Happy New Year! I am declaring today as the last official day to say “Happy New Year”, I mean realistically, it should be January 3rd in my opinion, but people are still saying it to me, so up until today, I have said it back.
I wanted to start 2013 with a new kind of Foodie Finds, which I will be mixing in every now and again. The best part about traveling is getting to try new restaurants, right? Well a couple months back, I got to go to Old Towne in the city of Orange, CA. I worked in Irvine for two years; little did I know this little gem of a city was a mere 20 minutes away.
I really wish I had more time to spend there, because this really is such a foodie town. Within the first 5 minutes of walking down the street, there was at least a half dozen places I wanted to go eat; the crepe joint across the street was literally calling my name.
The main purpose of my trip was to visit The Perfect Circle Cupcakery, 2011 FoodNetwork Cupcake wars winner.
Located in Old Towne Orange, Ca
Cutest decor!
They offer a party package, where you bring your friends and you each get four cupcakes to decorate, how flipping cool!
Love at first site. They have one for minis too!
Check out their cupcake stands here, which are available to rent. The spiral one pictured above is to die for. Fun fact, the owner actually does all the welding work and made this cupcake stand along with the rest of the metal decor in the office. AH-Mazing.
Anyway, back to the cupcakes…
Time to dig in!
Lemon Kiss Blackberry- Lemon cake with lemon cream cheese frosting topped with a fresh blackberry. I didn’t care for this one as much. The lemon was not too over powering but I think I was hoping for more blackberry.
The Queen- Red velvet cupcake with rich cream cheese frosting sprinkles with red velvet crumbs.
Perfect Pumpkin- Pumpkin Cupcake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, rolled in graham cracker crust. This was my favorite by far, but then again, I have a bias towards anything pumpkin.
That’s a lunch right there!
For lunch, we went next store to the Old Town Grinder. This place rocks. Not only do they have an ice cream parlor, but they have dozens upon dozens of different sodas to try. I picked two. My favorite root beer (Hanks), and I also thought I would try Pumpkin Pie soda. I don’t know what I was thinking. You can’t translate that taste into a soda. I took one drink and spit it out. Sigh. I had high hopes. My sandwich was pretty amazing, although not the best to photograph. I figured I would spare you the photo I took of my half eaten sandwich. It was a BBQ brisket with thick cut bacon and a side of sweet potato fries. Seriously good eats.
Fun finds everywhere!
I ended my trip with a visit to a nearby antique store. The streets are literally lined with antique stores and I being a newbie to the scene decided I needed to venture into one. I was hooked. The biggest attraction to me was trying to find items for my future food style photos, a skill that I am slowly trying to learn and improve upon; all in due time I guess. I picked just four items to showcase here. From left to right: old suitcases; a dessert table trend that I just gush over every time I see them. I am obsessed with dessert tables, especially vintage ones! Old serving utensils; how do you pick just one? I picked an old pie serving spatula that I can’t wait to use! This old Hamilton Beach mixer was SO heavy. I wanted it so badly, but the mixing blades wouldn’t stay in, I was heartbroken. It was awesome! Lastly, I spent some time in the camera isle ooeing and aweing over all the old camera equipment.
Needless to say, I will be back for more. There are too many restaurants to try and too much shopping to be done. Please someone come visit soon so I have another excuse to go! Any takers?
BeyondFrosting 