Holly's Cupcake Shop

Clockwise from top left, Hummingbird, Lemon Drop, Buckeye Brownie, Cookie Monster, Pumpkin (seasonal) and Black Bottom.

Just before Thanksgiving I was lucky enough to be provided with delicious cupcakes from Holly's Cupcake Shop. Holly and her husband, Jonathan, own shops in Conyers (founded in 2009) and in Midtown Atlanta where ITP folks like me can pick up their delicious cupcakes without leaving our home turf. The midtown location is at Colony Square (1197 Peachtree St.)

Holly brought me a sampling of cupcakes in her decked out truck (pictured below), which is used to transport the finished cakes from the Conyers shop/bakery to the Midtown shop. My personal favorites include the seasonal Pumpkin - so moist and delicious - and the Back Bottom - love the cream cheese filling and vanilla cream cheese frosting. My cousin's son (age 4) loved the Cookie Monster (white cake with Oreo folded in and topped with cookies and cream frosting). All of the cupcakes were tasty and moist on the first day and they lasted pretty well for a few days (Holly recommends wrapping the bakery box in plastic wrap or transferring to an airtight container to retain moisture).

Unlike some cupcake shops, Holly bakes many types of cake for her cupcakes rather than only using chocolate and vanilla cake with a variety of frosting. For example, the Hummingbird cake contains banana, pineapple and pecans and the Banana Pudding cupcake has banana cake and banana pudding filling. Many of the cupcakes are filled, which gives them a unique taste and even more moisture - a real plus.

Holly's sells six flavors every day (Conyers is open Tuesday - Saturday and Colony Square is open Monday - Friday) and offers 5-6 daily flavor options. Check the website for details. Mini-cupcakes are also available (if ordered in advance).

Clockwise from top left, Red Velvet, Vanilla Chocolate, Chocolate Chocolate, Chocolate Vanilla, Vanilla Vanilla and Gingerbread (seasonal).



Holly's fabulous cupcake truck - used to transport sweet treats from the flagship store in Conyers to the midtown store at Colony Square.



I look forward to trying more varieties of Holly's Cupcakes soon!

Ledet Ethiopian

Lamb tibs (center) with vegetarian platter surrounding. We also had the doro wat (chicken with boiled egg).

I recently met up with friends to celebrate a birthday at Ledet Ethiopian. This quality Ethiopian spot is located at what I call "Ethiopian Corner" (corner of Briarcliff and Clairmont) in DeKalb County. The service, although a bit slow to start, was quicker than most Ethiopian places (other than Desta, which is my favorite modern Ethiopian restaurant) and the food was good. We found both the sambusas (below) and the salad dressing (not pictured) to be quite spicy even for our versatile palates. The main dishes, however, were very pleasing and it didn't hurt that was had a Scoutmob to take $20 off the bill. The doro wat, which is chicken in a rich sauce with a whole hardboiled egg included, was the best dish we tried. The vegetarian sampler was also very good.

The sambusas had a lot of flavor - too much flavor for most of my dining companions as there were huge chunks of very spicy jalepeno peppers inside. I'm not usually one to ask a restaurant to turn down the spice but in this case, they should do just that, or at least have two varieties: regular and extra spicy!

100th Birthday and Another Lovely Birthday Cake

100 Years and counting... my stepdad's mom Annette. Many of us call her "Aunt Anne".







She requested a cookout...







My mom had this neat cake made commemorating Aunt Anne's many years in Philadelphia (1928 - 2005) as well as her 100 years. Aunt Anne kept insisting, "I am not 100!"







Dips made by my fabulous sister-in-law Nicole. Yum.







My DH, the grill master on the giant Foreman. It was a wonderful celebration of a long life. We look forward to 101 next summer!







Another birthday, another cake - this one for our friend Dana in Atlanta.

The SpongeBob Cake

The finished product - homemade for sure but there's no doubt who this is!

My favorite 8 year old requested a SpongeBob cake this year so I thought it time to try some amateur cake decorating. I used red hots as part of the shirt and cookie icing on top of homemade lemon frosting for the design. It's not the most beautiful design but it was really tasty and most importantly, the birthday girl loved it. Always fun to try something new!

A work in progress. I had to print out a photo of Bob so I could draw him on the cake! It was yellow cake with lemon frosting. I used a new recipe for the cake and it turned out moist and tasty.

Truffles Birthday Lunch

The cutest creamer!

My law firm celebrate several birthdays at the new Truffles Cafe, formerly Ruby Tuesday, on Lenox Road across from Lenox Square. While I am usually hesitant about chain restaurants, Truffles made an overall good impression. While the restaurant is owned by the same parent company that owns Ruby Tuesday, there are only four locations - three of which are in the Hilton Head area.

The Atlanta location offers valet parking and includes a nice bar. The place was pretty crowded when we visited, a popular spot for business lunches. We had excellent service during our visit and the food was surprisingly good, although nothing too out of the ordinary. The coconut shrimp were quite tasty and I loved the frozen Oreo pie. Otherwise the food I tasted was OK but not great - the sweet potato fries were not piping hot and one person who ordered the chicken pot pie declared it bland.

