch. Again though, this was the last stop of the day and we were a bit cupcaked-out. So if it had been up higher on our list we would probably would have enjoyed these cuppies even more. We did each pair a glass of wine with them as Sweet Revenge is known for it's cuppie and alcohol offerings!

So this year, Cuppie Tour '10 is scheduled for Saturday, June 5. Our custom-made tank tops are on their way.

Oh yes, let me repeat, we will be wearing customized tank tops. So keep an eye out for us. This year's slogan?:

"Only the strong survive..."

And that will definitely be put to the test this year, as Nicole wants to add 2-3 more stops onto the five we originally conquered last year. And many of them are in BROOKLYN!!!!

My feet are tired already. We'll be making final selections for this year's stops within the next couple weeks. Stay tuned...

~AnnMarie