I ♥ Sacramento {Doughbots}

 

Doughbot Doughnuts

2226 10th Street  Sacramento, CA 95818

(916) 444-5157

The first time I heard about Doughbot, it was someone telling me about their White Russian doughnut, The Dude. I had recently watched The Big Lebowski with my husband and naturally The Dude came up in conversation. It was only a matter of days before we visited to try one of these White Russian flavored delicacies.

top: Chocolate Ganache, S'Mores; middle: The Dude, Vanilla Pull-Apart; bottom: Lemon Lavendar Pull-Apart, Chocolate Ganache Pull-Apart

They were a hit with everyone, including the kids, which pretty much guaranteed that Doughbots would be on our breakfast-treat rotation. We have been there enough times to have favorites. Lily's is the Apple Bacon, Tyler's is The Dude, Aaron The Dude and Chili-Chocolate. I, probably not surprisingly, have a couple favorites, Lavendar-Lemon, Vegan Vanilla Bean, and as of today, S'Mores. And Chili-Chocolate. And, and...ok, I like em all.

If you live in mid-town and order at least a dozen they will deliver. That's right doughnuts by delivery. Thank God I don't live in midtown. Seriously, I dodged a bullet on this one. They are also offering a BOGO through the Downtown Grid. Information that would have been useful to me this morning. Information is power. Doughnut eating power.

That's right, getting S'mored right in front of you. That's service.

The money shot. Ok, maybe not.

Like mother, like daughter. Brings a tear to my eye.

Round two included more of the same for the family.
I was a good girl and stuck with my one S'more.

Quite possibly the kids' favorite part, drawing a robot for the line and then trading for a much cooler one (quite possibly) sketched by a local artist.

 

I ♥ Sacramento {Squeeze Inn}

Squeeze Inn, Sacramento

5301 Power Inn Road  Sacramento, California

(916) 386-8599

Monday Thru. Friday-  10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday - 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday Closed

According to Google maps I live 1.6 miles or 5 minutes away from the Squeeze Inn. Their old location was about 3 minutes from my house. And yet, until my sister's 13th Birthday Extravaganza last week, I had never been. This is probably a good thing, because for someone who hates to eat meat as much as I do I still have a soft spot in my stomach for a good hamburger. And bacon. Now that I have finally had a Squeeze With Cheese I can't wait to get another one, and that can't be good for my waistline.

We got there right at 12, which was clearly the lunch rush. Even so, we only had to wait a few minutes before the one and only booth was available. It gave us time to look around at all the crazy wall decor that every hole-in-the-wall place holds so dear. This one mostly boasted a lot of family photos (someone's in the military!) and pictures of customers around the world in their Squeeze Inn t-shirts.

There is also a well deserved wall of fame, note the bright blue "Access" paper. The old location was the scene of a lawsuit  (which was later dropped) for not being handicapped accessible, so surely they are most proud of their new accessible location, no?

 The menu dosen't stop at Squeezeburgers, which was a surprise to me, because there was not one single person sitting down to lunch that didn't have a SWC and a basket of fries. I noticed you could get a veggie burger with cheese, but I think a part of my soul would die if I ate a veggie burger at a place like Squeeze Inn. 

The Famous Squeeze With Cheese. Half was more than enough!

I am really happy that the burger didn't disapoint. It was delicious and cheesy and just greasy enough to be enjoyable, but not so greasy I felt dirty after eating it. The four of us shared a large basket of fries on the waitresses recommendation (I'm a sucker for the up-sell) but I should have follwed my gut and gotten the small. The real star of the show is the burger; we just weren't all that into the fries.

Upon coming home and telling my husband about our day he looked wounded and said "You went to Squeeze Inn? Without me?" I know. Very sad.

Our booth was actually the original entryway!

Thumbs up! Can you tell my sister is over it and just wants to eat lunch?

I wish I could say that I planned the whole "pinkies out" thing for the picture. But no. I am that fake-pretentious enough that I eat like this unwittingly on a regular basis. According to my mother I held my bottles pinkies out as a baby.