We admired the cow creamers so much the manager let one member of our party buy one at a very reasonable price - very nice! Overall I recommend Truffles for those who are not very adventurous or for a group or business meal. I have not tried their dinner service so if I do I will update this post.

Coconut Shrimp.

Spinach salad with Chicken.

Crab cake with Sweet Potato Fries.

BBQ Chicken.

Chicken Pot Pie.

Key Lime Pie and Oreo Ice Cream Pie.

Very Belated Birthday Post

Fruit tart from my lovely cousins - yum!

For my most recent birthday we ventured to Cobb County for a performace at the Cobb Energy Center. Before the show, Calvin researched and found a nearby Italian restaurant - Taverna Fiorentina - for us to try for my birthday. The space is small , which I liked although too many of the tables are near the kitchen, adding to the noise and decreasing the intimate ambiance. The service, although a bit slow (they were pretty full that night) was decent. The food we tried was a mixed bag. I loved the Caesar salad and the pasta and risotto dishes were tasty but the food felt heavier than it should have. I liked the grilled squid a lot but there wasn't much squid on the plate! The scallops were cooked perfectly and not overdone, which always makes me smile. I would like to give this place another try in order to taste more dishes from their menu. Unfortunately since there are so many new places to try, it might be awhile before that happens.

Seafood mushroom pasta.


Grilled squid with fruit jelly.

Stellar Caesar salad.

Risotto with Scallops.

Italian rice pudding.

Canoe for Mom's Birthday Dinner

Table favorite: the Duck.

While my mom, stepdad and grandma were recently in town to help me with wedding dress shopping (yes we found something!) we celebrated my mom's birthday with a memorable dinner at Canoe, a restaurant I'd heard much about but had not yet been to before. The restaurant itself is gorgeous, following the extensive remodel mandated by the 2009 flood that put water more than 4 feet up the walls! Somehow I forgot to think of asking for a window view, so we were in the main room near the kitchen. The noise level was not too bad and we could all hear each other. Our waiter was excellent, delivering more of the wonderful bread for us and promptly bringing my grandma a side of mashed potatoes when she didn't care for the edamame hummus served with her halibut (the fish, she proclaimed delicious).

As sunset crept upon us, I couldn't want to go take a look outside at the grounds, including a large garden, several lovely seating areas and the fully stocked bar right down on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. I really enjoyed my dinner at Canoe. More below, in pictures:

Special off-menu salad: heirloom tomatoes with olive oil sorbet.



The menu - lots of great choices!



The bread basket was a highlight for all. Grandma loved the chili-rubbed flatbread and we all enjoyed the fresh based olive bread.



Beet and goat cheese "salad".



Baby arugula salad - tasty but pretty basic.



Rabbit with homemade bacon ravioli - divine and different.

The dish I ordered, scallops over toasted almond and roasted tomato gazpacho, also pleased the palate. Somehow the photo disappeared, but it was served on a long, slender plate for a dramatic presentation.

Halibut over edamame hummus with baby boc choi - the sole disappointment of the evening.



The family outside Canoe.

Once you are inside the restaurant, it feels like you are in another place. It is almost disorienting to come out and see a small strip mall next door - especially one with a weight loss clinic!

Fruit tart with Vanilla Ice Cream and Homemade Cracker Jack with Butter Pop Ice Cream.

The Butter Pop Ice Cream with Cracker Jack = phenomenal and good to the last soupy bite! We also tried the chocolate and salted caramel grotto, which looked nice but was nowhere near as tasty as the cracker jack and butter pop ice cream concoction. I do hope to get back to Canoe for brunch, and this time I'm sitting outside!

Lunch at Miller Union

Seasonal vegetable plate.

We recently celebrated an office birthday lunch at Miller Union in west Midtown. The focus here is on seasonal, local ingredients, so the menu changes frequently. We all enjoyed our choices for lunch, especially the oyster po' boy rendition, which I believe has been replaced with shrimp thanks to the oil crisis and the roasted pork sandwich. The radish and Feta cheese snack is a fresh, colorful way to begin the meal and the vegetable plate pictured above was so colorful and full of taste. The space is rustic, with high ceilings and a nice long bar. I also liked the homemade soda option - and the rhubarb was just different enough but still sweet in a way that embodies the quintessential summer non-cocktail. Service was a bit haphazard and we waited far too long to order - at dinner I don't mind a slower pace but for a work lunch, it should be obvious that we can't stay all day. I look forward to trying Miller Union for dinner, including their monthly communal Harvest Dinner, held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

Entrance at the corner of 10th St. and Brady Avenue in West Midtown.

Homemade rhubarb soda.

Chicken salad sandwich.

Chilled watercress soup and radish and Feta snack.

Fried oyster sandwich (now replaced with fried shrimp).

Roasted pork sandwich.

We also sampled cinnamon and chocolate ice cream sandwiches for dessert. So simple, yet so satisfying - a perfect end to a birthday lunch.