Cupcake Camp IE is almost here!

Cupcake Camp IE is just a few days away! Are you joining me in tasting the best cupcakes from the Inland Empire? Don't miss out! Here are the details.

Review: Cupcake Blake at Short Stop BBQ

Short Stop BBQ is a new addition to the Orange County gourmet food truck scene. The night I stopped by, they were so new that they didn't even have their truck wrapped yet!

I didn't expect to find a cupcake at Short Stop BBQ, especially since cupcakes weren't on the menu, but someone let me in on the secret that they were selling them. I had to get one!

There was only one flavor that night: Dark Chocolate Oreo. When I asked about the cupcakes, Short Stop BBQ told me that a friend makes them. Well, I did a little research and found that the cupcakes are made by Cupcake Blake.




I shared the cupcake with my husband and we both agreed that it was delicious! It had been refrigerated, so it was cold, but the temperature made it taste like an ice cream cake (without the ice cream, of course). The chocolate cake was moist and the vanilla frosting was excellent. The Dark Chocolate Oreo cupcake was $2 and well worth it!

From the looks of it, Cupcake Blake's cupcakes are still being sold on Short Stop BBQ's truck. Other flavors include Autumn Maple, Carrot Cake, and Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones. I must try more!

Short Stop BBQ
www.shortstopbbq.com
@shortstopbbq

Cupcake Blake
www.cupcakeblake.com
@MrsCupcakeBlake

Cyclists Hand out Cupcakes

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Cycling and cupcakes....that's definitely me.

So of course I stopped when I saw this story about cyclists handing out cupcakes on Party Cupcake Ideas blog. The post references an article from the Guelph Mercury newspaper. (FYI - Guelph is in Canada. I had to look it up.)

The city of Guelph recently added bike lanes that run the entire length of the city. To raise awareness of these new bike lanes and to show citizens that bicyclists "aren't to be feared," a few bike enthusiasts handed out cupcakes to motorists who stopped at the intersection. What a great idea!

Motorists and cyclists sometimes have a bad relationship, usually based on a negative experience from the past. Hopefully this will help bring a positive light to cyclists and raise awareness of bicycle transportation.

Drive Out Hunger Mobile Food Drive

Saturday Night Foodies, Orange County Gourmet Food Trucks and Food Bloggers Rally Together to ‘Drive Out Hunger’

First Annual Mobile Food Drive to Benefit Second Harvest Food Bank

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 1, 2010 – Saturday Night Foodies, a popular food and restaurant review blog, in conjunction with 20 Orange County Gourmet Food Trucks and other leading food bloggers, will host Drive Out Hunger, the county’s first mobile food drive, benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank. The two week food drive will be held from November 7-20, 2010.

“From the outside, Orange County appears to be a privileged community and yet according to the Second Harvest Food Bank, approximately 615,000 Orange County residents are at risk of going hungry each month,” said Jason Iehl, founder of Saturday Night Foodies. “With the respective followers of gourmet food trucks and food blog readers, we have the power to bring awareness to the hunger problem taking place in our own backyard and really make a difference. We felt holding a food drive would be a great way to rally the foodie community to give to those less fortunate.”

Because the economy has been slow to rebound, donations have been low this year. In turn, the Second Harvest member agencies are reporting an average 35 percent increase in demand for food assistance. The goal of the Drive Out Hunger mobile food drive is to collect 1,000 pounds of food for the Second Harvest Food Bank. Gourmet food truck followers and food enthusiasts are encouraged to bring non-perishable canned or dry food donations when they go to their favorite gourmet food trucks or food truck events during the two week food drive.

The donations that are needed most are:

Non-perishable canned goods or dry food*:
• Canned meats, fish, soup, fruits, vegetables
• Pasta
• Hot and cold cereal
• Macaroni and cheese
• Rice
• Beans
• Peanut butter

Personal care items:
• Diapers
• Toothpaste and toothbrushes
• Toilet Paper
• Soap
* Please no glass containers or expired items.

The participating gourmet food trucks will have collection bins at their food stops from Nov. 7-20, to accept donations: Bakery Truck, Barcelona on the Go, CalbiBBQ, ChunknChip, Crepes Bonaparte, DanDanBBQ, Dogzilla Dogs, Dos Chinos, KonaiceBC, Lomo Arigato, Longboards, Louks, Oh For Sweets Sake, Piaggio on Wheels, Seabirds, Shortstop BBQ, The Burnt Truck, The Lime Truck, The Taco Dawg and Tropical Shave Ice. Find their daily locations via their respective Twitter or Facebook pages.

For food enthusiasts that are not located in Orange County, but want to contribute, a virtual food drive has been established online so they can participate regardless of where they are located. Please visit www.saturdaynightfoodies.com and click on the Drive Out Hunger icon to make a monetary contribution. Participating bloggers helping with the virtual drive are: The Cupcake Activist, Diary of a Mad Hungry Woman, Gourmet Food Truck, Marian the Foodie, Just Spotted, Save the Food Trucks, and Savored.

About Drive Out Hunger Mobile Food Drive
Drive Out Hunger is a mobile food drive collaboration between Saturday Night Foodies, local gourmet food trucks and food bloggers to combat hunger in our communities.

About Saturday Night Foodies
Jason Iehl and Kim Nelson, editors of SaturdayNightFoodies.com, are the consummate foodies. The husband and wife duo combine their passion for food, cooking and travel, with the need to tell the world about their crazy food adventures. They have even been known to plan entire vacations around food or take off on a “Saturday Night”, tempted by something they just saw on the Food Network or Cooking Channel. In addition to publishing restaurant and gourmet food truck reviews from their travels and keeping readers apprised of the latest food trends, Jason, a former chef, chronicles his culinary delights on the website’s “Test Kitchen”.
www.saturdaynightfoodies.com

About Second Harvest Food Bank Orange County
Since 1983, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County has provided more than 265
million pounds of safe and nutritious surplus food to now over 450 charitable non-profit organizations throughout Orange County. The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County is a certified Affiliate Member of Feeding America. For more information about Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County or to learn how to help, visit www.feedoc.org.
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Pumpkin Pie in a Cupcake

The day after Halloween. Sugar coma, anyone? No time to waste. Halloween is over, so the holiday season has officially begun!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Can you guess why?

Found this pumpkin pie cupcake via Cupcakes Take the Cake. This cupcake from Bake It in a Cake is no ordinary pumpkin pie cupcake, it's a mini pumpkin pie baked into a vanilla cupcake and topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Don't need to waste time eating two desserts, just eat this one!

Photo: Bake It in a Cake