Waffles {Recipe Box}

 Did you ever have breakfast for dinner as a kid? I have fond memories of my mom making a bacon and egg scramble for us some nights. We always thought it was so special and fun, when in reality it was probably less  for the novelty if it as much as because it was time to go to the grocery store. 

I can relate. 

Sort of, anyway. It's because we went to the grocery store that we had all the ingredients on hand for waffles. The pantry got slim when swim season started thus making Saturday morning waffles an impossibility. I'm not one to wait when an idea strikes me, so waffles for dinner it was. Aaron is usually on waffle and pancake duty due to my tendency to burn them, but he was busy tonight so I risked it and made them myself. We usually use the good old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook version, but being the rules breaker I am, I modified it quite a bit and luckily it yielded good results - everyone had seconds, even the kids.

Whole Grain Waffles

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
• 2tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs, seperated
•  2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup cooking oil
•  
•  directions 1. In a medium bowl stir together flour, oat bran, flax meal, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.
  2. In another medium bowl beat egg yolks slightly; stir in milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be slightly lumpy).  In a small bowl whip eggs whites until stiff peaks form, fold into batter. Do not over mix, you want to see some of the egg whites throughout.
  3. Pour 1 to 1 1/4 cups batter onto grids of a preheated, lightly greased waffle baker (use a regular or Belgian waffle baker). Close lid quickly; do not open until done. Bake according to manufacturer's directions. When done, use a fork to lift waffle off grid. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm.
  4. Makes 12 to 16 (4-inch) waffles

We ate our waffles with strawberry and blueberry compote, Nutella and a little dollop of plain yogurt sweetened with honey.  Pretty fabulous dinner, if I say so myself. The waffles have a nice crispy outside, which is how we like them. The compote was perfect on top; I think without it the waffles may have been too dry.

I ♥ Sacramento {Magpie Caterers}

Earlier this month we went to the wedding of two of our dear friends. Their reception was at Beatnik Studios and was catered by Magpie Cafe.  The food was the best wedding food I have ever tasted and quite possibly the best food I have ever tasted. Ever. I have been hearing buzz about Magpie since their opening, but had never made it down to the cafe to try it out for myself. Stupid, stupid me! I could have been eating there all this time! Since then I have made it my mission to find an excuse to go there. Unfortunately for me the soonest excuse I could come up with was our anniversary last week.

We had dinner reservations at The Grange already, but decided to stop in at Magpie beforehand, anyway. Lucky for us it was still happy hour, so we got the specials - the Artisan Cured Meats (above) and the Smoked Trout (below) both of which were amazing. We both preferred the salami of the two meats, but didn't dislike the other enough not to eat every last bit.

Magpie Catering and Cafe uses all (or mostly) seasonal and local ingredients from Northern California. Many restaurants are doing this now, but I am hearing from friends and family that Magpie does it best. I have to say that I can't disagree.

Having had a delicious dinner at our friends' wedding just a few weeks ago, we were ok with having to part ways with Magpie at just the appetizers. We can't wait to go back for dinner soon.

Magpie Cafe
1409 R Street, Suite 102
Sacramento CA 95811

Phone: 916-452-7594
Fax: 916-452-1835 hello@magpiecaterers.com

I ♥ Sacramento {Taco Tuesday - El Herradero}

Hi everybody, As Claire mentioned my little guy and I were busy fighting off a cold that felt like consumption but we made it through and I believe that deserves a little celebrating… with tacos. Of course!

Today’s stop is a little place on Arden, just past Bell called El Herradero. There are several reasons I am a Herradero fan and first up is the décor. Herradero is in a stretch of Arden that best described as “auto-mall wasteland” and yet despites it’s shady local and super-cramped quarters the inside is wonderful. It’s filled with original paintings of horses and was obviously decorated with love and care.

Sometimes it’s the little things, right?

The second thing I love above El Herradero are their ceviche tostadas. The ceviche is fresh and clean and you usually get to choose between fish, shrimp or my favorite “combinado!” I know some of you are feeling uncomfortable with me eating “tostadas” on a taco tour and I understand that. It’s ca-razy rule breaking behavior.

Don’t worry. Their tacos are good too. In particular people rave about the carnitas, but don’t take my word for it, go check it out yourself and report back your favorites!

