Coffee & Cookie Day 2013

Coffee & Cookie Day has come and gone. I am exhausted from it.

Less students are in our Spanish classes this year - and with the changes in my own schedule, we had far fewer students between mine and Mr. McMonagle's classes. We weren't sure if we'd beat last year's total of $957, which was our goal. The odds were against us, but we didn't want to let Make-A-Wish down.

Some of the cookies on the counter - I couldn't get everything in one photo!

Student brought in TONS of cookies, brownies, milk, hot chocolate, etc. We even had some students bring in donuts, Eat 'N Park Smiley Cookies, and one student even MADE chocolate-covered strawberries (they looked professionally-made, too!)!  Dozen Bake Shop donated a spectacular tray of goodies and cake pops, and The Greek Gourmet donated their fabulous hummus packs again (you'd better believe that I bought one for my lunch!). I spent a lot of time running around Costco and baking cookies myself (which you'll get to learn about a bit later...)

The cookies I baked - stay tuned for more on these in a future post...

I loved my hummus so much, I finished it through a stir straw. The Greek Gourmet makes the BEST and most ORIGINAL hummus! I think I grossed out the student who took this picture, though.  Sorry, Sara!

We should've just propped the door of D101 open, for as many times as it opened and closed throughout the day. Students, teachers, teacher aides, security guards...that door withstood a lot of swinging.  In addition, most people were overly generous, often telling us to "keep the change" or just donating money without buying any goodies.

UPDATE: Our final total was $1072!!!  You guys are AMAZING!  We BEAT last year's total by $115 - and we were afraid we wouldn't get anywhere near that with less students participating!!!

Thanks to all who bought cookies, and a very special thanks to Dozen Bake Shop and The Greek Gourmet for their donations.  Your generosity is very much appreciated by me and everyone who enjoyed your food!

Cookies-on-a-Stick, brownies, blondies, & ginger cookies from Dozen Bake Shop in Lawrenceville

Cake pops from Dozen Bake Shop - these were gone within 10 minutes!

Pretzel & hummus packs from The Greek Gourmet in Squirrel Hill.  These also didn't last long, and they were only offered to teachers!

I could not be more proud of my students & our staff for making this happen, despite the odds. Mucho amor a todos.

Dozen Bake Shop
3511 Butler St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222 (Lawrenceville)

Website: http://dozenbakeshop.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dozen-Bake-Shop-Dozen-Cupcakes/25721167653
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dozenbakeshop



The Greek Gourmet Marketplace
2130 Murray Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15217 (Squirrel Hill)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Greek-Gourmet-Marketplace/193575232586
Twitter: https://twitter.com/greekgourmet

Food Trucks: Oh My Grill and Dozen Dessert Truck

I love the South Side Step Trek.

It has to be my favorite thing to do in the city.  I've participated for the last 2 years, and I am amazed at how awesome the South Side Slopes are - I never venture to them, since I never have a reason to, but I'm so glad that this event brought this section of the city to my attention.

I got some AWESOME pictures.  I had fantastic pictures last year, and I was worried about this year, since the forecast called for rain; however, the skies cleared, and it turned out to be a beautiful yet chilly day.

This one is my favorite, taken from a balcony in the former St. Michael's Church, now a luxury apartment complex:

My favorite picture from Step Trek 2012

To check out the rest of my Step Trek pictures from this year, click here.

Another wonderful thing that Step Trek brought to my attention was food trucks - I had my first food truck experience last year, when my lunch consisted of my first Franktuary hot dog and a sweet treat from The Goodie Truck, as they were the only two trucks there.  However, this year, Oh My Grill, a grilled sandwich truck, and the Dozen Dessert Truck joined the scene, with The Goodie Truck being absent.

A view from above of the food trucks: Dozen, Oh My Grill, Franktuary

Yup.  No doubt that I needed to try both.  Something new!

Oh My Grill

My mom and our friend Robin were also participants in Step Trek, and they decided to try Oh My Grill right along with me.  We all agreed that the Number One sounded the best: Smoked Gouda, and White Cheddar with Bacon and Caramelized Onions on White Bread with Potato Soup Dip:

Number One

This was one of the most delicious "grilled cheese" sandwiches I have ever had!  It was worth the wait - and I'm not going to lie, the wait is pretty long, about 8 minutes from the time the order is placed (there was no one in front of me, either).  Good food does take time, though, so I didn't mind one bit - especially when the man taking orders wrapped up all 3 orders and put them in a bag, since I had to take all 3 orders back to the table.

We also split a bag of these "Funky Fusion" Dirty All Natural Potato Chips.  Yeah, doesn't sound appetizing, but these were GREAT (and not "dirty")!

