Apr. 11th, 2008 | 06:45 am
What? How is it possible that Kickass Cupcakes is expanding? I do not support this supporting of crappy cupcakes. Speaking of cupcakes- a few weekends ago I tried cupcakes from Patsy's Pastries in Somerville, and I am somewhat happy to report that they were not that good. Lyndell's still wins, which makes me happy because I walk to Lyndell's from home, and I kind of fear finding the Perfect Cupcake someplace outside of reasonable walking distance. I guess if this is one of my concerns in life I'm doing pretty well.
I'm getting weirdly excited by the prospect of shopping at local farmer's markets this summer. I also think that once it gets nice, we may be able to obtain hay within a 30 minute drive for much less than the $50-60 a month we currently pay to get it shipped in from the midwest. But then again, it may not be early cut western Timothy hay, and I can't be serving lame hay to my bunnies. They have discerning tastes.
How much did The Office rock last night? Answer: So much! I want to host a dinner party. But a remarkably less awkward one.
I'm getting weirdly excited by the prospect of shopping at local farmer's markets this summer. I also think that once it gets nice, we may be able to obtain hay within a 30 minute drive for much less than the $50-60 a month we currently pay to get it shipped in from the midwest. But then again, it may not be early cut western Timothy hay, and I can't be serving lame hay to my bunnies. They have discerning tastes.
How much did The Office rock last night? Answer: So much! I want to host a dinner party. But a remarkably less awkward one.
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Nov. 13th, 2007 | 12:45 pm
So I'm reading Them by Jon Ronson, thanks to Drew's recommendation, and it is awesomely entertaining. I am genuinely surprised by several things: 1) the number of different interpretations on the "New World Order" theme, 2) the number of people who appear to believe that a small secret group is controlling the world, and 3) that people honestly think any group of people is organized enough to actually carry out all the activities that the New World Order supposedly carries out. Dude. Sometimes it's an exercise in futility for a group of us to figure out dinner plans for one night. The book is really quite good, though.
Also, I have the sniffles.
Also, also Drew made peanut butter chocolate cupcakes this weekend and they are delicious. Take that, Kickass Cupcakes! Oh, and a cupcakery review: We tried the cupcakes at Modern Pastry this weekend (from the Medford location). Good, better than Kickass, but not great. The cake was moist and tasty, but the frosting was a bit too thick and definitely too sweet. Good size to price ratio, though. Lyndell's is still the winner, with a close second coming in from Joseph's Bakery in South Boston (my work often gets our cupcake treats for "First Fridays" from there).
Also, I have the sniffles.
Also, also Drew made peanut butter chocolate cupcakes this weekend and they are delicious. Take that, Kickass Cupcakes! Oh, and a cupcakery review: We tried the cupcakes at Modern Pastry this weekend (from the Medford location). Good, better than Kickass, but not great. The cake was moist and tasty, but the frosting was a bit too thick and definitely too sweet. Good size to price ratio, though. Lyndell's is still the winner, with a close second coming in from Joseph's Bakery in South Boston (my work often gets our cupcake treats for "First Fridays" from there).
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Sep. 11th, 2007 | 10:24 pm
So we're watching Friday Night Lights, and I turn to Drew and say "If I played football, I'd want to be the one who runs into dudes and tackles them! Drew says "You want to be a linebacker?!" Yup. My name is Jennie. I am 4'11.5". And I want to be a linebacker.
Seriously, you guys, Friday Night Lights is so good. *love*
Also, as a cupcake reference, to make sure we were being fair to Kickass Cupcakes, we sampled the chocolate cupcakes from The Spotted Apron in Boston. $2.85 per cupcake, but sized somewhere between Lyndell's cupcake size and a Dunkin Donut muffin. So, not huge, but more than three bites. Verdict: Pretty darn good. The cake was really dense, but it was also very moist and richly chocolately (the kind that makes you go for a glass of milk, if you are a milk-drinker). The frosting didn't knock my socks off, with a cake that dense I would have preferred a very whipped & airy frosting instead of an equally dense frosting, but it was a light layer on top. Very heavy mouthfeel, but you know, for a cupcake that's almost 3 bucks, I want to feel like I'm eating something. In my mind, that was a cupcake worthy of its price tag. Still prefer Lyndell's overall, but I feel like I've judged the new cupcakery fairly and against a more worthy competitor, since the K.C. propriertor keeps posting online about how Lyndell's uses poor ingredients and "you get what you pay for."
Seriously, you guys, Friday Night Lights is so good. *love*
Also, as a cupcake reference, to make sure we were being fair to Kickass Cupcakes, we sampled the chocolate cupcakes from The Spotted Apron in Boston. $2.85 per cupcake, but sized somewhere between Lyndell's cupcake size and a Dunkin Donut muffin. So, not huge, but more than three bites. Verdict: Pretty darn good. The cake was really dense, but it was also very moist and richly chocolately (the kind that makes you go for a glass of milk, if you are a milk-drinker). The frosting didn't knock my socks off, with a cake that dense I would have preferred a very whipped & airy frosting instead of an equally dense frosting, but it was a light layer on top. Very heavy mouthfeel, but you know, for a cupcake that's almost 3 bucks, I want to feel like I'm eating something. In my mind, that was a cupcake worthy of its price tag. Still prefer Lyndell's overall, but I feel like I've judged the new cupcakery fairly and against a more worthy competitor, since the K.C. propriertor keeps posting online about how Lyndell's uses poor ingredients and "you get what you pay for."