-Emily from NotoriousMLE

I ♥ Sacramento Guest Post {Taco Tuesdays: Chando's Tacos}

For the next few Tuesdays, I am pleased to have my friend Emily guest posting her favorite taquerias in the Arden-Arcade area. Since it's my birthday week, trust me I'll be using that leverage to get me a taco or two for dinner this week!

Hi everybody I’m Emily Perez from NotoriousMLE and I’m so happy to be here guesting at Glitter and Grunge. Claire does such a great job pointing out SacTown highlights that I thought I’d join the fun and take you on a Taco Tour of the Arden area. You like tacos, don’t you? Of course you do. So let’s go!

Chando's Tacos

Our first stop is Chando’s Tacos. Located in a weird industrial strip west of the Capital City Freeway Chando’s blithely oblivious red and yellow paint job is a welcome relief for hungry travelers.

When you get there they will be blasting salsa. Non-Spanish speakers might not know this but salsa is not commonly played at taquerias, and good salsa is even more rare. I know you don’t know me but you must trust me! My husband is Colombian. I know of what I speak. I took my friend Jason to Chando’s last week and when he heard the music he turned to me excitedly and said, “Oh, it is so on.”

Indeed. There was a point when I thought I’d have to remind him we were there for lunch and not dancing.

Am I boring you with my salsa-blabber? Don’t worry. There’s so much more at Chando’s then ambiance! In fact I haven’t gotten to the most important part yet: their mouth-wateringly delicious tacos. Chando’s is literally a walk-up window with a patio in the back. Since they are tight on space they grill the meat on a spit in front of the stand. This means your taco meat is being produced approximately three feet away from Arden Way. Amazing, no?

They are literally street tacos.

Messy Mulitas

I spent a summer in Mexico City and when I’m at Chando’s it all comes flooding back, the smoky grill, the blasting music, the traffic and most of all the kind of tacos that you just can’t eat fast enough. In addition to tacos, quesadillas (excellent ones) and tortas they also serve a wonder of modern Mexico that they call mulitas. Mulitas are a quesadilla/taco hybrid. They are messy and delicious and everything you didn’t know you needed. But you need one. You need one bad.

On that dramatic note I bid you ado, but I’ll be back later to bring you two more taquerias worth trying in the Arden area!

Emily Perez

NotoriousMLE

Notoriously Loud. Notoriously Sleepy.

Notoriously Ready to Eat at All Times.

I ♥ Sacramento {Block o' Sweets}

1801 L Street, Suite 70

What?  You've never heard of the Block o' Sweets and surely with a name like that, if it existed you'd know about it? Ok, so it's not exactly an official name but, trust me, it exists. Specifically, it's the block on L Street that houses TreyBCakes, Ginger Elizabeth Chocolate and Yogurtagogo among other great businesses the names of which I don't know, probably becuase they don't sell sweets. Yes, I have a one track mind at times. Sue me.

I'll take the whole tray!

Trey B Cakes probably wins the distinction of being my favorite place on the block mostly because it's open late. Not that I'm out late every often or anything, but it's nice knowing that a place with treats just as good (maybe even better) as Rick's is also open until the wee hours of the morning (or midnight. I have three kids. That is the wee hours for me.).

I regularly get the LuLu Cupcake, the grownup version of a Hostess Cupcake. Husband likes the  gelato, which I have yet to try. He's not very good at sharing sometimes. 

1801 L Street, Suite 60

Seeing as Chocolate is its own food group at our house Ginger Elizabeth's probably should be my favorite, but as an excellent artisan chocolatier it has excellent artisan prices, which is to say not at all excellent.

Now don't let that discourage you from going and trying the Coconut Curry (my personal favorite) or the tamer Lavendar, just know that this is a special occasion kind of place. The macaroons are delicious as well. They are the traditional french kind, which make me feel all fancy like Marie Antoinette, but with less tragedy.

1801 L Street, Suite 9

 And lastly, we have Yogurtagogo, which is our kids favorite. Making their own frozen yogurt with toppings will always win out in kid world. And frequently in husband world. Whenever it's open it's his poison of choice.

