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if you haven't heard, the SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS won the world series...again!! to have lived through one win in my lifetime was magical, but two? that's unbelievable!!! quite honestly, nothing beats the first feeling of victory when the boys won in 2010. because it had been so long since this franchise had actually won and the fact that it was the first win as the "San Francisco Giants", not "New York Giants", 2010 was so, incredibly sweet!!! don't get me wrong, there were some seriously awesome things that happened to get us to the 2012 win - two playoff comebacks, a well-rounded team with many firsts for some of the players (like marco scutaro), and a sweep for the underdog team that was counted out! take that, odds makers! so, how do i celebrate? by baking! in 2010, i made caramel apple cider cupcakes ...this year, i decided on pumpkin cakepops. i figured they are super of-the-season and i also hadn't made cakepops in quite some time. w...

the husband & i have a bucket list of things we'd like to do together. they're mostly travel, sports, or food-related and categorized as pre-baby and post-baby. but, if things fall into the post-baby category, we're not opposed because the future babies get to have a fun story to tell themselves as their lives develop, but we'll see what happens when we cross that bridge. for now, we're keeping pre-baby bucket list items in that category. in our sports/travel-related bucket list, we wanted to see historic baseball fields, one being wrigley (we'll plan on fenway next year, probably). what's fun about my marriage is having these similar interests, which is obviously great for any healthy, happy relationship to have. san francisco giants baseball is something we can root for and enjoy together. when i looked up the next time the giants would be facing the cubs in chicago so we could go to wrigley, i knew we had to make it happen! i've been told ...

i am known for going to big food events, so if you've ever wondered which one i look the most forward to...it has to be the sf street food fest!! where else can you find san francisco's best in one area, where there are 5 blocks of the best each place has to offer that you pay for with monopoly money! between regina & i we spent $50 and really had to stretch on where to spend that last $10 since we had tried most places here already and because we were utterly full! if you're ever in san fran in mid-august, make a stop here so you can get a taste of sf! [ STATE BIRD PROVISIONS - hand pulled burrata on garlic bread] this was incredible and i was so happy we started off with this and got before the rush (we got it later in the day because we loved it so much and the piece of burrata was much smaller and the bread was a little stale)! the bread was perfectly flaky and the burrata was well-seasoned. i cannot wait to get a reservation at the actual restaurant! ...

for my father-in-law's birthday, i didn't have time to think about baking...so i went to my local pie shop to get him an assortment of his favorites: cherry, apple, key lime, & banana cream. i was actually really disappointed in myself for not making my own pie to celebrate his day...it's my ambitious drive that gets me to attempt things i never have. so, i chose to make the key lime pie for two reasons: 1) it's the father-in-law's absolute favorite and i've never seen anyone make one for him since i've been around (8 years) and 2) that was the least favorite of the slices i brought from the local pie shop...and i felt it needed some redemption. i also needed an excuse to finally use my mini keebler graham cracker crusts . by the way, he said it was the BEST he ever had...he was a little intoxicated so this statement may be slightly exaggerated. MINI KEY LIME MERINGUE PIE posted on plum pie by brooke on april 2011 CRUST  (i cheated and used prep...

i've seen these made before and have been wanting to get more creative with my cakepops. so, i had the opportunity to do just that for my niece's first birthday. it's simple - i made my red velvet cakepops  and put them on ice cream cones instead of a stick. "ICE CREAM CONE" CAKEPOP posted on you tube by yoyomax12 on january 17, 2011 red velvet cakepop sugar cones (if you can find mini ones, those are great!) candy melts sprinkles, candy, anything you like for decorating if you are not using mini cones, simply use a serrated knife to cut the regular sized cone into mini versions. i cut about halfway. after mixing the cake and frosting, mold them into balls and place on top of cut cones. lay on wax paper-lined baking sheet. place into refrigerator for 30 mins. follow candy melt instructions for preparation. you can add a little canola oil to thin - sometimes the thicker consistency can be difficult to work with. prepare a styrofoam block with...

as i mentioned last year, i was going to my first michelin star restaurant, cyrus , for flag day with my best foodie,  regina , as well as other food-loving companions (cyrus has also become the new tucker  anniversary tradition). this year for our annual pretentious flag day, we were set to go to the restaurant at meadowood - a three michelin star restaurant in st. helena. other than french laundry, this is the only other california restaurant that has received three michelin stars. these are one of the few times i actually don't research and prepare myself for what's to come. i enjoy the surprise aspect - it also helps to not have overly high expectations, which i think makes the experience more satisfying. before we went to meadowood, we decided to have lunch at redd in yountville, which is a one michelin star restaurant. it was great to have an "appetizer" to what was to come later that night. REDD the space is very modern and cool. it was casual a...