Dinner at Colleens house

Hi everyone!!

So I have 3 REALLY good posts coming up from this past weekend that I need to get caught up with, but I am really tired so you will have to patiently wait until tomorrow.
And yes I made my famous cream puffs/eclairs for mothers day!!
Tonight I went to my sister Colleen's house. She recently moved in with and they invited Jackson and I over for dinner tonight. Chad made shrimp skewers and vegetables. It was soooo good. Just the right amount of spice with smoke. I have never had smoked shrimp and it was delicious!!!



We had smoked shrimp skewers marinated in Jamaican Jerk Sauce, grilled smoked vegetables, and rice. I loved the shrimp. I have never had it that way. I really liked it. The shrimp was smoked with a little spice but it was just right!!!!

After dinner Colleen and I took Jackson to the circle for some gelato from Cafe Lucca. Colleen was hoping for Almond Joy but settled for Toasted Almond. I had Chocolate Flavored Banana gelato and Oh MY Gosh it was sooo good!!! I had some on Saturday and have been dreaming of it ever since!!! Go get some gelato!!!! It's necessary! And delicious.

LoneStar Restaurant

Hello Muffin Topzz,

Don't worry I haven't been starving, I just haven't had anything wonderful to eat. Until last night! Last night, I went to dinner with my family, Mom, Charlie, Stephanie, and my little love bug Jackson. We went early so that I could get Jackson home early enough to stay on track with his schedule, meaning bath time and bedtime! So, Charlie decided to go to LoneStar in Tustin. I have never been there before. But Andie and Brian love it and I have heard my mom and Charlie talk about it so many times!!!

So the atmosphere was really fun. We sat down in a booth and got started out with fresh warm rolls. What really got me wasn't the rolls, but the HONEY MAPLE BUTTER!!! If ever there was something that I wish I could eat every single day and never get sick of- it would be honey maple butter. I Loved it!!! I think I probably ate about 12 rolls too many, but the butter was so sweet and delicious and I loved it! Jackson loved it too! He was eating bites from my roll and sitting there with his mouth wide open at me! It was pretty cute!

As many of you have probably figured out, I will talk about Jackson in this blog but I do not believe in putting pictures of my son on the Internet. I am a really paranoid mom, just ask my pictures. But he is my whole entire world and so I will share little bits and pieces when necessary to explain a certain food occasion. So, Jackson is 16 months old but a he is a HUGE boy. He looks like he is 2 years old and eats like a 6 year old. He ate rolls with honey maple butter, tomatoes from my salad, and his entree was the Mac and Cheese you see above. Ok, I know I should have gotten him protein but Jackson HATES chicken and is picky about his meat. So this time, I took the safe route and got him Mac and Cheese. Well, he ate practically the whole entire helping as well as the applesauce, and some of my mashed potatoes. He is a little beast and I love him to pieces

*** Jackson's favorite part about LoneStar was that every 45 minutes, this music comes on and the whole entire staff stops what they are doing and does a line dance in the middle of the restaurant! Jackson was bopping to the music! I thought is was funny but would hate to be one of those employees. I could see it in there eyes that some of them were absolutely dying inside to have to be dancing and smiling and pretending to be having so much fun! You could just tell that they were hating life at that moment!

I ordered that 8oz filet Mignon with garlic mashed potatoes. I really liked that mashed potatoes. The garlic was really potent and they weren't starchy at all! I am not a potato person but I really liked these and thought they were pretty nice.

My filet came out perfectly cooked. Medium Rare. I was going to get rare but being that I had never been to LoneStar before, I didn't want to take a risk on a good piece of meat. It was good. Not fabulous. Not Bad. I ate all of it. But I definitely have had better!

All in all, Lonestar is a really fun atmosphere with good food! It was loud with country music pumping out so that made a nice cushion for Jackson to have fun and be loud. The music and decor was great and just as much country as I like. I can see why my mom and Charlie like it there so much. I would definitely try something different next time we go, because it definitely worth a second chance. LoneStar was a fun time and as long as Jackson was happy- I was happy!!!

I am off to the Old Town Orange Artisan Farmers Market with Andie right now so I will be posting later about that!!!! See you Soon!

Tummy Stuffers Delight- this gets me through the day!

I know. You are reading the title asking yourself what the heck is she talking about. Well, let me fill you in on a little piece of heaven called Tummy Stuffers 101 sandwiches. Soooo good!

My kryptonite??



