Cakes Cakes Cakes ~

Was busy busy busy with cakes this past weekend. I made a soccer birthday cake for a Manchester U. fan, A 60th Birthday Cake for a friend's dad (the Chinese - but not-so-Chinese cake with the word "long life" and birthday peaches incorporated into it without it looking cluttered or tacky. And then I had the 1-year-old birthday cake for someone having a party at the same location as the 60th birthday party directly the day after. WHEW! What a week!

Soccer Cake ( :








The 60th Birthday Cake for a party at Mulan - Queens Crossing. The requirements of the cake were: No white or black colors, no #'s 4 and 7 or a picture of a clock. And then I was provided with a couple of pictures which I could use or not use BUT I wasn't to make it look "too chinese" "tacky" or "cluttered." I was STRESSED. I must've drew up a sketch AT LEAST 5 times...






I FINALLY came up with a drawing that I liked. Initially the letter was written in silver - the customer asked me to send him a picture - but then when he showed it to his boss, his boss said that silver was no good because it resembled a CEMETARY??? So he asked me to change it to Red. I must say, the red looked WAY better.













The customer AND his father loved it, which I appreciated and was so happy about. That's what makes all the stress and loss of sleep SO worth it. I could be the CRAZIEST bitch while I'm drawing sketches or making the cake - I am SO anal and SO picky about the details - but when I hear how happy the customer is and get to witness the Ooo's and Ahhh's, it really does make going through this ALL worth it...

And finally, last but not least, Jaime's 1st Bday Party. This party was held morning after the 60th birthday party at the same restaurant - Mulan @ The Queens Crossing. BEAUTIFUL venue by the way. They have waterfalls on the walls - surrounded with windows from top to bottom. Simply beautiful.

This customer sent me pictures of exactly what she wanted. She saw a cake and wanted me to replicate the middle and bottom tier but put a #1 on top next to her child's favorite doll - a little white/brown puppy. And also put her child's name on the top tier. I think it came out great!

Best Greek Restaurant on Bell Blvd - AVLI

I'm always nervous to bring hubby to new restaurants. He's not much into change and is EXTREMELY picky. Usually, I'll scope the place out before I bring him. So you KNOW if Hubby is craving a certain restaurant, it's GOTTA be good.

Hubby and I have been DYING to go back to Avli - A small greek restaurant located on Bell Blvd. This place is owned by a father and 2 brothers (really nice people) - not to mention that one of my FAVORITE waitresses work here. ( :

I must say that I've dined here quite a few times and haven't been disappointed EVER. (Knock on wood) If anything, I think I've been spoiled by this place. Whenever I go to a different Greek restaurants now, I get disgustingly disappointed and find myself comparing foods with Avli. "Avli's potatoes are more lemon-y... Avli's meat is more tender... Well Avli ALWAYS has the soup available..." So now I don't even bother going to other Greek restaurants... I've been disappointed way too many times. I don't even know why I waste my money "experimenting" on restaurants when I KNOW where there is a GREAT Greek restaurant.

Friday and Saturday nights can get pretty crowded at this place. They don't take reservations so it's first come first serve but be assured - when they says 10-15 min. wait, they really mean 10-15 min wait. I hate when I go to a restaurant and you ask how long the wait is - they tell you, "Oh, 10-15 min..." and you're still standing there 40 min. later. We went there Sat. night and requested for our favorite waitress (Donna) and Fodi (one of the owners) told us that it would be 5 min. Literally 5 min. later, he sat us in Donna's section.

We started off with a large carafe of their Greek wine ($16.95)



For appetizer, we ordered the Pikilia - 2 of the Taramosalta (A Fluffy Fish Roe Dip), Melitzanosalata (A Roasted Eggplant Dip with Garlic & EVOO) and Kopanisti (Spicy Feta Cheese & Roasted Red Pepper Spread) ($12.95)
Of course whole wheat pita instead of regular which I think is $1.00 more




And hubby LOVES tender octopus so we also ordered Oktapodi Skaras - a chargrilled octopus, seasoned with EVOO, red wine vinegar, and oregano. ($11.50)



So tender, so flavorful with the perfect balance of garlic and acidity from the red wine vinegar. I took 2 little pieces and when I looked up to get some more, hubby ate it all!!



