Big Food Week

Let's get down to the important things that happened last week before this new week begins, shall we?  I know this makes me sound like a sad foodie, but two of my favorite places made pretty big announcements.  In the midst of a few of the blah-ist days ever, these little things really made me excited.

Next fall, the wonderful Shake Shack will open a new location about two blocks from my office in New Haven.  There are no words to describe how excited I am about the prospect of walking there during lunch to get a shake.  I mean, it won't be a daily event or anything but it's nice to think that the trip there and back will at least burn some of the calories gained from the delicious liquid treat. 

And then the bakery, Sprinkles, installed an ATM that dispenses cupcakes at its Los Angeles location.  Cupcakes! Out of a machine at any time of the day! What a great idea, except that there aren't any Sprinkles around here.  I guess that I just love the idea of an adorable little snack popping out of a slot at 2am.

Not too shabby at all.  Now, I'm almost ready for tomorrow.  Happy Sunday night!



Photo courtesy of Sprinkles/Facebook page

Survival: Cupcake Edition



Right before the Jeep's brakes stopped working but right after we had a fabulous lunch at Cafe Bonaparte, Anthony and I bought a bunch of cupcakes from both Georgetown Cupcakes and Sprinkles (finally!), which are conveniently located just a few blocks away from one another on M Street in Georgetown.  For me, there was a clear winner, although for Anthony, the decision wasn't so clear-cut.

We went to Sprinkles first, though I have to admit that I couldn't stop myself from making a pitstop in the Paper Source next door.  It was difficult to choose only three flavors, but we went with S'mores (Blake Lively-inspired/created), coconut and lemon.  I thought the cake was fluffy albeit bland, but the frostings were awesome (this is coming from someone who hates frosting).  A big plus was that everything about the place was cheerful, from the employees to the adorable stickers on the brown kraft box.

Georgetown Cupcakes was super crowded and there was no way of knowing where the line started or who had already ordered.  The staff wasn't so cheerful, perhaps due to the amount of people in the small bakery, and I didn't think that the variety was as good as Sprinkles.  We chose a Vanilla Birthday Cake, Chocolate Salted Caramel and Key Lime (there were tons of chocolate choices).  These cupcakes were kind of average for me, although it might be because they were almost completely unrecognizable in the box due to major shifting during car troubles.  I didn't take a picture of them because I was so bummed at how wrecked they were, but now I wish that I had so you can see the poor little things.  For example, I didn't taste the salt in the Chocolate Salted Caramel frosting but perhaps that's because it was smeared against the top of the box.

I know people are hating on cupcakes, but I'm still a fan.  It's so easy to share them or save them for later (Anthony and I cut each one into quarters for extended enjoyment).  Our trips to these two shops made our mini-vacation even sweeter.

Sprinkles, for Real

Almost five years ago, when Anthony and I were in Phoenix, Sprinkles was opening a location in Scottsdale but we were a few weeks too early.  I remember being so disappointed because I'd heard great things about the place, but just within the last couple of months, Sprinkles has headed east.  There is one in Washington DC and another store just opened on the Upper East Side.

The cupcake craze might be waning but I'm still on board.  I'm not a huge cake fan so cupcakes are the perfect size dessert for me and I'd love to try Sprinkles since it was the first all-cupcake bakery. And after seeing a photo of the inside of the store, I'm in love with the giant stools that look like frosted cake.

Has anyone ever been to a Sprinkles bakery? I wonder how the cupcakes compare with Crumbs...


Photo courtesy of New York Times

Round-Up: Day 3 at AWP and Closing Thoughts

I'm back from the AWP Conference and even though I had a great time, I'm happy to be home.  I learned a lot, read a lot, walked a lot, took lots of notes and introduced myself to many people (and had almost everyone ask me to repeat my name--sometimes I forget how much of a mouthful 'Crystal Patenaude' really is).  Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the sessions on the last day the most (see my round-up of Days 1 and 2 here). 

Some observations from Day 3 at AWP:

• By the final day of this conference, everyone seemed exhausted.  People were starting to leave (I actually had an older woman tell me that the last night of AWP is a 'letdown' so she always heads home early) and the ones who stayed seem tired. I myself went to four back-to-back sessions before heading home mid-afternoon, and I was so over it all that I could barely get myself to the train station. 
• There is always one person in every session who drives me crazy.  The worst was the woman who kept mmhming and moaning in agreement while the panelists were speaking.  It took me at least 20 minutes to figure out who was making the noises, some of which were so loud that I couldn't hear what the presenters were saying.  If you have to express your agreement/pleasure/displeasure while people are talking, stick to silent movements like nodding or head shaking until question time at the end.  I guarantee that it will improve everyone's experience. 
• I have short legs so walking from the a basement ballroom in one hotel to a small room on the opposite side of an adjoining hotel in 10 minutes is a real challenge.  Yesterday, despite my best efforts, I was five minutes late to a panel that I was really looking forward to.  I forced myself to walk in and take a seat though and really enjoyed the talk.  And when a woman walked in 40 minutes late, I felt much better about my own tardiness.
• I didn't make it back to the bookfair before I left and I really regret that.  I wanted to visit the tables I missed the first time and maybe collect a few more bookmarks, contest notices, calls for submissions, etc.  Also, I found it funny that several journals and magazines were handing out temporary tattoos with their logos.  They are adorable and I fully support the giveaway, in case the editors aren't sure if they were well-received.
• My ride home on Amtrak was so much better than the trip to Washington, mainly because I wasn't in a quiet car.  Also, a really nice dude helped me put my suitcase up in the baggage rack.  This was awesome since the first time I tried to do this, I realized too late that I am not strong and it fell on my head.  Boo. 

