Is that a piece of bacon on top of that cupcake? Yes! It was Buzz’s cupcake of the month… peanut butter bacon cupcake!! Of course, I had to try it, as I love the sweet and savory combo (have you put m&m’s in your movie popcorn?).

It was a chocolate cupcake, with a peanut butter frosting, with just a small sprinkle of bacon on top. Very intriguing – the peanut butter frosting was actually too sweet and overpowered the salty bacon… glad I tried it, but can’t say it was a winning combination for me.

The other good thing about Buzz Bakery is that it caters to those with celiac disease… gluten-free cupcakes and brownies that taste just as good as the regular ones!

BUZZ
901 Slaters Lane
Alexandria, VA

But as I get closer, I see that it is not a Kellogg’s rice krispie box, but “QB’s.” A total imitation. But that doesn’t stop me from taking a box off the shelf. It’s advertised as an “All natural crispy treat filled with ice cream.” (Sorry for the quality of the photos).

There are apparently three mascots associated with QB’s – Esquivel (the vanilla treat), Dave (the chocolate treat) and Suzy Cube (apparently the strawberry treat). Seriously, who are the ad wizards?

You get four individually-wrapped treats in the box.

They were good, not great… kind of bland, but I think it’s because I got vanilla. I should’ve gone with the chocolate, just to get a little more flavor.

Check them out the next time you’re in the frozen food section!

*Hamamama and her spoiled-rotten pug Beasley recently moved to D.C. after living in NYC for 11 years. While she’s enjoying her new adventure in the Nation’s Capitol, she greatly misses the awesome cuisine (and delivery service!) the Big Apple has to offer.

Serious Eats had recommended their lobster rolls in a post last month, so I had made a mental note to try to go when I was in Boston.

I am not a big fan of mayo, so when we did the Umamiventure to Jordan’s I was glad that there wasn’t a lot of mayo, however, I would’ve liked more (or some) flavor.

The B&G lobster roll totally delivered — – nice subtle seasoning with just a hint of mayo.

As you can see, it also came with hand-cut french fries too (I saw them making them while sitting at the bar), sweet pickles and a nice side of slaw (very little or no mayo either!)

When I came back to NYC, I came across a post that Gourmet Magazine had listed the top eight lobster rolls in Boston — B&G was ranked #2. Looks like I need to go back to Boston seven more times.

Before I had the lobster roll, I started with 1/2 dozen oysters. I love them, but I’m not an aficionado, so I had the waiter just choose six for me. He brought me: Island Creek (Mass), Pleasant Bay (Mass), Peacock Cove (New Brunswick), Flying Point (Maine), Fanny Bay (British Columbia) and Olympic Miyagi (Washington). Enjoyed them all except for the Fanny Bay – just a bit too slimy for my liking.

It definitely wasn’t a cheap lunch ($49 without tip!!), but it was delicious. Good food and good, friendly service makes dining alone much more pleasurable.

B&G Oysters
550 Tremont Street
Boston
T: 617.423.0550

Just look at this spread, compliments of Yamahomo:
Bacon wrapped dates:

Pastry cups filled with Swedish meatballs & potatoes:

And pastry cups filled with a special cream cheese and dill mixture:

Mini-chicken burgers:

Pigs in a blanket (with kielbasa, not hot dogs!):

Salmon avocado tartar (my personal fave):

Homemade sushi!!

Once the party was underway, Chef Yamahomo started cooking his homemade gyoza (potstickers):

When he plated and served them, everyone screamed in delight. Partygoer Erin had the line of the night: “This is the weirdest f**ing party I have ever been to.” What can we say? We Umami’s love our food!

If you think that’s weird – who would’ve ever thought a gourd would be the highlight of the night:

What a great way for all of us to send off Kayoko…it was also nice for many of us to meet face-to-face since we have all read each other posts. Even two-time blogger (okay, maybe three) Mel made a special trip back to NYC for the bash!

Just when you thought you couldn’t eat enough (at least those of us who were there from the beginning), Yama presented his famous mille layer cake — to die for!

As the night went on, more fun was had…kimonos started breaking out — what in the world??

What a beautiful bride she will be:

And then you knew it was getting crazy when Yamahomo started walking about in heels!

Keep eating and writing, Kayoko — get the west coast branch of Umamimart up and running! Bon voyage and safe travels!

