You know what I still like?

Cupcakes. Lots and Lots of Cupcakes. Yes I had to capitalize Lots and Cupcakes in that sentence when it didn't even call for it. That's how serious I am about this. These cupcakes are from Cakes Extraordinaire on Brighton Avenue. They are pretty good, however, I am not even going to attempt to write a blog post about these ones since I ate them three months ago. Maybe five...That's how far behind I am in life.

I also like warm, fun times outside still. However, since it's been winter, that hasn't occurred quite as much. School and work (six days and now seven days a week) have been dominating all of my time.

I have been still enjoying my loves of delicious baked goods, just not quite as often and with less time to inform the Great Portland area about it. My pants fit just a little bit better, but it's just not as satisfying as knowing you are spreading the good word of good treats. There is a fantastic new spot for cupcakes opening up in the Portland Public Market, their first day open was this very weekend. Y-Limes Gourmet has been a go to in the wholesale market for coffee shops in the Portland area and now the general public can go to their retail location to be guaranteed a freshly baked, delicious cupcake. Please consider going and welcoming the newest edition to the cupcake scene in Portland.

Another of my current go-to's for baked goods is The Bakery on the Hill. Wolf makes the most amazing pastries and is one of the most positive people I have met. I am currently jonesin' for the Oreo roll. It is pure perfection in confectionery form. I love that every time I go in there, I am immediately welcomed AND they remember my name. I love places that take the time to learn the customers names and then remember them. I personally am more of a face person, so I am always impressed when someone remembers my name, since I can never remember anyone's name. I blame the ADD. So, in addition to going to the Portland Public Market and welcoming Y-Limes, my few followers, please go to The Bakery on the Hill and enjoy the wonderful pastries and the amazing energy that the owners have put into the place. They are also a new addition to the ever growing culinary scene here in Portland and I don't think Portland could have asked for a better baker than Wolf. Spread the love Portland.

Paciarino

My first foray in to video blogging. Granted, it's really short, but still, I feel like Giada DeLaurentiis! I went to Paciarino last night for a birthday dinner celebration. It was my first time, even though it has been one of the restaurants in Portland that I have wanted to try for a few years. What can I say, once I like a place I keep going there because I know it's good, whereas if I try a new place there is always that chance that I might not like it! My meal consisted of pumpkin ravioli with a balsamic reduction, that our server referred to as more of a dessert for dinner. It was amazing.

Just look at that beautiful, handmade that day ravioli. I have misplaced my digital camera, so Iphone photos will have to do for now. Hopefully it turns up somewhere. I managed to eat all the ravioli on my plate and finish off the pasta that my dining partner was unable to eat. IT WAS SO GOOD. Also, their meal was more of a salty dish, whereas mine was so sweet. It was a nice balance to be able to have a little bit of the salty and a lot of the sweet.

My Tiramisu. This picture does no justice to how large it was and is, because I have most of it in my refrigerator as leftovers. After eating all that pasta before dessert, there was no way I could eat it all. It was so tasty. It is a slightly bizarre fact that I do not drink coffee, but I like coffee flavored things. Tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts. This one was made up of layers of actual lady fingers, which the ones at Whole Foods are not. The Whole Foods ones are my go to "I need tiramisu right now!", but I can tell that in the future when I want the authentic, I will be going to Paciarino.

http://www.paciarino.com/

It is quite often that you don't even need a fancy cupcake to hit that sugar spot. Sometimes those cupcakes that are prepared from a box mix, by a friend, are just what is needed. These were for a pumpkin carving party that happened over a month ago and were enjoyed immensely by those who attended. To put it very simply... I really love sprinkles.

Y-Limes Gourmet

As I said in my entry about the Portland Buy Local Indie Biz Awards, I won a gift certificate to Y Limes Gourmet for a dozen of their gourmet cupcakes. I decided that the perfect opportunity to use my gift certificate was for my significant other's surprise birthday party that I had been planning for the past few months. With the kindness of two of my best pals, they allowed me to use their amazing house to throw the bash at. My mind immediately thought of my recently acquired gift certificate, since the baked goods snob that my S.O. happens to be, only Y-Limes meets their highest standard for cupcakes. I browsed their massive listing of flavors and came to one of the hardest decisions I made all week; I mean how can you really decide between the Fat Elvis- a banana cake with peanut butter frosting and brown sugared bacon, the Chocolate Covered Strawberry-chocolate cake swirled with fresh strawberry buttercream or the Grasshopper-chocolate cake swirled with mint icing and chopped Andes mints. I finally settled on the Peppermint Mocha, a mocha cupcake with peppermint buttercream and chocolate ganache drizzled over the top. I knew that there were going to be a lot of coffee and chocolate lovers at this surprise party and I wanted to make sure to please them all, which this cupcake definitely did.

(I may have accidentally dropped this one on it's side prior to the photo op)

The cupcake was quite honestly huge. It was more of what I would call a personal sized cake, like those personal pan pizzas that TV commercials tout so often. I think that once everyone in the room saw the cupcakes, their eyes lit up and once they had tasted them, they had become fans of Y-Limes Gourmet. I must have told more than three or four people where they could find Y-Limes cupcakes on a regular basis (Coffee by Design, Stonyfield Cafe, Gorham Grind and the Perx-U-Up Cafe) and they were all quite excited to hear some of the other flavor offerings. This cupcake was everything I could ask for in a cupcake. The cake was decadent; not too dense and very flavorful. The peppermint buttercream was light and creamy. It was also not overly sweet, but just sweet enough. I find that a lot of cupcakes try to make up for a lackluster cake portion by having an overly sweet frosting, but Y-Limes did not have to worry about either one of those downfalls. They have perfected the delicate balance of frosting, in this case buttercream, and cake. I think it is also a singing praise for the cupcake that I could even taste it to begin with, since I have been suffering from a massive cold and can barely taste anything.

I first had Y-Limes cupcakes at the Picnic arts and crafts festival in late August, where I had their S'mores cupcake:

Just look at the attention to detail on that cupcake; the lightly toasted edges on the marshmallow frosting and the tiny crumbles of graham cracker all along the top of the cupcake. These cupcakes are a testament to the art of the cupcake. It was ridiculously delicious, in addition to being beautiful. Y-Limes is not kidding when they say that they are artisan bakery. I also would like to mention that the owner is really nice. I love it when someone who loves their product, what they do and are also just a genuinely nice person to interact with. Y-Limes Gourmet has become the front runner for the Portland cupcake scene; which is to say a lot, because the competition is becoming quite fierce. There are currently a lot of high quality cupcakes being produced in our city.