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Ice Cream Cake Hack

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I know I did this post several years ago, but for new readers AND old readers, I decided it needed to be shared again! An easy ice cream cake hack — so easy, it’s totally cheating but so delicious and fun to make. All you need is ice cream sandwiches, homemade whipping cream, chocolate syrup, and some type of topping like crushed Oreos. And voila, ice cream sandwich cakes.

 

You line a baking vessel with wax paper, and then put the first layer of ice cream sandwiches. I bought mini ones so they were easy to fit in and didn’t need to be cut.

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Dried Peaches

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In Oregon, one of my favorite activities is to go to one of the hundreds of farms and pick fruit or veggies. And this past week, we went to a Peach farm — which is one of my favorite U-picks of the season (who doesn’t love peaches?). We collected 16 pounds of peaches — so we kept some fresh to have as snacks, made a peach galette, and dehydrated the rest.

 

Peaches galore.

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Axe Pancakes

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As mentioned earlier this week, last week I was in the Bay Area stuffing my face with the most delicious food, ingredients, and meals. And one of my FAVORITE things (I have yet to mention) was the breakfast — Axe Pancakes.

 

Currently only available in California (you can get them on Good Eggs in Bay Area, and in various stores in Southern California). You buy this big tub of pancake mix that is frozen and store it in the freezer until the night before you want to use it.

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Northern CA Favorite Dining

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Last week, I spent a couple days with my sister from another mister( aka my best friend), at her home in Northern California. We had the best time hanging 0ut and not doing much other than eating (our favorite pastime together). Here are some of my favorite meals we ate during my stay.

 

The two of us at Land’s End in northern CA looking at the Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge — HIGHLY recommend this walk / hike — truly gorgeous the entire 3.5 miles — from every step.

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Dot Cakes

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There is a new viral dessert on the Upper East Side — and it is called Dot Cakes. Little mini cakes with frosting and sprinkles in a cup — dot cakes. WHO KNEW? But trust me, it is worth the craze and the waiting and the anticipation to get them. Tusia first discovered them from her best friend who lives next to the gourmet grocery store in the city that carries them, Butterfield (also gone viral for its frozen yogurt), so she has had them as snacks and desserts all year long. But that said, recently, something blew up on the internet and now you CANNOT get them. And they are one of those things that once you have them, you always want them and need them.

 

Mini cups.

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Stick With Me Chocolates

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A friend gave me a present the other day AND IT IS THE BEST PRESENT EVER! A box of chocolates. And not just any chocolates, but the most gorgeous and delicious chocolates you have ever ever ever seen. Stick with Me chocolates. You can buy them at their store downtown, or you can even buy them online and have them shipped!

 

Bonbon story book.

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Librae Bakery

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Yesterday, on the most beautiful day of 2026 thus far, I made my way to Librae Bakery down in the East Village. Spring perfect weather, everyone in a good mood, topped with the perfect pastry = my cup of tea! I first heard of Librae Bakery in the Fall when I did the Bakery Half Marathon — and it was one of my top finds. But I had never been there until this week! And it is a MUST GO TO if in the city.

 

The store is so cute and has tables to sit inside. They have a variety of sweet and savory pastries, as well a handful of sandwiches (they look to die for — they are made to order, but I saw some people eating it and they all looked fabulous). I loved everything in the store, but especially this croissant disco ball. Can I have this for my apartment? (I also loved their sweatshirts with croissants on them — but I was focused on finding the perfect pastry to eat).

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Birley Bakery

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My new all-time favorite bakery in the neighborhood is Birley Bakery. Everything about it is perfection. The downstairs is a little bakery — and the upstairs a tiny restaurant / cafe. Everything they sell is beyond delicious. For example, I don’t like almond croissants, but at least three times a week, I stop by and get an almond croissant. WHO KNEW? THEY ARE THAT GOOD.

 

Located on 69th between 5th and Madison — this bakery has the yummiest croissants, cookies, Madelines, cakes, bread, baguettes, everything.

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Miso Dressing

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OK, so I just learned of this new miso dressing and it is the best thing in the world and so hard to share. It is a miso dressing that you can put on a salad, roasted carrots, everything and anything. I made it yesterday, and it was so delicious that I am making it again today.

 

This was the dressing on the salad. UNBELIEVABLY delicious. And this salad, I will also tell you about.

