a friend who is engaged recently asked me about sites I browsed for ideas while preparing my wedding. So, why not share it on the blog?
highly recommended, good for diy and solutions for trials and tribulations:
www.weddingbee.com
and then
www.thebridescafe.com
www.stylemepretty.com
could be useful
www.bklynbride.blogspot,com
www.apracticalwedding.com
i also browsed sites of local photographers for ideas and locations:
www.briankhang.com
furiousphotographers
etsy is another obvious place to look for ideas.
good luck!
21 July 2010
Cupcake Thoughts
Is the cupcake fad over yet? I don't know. I thought it was over four years ago, but then I heard that Magnolia Bakery is opening it's Los Angeles outpost on Third Street and when I drove by Sprinkles in Beverly Hills the other day there was a line of people several storefronts long waiting to make a purchase. Geez.
Five years ago, my officemates and I embarked on a cupcake tasting experience. I forget the intervals, but every so often a batch of cupcakes of various flavors would be bought and cut up in the office. We tried Sprinkles, Joan's on Third, Auntie Em's, and maybe one other place I forget now. I remember concluding that Sprinkles cupcake was the worst; the cake texture was like muffin... and I HATE MUFFINS. Except buttermilk muffins I make myself because I can make them delightful and tender unlike the chewy toughness you get anywhere else. Ok, enough about muffins. Honestly, I wasn't sure I liked cupcakes at the time. I liked the idea of cupcakes: their portability, the fact that they're single servings, and their cuteness. But then the store bought kind always had too much frosting. Which I don't like. Even at a much younger age when most would happily gobble up the sugary sustenance, I would scrape it off. Too sweet! Sampling the variety of cupcakes did nothing to change my mind about frosting--I ate the frosting after all because I hate to waste, but it was really best to just scrape it off. So, conclusion #1: I don't like cupcakes because I don't like frosting.
I recently had the opportunity to do a comparison taste test between Sprinkles and Dots. I was sure that Dots would come out on top. When I tried the red velvet cupcake a year ago, I loved its fluffiness and buttermilk flavor. This time I decided to do a full analysis and tasted the cake and frosting separately. While the texture of Dots' cupcake was still nice, it was strangely too sweet...I mean, artificial sugar too sweet...Splenda too sweet. How terrible!!! Sprinkles was not very flavorful, but it wasn't too sweet either. But then put the cake together with the frosting...and Dots was once again king. Unfortunately I could not shake off my disappointment at the Splenda-like aftertaste. *sigh.
Since I had breakfast in Eagle Rock I decided to stop by Auntie Em's to pick up a red velvet cupcake. The cream cheese frosting is awesome but the cake itself very greasy and with crumbs falling apart all over the place. Which confirms my prior conclusions. 1) Cupcakes are not about cakes. They are about the frosting. I have a strong dislike for frosting and prefer to avoid the cream cheese variety even though I like it better, hence, I dislike cupcakes and they are not worth my time. 2) Cakes are only worth it if you bake it yourself. It may not be the moistest (if that's what you like) or crumbliest (if that's what you like) but nothing can beat that homemade, fresh-baked flavor.
Five years ago, my officemates and I embarked on a cupcake tasting experience. I forget the intervals, but every so often a batch of cupcakes of various flavors would be bought and cut up in the office. We tried Sprinkles, Joan's on Third, Auntie Em's, and maybe one other place I forget now. I remember concluding that Sprinkles cupcake was the worst; the cake texture was like muffin... and I HATE MUFFINS. Except buttermilk muffins I make myself because I can make them delightful and tender unlike the chewy toughness you get anywhere else. Ok, enough about muffins. Honestly, I wasn't sure I liked cupcakes at the time. I liked the idea of cupcakes: their portability, the fact that they're single servings, and their cuteness. But then the store bought kind always had too much frosting. Which I don't like. Even at a much younger age when most would happily gobble up the sugary sustenance, I would scrape it off. Too sweet! Sampling the variety of cupcakes did nothing to change my mind about frosting--I ate the frosting after all because I hate to waste, but it was really best to just scrape it off. So, conclusion #1: I don't like cupcakes because I don't like frosting.
