Cake Tasting & Cake Studio Tour (wiaw)

 

 

Monday was a fun day for me this week because I had a meeting in the city that centered not only around talking about cake, but eating cake. Let’s discuss!

Breakfast:

I am still on the English muffin with peanut butter kick for breakfast and I am loving every bite. Aside from Saturday when I went back to oatmeal for breakfast for my long run, English muffins are working so much better for me at the moment, both before and after I run.

I switch between these two types of muffins from Trader Joe’s depending on my mood.

I have half before I run and half after, both with banana, peanut butter and a drop of jelly. So delicious with a cup of coffee!

Lunch:

I took the train around lunch time to get into the city for a meeting. Normally I drive in to the city but lately, and I swear it’s because I am getting older, I have zero patience not only for traffic but for city driving.

I contemplated grabbing a Red Mango parfait when I got to Penn Station but opted for just bringing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread in my bag to eat on the train.

It took me a few minutes to realize I basically had the same thing for breakfast. Who can get tired of peanut butter and jelly though?! Always the perfect portable meal.

So my meeting for work was at RBI Cakes which I think is the best place to have a work meeting.

Ron Ben-Israel, who you may recognize from Sweet Genius and Cake Wars, is such a lovely man whenever I have the chance to work with him. He creates the MOST AMAZING WEDDING CAKES I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Our meeting on Monday was at his cake studio and he was kind enough to give me the full tour before our meeting and then served cake during our brainstorming session.

You may recognize my pal Dina in this picture. Not only do I love my job but I get to work with one of my best friends. Gosh I have a lot to be thankful for!

I got to see the studio in action which was super cool for someone like me.

I was in the refrigerators looking at the cakes that were getting ready to be frosted and assembled too!

So the cake tasting. My goodness. We enjoyed so many delicious combinations while discussing the details of an upcoming webinar we are working on together.

I absolutely adored the spice cake with the Mexican hot chocolate filling but really, I loved them all. How could I not?

After our meeting, I met up with a friend quick at Starbucks before catching the next train home and he treated me to my first red cup of the season.

Dinner:

So I took the train line back towards where my parents live because my dad was watching my son who decided he didn’t feel well and couldn’t go to school. Isn’t that how things happen?! The one day I need to be in the city?!

Anyway, my dad picked me up from the train and we went back to their house for dinner which was my favorite grandma pizza and salad combination from La Piazza.

I snagged some Trader Joe’s chocolate chips right after dinner. My dad keeps his chocolate chips stashed in the freezer which is where we used to keep our “chocolate stash” when I still lived at their house.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! If you aren’t running in a Turkey Trot tomorrow, I recommend you check out my Turkey Trot Running Workout Roundup from last year which gives you great workout choices for tomorrow morning before you enjoy the holiday.

[bctt tweet=”cake tasting and cake studio tour! (wiaw) #wiaw #cake #cakes #pizza #thanksgiving #peanutbutter” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Be sure to check out what everyone else is eating today!

What are you making for Thanksgiving?

Favorite cake and filling combination?

Are you running in a race tomorrow?

cake for lunch, new clothes to report & other stuff

 

This weekend was packed with everything I needed right now: A Saturday long run, cake for lunch, completing my son’s packing for camp AND a really long but productive day of shopping at the mall for clothes.

I think the highlight of Bar Mitzvah planning so far was Saturday’s cake tasting at the bakery where we are having the cake designed.

We tried two types of cake with fillings based upon my son’s requests. Both samples were vanilla cake, one slice with chocolate fudge filling and one slice with chocolate and vanilla pudding filling. I actually liked both slices of cake which is odd for me since I am super loyal to chocolate fudge filling. The pudding was really good!

I didn’t plan on the cake tasting becoming my lunch but it was so satisfying that I never wanted lunch after the cake appointment.

Cake for lunch is always a good lunch. 🙂

I am close to finalizing his Bar Mitzvah cake design which is a big relief and another thing to check off my planning list. My son doesn’t really care very much about the cake design (he cares more about the taste) which is just fine with me as I don’t need extra opinions in the decision.

There are going to be so many other desserts at his reception (of course there are, I am in charge of this party) that I wonder who will even eat this cake aside from me but still, getting the main special cake right is super important.

Speaking of special cakes: I recently had the pleasure of working again with Ron Ben-Israel (you may know him best from Food Network’s Cake Wars and Sweet Genius) to put together a wedding cake article on the topic of Same Sex Wedding Cake Trends. 

Ron Ben-Israel (RBI Cakes) is really a nice man and a super talented cake designer. Quite often I stop to think about how much I love my event industry job where I get to meet such wonderful people and write about topics I find so interesting.

Anyway.

So after having cake for lunch, I spent several hours shopping for myself at the mall. Sometimes a girl just needs unlimited time to shop, even when there are other things she should be doing.

Leave it to me to find the clothing that isn’t currently on Nordstrom’s anniversary sale.

You know I am a sucker for treat-inspired sweatshirts.

I held myself back from buying the Wild Fox snow cone sweatshirt though since my wardrobe is currently in need of more adult-looking clothing.

It wasn’t easy.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and forced myself to move on from Nordstrom but I promise you that I will think about and talk about the Wild Fox snow cone sweatshirt….until I go back to get it.

I did really well at Banana Republic. I even tried everything on (I hate trying on especially on a long run day because my muscles aren’t interested in the effort) and bought a few Splendid tops at Bloomingdales too.

My favorite purchases from Banana: this long sleeve twist-back top and these black pants.

Splendid: I can’t find the short sleeve top online but I also bought this this long sleeve slub jersey tee.

If cake for lunch wasn’t the highlight of my day, seeing that Juicy outfits are back in stores put me over the moon.

I think the new Juicy jackets look to be a bit longer than the old versions which is a good thing – the old styles were too short.

Every time I go to Ralph’s Ices I ask to sample a different flavor even though I already know which flavors I like to order. It’s just that they give such nice sample spoonfuls that I feel I need to take advantage, you know?

Three flavors stuffed into my cup: candy bar fudge, chocolate graham marshmallow and a scoop of the rainbow cookie. I love rainbow cookies!

Sunday was almost completely focused on finalizing my son’s clothing to be packed up for camp. I have been buying, packing and labeling camp clothing and accessories for way too long already.

Aren’t you tired of hearing about it? I am sure tired of thinking about it and talking about it.

It’s all done though! Two large (they are both like 5 foot long soft duffle trunks) packed and ready to go.

Ice cream to celebrate!

It was National Ice Cream Day yesterday too!

Monday Flashback: I published this post exactly three years ago today recapping my first ever experience walking to Fire Island. I can’t even believe that was three years ago.

It is definitely one of the top three coolest experiences in my life for sure (I never knew you could walk to Fire Island until we did it) and I still consider those onion rings from Surf’s Out as the best onion rings ever.

With all of the time on my hands once my son leaves for camp, I may just have to walk there again this summer!

[bctt tweet=”cake for lunch, new clothes to report & National Ice Cream Day #cake #barmitzvah #coldstone #fireisland #weekend” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Did you celebrate National Ice Cream Day?

If you have planned your wedding or other large event, did you have a cake tasting? What type of cake did you pick?

What’s on the workout agenda for today?