As our main meal we shared the 2 meat Combination Platter ($12.95) - we picked the pork doner and falafel. It comes with a choice of lemon potatoes, rice or french fries and soup or salad. We had the lemon potatoes and the salad.








The pork was SO tender - as tender as pulled pork that has been bbq-ing for 6 hours and the falafel was also perfectly cooked. The lemon potatoes are the best I've ever had - so soft, lemony and garlicy. Just plain yum.

Everything here is really good. The portions are big and the quality is top notch. I've had their burgers, fries, and ohhhh my God their soup. If you're a fan of Avgolemono (Traditional Greek Lemon/Chicken Soup) you will DIE when you eat it here. They make the BEST Avgolemono. And the best part about it is that the food is all pretty healthy. Everything is grilled and tossed in garlic, lemon and EVOO. And if it is fried, it's lightly fried - not oily or greasy. The best part about it? It doesn't lay in your stomach like a lead weight after you leave. Oh, and they have delivery too. ( :

Our total gluttonous meal came out to approximately $59.90 (not including tip) which is PEANUTS for the amount of food and good quality we got. When we go to the city or anywhere else for that matter, we don't leave spending a penny less than $200.00 and who can afford to eat that way during these hard times?

I give this place 5 out of 5 stars. Good Job Avli.

Avli Greek Restaurant
38-31 Bell Blvd
New York, NY 11361
(718) 224-7575

** Stay Tuned - Next Week ITALIAN! **

Double Duty...

I had 2 cakes on order today for the same person. My ex co-worker wanted to get his younger sister and brother separate birthday cakes - apparently, they have the same birthday. He wanted something girly and lavendar for his sister and a basketball cake for his brother. I thought the basketball cake would be easier than the gift box cake so I left the basketball cake for last. I mean, how hard could it be? Make it orange and round right? No. not right. I had to make it look life-like so I was trying to make it the same texture as a real basketball. I engraved each circle onto the dam ball - and as I was poking each hole, I cursed out my friend each and every time. HaHAHa. When I told him that, we both peeled over laughing.





He called me after he brought it to his little sister's school. He said that his sister cried and her teachers were squealing. HaHaHa. So happy they liked it.

Onto the next cake! I have a cake for next Friday - I must've drew at least 7 sketches. This one was a doozy. It's for my friend's dad's 60th birthday. (He's Chinese) He wanted to give me free range on the cake with a couple of things to keep in mind. Absolutely no white and black colors on the cake, no #'s 4 and 7, no clocks - he wanted me to add this chinese button detail on the cake, and incorporate the chinese word "long life" as well as the lucky chinese birthday peaches BUT at the same time, not make it look SO Chinese or tacky... Hmm... But alas, after the 7th sketch, I think I got the perfect cake! Pictures to come!!

S'MORES Cupcakes...

Like I said in my previous post, I didn't really celebrate New Year's Eve or Day so I basically spent that weekend trying new recipes and thinking of new flavors for my new cupcake line. I was watching tv with pen & paper in hand when all of a sudden, I thought S'MORES..





I made 2 variations so far. One with chocolate cupcake - baked with the graham crackers and then made a marshmallow frosting. The 2nd variation was made with the marshmallows baked into the sponge. I'm going to try a third receip with a layer of graham cracker crumbs AND marshmallows baked beneath the crumbs...

My friend Sarah took more lovely pictures of my cupcakes - I can't tell you enough how much I love these photos! They're like book covers!! here are a few samples...











Starting the basketball cake and yet another present cake tonight... pictures to come!

Happy New Year/Anniversary...

Happy New Year everyone! Hope the start of everyone's New Year was just as nice and relaxing as mine. I didn't go out New Year's Eve because my wedding anniversary is Jan 2nd so I was saving my cheat meal for that night. I know I originally said I was going to Ruth Chris but a friend of mine HIGHLY suggested Benjamin's Steakhouse in the city. USUALLY I don't blink twice when someone raves about good food b/c I am a TOTAL food snob. Now that I'm trying to watch my weight, I won't eat it unless it's DAM GOOD. So I know my friend is a real food connoisseur and has wined and dined at all the nices restaurants in NY - so when she told me that this restaurant was one of the BEST, I was SOLD.