#28- small on Squaw bread.
A 28 is a BLTA, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado on Squaw which is in itself divine. I of course add cheese, American to my sandwich. I'm obsessed!! I eat this sandwich approximately 2 times a week and definitely on Fridays when all the girls are in the office and we get lunch together. There is something to be said about the sweetness of the squaw bread mixed with the crunchy lettuce, salty bacon, rich cheese, avocado.... Oh man it's so good. It's all my favorites together, salty and sweet. Crunchy and soft. You have to try it. It is so simple in theory but so balanced and delicious in execution and tastes yummy in my mouth!!
One Friday, I picked up lunch for everyone and we all wanted squaw bread. I ordered mine, ordered another and then they told us they were out of squaw bread! I still had to order my bosses sandwich, and they hadn't started mine yet.
Needless to say I am so dedicated to my #28 on squaw bread that I ordered Jennifer's on wheat and kept the squaw for myself ;-). I am sorry Jennifer. It would have created a whole world of conflict for me if I couldn't have my small #28 on squaw with American cheese. I just had to do it. I think Jennifer forgave me- or at least I hope so since she is my boss and I love my job!!!!

Anyways, so lunch posts will be few and far between as I eat the same thing most days and I am at work so I don't exactly have free time. But I know all of you out there have been on the edge of your seats dying to know how I get through the monotonous days at my desk doing work completely unrelated to food- well my fellow muffin tops, it's simple....
#28 small on Squaw with American cheese. And a large water!
Go find Tummy Stuffers today. You'll love it. And then you'll be like me on a first name basis with your sandwich people. I heart them they heart me- it all works out!!

Cakes Cakes Cakes

Hi Muffin Topzz,

So tonight dinner at home was really boring. Instead of blogging about dinner tonight I am going to do a fun blog- ode to Cakes! I love love love to bake. I don't have as much free time to bake as I would like but I love to bake when I can. Cupcakes are my favorite thing in the whole entire world. The whole Muffin Topzz name came from my sisters. I love cupcakes and my favorite part of cupcakes/muffins is the top! So Voila- Muffin Topzz. Plus isn't a Muffin Top something that we all unfortunately have but can't quit eating good food so we'll settle for the next size up pants? I'm teasing maybe that's just me???
Anyways- it is my dream and goal to have a bakery one day with beautiful, cute, yummy gourmet cupcakes, cakes, desserts, pastries, etc... I have ZERO training- I should preface by saying that this IDEA  that I am an amazing baker is all in my head haha. I am a good baker but I need a lot more practice. My sisters ( which I am the baby of 5 girls) like to say that I have great ideas but not quite the polished technique to always pull it off. I am working on it though!!!

One thing that I have mastered seamlessly however- are my cream puffs!!! They are AMAZING!!!

Okay, so below are some cakes that I have made for various occasions as well as a special Guest Appearance cake debut by my cousin Cooper- who is a little baker in training. By the way- Cooper is 11 years old!!!! Go Cooper!!!

For all the people out there who live under a rock- this is Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba. This is Jackson's favorite show in the whole world. He loves the music, and crazy characters, etc... I made this Muno cake for Jaxs 1st birthday!!!! This was the kids cake; I did make an adult cake but this was the BIG DEAL!!! I was so proud of this cake and Jackson was so happy when he saw it! The frosting was a nightmare to clean out of his special 1st birthday shirt, of course.

This cake was a group effort, by Colleen, Stephanie, myself, and Cooper for a cake contest for Cooper's school! The theme was a country farm and needless to say:

WE WON FIRST PLACE woop woop woop

I made this cake for my Bosses birthday in November. It was my first attempt at a Gluten Free cake. Surprisingly, the cake itself was sooooo good. My only problem with this one was that I didn't temper the chocolate long enough for the ganache; so it still was a little grainy. Not the end of the world, but definitely not my finest moment, especially because this cake went to work and was for my boss!!! Thankfully, all of my coworkers liked it anyways and we all laughed about the sugar. I was totally embarrassed- but hey I am still in the rookie phase so it's allowed.

Guest Feature- Cooper's Carrot Cake

From Cooper directly- "Yum, here is a picture of my great grandma's Carrot cake. Yes, from scratch. I found this recipe with my grandma, I made it, and...WOW, best cake ever..."

Cooper- This cake looks delicious and I am jealous that you didn't save me a bite.

So that's it for tonight- I wonder who else is as hungry with a sweet tooth as I am right now???

Guest Feature~~~Ol' Man Rupples's Carne Asada Tacos

Hi,

So I have decided that I will occasionally have guest features from friends and family of the fabulous things that they eat/make. I am only one person and my eating adventures can get boring I'm sure so this is a fun way to incorporate all of my followers. Please send me anything you want to share on Muffin Topzz and you never know- you might just make this blog!!!

