Foodie Wannabe

Top Posts of 2011

Happy New Year (almost)! I wanted to wrap up 2011 like I did last year with a year in review, featuring the top posts of the year. These are the top posts by page views, posted in 2011 and viewed in 2011. Behold...

9. Restaurant Martin Stein: Vienna (88 views)

The Girl + the Fig: Sonoma, California

I'm beginning a three-part series highlighting some Bay Area restaurants that I was lucky enough to chow down at during a recent wine-tasting, bachelorette-partying, friend-reunioning weekend. After a really intense day of touring the area wineries in Sonoma (and a four-hour couch break watching wedding movies), the five of us headed out to The Girl and the Fig in downtown Sonoma.

Rice Krispies Treats

For those of us who do not have children and don't get home from work until after the Trick or Treating time span has passed, we are probably (sadly) without candy. Never fear, I will knock you over with nostalgia and sugar in one KO punch. Rice. Krispies. Treats.

I haven't made these since my mom "helped" me by smooshing my tiny hand down in the pan to even out the layer of treats. Even back then, I remember thinking that it was easy yet super gross.

Sweet Sensations Pastry: North Center

It's been awhile since I've posted about a Chicago cupcake shop so I felt I was due. And this bakery, Sweet Sensations, is just down the street from us in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago. I wanted to see if this would be a go-to place.

Max Brenner: Boston

After a late afternoon dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant in Boston, the ladies in our traveling group decided that we also needed dessert. We didn't know any better and picked out Max Brenner while strolling down Boylston Street. The reason I say that we didn't know any better is because this place has the most outrageous (and pretty expensive) chocolate desserts. (I later remembered that I saw the Vegas location featured on one of those CRAZY DESSERTS! shows on Food Network or the Travel Channel.)

Sweet Cupcakes: Back Bay, Boston

Husband and I spent a recent weekend in Boston, and I'm slightly ashamed and slightly proud of how many desserts we ate there. We met up with our international friends who were in town looking for an apartment. And unlike any of my US friends, they were enchanted by the obnoxiously prevalent cupcake shop. After surveying a few on a main drag, we stopped in at Sweet.

Strawberry Ice Box Cake

I know summer is ending with the days getting shorter and the 90 degrees plus days are becoming fewer and fewer. However, there's still time to make this summery dessert if you can find some strawberries though I'm guessing that any berry would taste lovely in this masterpiece. A word of advice: this cake requires some time to freeze; it also requires time to slightly thaw and a sharp serrated knife once it does. Watch your fingers and saw carefully.

Sacher Cafe: Vienna

If you go to Vienna, any and every guidebook will mention the famous Sacher Cafe, which serves Austra's most famous pastry, the Sacher Torte.

Plachutta: Vienna

On our trip to Central and Eastern Europe, I figured that there would be a lot of meat eating. And while some parts were more meat-centric than others, we had one meal at the well-known Plauchutta that was based around a famous Viennese meat dish, Tafelspitz.

Maple Cinnamon Cereal Snack Mix

I've hosted a few gatherings lately, and I've found that nothing aids in social togetherness quite like sugar, lots and lots of sugar. Before a recent low-key party, I made a batch of this wonderfully addictive sweet cereal snack mix, and it was truly the hit of the party. The thing about it is, as great and pretty as M&Ms are, they are simply not necessary in this recipe. Try it and see. And get a little sugar rush.