It's good, but there isn't enough chocolate there for me.

Please don't blog this, mom. You are embarrassing me.

Mad Tea for Baby

              

It's been so quiet on the blog for awhile partially becuase I was getting ready for a Mad Tea party shower in honor of the adorable new mom up there, Amanda. I'm sure she's not glad I took this picture, but I am, becuase she is too cute. The morning of the baby shower this woman ran a half marathon. Yeah. I know. She is amazing. Or crazy, but mostly amazing ;)

She's 28 weeks along, which is traditionally early for baby showers (so I am told) but being one to buck the system (take that, system!) and the fact that her BFF Nikki was in town and could be my co-planner extraordinaire, well, we went for it. I am so glad we did, not only do Nikki and I work spectacularly well together, it was just a fun time. And we all know how much I love a fun time. (A lot in case you didn't know).

Nikki has much better photos than I do on her blog, A Revolution of Self, so definitely check them out. She also ran the half marathon with Amanda and Amanda's husband, Jasen.

Nikki is inspiring herself, as she has recently reached some lifelong health goals which included becoming a vegan. She and her husband, Jordan are leaving in August to begin a new life as missionaries in Manila, Philippines. I am so excited to follow their journey on her blog and Jordan's (the link of which I can't find. Help anyone?). God is doing truly awesome things in Manila and they get to be a huge part of that.

You can see Nikki's enthusiasm for what she and Jordan have been called to do whenever she talks about her future home. I love love love talking to her. I love having such inspirational friends. That's what friends are for right? To love you for who you are, while still inspiring you to be a better person. At least I really feel that way about mine.

Since Nikki is a vegan I tried to buy or make lots of vegan treats for the party. The biggest hit of all was the peanut butter fudge our friend Megan made. Amanda's favorite treat combo is chocolate and peanut butter, so we had plenty of that. She also loves almond macaroons, which I got her (and forgot to give her so they went stale in my purse. Very sad) and I made an Almond Amaretto cake, which is a favorite in my family.

Both these recipes are so simple it would be a crime for you not to try them out. I haven't yet attempted the Amaretto Cakeas vegan, so that was the normal recipe.

I didn't get any picture of the fudge, probably becuase I was too busy stuffing my face with it. There were leftovers but I was too consumed with hiding it from my family to think about taking pictures of it. 


Megan's So Good You Will Be Driven To Hiding It From Others Peanut Butter Fudge
Melt equal parts of (vegan)

Chocolate Chips
Peanut Butter
with 1-2 T Maple Syrup

Let set. Cut up into little delicious pieces and try not to eat it all at once.SO SIMPLE. Dangerously so.

Amaretto Cake
1 Yellow Cake Mix, prepared as directed on the box, but baked in a bundt pan
(I usually get Trader Joes or Bob's Mill cake mixes)
1/2 cup Slivered Almonds
1 cup of good quality Amaretto
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 water

Grease the bundt pan and spread the slivered almonds across the bottom of the pan (it will create a pretty crust) before pouring the cake into the pan for baking.

Over med/low heat bring the water and sugar to a simmer until the sugar dissolves. If you want to keep the kick of alcohol in the cake, add the amaretto after the sugar is dissolved and begins to become slightly syrupy. If you want to cook off all the alcohol, then add all the ingredients at once. Cook it all down until it covers the back of a metal spoon (sort of like pancake syrup).

When the cake is cooled, but still warm, take it out of the bundt pan and slowly begin brushing the cake with the syrup allowing it to soak in. When you finally get tired of that (usually about 30 minutes for me) just dump what's leftover over the top of the cake.It'll still be delish.

I ♥ Sacramento {Krushburger - formerly Mini Burger Truck}

Given last weekend's (almost too) hugely successful SactoMoFo, I thought I should talk about one of the real bright spots of the day, Mini Burger Truck. Twitter was on fire for them and if you have ever had the pleasure of catching up to the truck, you know why
. 

I have been following Mini Burger Truck on twitter for awhile and literally following where they were, patiently waiting for them to tweet a location near me, so I could see what all the fuss is about. Finally, a few weeks back, they tweeted a location practically around the corner from me at the Broadway DMV, so I zipped out to the DMV offices on 50th and Broadway. 