Robin waited in line at the Dozen Dessert Truck, which offers delicious cupcakes, cookies, bars, and even customized ice cream sandwiches from its interior.  It was a bit too chilly for ice cream that day, so Robin ordered a half dozen cupcakes to take home (including the Elvis, one of my favorites), and also a cookie for herself, my mom, and I.

Dozen Dessert Truck

For Robin - Ginger Maple:

Ginger Maple

For my mom and I - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

MMMMMMMMMMMM.  I've had Dozen's sweet concoctions before, but it's even better when they are conveniently closer to where I am!  Robin let me try some of her cookie, and even though I'm not a big ginger fan, the combo of it with the maple was making me wish that I had chose that one instead!

Hopefully next year, there will be an even BIGGER selection of food trucks at Step Trek NEXT year! (BRGR?  PGH Taco Truck?)....


Oh My Grill
(For locations, follow them on Facebook and Twitter!)

Website: http://ohmygrill.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oh-My-Grill/498957770119748?ref=ts&fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ohmygrill




Dozen Dessert Truck (of Dozen Bake Shop)
3511 Butler St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15201

Website: http://dozenbakeshop.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DozenDessertTruckPittsburgh?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PghDessertTruck

...Bakery's Cookin'

I have much to be thankful for.

I, of course, am thankful for my family, my health, and the positive changes that have occurred in my life in the past year.  

Most especially, I am thankful that through this blog, in addition to providing information for my students (and anyone else who is interested), that I have made some great friends with common interests.

When Food Collage asked me if I was going to Bakery's Cookin', after she heard about it from Suburghia Foodie and had decided to attend, I was enthralled.  I had read about the event just a day earlier via someone's Twitter post, and I thought, "Nah, nobody would want to go to that," forgetting that now I had friends who wanted to do those kinds of things.  Duh.

Of course, I talked James into going, too.

Tickets for the event were only $10 if purchased ahead of time through ShowClix, an online ticketing service, which I had used before for Savor Pittsburgh.  It is so convenient to purchase the tickets ahead of time - however, I will warn you that there is a $3 "service fee", so really I only saved $1 on two tickets.  

Whatever.  $10 was a STEAL.

Bakery Square

We arrived at Bakery Square and met up with Food Collage in front of the venue - an empty storefront, which, until it has a permanent tenant, will be used for special events.  In fact, "I Made It! Market for the Holidays", another event that I've been itching to attend, will be held there on December 2nd and 3rd.

It was exactly 5:00 PM, and the organizers still seemed to be scrambling to get things set up, something that irks me - if you plan an event, you need to be ready ON TIME.  Either way, we walked in and were the first to check in, get stamped, and receive our books with all of the recipes for the food we would be sampling that evening.  

We wandered around a bit and took advantage of the fruit and cheese trays that were scattered about while the other tables finished getting everything set up.

One of the many fruit and cheese trays - quality cheeses, too!

We made it over to the sampling table for the restaurants that were showing off their famous recipes that evening.  There were samples from Sugar Cafe (in Dormont, where I stopped on my food tour and LOVED the cosmopolitan cupcake), Dozen (about which I wrote when I went to Lawrenceville with my mom), Braddock's American Brasserie, E2, Bella Christie, and Sola Gratia (a private chef service, not a restaurant).

Gingersnap Bread Pudding, Sugar Cafe

Fingerling Potato Salad, Sola Gratia

S'more-Tini, Bella Christie

I believe these were from Bella Christie, but I don't have the info - they were rich and delicious, though!

Foreground: Maple Turkey Wrap & Sweet Potato Mousse Parfait, Braddock's American Brasserie

 Out of everything that I tried (WAY more than $10 worth!), my favorite was the Greens, Butternut Squash, and Faro Salad from E2 (sorry, no picture, I ate it too quickly!), with the Maple Turkey and Stuffing Wraps from Braddock's and the Gingersnap Bread Pudding from Sugar Cafe coming in a very close second and third.  The only thing that did not impress me, unfortunately, were the Chocolate Pear Tarts from Dozen - I think I'll stick with their cupcakes.

Each chef did a demonstration of their dish, using appliances from Perla's Appliances PLUS, where I happened to buy my cooktop a few years ago and use constantly to make my own delicious creations - not to sound like a cheesy ad, but my experience there was great, and I have had no issues with my cooktop since I purchased it!