I recently had the opportunity to do a comparison taste test between Sprinkles and Dots. I was sure that Dots would come out on top. When I tried the red velvet cupcake a year ago, I loved its fluffiness and buttermilk flavor. This time I decided to do a full analysis and tasted the cake and frosting separately. While the texture of Dots' cupcake was still nice, it was strangely too sweet...I mean, artificial sugar too sweet...Splenda too sweet. How terrible!!! Sprinkles was not very flavorful, but it wasn't too sweet either. But then put the cake together with the frosting...and Dots was once again king. Unfortunately I could not shake off my disappointment at the Splenda-like aftertaste. *sigh.
Since I had breakfast in Eagle Rock I decided to stop by Auntie Em's to pick up a red velvet cupcake. The cream cheese frosting is awesome but the cake itself very greasy and with crumbs falling apart all over the place. Which confirms my prior conclusions. 1) Cupcakes are not about cakes. They are about the frosting. I have a strong dislike for frosting and prefer to avoid the cream cheese variety even though I like it better, hence, I dislike cupcakes and they are not worth my time. 2) Cakes are only worth it if you bake it yourself. It may not be the moistest (if that's what you like) or crumbliest (if that's what you like) but nothing can beat that homemade, fresh-baked flavor.
08 July 2010
Updated: Potato Chip Addiction
As mentioned in a previous post, I easily get addicted. To get out of the addiction, I sometimes try to overload so that I get sick of whatever it is I'm addicted to. This doesn't always work; it's often just a temporary fix. The overloading method seemed to work for my last addiction to potato chips, however. I've been potato chip-clean for eight to nine months now. Oops. I just remembered that I ate some Pringles yesterday.... But Pringles chips weren't the kind of chip I ate ravenously when I was addicted. No, I ate regular and kettle-cooked potato chips.
Yum!
Utz Kettle-Cooked
Not the lard-fried kind which frightens me.
Utz
Best mass-produced chip out there. Too bad it is only sold on the East Coast. Thin, crispy, not too salty, and delicious fried potato taste.
Cape Cod
I think this is an underrated kettle-cooked potato chip. Also, why don't more stores carry it?
Dirty’s All-Natural
Lays Kettle Classics
On the greasy side, but I still like it because its robust crunch.
Lays Kettle Classics Crinkle Cut
Greasy, but love the crunchy. Yum!
Lays (Taiwan)
Not too salty, right kind of crunchy, doesn’t stick to teeth as much as Lays USA; has a pleasant, appealing savory flavor (umami). Why can't Lays USA be like this?!
Acceptable, but hard to find:
Zapps
Boulder
Deep River
Route 11
If I'm desperate:
Lay’s
Ruffles
Avoid Avoid Avoid
Terra
More like cardboard.
Archer Farms
Just weird.
Tim’s Cascade
Too greasy.
Hawaiian
Too greasy.
Kettle Chips
Overcooked and brown. Yuck.
I used to give myself excuses to buy potato chips whenever I saw a brand I hadn't eaten before. Unfortunately, I couldn't always recall what I had tried before, so I started running into problems when I revisited potato chips that I later remembered disliking. I guess I have a penchant for lists to keep track of things, so I wrote up list with some notes to keep track of what brands I liked and disliked. When Serious Eats posted a kettle-chip taste test, I was reminded of the list and I decided, why not continue with the addictions theme?, to post it. It's a bit of a silly list since its purpose is to remind me which brands are okay to buy and which are not! In order of preference.
Yum!
Utz Kettle-Cooked
Not the lard-fried kind which frightens me.
Utz
Best mass-produced chip out there. Too bad it is only sold on the East Coast. Thin, crispy, not too salty, and delicious fried potato taste.
Cape Cod
I think this is an underrated kettle-cooked potato chip. Also, why don't more stores carry it?
Dirty’s All-Natural
Lays Kettle Classics
On the greasy side, but I still like it because its robust crunch.
Lays Kettle Classics Crinkle Cut
Greasy, but love the crunchy. Yum!
Lays (Taiwan)
Not too salty, right kind of crunchy, doesn’t stick to teeth as much as Lays USA; has a pleasant, appealing savory flavor (umami). Why can't Lays USA be like this?!
Acceptable, but hard to find:
Zapps
Boulder
Deep River
Route 11
If I'm desperate:
Lay’s
Ruffles
Avoid Avoid Avoid
Terra
More like cardboard.
Archer Farms
Just weird.
Tim’s Cascade
Too greasy.
Hawaiian
Too greasy.
Kettle Chips
Overcooked and brown. Yuck.
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