Made reservations for 8PM and we trekked out to the city in freezing, windy weather for some good meat. We were greeted by the hostess - thinking we were probably going to have to wait to be seated. She told us that our table was ready almost immediately and proceeded to seat us at the infamous "fireplace seat" which is almost impossible to get unless you tip them. (Table #65 guys...)


We thought WOW - lucky us... and started getting comfy. Then the maitre'd greeted us - aid "Happy Anniversary" and as my hubby and I looked at each other VERY confused (b/c we never mentioned that it was our anniversary), the waiter brought us over a bottle of champagne and a note from my cousin Bernie that read, "Happy Anniversary - now go make some babies." I was FLOORED to say the least. That was SO thoughtful and extremely sweet - I couldn't wait to go home and call him (I didn't have a phone b/c I dropped it in the toilet minutes before we left.)
We had a couple of glasses of champagne while looking over the menu, then ordered a bottle of Napa Valley Merlot, crabcakes for appetizer ($19.95), the Porterhouse for 2($82.95)and a side of asparugus($9.95).
The crabcakes were mouthwatering - although they were very small - I could've ate 6 of them.

And I could've done without the side, considering that they only gave a total of 7 pieces, which seems to be the norm at all steakhouses.
But the steak... Ohhhhh my goodness the steak was off the hook.


It came out sizzling in melted butter, cooked to a PERFECT medium rare. Every bite was orgasmic... so tender... so flavorful... didn't even need any sauce. Hubby said WOW after every bite - and believe me.. the man is PICKY.
We dunked the bread in the melted butter to accompany our steak. I think I ate with my eyes closed the whole time.

So all in all, the decor was lovely, waitstaff was completely on top of everything and extremely accommodating to say the least and the food was INCREDIBLE. I want to give this place a perfect 5 stars but the appetizer/side portions were SO small and overpriced, and the bread was a little disappointing - so I'm going to have to give this place a 4.8

We talked about Benjamin Steakhouse for the next 2 days - how we were going back for every holiday, birthday and anniversary b/c it was THAT good. I was sitting on my couch thinking that there HAD TO be others that were just as good... so...
I made a list.
I know I know - Sounds silly, right? And my husband looked at me like I was completely out of my mind but I don't care. When I want a good piece of meat, I WANT a good piece of meat.
Strangely, I don't feel this way about ALL foods. I'm more picky when it comes to Steak and Burgers - and sometimes seafood. I'm not AS picky when it comes to - - French... or American, or Italian. Actually, let me re-phrase, I'm picky, just not as SNOBBY.

As for steakhouses that I've never been to but read good write-ups from bloggers and critics:
1) Old Homestead
2) Del Frisco
3) Strip House
4) Wolfgang’s Steakhouse

I've been to Smith & Wollensky (didn't like it), Ruth Chris (was ok), Morton's (eh..), Peter Luger's (loved it), Burton & Doyle (was ok), Bryant and Cooper (Sucked.), Gallaghers (don't remember it - that's how good it was)

And my burger list? Are you ready???
1) Del Frisco
2) Peter Luger's
3) Aureole's
4) Smith & Wollensky’s
5) Old Homestead
6) DB Bistro
7) Rare Bar & Grill
8) All American Drive-In (Massapequa)
9) Bourbon Streeet
12) The Spotted Pig
13) Minetta Tavern
14) Bar Six
15) Burger Joint
16) Royale
17) JG Melon
12) The Spotted Pig
13) Minetta Tavern
14) Bar Six
15) Burger Joint
16) Royale
17) JG Melon
I'm sure I'm missing a couple.
So far, my favorite places to eat a good cheeseburger is @ Donovan's in Bayside and Tavern 18 in New Hyde Park.

2 Deli's I would like to try are:
Kat’s Deli and
Kensington Kosher Deli

And I'd definitely like to try Aqua Grill and Smokin' Al's...
Can't believe that one little meal @ Benjamin's got me this way!!