Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

The delicious dulce de leche cupcakes I made over a year ago. *Also, these dulce de leche cookie bars are easy and sooo good* Thank you for the recipe, Joy the Baker! All I did was use her recipe and add dulce de leche as a filling in the cupcake bases, which you do not have to do at all if you don't want to. They are delicious with or without filling!

 

All ready to go! I love this cupcake carrier!

Spicy Pork Bibimbap @ HRD Coffee Shop - San Francisco

HRD Coffee Shop
Website

521 3rd St.
San Francisco, CA 94107

This is not just a coffee shop. It's a highly rated (see Yelp and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) Asian fusion place near AT&T Park. This spicy pork bibimbap was SO delicious. I love how it had both Korean and Japanese ingredients (HRD marinated spicy pork, spinach, kimchee, cucumber, fried egg, seasoned sprouts, & pickled daikon).

Under the egg: Brown rice & daikon

Coffee Grounds on Ice Cream!

Lately my favorite thing to do is add coffee grounds to ice cream (chocolate or vanilla so far). I love the flavor and texture of this, and it's a good way to use up older/stale coffee beans you'd prefer not to use for your coffee. Other favorite ice cream toppers: fresh strawberries, peanut butter, mochi, canned pumpkin, coffee, shave ice, jello, cocoa powder, dessert wine, & caramel. You can also use them to deodorize your fridge, fortify your plants, scrub dirty dishes, etc.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

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Joy the Baker has many great recipes and takes fantastic pictures, so I tried her recipe for flourless peanut butter cookies. Delicious! She's right about them being fragile, so be careful, but these are so good!

Iced Coffee at Caffe Strada - Berkeley, CA

Caffe Strada
2300 College Ave
Berkeley, CA 94704

I visited one of my favorite coffee places in Berkeley a few days ago! I love many places around Berkeley and the Bay Area, but Strada is one of my favorite cafes because the coffee is strong (I prefer strong but not bitter coffee at places like Peet's and Caffe Ladro in Seattle), service is fast, and it's right across the street from Cal, so I have fond memories of meeting friends for delicious coffee at this place. The other day I just added a bit of half and half and 2% milk and brown sugar, and it was sooo good. Below are pictures of the coffee before I added anything.

Burnt Caramel at Tara's Organic Ice Cream - Berkeley, CA

Tara's Organic Ice Cream
3173 College Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
Website

I'd heard about Tara's but had only made it to Ici in Berkeley, but yesterday I had a "baby scoop" at Tara's because I didn't want a full scoop (I was kind of full), and it was so good! I also sampled the apple pie flavor, but it was a little too spice-y for me. I should have sampled the more unique flavors, but I always feel guilty asking for more than one sample. The burnt caramel was so good and different than my usual favorite, salted caramel, and it was creamy! Reminded me of a combination of the creaminess and the top burnt caramel part of a creme brulee.