Today I am featuring Ol' Man Rupple's Carne Asada tacos- courtesy of Garrett! And I quote "Muffin Topzz hasn't tasted anything till they taste some carne asada tacos from Ol' Man Rupple!" Keith your tacos look good! I am jealous!!!

Haha thanks Garrett, Colleen and Keith- if only computers had smell 'o' vision!

Prime Cut Steak House

Hello All,

So you will notice that my out to dinner night is typically Saturday. I try extremely hard not to go out on weeknights because I like to be home with Jackson and keep him on a strict schedule. Saturday night is usually a good dinner night for me whether I am at home, out with my family, or out to dinner with friends. Last night was no exception. I went to Prime Cut Steak House, in Orange for a friends birthday dinner!

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I had to take the pictures on my Iphone which doesn't even come close to my Canon. Also, don't know what happened but the picture of my dinner, the 8oz Hanger Steak is gone?!

It was soooooo good; Rare, cool to the touch on the inside, yummy piece of meat with only a little bit of fat. I was in heaven and ate every single bite. I am not a big drinker at all, but I had a glass of Veremonte Pinot Noir to go with my dinner and it was delicious! My steak came with Au Gratin potatoes- which I don't even like potatoes, but they were very cheesy and good! We shared a few sides- The Marscarpone Polenta was AMAZING!!! I have been to Prime Cut once before with my Dad and sisters so I knew that the polenta was good! I couldn't even get a picture because I was too busy stuffing my face!

Another side we shared was the Burgundy Mushrooms! So good, but not something that everyone like. I guess you have to be a mushroom person!

Some of the other things people ordered- The Prime Rib is first. It looked good, but for me personally, you can get Prime Rib anywhere. The puff pastry bread was really cool though!!!!

Below that is the 16oz Rib-Eye which looked soooo good. You can see the Au Gratin potatoes that I was talking about. They were delicious and cheesy and gooey!!! So Good.

All in all, I really liked this place. We had the private dining room in the Wine Cellar which was fun. The service was horrible. Literally horrible. But we all agreed that the food more than made up for the bad service. I worked in a family restaurant, a burger place, nothing fancy- but still I cannot stand poor service. And when there is an 18% gratuity automatically built into the bill because there was 10 of us, it gives the wait staff no incentive to do a good job. Which they didn't. Loved the food though, great company], and ended up being a really nice night. I would definitely go there again!!!!

Oh and Alicia- I am running this one through spell check don't worry!!!

PS- We talked about going to a distillery next weekend in Newport Beach and making our own beer?! I don't like beer, I am not a huge drinker but it sounded REALLY fun! And just the kind of thing I can blog about!! So let's see what happens- I'll keep you posted!

Francoli Gourmet...Authentic Northern Italian Cuisine

 So this Thursday, we went out to dinner for Christina's birthday! Alix, Stephanie, Christina and I went to the new Italian restaurant in the Circle, Francoli Gourmet. Francoli's specializes in Northern Italian Gourmet. We all were looking forward to this as we heard good reviews from multiple different people.  Dinner started out in typical Italian fashion...CARBS. Bread came out with Bbalsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil. Needless to say, we munched on the bread dipped in vinegar and oil while figuring out what we were going to eat for dinner.

We also tried the Bruschetta, which I thought was really good. On top of the tomatoes was thick shavings of fresh Parmesan.... mmmm it was so cheesy and good! The great debate came up- how to eat your Bruschetta? Alix and I used a fork and a knife, and Stephanie and Christina opted for their hands. I like to eat Bruschetta with my hands but the tomatoes always fall off mid bite and it looks so sloppy so I figured I'd use a knife and fork this time!

Entrees came out in a timely manner. Everyone's looked good and smelled better. I ordered the Linguine Seafood Special, but switched up my noodles to Penne. For some reason, I cannot stand long noodles. No Spaghetti, linguine, or angel hair for me. Don't ask me why- its a texture thing.

Anyways, my pasta was good. Alix liked it better than hers. The red sauce was just the right kind of sweet without being heavy. I didn't taste any sand which meant that the clams and mussels were cleaned well and that always makes me happy. I was a little grossed out by the octopus in my pasta and could barely stand to look at it, but it made up for it in flavor.

They brought out Tiramisou for Christina's birthday, and O M G it was so good. I am a snob about my tiramisou, I think all of my sisters are that way. But this was a yummy, fresh, soaked through the cake Tiramisou.We all scarfed it down!

All in all, the food was good in my opinion. Good, but not great. I did love the tiramisou and would go back for more. The atmosphere was nice, we sat on the patio and the weather was perfect! I had fun with my sisters and Christina. I would eat there again, but I am a snob about Italian food because of the way that my dad raised us all. It was a good night all in all. Especially ending with the tiramisou! I can't get over how good it was!!!