I was on a major time crunch as my husband was home that morning, but would soon be on his way to an afternoon meeting. Seeing as 50th and Broadway was only a few blocks from our house I figured I'd be fiiiiine. Plenty of time.

Not. They were at the other DMV office on 24th and Broadway. Fail. Well, sort of. I still got our burgers, but I made the hubs late to his meeting. Oh the things I do for a good lunch.

I don't have better pics of the burgers since I had to basically grab them and run back to my car, where I was yelled at for parking illegally (or at least in a private lot), drive as fast as was (legally) possible to get home to my hubby, hand him his lunch so he could drive as fast as was (legally) possible to his meeting, while (unwisely) eating while he drove. They were good enough burgers that he wasn't mad at me for making him late, so that says something.

p.s. When you attempt this, be smarter than me and check their schedule. You could double check on twitter since the city's lame food truck rules prohibit staying on one place longer than 30 minutes, but the online schedule is pretty helpful.

p.p.s. Because I know you are dying to know we got one of each of their regular menu burgers and the monthly burger, which at that time was the Phat Pig. We also got a side of sweet potato tots. Oh. My. Yum.
 

I ♥ Sacramento {Getty Owl Foundation}

Sweet Getty and her mom, Kate

Whatever your opinion is of Sacramento there is one thing that I think everyone should agree on – Sacramentans care about each other and the world. Sure we have lots of problems, what city doesn't?  Yet we try very hard to make sure our homeless population is cared for through numerous charities and church ministries, hours after the disasters in Haiti and Japan local bloggers and residents were already organizing relief fundraisers, and when we hear about little ones in our community suffering, we pitch in to help however we can.

Sacramento blogger Stacey Ball is no different and has started the Getty Foundation in honor of her friend’s sweet baby girl, Getty, who was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) when she was four months old.

The Getty Foundation website describes SMA as “an inherited disease that causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. Infants, like Getty, with SMA Type 1 (SMA1), the most severe type of SMA, are born with very little muscle tone and weak muscles. They develop feeding and breathing problems as the weakness gets worse over time. The weakness eventually becomes severe.

There is no cure or treatment for SMA. The lifespan with SMA1 is seldom longer than 2 – 3 years.”

For parents of newly diagnosed children this news is shocking and completely devastating to say the least. When little Getty’s parents got the news Stacey knew she needed to help however she could and the idea for The Getty Foundation began to take shape. Please visit the Getty Owl website for more information on Getty and the Storm family’s journey with SMA.

The Getty Owl Foundation was established in February of 2011 with the goal of raising money to assist families who are newly diagnosed as well as fund research for a cure for SMA.  Getty is not personally benefitted from funds raised for The Getty Foundation, though there is a place to donate for Getty specifically on the Foundation website. Both the Sacramento crafting community and blogging community at large has come together for Getty in a very beautiful way.

Getty just celebrated her first birthday on March 25th (yay Getty!) with a special giveaway filled birthday party held virtually on the foundation blog.

Coming soon is  the release of the "Lullabies for Getty-Sweetwater Child" album available to download on iTunes. I have heard a few songs from this album and it is truly not one to be missed. Absolutely beautiful! You can get a little listen yourself on the Getty Blog.

If you are interested in joining us in helping The Getty Foundation please consider participating in any of these upcoming events:

June 11th: 2nd Annual GETty Crafty at Fremont Park from 10am to 3pm.

August 13th: SMA Awareness Night and SMA Art Auction: meeting at the capital and walking through the streets of 2nd Saturday to support awareness.  There will also be an art exhibit by children and parents with SMA, live music and crafts at various locations in Midtown.

September 19th: 2nd Annual Getty Owl Golf Tournament at Granite Bay Golf Club

December 4th: Team Getty runners will be participating in the California International Marathon.  There are 80 runners currently with more signing up every day.

February 26, 2012: First Annual Getty Owl Run: Quarter Mile Kids Race/5K/10K with post race family festival.

If you would like more information on any of these events please email Stacey at hoot@gettyowl.org.