Cupcake Cure

We have a fantastic giveaway for you guys this week! Heather from Chickabug contacted us and offered to give away a set of her totally awesome DIY printable cupcake toppers & wrappers to one lucky Bake It Pretty reader!

She has lots of lovely items in her shop but our favorites are the DIY printables. Each set includes a printable wrapper and THREE cupcake topper designs. You can print as many copies of the file as you need, so you can make as many wraps and toppers as you want. You’ll have the cutest cupcakes around!

Feeling less than crafty? Don’t worry, a full set of instructions are included! Here’s all you need to complete this project:
- Paper and scissors
- Tape and glue
- 2″ round or scallop paper punch
- Popsicle sticks or lollipop sticks

What a fun, fun idea. She has tons of themes to choose from. My personal favorite is the sweet shoppe theme, but what about a jungle safari?

Maybe you’re in the mood for some under the sea adventure? Or a buggy birthday party? Sock monkey aficianados will flip over this set. There are so many to choose from!

TO ENTER: Head over to Chickabug and take a look at her awesome shop. Come back here and post a comment letting us know which item you like best. Comments will close at 11pm eastern time on Thursday, July 29th. I will choose a random winner and post here. This giveaway is open to worldwide shipping destinations. Thank you to Heather, and good luck!

Source: Amber

I think I was born to be a pescetarian. I love my seafood, especially shellfishes and octopus. Say ‘oct-’ and I go nuts even before you can continue with ‘-topus’. Any other seafood enthusiasts in the house?

But sometimes a meatfest is just what you need. And with a particular friend I know and adore, meatfests are compulsory affairs. So when she decided to come riding down the mountain, trotting over from York with little more than an unending appetite, I remembered when Catty first introduced Goodman to me and how I impressed I was with it. Lunch at Goodman’s was truly necessary and just perfect for meatfest friend. In fact, not going would’ve been criminal.

I wanted a burger so there wasn’t much hmm-haaing over the menu. My friend V went for the set lunch menu which is very affordable and probably one of the most affordable ones I’ve come across. I’m going to let the pictures (courtesy of V and her wicked camera) do the talking.

V’s fish soup starter

So maybe Goodman’s not just for those red meat carnivores. This was extremely delicious served with flat croutons and garlic-will-blow-your-mind aioli.

Roast lamb with creamed spinach and potatoes

And of course…the Goodman burger.

There are many great (and more comprehensive) reviews of Goodman on the webosphere so I won’t really go into it. The pictures speak for themselves and all I’ve to say is, people go here to be fed properly. And I mean properly. You can simply judge by the generous servings that are nothing but quality quality quality. The burger patty is crazy good that it doesn’t even need the slightest drop of condiment. Good meat, good food and oh yes, that fish soup starter? Fucking amazing (excuse my French, I couldn’t think of any other modifier).

And so that’s how today’s story ends. Although it’s simply the beginning to more trips to Mayfair just for Goodman I reckon. Happy days.

Goodman Restaurant
26 Maddox Street
London
W1S 1QH

http://www.goodmanrestaurants.com

Source: diva

A big congratulations to Jessie, Casey D., and Wendy for winning the Dakota Gifts giveaway! All three of you will receive an email very soon with info about your prizes. Thanks once again to our sponsor Dakota Gifts for this great giveaway!

Source: Amber

I’ve told you about the best part of working from home, but I realized I haven’t mentioned some of the not-so-delightful sides.
First of all, according to your friends, you no longer have a “job”. What they call a job requires an office – preferably, one with stale coffee and decade-old carpeting. So, when they call [...]

Source: Cenk

It’s funny how sometimes you’ll find my friends and I standing about in a straight line, frozen stiff when there appears a swarm of squealing toddlers running zig zag about you or between your legs. It’s terrifying, absolute pandemonium unfolding before your eyes. A dear friend of mine even confessed this most ridiculous line: ‘I am allergic to two things; one of which is children.’ I don’t think I’m particularly allergic and I don’t really believe he meant what he said. Call it the heat of the moment. It’s perfectly logical in my opinion, however, that some people find children annoying, judging that the we’ve witnessed some which are just nightmares. But I have to admit that majority of the little buddies that I’ve met or spotted at work around the baby section are just truly adorable. And don’t get me wrong, I am in no way anti-children and I do want children in the future. Just a warning to my future kids though: discipline discipline discipline and then sweet treats on Sunday if you’re good otherwise you’re getting shoved under the stairs with no tea (your Mama Diva here’s giving you this headstart years in advance).

Nevertheless, when my soft spot for children goes away, I’ve been known to be a real mean dick – I’ve stolen candy from a kid before. So sue me. Who was that poor sucker? My sister. I stole her candy. I stole her whatever that thing is that babies suck on when they’re teething. I stole it right and good and it even waved it in her face, laughing.

I am mean and I ain’t gonna deny that. And oh yea, I’m greedy like that.

Maybe it’s because I’m still a child at heart. But humanity has got the better of me, civilization has socialized me and so I’ve stopped doing dumb things like that. If you can’t have what they have, make it for yourself. And so I did. My little sis C texted me to say Mum was making a lovely spread for breakfast Saturday morning. I wasn’t gonna lose at breakfast half a world away and if my mama can’t make it for me, suppose I’ve two hands, a pathetic kitchen but a brain nevertheless. The plan? To self-indulge in the kiddiest, cutest breakfast ever. And if mini-anything is not simply the cutest, I don’t know what is.

Catty has been tweeting about this – Matcha Madness. Matcha – one of the four foods I love most in the world (mushrooms, berries, matcha and black sesame seeds – they drive me wild). What is it about? You like matcha? You eat matcha? You want MORE matcha (from Teapigs)? Then head on over via the link and take part. Stop procrastinating. Go paint the town green.

So. I basically agreed to get involved, partly because I love to win things. Who doesn’t, right?? My post for it, however, is definitely not the most creative. And compared to the other things I’ve made before using matcha, this certainly pales in comparison so bad I probably shouldn’t have even bothered. And here comes the BUT. I gotta say the simple combination of flavours in this reminds me of Japanese Christmas Cake – strawberries, fluffy light sponge and whipped cream. This is quite perfect for the summer heat especially when British strawberries are at their best now, all red ripe and fat. Simply use your favourite pancake recipe (I’ve used one meant for dorayaki actually, recipe over here), whip up some double cream with matcha and a touch of icing sugar if needed. Put everything together including the ripest sweetest fat strawberries you can find and drizzle golden syrup over.

When I was a kid, I used to make up combinations of fruit and biscuit as dessert for my parents. After a meal, my mama would clear away the dishes and I’d be busy in the kitchen hacking away (alright, actually nimbly slicing away) at whatever fruit was available, banging together some biscuits, chocolate squares that sorta thing together and putting it all nicely on a plate a la smiley faces, concentric circles, towers, etc.

Some kids had Lego. I had fruit and biscuits.

This childish pancake stack is really a tribute to that little kid me. The cherry on top? Those broken bits of matcha biscuits I stabbed into the matcha whipped cream. I have so much class, now don’t I?

Source: diva