Ingredients: 
* Juice of two lemons
* 1/8 c white wine or white balsamic vinegar
* 1 tablespoon Dijon
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1/3 c oil
* 1.5 tablespoons miso
* A 1 cm slice of shallot
*Salt to taste
Blend until blended and taste for seasoning. Voila

Also put it on roasted carrots. Also just as delicious.

 

For the salad, take notes: It was celery, dates, walnuts, kale, parmesan, endives. And that is it. THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN.

 

The celery chopped up in little cubes. Then you cut everything else in to little cubes like this.

 

Make this this weekend. Promise you’ll love it.

Two LA Sandwich Shops

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Before our trip, my brother and I decided that we wanted to try some of the best sandwich shops in town. So I did a lot of research — both on the types of sandwiches and the proximity to Culver City — and we made our picks. AND THEY DID NOT DISAPPOINT. So delicious — if you are going to LA, you must go to both of these shops!

 

The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills

 

An institution famous amongst tourists and locals. A restaurant and high end grocery store and cheese store.

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Nutella Pastry Dough

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Easy peasy, and so delicious! Three ingredients! Pastry dough, Nutella, and egg (to wash on top)

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line the baking sheet with wax paper. Then roll out pastry dough. Add Nutella. Fold over the non Nutella side of the dough, make shapes, put on sheet pan, paint with egg wash, add some sugar, and voila, done!

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Pasta Party

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The past three weeks I have been taking cooking classes with some friends — it has been a highlight of the week. Fun, tasty, and a great way to break up the week. On that certain day, we decided to do a late afternoon class and include our daughters and make it a pasta party. It was a great night.

 

Flowers to have for the party! If I don’t have time to go down to the flower market, I like to get my flowers at Trader Joe’s — cheap, good quality, and great selection.

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Cinnamon Roll Crawl

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(Sorry for the silence last week — I fainted last weekend, hurt my head, and was dealing with that for most of the week. I rested a lot, and tried to not be on screens — hence my absence. But I am back!) For whatever reason, I decided that this weekend, I needed to do a self-guided Cinnamon Roll Crawl. I spent a lot of time (once my headaches disappeared) researching the best cinnamon rolls in the city and my plan to do it.

 

For whatever reason, I decided that the best way to get there was to RUN! So I ran along the West Side Highway to get downtown (because of course, the best bakeries are downtown).

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NYC Bakery Run 2025

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This past Sunday, I ran the first ever NYC Bakery Run. A half-marathon with 8 bakeries. Yep, the route covered 8 different bakery stops. All were incredible — and it was such a fun and different day! Thank you, Tipster, for putting together such a fun, successful and unique day!

 

The run was put together by Tipster. Tipster is a website and journal that is in the know of everything cool, hip, and new. This was their first issue in NY (It is based in Copenhagen) and it covered all the best bakeries. So it made sense that their big NYC start was a half marathon with 8 of these bakeries listed. We went to all of the ones listed above minus Apollo Bagel and Win Son Bakery.

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Trader Joe’s Fall Haul 2025

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OK, call me a basic PSL lover (I actually don’t love pumpkin spice lattes, but I LOOOOOVE anything pumpkin), but when I went to Trader Joe’s recently, I was so excited by all the Fall goodies. So of course, need to share with you my haul (and yes, I am like my 13 year old daughter who loves to share hauls). And I am so happy (so happy that I have been back twice in one week to get more of some of these items).

 

So good so delicious. Can’t stop eating these.

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Yaks on the 5

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Last week, we dropped of my son, Cruz, at his boarding school in Ojai, California. Per his request, he asked to drive down from Oregon. He had never been on a “road trip” before so we crammed 14 hours of driving in two days. One of the highlights of the drive was asking chatGPT to find the best spot for lunch in between Eugene and San Francisco. And sure enough, it found a winner (thank you, AI!) We had a truly enjoyable lunch, right off the 5 (Interstate 5) — Yaks on the 5.

 

The drive.

Thank you, Ken for driving! I made a basket. 🙂

We made it to California!

And finally to Yaks on the 5 — a burger place! The line was manageable and we were able to eat outside, so win win all around.

Cruzzie and his burger.

Ken had a pastrami sandwich.

All of it so delicious.

Toosh and the burger, too.

 

I had a salad with wings and ribs on it (picture didn’t turn out) and they were the best ribs I have. ever. ever. ever. eaten. So highly suggest Yaks on the 5 if you happen to be in that neck of the woods, and also suggest chatGPT for recommending such a great spot!