Kelly James from Sugar Cafe demonstrates

 To make the night even more enjoyable, the entertainment was the Gene Stovall Music Group.  I have no idea who he is, specifically (Gene Stovall, perhaps?), but I swear he is the most talented singer in Pittsburgh.  He can sing any song, in any style, and make it sound like a musical masterpiece - I could have listened to him sing all night, and I hope that I see him at future events!

Most Talented Man in Pittsburgh (IMHO)

It was a fun foodie night with friends, new and old (not super old, but older).  Thanks to James and especially Food Collage for wanting to attend and putting it out there that she was attending.  In addition, it was good to see Rachel from Yelp again, and it was so nice meeting my Twitter friends Suburghia Foodie, her husband, Patrick, and Eventsgeek in person for the first time.

Here's to hoping to see everyone (and more) at future events, foodie-themed or not.

Bakery's Cookin' benefitted the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh.

For more pictures from the event, see WPXI's "Seen and Be Seen" coverage: http://www.wpxi.com/entertainment/entertainment/29815178/detail.html

...my Cupcake Creation, inspired by other bloggers

Today was not a great day.

I won't get into the details of why it wasn't so great, so just accept that my temptation for cupcakes as a result was strong.  Quite strong.  So strong, in fact, that I tweeted it at lunchtime.

To make my temptation even stronger, at the end of the day, I checked Twitter, and there were tweets from @JanePitt, @burghbaby, @iheartpgh, and @cookingformydad, all commenting on...what else?  Dozen Bake Shop and Sugar Cafe, as they were stops on the Sonic Sweets Tour in which they were partaking at the time.  Really?  REALLY?!  Of all days?!

I was going crazy, and I had tests to grade.  Yum Yum was also tempted by the tweets.  I told her that baking may be on my agenda when I got home, and she agreed that that was a good idea.

And so it was.  

What to bake, though?  I did love those vegan cupcakes that I made over the summer from the Dozen Bake Shop recipe that was posted on Boring Pittsburgh.  I should make those again - and I already had the ingredients at home.

The stars were aligning.

Oh, but WAIT!  The Franklin Inn Mexican Restaurant had posted a recipe on Facebook the other day from another blog  for a chocolate frosting with quite the interesting main ingredient...

...I knew what I had to do.  I stopped at Giant Eagle for the ingredient on the way home.

I made the vegan cupcakes as soon as I got home (which wasn't until almost 5:00) - for some reason, I feel that this recipe is so much easier than that of regular cupcakes.  They also come out moist and vanilla-y.  As a side note, I don't use almond milk - I use light vanilla soy milk, which adds to the vanilla-y-ness.

Apple cider vinegar and light vanilla soy milk, curdled

I like the pattern that formed when I added the vanilla extract to the oil

Not quite as pretty with the curdled soy milk

Cupcake batter (no eggs, so ok to lick the bowl!)

Cupcakes baking in my super-old oven

Done - not the prettiest, but don't judge a book by its cover, right?

Once they were cooling, it was time to make the frosting.  I assembled my ingredients and pulled out my food processor...

Agave nectar, cocoa powder, and...wait, what?!

AVOCADO!

Yes, this chocolate icing is made from avocado.  I played around with the ingredients, as I thought it tasted too bland, and I could not seem to get it sweet enough.  I chose to use agave nectar as my sweetener (you can use whatever kind of sweetener you want - honey, sugar, Splenda...), and I felt like I kept adding a ton of it until it was sweet enough.  To take care of the blandness, I added some Pampered Chef Double-strength Bourbon Vanilla (my favorite vanilla of all time) and cinnamon.

I finally got it right.

I iced each cupcake with the creamy, silky icing, and then realized that I had quite the biased opinion on my cupcakes.  I'll eat anything with avocado, but would anyone else?  I needed a critical outside opinion.

I called my aunt and uncle, who live 5 doors down.  They were home, so I took a cupcake to them to try.

The finished product - vegan vanilla cupcake with avocado chocolate frosting

 I didn't tell them what was in the cupcake, because I KNEW that if I did, they wouldn't eat it, or make a face, or think it was gross from the get-go.  My aunt tried it first, and she commented that it smelled like booze (NOTE: there is no booze in it - the smell comes from the vanilla extract, due to the fact that it is made from bourbon initially).  She said that the cupcake was good, so I passed it on to my uncle to try - he is quite the baker, and has strong opinions on baked goods.  He also thought that there was booze in it (AGAIN NOTE: No booze.  Vanilla extract), but said that the cake was moist, and the icing was good.

Then I broke the news - vegan cupcake, avocado icing. 

Shock and awe.

I'm glad that I got their unbiased opinions - believe me, my uncle has no problem telling me if my baked goods aren't good.  I love when people try new things without realizing that they're trying something new.  