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Sep. 10th, 2007 | 08:52 am
Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square- Verdict: Fail. Hardcore fail.
Ok, first of all, if I'm going to pay $2.89 for a cupcake, I'd like it to be at least the size of a Hostess cupcake. Or at least the size of a cupcake that fits those normal cupcake paper thingies you can get at the grocery store. Or, at the very, very least, make it the size of something you can bake in an Easy Bake Oven. Smaller than that and you are starting to lose me. Overbake the tiny little cake part of the cupcake and you continue down the path of loserdom. Add crappy frosting and I am gone. Also, the price of a dozen is just absurd. $33 for a dozen pathetic cupcakes is just for suckers, especially when a few blocks away are the tastiest cupcakes on earth that sell for $9.90 a dozen. If you're going to charge such outrageous prices, at least cut people like a $5 break on a dozen, it will make them feel a little less like they're being ripped off.
By comparison, the cupcakery in New York that we tried last year (Crumbs) has cupcakes that are huuuuge, delicious, and cost $3.50, which is reasonable for taste, size, and what I consider to be the "New York City tax" of things being more expensive than necessary in Manhattan. I couldn't even finish the cupcake I got at Crumbs because it was so huge, and those of you who know me know I can pack in some food like nobody's business, and have no shame about scarfing down edibles.
I love the Emperors New Clothes-esque sentiment that so many denizens that bastion of LJ community sanity are spouting. Or maybe they really have never had better baked goods and they love throwing money down the toilet. Whatevs, I give that place 3 months before they've gone under, unless they change things up a lot.
Anyway, I've been "jogging" in the mornings lately, and I'm kind of digging it. Right now the morning temperatures are perfect, and at 6 am, the roads are quiet, it's just starting to get light outside, and it's quite pleasant.
Ok, first of all, if I'm going to pay $2.89 for a cupcake, I'd like it to be at least the size of a Hostess cupcake. Or at least the size of a cupcake that fits those normal cupcake paper thingies you can get at the grocery store. Or, at the very, very least, make it the size of something you can bake in an Easy Bake Oven. Smaller than that and you are starting to lose me. Overbake the tiny little cake part of the cupcake and you continue down the path of loserdom. Add crappy frosting and I am gone. Also, the price of a dozen is just absurd. $33 for a dozen pathetic cupcakes is just for suckers, especially when a few blocks away are the tastiest cupcakes on earth that sell for $9.90 a dozen. If you're going to charge such outrageous prices, at least cut people like a $5 break on a dozen, it will make them feel a little less like they're being ripped off.
By comparison, the cupcakery in New York that we tried last year (Crumbs) has cupcakes that are huuuuge, delicious, and cost $3.50, which is reasonable for taste, size, and what I consider to be the "New York City tax" of things being more expensive than necessary in Manhattan. I couldn't even finish the cupcake I got at Crumbs because it was so huge, and those of you who know me know I can pack in some food like nobody's business, and have no shame about scarfing down edibles.
I love the Emperors New Clothes-esque sentiment that so many denizens that bastion of LJ community sanity are spouting. Or maybe they really have never had better baked goods and they love throwing money down the toilet. Whatevs, I give that place 3 months before they've gone under, unless they change things up a lot.
Anyway, I've been "jogging" in the mornings lately, and I'm kind of digging it. Right now the morning temperatures are perfect, and at 6 am, the roads are quiet, it's just starting to get light outside, and it's quite pleasant.
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Sep. 6th, 2007 | 10:06 pm
Ok, so I'm excited enough about a new cupcake joint opening in my neighborhood, but srsly, since when did cupcakes become The New Coolest Thing Evar OMG Tell All My Friendzzz? 'Cause that kind of turns me off.
I'm such a snob.
Besides, it's not likely that they'll be better than Lyndell's. I mean, I travel and scientifically test new cupcakes in exotic locales (such as: New York City), and Lyndell's has yet to be beat by cupcakeries that are far more fancy and expensive. I'm just sayin'. But if everyone and their brother these days is getting into cupcakes I may have to shake my stick at them and go put some vinyl on the record player to remember the good old days. Or something.
ANYway. Today I totally made a Google Calendar for my fall tv line up. Am I a librarian or what?
I'm such a snob.
Besides, it's not likely that they'll be better than Lyndell's. I mean, I travel and scientifically test new cupcakes in exotic locales (such as: New York City), and Lyndell's has yet to be beat by cupcakeries that are far more fancy and expensive. I'm just sayin'. But if everyone and their brother these days is getting into cupcakes I may have to shake my stick at them and go put some vinyl on the record player to remember the good old days. Or something.
ANYway. Today I totally made a Google Calendar for my fall tv line up. Am I a librarian or what?