T-Minus 0 Days until Turkey!

Almost finished? Are your pies in the oven? Is your turkey defrosting? Didja call Whole Foods for the back-up meal? Ha!

First we have the Turkey Trot (gobble!), then we're going to the Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner, which should be entertaining.

This weekend will be a whirlwind of...shopping and pampering. Pedicures, massages, South Coast, Thanksgiving Deux...

I'm happy to report that the slide show rocked. Check it out:
http://www.charlesphoenix.com
Ha!

Hugs to all!

Life Without Mochas

I'm on day 7 without my beloved mocha. Grr. If only the syrup didn't have HFCS in it! Wah.
But I'm mightily confusing all the baristas.

Snerk.

It's Friday. A busy weekend ahead...got to do a little super secret stuff, then the boring grocery shopping.

Sunday we're going to to a slide show! No, seriously. We're going to a slide show.

We're either really hip, really comfortable in our hobbies or really geeky. Let's go with a mix of all three, OK?

Inching closer to Turkey Day - do you have your turkey? Your sweet potatoes? Your PIE???

Holiday bits and bobs

Yeah, I don't know what the means, go with it.

Whee, another Saturday - and, for the first time in ages, an actual plus to my current job...I have MONDAY OFF!

Ahem. Whee!!!

In other news, not much happening. A bit of Christmas shopping and a relaxing weekend. I'm all for that!

And? It's almost time for PUMPKIN!

Brrr! Baby, it's COLD outside!

I am so in trouble...I'm already freezing and it's not even December. Or Winter. Ahem.

Almost two weeks from Turkey Day! Whee!

The Mom and I are doing the Turkey Trot in the morning. Yay! Dinner is still under negotiation. Stay tuned. And Friday (aka, Black Friday, which I don't do at all!), we're having Thanksgiving Deux, our version. Hee! There may be Christmas movies and pie involved, I'm just saying.

In other news, still reading the book. I got so upset (crying, everything), I had to stop on Sunday. I'll report back when I finish. But it's good - Publisher's Weekly named it one of the best of 2007.

On the horizon? Christmas Shopping...the Mom's birthday...Bauer Sale...Auntie Em's!
And? Cookie Day!!!

Fall Fun

I'm trying to be more bloggy and less...well, cranky.

The highlight of Thursday and Friday was eating my lunch backwards. Now get that image of me eating facing the wall...or something much worse...out of your head. I mean backwards - my cereal treat first, grapes second...the exact opposite of how I normally eat.

I am soooo bored. That was my HIGHLIGHT! Ahem. And it took me 21 minutes to eat exactly 3/4s-cup of Cinnamon Bunnies. Snerk.

It's Saturday, which is...wait for it...BOOK DAY! WHEE!!! I've been waiting years for this...since 1989, to be exact. I have the book. I have the makings of dinner (peanut butter, duh!) and I have pie. I'm all set.

Fall is also key for another reason - pumpkin treats return. Just had a pumpkin muffin top from Bristol Farms. Which was pumpkin-rocking good! Ha!

Hugs to all...will update later. :)

A Whirlwind of Nothingness

Yay, I made it through another week. Monday will mark my official first day at work, which I suppose is a good thing. ;)

Many good things in the works, but I'm afraid it's kind of boring and quiet for now. There are four (4!) trips in the next 8 months, which is cool-o. Last weekend the Mom and I walked to the Farmer's Market - try the scones from Sconeage, they rock! Next weekend we're going to Disneyland to check out the pumpkin-ness.

But, for now? Quiet.

Saturday: $, Coffee, Pedis, Bristol, Wild Oats, Market
Sunday: Newport Beach

Mmm, muffin! Bristol Farms

Ah, pumpkin in May. Well, April, it's from last week, but yeah. Pumpkin in the off season!

Is it Fall yet? *thud*

Well, here is Bristol Farm's version of a pumpkin muffin. It's smaller than Doughboys, 2-inches wide by 2-inches tall. It's kind of plain and unadorned...there were some random crumbs on top, but I have no clue what they were supposed to be. Just crumbs, I guess.

It smells sweet and spicy, but as you can tell it's much paler than Doughboys muffin. It's kind of blah looking. The pumpkin flavor is slightly stronger, but it's also much sweeter. The muffin itself is much dryer and crumbled as I broke it apart.

You know how much I like dry stuff. Ugh.

Sweet seems to be the over-riding thought. It's not as yummy as Doughboys, in fact, I'm kind of unexcited by the muffin. It tastes more canned...not as fresh as Doughboys, which I mean...come on...I know it's April, they are all canned at this point. But the Bristol Farms muffin tastes canned. This muffin tastes exactly how you think a pumpkin muffin should taste, which is fine.

Boring, but fine. My fingers didn't' turn orange. *shrug*

Bristol Farms - B-.

Bristol Farms
2080 North Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90815
562) 430-4134
http://www.bristolfarms.com

Mmm, muffin! Doughboys Bakery

Because I HAD to go to Sur la Table for baking supplies (the pb tart project continues!), we stopped off at Doughboys for cake and other yummy baked goods.

First up, the spiced pumpkin muffin. We already know my love of the pumpkin in baked goods - pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones, I want it all. Now. I don't care if it's April, I want it now.

I have to say, aesthetically, this muffin isn't much to look at. It's short and squat, kind of the opposite of Great Dane's massive mushroom muffin. This muffin is 3-inches round by 2-inches high, stubby. It's topped by a single, off-center, walnut.

It looks homemade. In fact, it looks like something I would make - very homely.

But looks can be deceiving.

This muffin rocks. It's moist, it's buttery. It's spicy...the love of the pumpkin baked goods for me is the spicy sweetness - not exactly over-whelmingly spicy, not sickeningly sweet, it's a blend of both. The muffin batter has tons of walnuts inside, whole and chunks throughout.

The muffin is so moist that it holds together when torn, not crumbling very much at all. It's sweet, it's spicy, it tastes like a nice pie...mmm, pumpkin! My fingers even get slightly orange when I'm tearing it apart.

The middle isn't close to dry...it's doughy, it's sooooo good.

Did I mention that it's moist?

I want another one now.
Doughboys Muffin - A+!

Doughboys Bakery
8136 West Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323) 651-4202
http://www.doughboys.net

Mmm, muffin! The Great Dane Baking Company

So how do you top BIG-O CUPCAKES? How about a BIG-O MUFFIN?

*snerk*

This is one big muffin. Like 3-inches in diameter big.

As a result, it was dense, cakey - as opposed to light and...well, less cakey. However, it was not overly sweet - I know that lots of people think that a "sweeter muffin" means cake pretending to be a healthier muffin, but this wasn't a disguised cupcake.

The problem? The dough must be heavy – I have yet to get a chocolate chip muffin from Great Dane that has the chocolate chips evenly dispersed through out it. Weird, the chips are always smashed to one side, which leaves one part of the muffin all lonely. The muffin itself was yummy, but slightly dry. That seems to be my theme lately.

For the record, my favorite muffins happen to be…well, pumpkin, actually. Love the Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese, Doughboys Spicy Pumpkin, Bristol Farms Pumpkin – I think I love the moist spicy sweetness. Chocolate chip is OK, but it’s not pumpkin.

So this one wasn't bad, but not the best I've ever had.
The Great Dane Baking Company - B.
They make great cakes, though. *ahem*

The Great Dane Baking Company
11196 Los Alamitos Blvd.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
562) 493-6899
http://www.greatdanebakery.com/index.html