So thanks to @JanePitt, @burghbaby, @iheartpgh, and @cookingformydad for making me even hungrier for cupcakes today, as it resulted in an experiment-gone-tasty.  

Now what to do with the other 10 cupcakes?!...

...Dozen Bake Shop (Lawrenceville) [Off-topic]

I'm obsessed with cupcakes.

In fact, for my birthday this year, I did not want cake - I wanted cupcakes from Oakmont Bakery.  I love the individuality of the cupcake, the portion control (not that cupcakes are all that good for you in the first place, but it's a good compromise), the variety - and I didn't want to hear any whining about the cake or frosting flavor that I chose. 

Before James and I visited Tamari, we passed Dozen Bake Shop, which is a few doors down from Tamari.  I have followed Dozen on Twitter since I began blogging, mostly because of all of the attention that they were getting at the time due to the fact that they were closing on July 9th.  As a result, I discovered on Boring Pittsburgh that they had posted two recipes from the store - one for Elvis cupcakes (cupcakes with peanut butter, banana, and bacon), and another for vegan cupcakes.

A few days later, I was bored.  And I happened to have all of the ingredients for vegan cupcakes (minus coconut, which I don't even like, so I replaced it with almonds).  And I baked.  And you know what?  They were delicious, according to me and everyone with whom I shared them in the main office at Kennywood (including one from the corporate office).  *Sigh* What a shame.

Vegan cupcakes I made over the summer from Dozen's recipe

 Despite the disappointment, this is what got me to be ✔ *Burgh Verified*.  

But wait!  About a month later, it was announced that Dozen would be REOPENING under new ownership on September 12th!  HOORAY!  Exciting news!  Maybe I WOULD be able to try more of their cupcakes!

James did not want to stop in Dozen before going to Tamari, as we would be tempted to buy cupcakes, which we really didn't NEED...

...ugh, he was right.  I guess.

Luckily, I convinced my mom to stop in Lawrenceville 3 days later after we visited Handmade Arcade at the convention center.  Not only that, I was hungry and convinced her to eat lunch there.

I love the décor & pastry displays inside...

Chalkboard menu

The chandeliers are AWESOME!

Doggie cupcakes!  My mom bought some for my aunt, uncle, and cousin's dog

*drool*

*double drool*

My mom and I decided to try the Pick Two - we wanted the Fresco & Mozzarella on Ciabatta, but they were out, so I chose the Smoked Turkey & Cheddar with Bacon, while my mom chose the Ham & Cheese on Baguette.  We both chose the Pumpkin Soup.

Smoked Turkey & Cheddar on Sundried Tomato Bread, Pumpkin Soup, chips (didn't eat those at the time)

Wow.  I make pumpkin chili, and I love anything with pumpkin (as you may know from previous posts), but nothing - NOTHING - beats this pumpkin soup.  Creamy, savory, perfectly spiced.  Love love love!

My sandwich was better than anything I could make at home, and the bread was especially fresh and delicious - it was a sundried tomato bread, which was not overpowering of the smoked turkey flavor at all (yay for smoked meats!)  I wasn't too impressed with the cheddar, but it was definitely a better option than my go-to cheese at home - Fat-free Kraft Singles (not even real cheese - it looks like plastic when it melts!)  My mom was also quite impressed with the soup, and she enjoyed her sandwich immensely.

So when James found out where I was - can you guess what he asked?  

[In my best Dora the Explorer voice] Can you?  

 He's lucky I like him...and that I really wanted a good excuse to get cupcakes.

My mom figured we'd just get a 1/2 dozen - 1 for me, 1 for James, and 4 for her to take home to my dad, brother, and grandparents...

Clockwise from top left: Pumpkin Chai, Chocolate Maple & Bacon (mine), Milk Chocolate, Vanilla Vanilla (for James), Vanilla Vanilla (again), Vegan Mostess

 As soon as we got back to my house, James and I tried our cupcakes.  I have heard through various websites, tweets, and word-of-mouth comments that the cupcakes at Dozen are dry, but I beg to differ.  My cupcake wasn't the most moist cupcake that I've ever had, but it definitely wasn't dry.  James didn't seem to think so, either, nor have I heard that complaint from my family members.  

Now I have two excuses to visit Lawrenceville more often - Tamari and Dozen Bake Shop (for cupcakes AND lunch!)

Dozen Bake Shop

3511 Butler St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15201 (Lawrenceville)

417 S. Craig St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (Oakland - Cupcakes only, no cafe)

Website: http://www.dozenbakeshop.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dozen-Bake-Shop-Dozen-Cupcakes/25721167653

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/dozenbakeshop