Overall, my first experience at the AWP conference was a success.  At times, it was quite isolating; I didn't know anyone at all and even though I talked to tons of random people at the bookfair and at sessions, I still felt alone a lot of the time.  By being alone though, I was able to concentrate on the craft of writing and really immerse myself.  I learned a ton and even got to see a few of my wonderful (non-writer) friends who are now living in DC. 

My personal AWP highlights:

• It was amazing to be so close to such wonderful writers.  One morning, I even walked up the hill to the Marriott next to Yusef Komunyakaa.  At the hotel bar, I felt like everyone looked vaguely familiar.  And the readings were fabulous.  It meant a lot to me as a writer who is trying to 'make it' to listen to authors that I love and admire.  The panelists and readers were all unbelievably generous with their time, and I truly appreciated that.
• I loved the 'Women Writers and How to Get Out of the Slush Pile" panel I attended on Saturday morning.  There was such a great vibe and the speakers, all editors of wonderful lit magazines, were beyond knowledgeable.  They not only gave tips on submitting and writing, but also provided advice on keeping positive and staying confident.  It's hard to express how empowered I felt when I left that ballroom. 
• Richard Bausch is obviously a great writer but it was easy to tell how wonderful of a person he is from the one-on-one interview with Jennifer Haigh.  Haigh is incidentally one of my favorite authors so it was thrilling to see them both together on stage, laughing and conversing about writing and life.  Richard Bausch's students are incredibly lucky because I can tell he is a fabulous teacher. 
• I met one of my favorite short story writers, Danielle Evans, at a great panel entitled "The Myth of Relevance."  The talk and the panelists were both thought-provoking and interesting, and I wanted to run to my laptop as soon as I left to work on a new piece.  Danielle Evans was so gracious and kind when I approached her after the event was over and even told me to feel free to email her if I had any questions about the American University MFA program.  That totally made my morning. 
• I am now following a ton of new people on Twitter after either meeting them or hearing them speak at AWP.  I feel almost unreasonably excited to have their cool tweets show up in my timeline. 
• On a personal note, before I left DC, I visited Hello Cupcake, which is a cupcake bakery right near my hotel in Dupont Circle.  I'm extremely proud of the fact that I bought three cupcakes for Anthony and that after a Metro ride, a taxi ride, a 5 hour train ride and a car ride home, they are still in relatively good shape.  After all of that, I hope they taste magnificent. 

             

And on that note, it's been great and I'm looking forward to applying everything I learned to my own work.  Hope to see you next year in Chicago for AWP 2012!

Cupcakes Finally Out?

 

It's like the New York Times wrote this article knowing I have obsessions with both cupcakes and pies.  I don't even like dessert very much but I love cupcakes.  They're adorable, easy to eat and just the right size for me. People are always excited when I bring cupcakes to a party.  And pie is my new baking project, as I've already shared.  I'm even planning to make a couple more for Thanksgiving. 

In this piece, pie 'experts' from all over the country discuss why they now focus on pies and even pass along some tips to readers (I never even thought about baking the pie crust before putting the filling in!).  Some are making savory pies with cheddar cheese and hot peppers, or Frito chips and onions, that are really changing the standard idea of 'pie.'  I know that running a bakery is hard work but to someone who sits in an office all day, it sounds like so much fun to spend days in the kitchen creating 'new' pie combinations. 

One of the co-owners of Four and Twenty Blackbirds, a pie shop in Brooklyn that I so want to try, said something that I think is really important:  "There’s really nothing new in pie...Farm women have tried everything before."  I think this is true of pretty much everything.  Cupcakes aren't new; they are just the newest thing to resurface and catch on again.  Maybe farm women weren't making cupcakes in their kitchens 50 years ago, but everyone has already done everything already.  It's up to us to put our own touches on everything to make it special. 


Photo courtesy of New York Times

Yummy Arcade Treat

This cupcake display that looks like the Pac Man arcade game is absolutely adorable and makes me want to create my own version.  Maybe something Tetris-related is in my future...

Via Buzzfeed