And thanks to the host with the most — it was all incredibly delicious!

I was using this as my template:

My first attempt didnt go so well — I tried putting on a glaze before drawing on the face:

Yikes! Once they started drying, I realized they looked more like a tribute to a kabuki dancer leaving NYC:

Into the trash they went and I tried a second batch, minus the glaze. Luckily I had better success!

Pretty soon Kayoko was surrounding my kitchen table:

At last, the guest of honor enjoying one of her trademark cookies!

Best of luck, Kayoko — we will miss you!!

(More photos from the party to come — what a wonderful host Yamahomo was!!)

It’s such a creative invention for pumpkin lovers. They are a quite sweet with a creamy filling and they really do taste like pumpin spice. My friend Chris says he detects a hint of cinnamon.

After eating these by the mouthful, I was thinking they would be good as a cookie (like the thumbprint cookies with chocolate kisses) or combined with chocolate (I love pumpkin w/ chocolate), so over the weekend I combined both ideas and made pumpkin kisses brownies. I simply used a brownie mix (sorry, Yamahomo, I’m sure that is unheard of in your kitchen!) and three minutes before they were done, I stuck the kisses into the batter. I probably put them in a little too soon as the tips of the kisses got a little toasty, however, the pumpkin/chocolate combo tasted pretty good, if I say so myself! Watch out Treats Truck!

A cute little pumpkin – haven’t eaten it yet, but guessing it is some sort of “manju” (Japanese dessert with sweet beans inside):

Also got this – a little mochi (sweet rice cake filled with sweet beans):

This one totally reminds me of my many trips to Little Tokyo in LA with my grandmother when I was kid. You could watch them make these from the storefront window and they would serve them right off the stove. It’s called dorayaki – basically two little pancakes with the sweet bean inside. Still brings back good memories when I bite into one.

Then I was in Chinatown and came across Mei Li Wah Bakery- I couldn’t pass up getting a coconut bun:

While in Flushing a few weekends ago for our Umamiventure, I purchased a sesame ball at the dumpling stop. (Sorry guys, I didn’t share this with anyone, stashed it in my purse for dessert on my way home!). I love ending with something sweet after a Chinese foodfest like the one we had or after a dimsum meal too.

For those of you who know me, you’re probably thinking I’m turning really Japanese/Asian on them. But don’t you worry, just yesterday, my co-worker Chris brought back a wonderful surprise from the new Magnolia Bakery on 49th and 6th- FOUR blocks away from our office… how dangerous is that?

Look at the cute packaging:

We called a meeting at 5pm yesterday to devour these- moist, red velvet cupcakes with sweet cream cheese frosting. DELICIOUS!

Katagiri
224 E. 59th Street
NYC

Mei Li Wah
64 Bayard Street
NYC

Sesame Balls
Somewhere in Flushing
(near a Starbucks)
Queens, NY

Magnolia Bakery
1240 Avenue of the Americas
NYC

Phone rings

Lori: “Hello?”
Chris: “Kathy got a waffle”
Lori: “Be right there!”
Lori runs down hallway faster than she’s ever run before

The infamous Wafels & Dinges truck had made its way to 45th Street — parked in the same exact spot where the Treats Truck parks. When the Wafels truck leaves, the Treats Truck takes over…how dangerous is that?

Kathy proudly showed off her waffle (wafel?) to four of us, who just gathered around it like it was show-and-tell. She kindly gave me a bite of her waffle with strawberries…of course it didn’t disappoint – it was amazing! The waffle was so light and fluffy that it didn’t really taste that bad for you. Personally, I wouldnt have been so healthy with the fruit — I would’ve gone with the nutella and whip cream combo!

Pretty soon I’ll be looking for the Jenny Craig truck.

Chris and I called an impromptu meeting in an empty conference room to dissect and discuss the cupcake cone. It comes in a few flavors (vanilla frosting with sprinkles or chocolate chips, chocolate frosting with chocolate chips and mint chocolate with chocolate chips. I had to go with the mint chocolate!

It’s basically a cupcake baked into an ice cream cone. Interesting concept. They’re really cute – I thought the cone had lost it’s crunch though. I can see little kids getting a big kick out of them at a birthday party. It was delicious to try once, but I’m sticking with my butterscotch brownie!