Holbox + California Science Center

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Apparently all I do is eat, but when in Los Angeles last week, every activity was planned around where we would eat. My (extremely cute) 90 year old uncle is so adventureous and doesn’t just sit at home — quite the contrary, he is out and about all the time, in touch with the best restaurants and exhibitions, etc….So he suggested going to the ONLY MEXICAN RESTAURANT with a MICHELIN STAR (Holbox) which was right next to the California Science Center — and we jumped on both.  We LOVE science museums (interactive, fun, interesting) and we love Mexican food — so win win win!

First of all, this cliche view never gets old. But I loved it on this particular night because you could see a sliver of the moon — nothing makes me happier than pretty skies.

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George’s

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It has been a minute since I posted — not because I didn’t want to or because I didn’t try, but because I was having issues with the website and uploading images. All that to say, sorry! And I am back! And with so much content! In the past two weeks I have spent time in San Francisco area, Oregon, Los Angeles, and back to Oregon — and I have found some incredible things to share! So stay tuned and report back to the blog! In the meantime, I wanted to first share with you an incredibly tasty donut shop in San Francisco. So good that if you are anywhere in the area, you will want to go to George’s. They don’t just sell donuts, but also cocktails, champagne, and meals too. But we went for the donuts.

 

So cute — love George’s donuts and merriment.

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Mango Sorbet

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I might as well make this a baking blog now because that is all I have been wanting to post about recently! HA! I am the worst cook, but I love baking and experimenting in the kitchen. Recently, we made mango sorbet AND mango ice cream in a bake off — and hands down, the winner was the mango sorbet.  So if you feel like making something SUPER easy, delicious, and refreshing, make this!

 

First, you peel the mangos (make sure they are good ones — it makes all the difference). Then, you blend them with water, a little sugar, some lime juice, and THAT IS IT!

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Chez Panisse Blueberry Cobbler

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Love nothing more than picking fresh fruit in the summer! So this past week, went to one of the many blueberry farms in the area and picked 6.5 pounds of blueberries! Since we always keep 1/3 fresh to eat, 1/3 freeze for future use, and bake something with the remaining 1/3, I went down the rabbit hole of what the best recipe would be to use with these delicious blueberries. Thankfully, found NYTimes recipe on Chez Panisse Blueberry Cobbler and knew that it was a winner. Sure enough, this dessert is incredible and easy to make (double win)

 

Blueberry picking! Literally half go in my mouth, the other half in the bucket.

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Caffe Panna

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Nothing beats a scoop of ice cream on a hot day. Actually, even on a cool day, a scoop of GOOD ice cream makes everything better. Last week, I was introduced to Caffe Panna, an ice cream shop located on 19th and Irving, started by Hallie Meyer (the daughter of Danny Meyer, famous and fabulous restauranteur). I was super excited to try this ice cream, and it EXCEEDED my expectations. It was so so so delicious, and I want to go back and try multiple different flavors. And yes, I am lactose intolerant, and ice cream hurts my stomach, but this ice cream was worth it, trust me.

 

How cute is the store front? It Is just a window where you order and receive the ice cream.

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Steve’s Key Lime Pie

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I have a lot of favorite desserts, but one of my TOP favorite desserts is key lime pie. And now just any key lime pie, but Steve’s Key Lime Pie. Steve’s pies are sold at dozens of stores in Manhattan, but if you want the freshest, then you have to travel to Red Hook in Brooklyn to his store. Yep, 30 minute drive — but oh so worth it. Especially on a beautiful sunny day, nothing beats eating Steve’s Key Lime Pie with the water view.

 

We used to come out to Red Hook every weekend to grocery shop, walk around, and feel like we lived in the burbs. Now, it is a fun adventure to go just to look out at the water and eat pie.

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Two New NYC Restaurants

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This past weekend, we wined and dined in some new restaurants — both of them we loved and would return in a minute. Therefore, needed to tell you all, as both are special and must visits.

 

Cafe Louis Vuitton

 

Located on the 4th floor of Louis Vuitton’s NYC flagship, this cafe is a gorgeous location to have a special meal.

 

Tusia did her hair and looked gorgeous for our mother-daughter Good Friday (aka no school) date.

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Juice Press Sprouted Almonds

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OK, I didn’t believe it at first — but there is NOTHING like these almonds. Nothing. Sorry, I wish you could find “sprouted raw almonds” that tasted just like this from somewhere else, but nope, not possible. Only from Juice Press.

 

These almonds. Worth the hype. I didn’t want to believe it. But they are this good. Trust me. You can buy them at Juice Press (which btw, ships nationally!)

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