Welcome to Home Skillet,
where a cupcake a day keeps the stretch pants in play. Peep my recap of a weekend event, plus a few previews of upcoming ones.
Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes: I shouldered the monstrously challenging task of judging cupcakes bright and early Saturday morning, as part of the Girls on the Run 5K. Girls on the Run is a program for girls in third through eighth grades that extols healthy living through physical training and health education. Twice a year, all their hard work culiminates with a 5K event.
Saturday marked the group’s fifth anniversary, so they invited a dozen local bakers to donate cupcakes in celebration. My job was, while more than 1,100 participants ran their butts off for an amazing cause, to stuff my face with cupcakes. Rough life, isn’t it?
I was blown away first by the amazing quality and craftmanship of the entries. The bakers truly did an incredible job capturing the spirit and ambition of Girls on the Run. Kid after kid approached the cupcake tables with mouth agape and eyes wide as pastry plates. I was just as impressed. The kids, however, couldn’t eat the goodies until after the race. There’s something inherently evil about eating cupcakes in front of kids who aren’t allowed any. But I pressed through. Here are some pictures I took.
Here’s a side view of one of the cupcake tables. Note the eye-popping watermelon-ish color theme.
This fondant-wafer-topped red velvet whoopie pie entry came courtesy of Desserts By Dana, whose Dana Herbert we profiled way back here. These won my Best Tasting Cupcake award.
These happy ladies were from Centreville Cafe. That’s candy and cereal pieces making up the facial features there. There were at least two dozen of these guys, and each one was unique. Very cool.
This. I mean, wow. This deceptive little number came from Papa’s Pastry Shop in Wilmington. At the very center of the show is a layer of Rice Crispy treat, topped with an entire layer of whole cupcakes. The whole thing was frosted with icing and embellished with fondant. Amazing. Probably garnered the coolest reactions all morning.
But alas, there can only be one winner, and these beauties were my choice. Visually striking, nice clean lines, bright colors, and dangerously delicious. Everything you look for in a cupcake. These were made by Karen Lord, who’s Cupcake Boutique is so new, she’s still running it from her home. I predict big things for Karen. To order cupcakes similar to the ones above, or for your own completely adorable ones, contact Cupcake Boutique at cupcakeboutique@verizon.net.
A huge thank you to Liz Baldwin, for letting me become involved in such a great event, and an even huge-r thumbs up to all the 5K participants. I will gladly do your dirty work (i.e. consuming 12 cupcakes) while you go out and burn all those calories. See you next anniversary for sure.
Wednesday, November 18: Wilmington’s recurring party people at Union City Grille will host Grapes and Cultures Wednesday, a tag-team affair with Frank’s Union Wine Mart that will showcase international wines (that’s the grapes) and cheeses (and that’s the cultures).
Here’s the count: 30 wines, 15 cheeses, eight Scotches and six Taza organic chocolates. It shall be a proper wine and cheese gathering with classic accompaniments like antipasti, quince paste, Melba toast and more. The best part is, it only costs $24 per person including tax, gratuity and parking.
Call the Grille at 654-9780 for more and to make your reservation.
Wednesday, November 18: Chris Campbell of C&P Wines, a prodigious wine importer, will invade Domaine Hudson Wednesday for a Spanish wine fiesta.
Chef Jason Borrowcliff is whipping up a classic Spanish five-course menu to compliment the wines, which will be available for sale by the bottle. The cost is $65 per person (plus gratuity) for five courses and five wines. I’m hearing the dinner is already selling out quickly, so call 655-9463 to reserve with great alacrity.
Wednesday, November 18: Tom Abel is one caring dude. His Clif Abel Holiday Shopping Fund, a program he and his family began 15 years ago, raises money to help some 40 needy families with holiday shopping.
On Wednesday at 6 p.m., Greenville’s hoppin’ BBC Tavern and Grill will host a special guest bartending night to benefit The Clif Abel Children’s Fund. A $15 donation gets you entry, a complimentary drink, raffle tickets and lots of general fun and merriment.
Saturday, November 21: Andrea Perrier, wife of the famous Georges Perrier, is launching her line of gourmet sorbets at Janssen’s Market Saturday. Both the chef and his lovely wife will be on hand scooping out some free samples.
Until recently, the Perriers’ sweet creations could only be found in Georges’ Le Bec Fin in Philly, but Andrea and her partner, Kelly MacLeod, formed Pure Gourmet to help put some of the family’s delectables onto grocery shelves.
Four flavors—pear ginger, tropical, mojito and a decadent chocolate caramel swirl will be available for taste and purchase.
