Showing posts with label desserts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label desserts. Show all posts

Friday, June 1, 2012

Sugar Slam III -- Batter Royal

I am so very very happy to announce that there will be a Sugar Slam 3 this year! Now in case you do not remember, or are new to my lovely blog, Sugar Slam is the brainchild of Natalie Slater, semi-professional baker/writer and fan of professional wrestling. One of her close friends is CM Punk, and since I am a fan of CM Punk this is how I met her and realized just how cool she is, and when they are together they have a cake feud -- she is a fan of frosting/icing who feels dessert is not dessert without it (I agree!) while he vehemently hates it. One day there were going back and forth about it and she said "Hey- we should do a wrestling-themed bake off because fighting and eating are fun!" He agreed to be the judge and like a true heel he picked a CM Punk dessert as the winner! Furthermore, she is heavily influenced by punk rock and is an inspiration to all those who follow the beat of their own drum. She has a unique style with an intense flair that draws you into her blog. She does not have a bakery at the moment and has a 9-5 job as well as the proud owner and partner of GreySlater Goods which is a eco-friendly boutique dedicated to to supporting small businesses with Made in the USA products. Although she has no culinary education, no fancy degree, but yet she knows her stuff and what makes baked goods GOOD for you as well as taste. You can find her blog, Bake and Destroy, here -- Bake and Destroy, her Twitter here -- Natalie Bake and Destroy, and her Tumblr page here Bake and Destroy.

So now...Sugar Slam 3 is back with a vengeance! The most delicious championship in sports-entertainment is the tagline. Last year's competition had over 100 entries. Just like last year, there will be two prize levels - the Championship, as chosen by the esteemed Sugar Slam 3 judges -- UCBW MegaStar Zach Linder, former WWE Diva Amy "Lita" Dumas and US Air Guitar Champion Justin "Nordic Thunder" Howard. Plus there is the People's Choice Award winner as chosen by the fans. This year's competition will also feature guest "commentary" by author/musician Mike Edison. Just by this alone, don't you want to enter? If I had any decorating ability I sure would!

Check out last years entries here -- Sugar Slam 2011

If you would like to enter SugarSlam 3 please go here for official rules and how to enter: Sugar Slam III: Batter Royal Official Rules!

UPDATE: SUGAR SLAM 2012 DEADLINE EXTENSION! The deadline is now AUGUST 15TH so now you have no excuse to not enter!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Epic First Weekend of 2012

This weekend was a bunch of firsts -- first visit of a gallery in 2012, first walk in 2012, first donation in 2012, first event in 2012. i am spending a lot of time doing things that I enjoy without the crutch of an excuse and i am so much in love. I feel so lucky that I live in an area that does not get boring and that there is always something new to try, new to go to, new to eat. This weekend the weather was fantastic. Not too cold, not too warm, just PERFECT.


On Friday, I went to TNA Wrestling in Long Island. This has become my New Year tradition apparently. it seems the past three years during the first weekend of January I have wound up at a TNA Wrestling show in Long Island. The show this year sucked in my opinion. It just seemed to go through the motions -- this was the card and that was it. Nothing memorable, nothing exciting. I am glad that David got the mask that Jeff Hardy painted autographed. After the show we were off to Sonic where I got two Chicago dogs and they were quite nummy.












Saturday was all sorts of epic. First I had some donations to give to The Bowery Mission so I went there first; even though my bag ripped! They are always quite appreciative of the donations though. Since the weather was gorgeous with a capital G, I walked to Mulberry Street where I visited the which is an NYC event space. Right now, the latest installation is an indoor pop up park calledPark Here!. Here is the official description: Park Here is Openhouse Gallery's response to frigid winter. It's a pop-up park in the heart of Nolita that's blooming when nothing else is. Park Here has plush grass, beautiful foliage, picnic blankets, oversized bean bags and hammocks. Blazing fast WiFi, morningsexclusively for moms and their kids and kicking off with a Rolling Stone concert series. This park has plenty of
food vendors too. OPEN DAILY 12PM - 8PM DEC 5TH - FEB 15TH.

I figured this would be the perfect time to go because in NYC where something is getting close to its closing date, EVERYONE shows up. This park is located at 201 Mulberry St. between Spring + Kenmare Street and it is quite nice. You do feel like you are in a park but I guess that is the point. i went it, walked around, tried some jam from The Jam Stand as well as enjoyed a ginger ale and some Pop Chips. I will definitely make my way back to this place before February 15th. Check out my pictures below.







After I left Park Here, I decided to get my first dessert of 2012 at Rice to Riches located on Spring Street. This place has had features in a slew of New York magazines as well as Food Network. I could get over the signs on the windows of the place. Here is one of them: After ogling all of the different flavors, I decided to try a hazelnut chocolate bear hug rice pudding. Let me tell you -- this place is expensive. A solo serving will cost you $7 dollars but you do get a nice size portion. No wonder why it is so popular! I think the next time i go there I will try their sex, drugs, and rocky road flavor.

Since rice pudding can be heavy, I decided to take a nice long walk. I walked down to Bowery to find Prince Street and said to myself "wait, I can get the R train on this street!" I walked down the street and took in the crisp warm air. it was such a great weather night on Saturday. Made my way into Brooklyn to watch the New Orleans Saints stomp all over the Detroit Lions and spend quality alone time with David.

Come Sunday it was time to call the weekend the end. I hope all of my weekends in 2012 are like this. One can only hope and since I am a planner as I mentioned in my last post...