A Secret Adventure

Last week Danielle asked if I had plans after work on Wednesday. I said I didn't. She replied, "You do now." It was time for a grand adventure.

I thought Danielle was the mastermind and that we were all at her mercy, but in fact Jaida, Jackie, and Jess were all in on it too and I was the only one who had no idea what we were doing.

Good thing I trust them....sometimes.

Danielle did not get stuck in the subway doors this time which was a good thing. We headed down to the Lower East Side.

And headed into an alley. 

 

Per usual, Jaida humored me with poses while everyone else tolerated/ignored my picture taking.

At the end of the alley was a restaurant: Freemans. This is one of the many hidden restaurants and bars all over the city, and naturally, we're interested in checking out all of them.

Inside was a cozy restaurant decorated with candles, flowers, and some taxidermy (not my favorite but it made the place feel rustic). There was even a Neil Gaiman look-a-like tending bar. 

We got our table--right under this guy.

With this view.

And we chatted and ogled the menu. Then we ordered and chatted some more. Then the food arrived.

It was a glorious surprise. It didn't end there though. For dessert, I talked everyone into heading over to BabyCakes for gluten free cupcakes (for Jaida). All their desserts are vegan and gluten free, kosher, and low on sugar.

We were quite absorbed when we first arrived. There were so many gluten free options.

Danielle, Jess, and Jackie all ended up with lemon cupcakes.

Jaida went for a churro and some cookies to go.

I stuck with my favorite: red velvet.

We sat outside and ate and people watched and then we noticed the cutest hipster gift store ever: Top Hat.

They have everything from cards and stationary to old books that have been hollowed out to hold flasks, and things to put on your feet to make you sound like a horse.

So yeah, naturally that's how the night ended.

Birthday (Strawberry) Cupcakes

When I was a little girl, my great grandmother was the one responsible for all of the baking. It made sense. Her parents owned a bakery when she was a girl and she had some amazing recipes in her head for baked goods.

As she got into her nineties one of my aunts decided to write all of her recipes down and make little photocopied booklets for the rest of our family so that when my great grandmother was gone we'd still be able to make her recipes. (I feel like this sounds more selfish than it was, but I was a kid so who knows).

Anyway, one of signature recipes was the strawberry cake she would make for our birthdays. It was simply amazing. I've tried my hand at it before, but this time I thought I'd do something a little different and go for cupcakes.

A friend of mine has a birthday and after all the blizzarding we've had, it felt like today was a good day to bake.

Here's the recipe for the best strawberry cake that I've ever had.

You'll need:

1 White Cake Mix (I like Duncan Hines)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 package strawberry jello (I like to use the sugar free kind since there's already a lot of sugar in this cake)
4 eggs
1 package (10 oz) of frozen strawberries (thaw these beforehand)
1 lb confectioners sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F

Dissolve the jello into 1/4 cup of hot water.

Mix into a bowl with the white cake mix.

Add the oil and the four eggs and beat the mixture until it's smooth.

Add half of the frozen strawberries. I bought the whole frozen strawberries so I sliced them up and put them into the mix. If you manage to get pre-sliced ones that's even better.

Pop the batter into cake or cupcake pan and put it into the oven. My great grandmother used to use two circular pans to make a layer cake. But today I'm doing cupcakes. Much easier.

For baking, I always add 1-2 minutes to the cook time on the white cake box. So for these cupcakes, I baked for 23 minutes.

When they're done, take them out and let them cool. (Don't ice them until they're cool, otherwise you'll have a runny mess.)

For the icing, combine the stick of butter, the confectioners sugar and the remaining thawed strawberries.

Beat until they're smooth.

Then ice.

And eat.