Baby Shower Cupcakes

November went by in a blur after getting back from a weekend trip to New York (more on that coming soon) to start it off. Here are a couple special things worth mentioning:

  • Krishna organized a little birthday drinks night for me and Weedy at a couple of new-ish places.  First up was Mascot, which moved into the space formerly occupied by my beloved El Caballito! I still miss it so much, but this is a good substitute. Next up we went to À Toi, the secret room behind Coffee, Oysters, Champagne. I did not know this place existed, and legit felt like I was in the movie Clue when we were escorted back to the secret passageway to get there. We had some champs and soaked up the ambiance, then closed the night at King Taps for the most delicious pizza.
  • I guess it was a month of belated birthday treats, because Nicole took me to Louix Louis at the St. Regis Hotel so we could experience The King’s Cake, a 13-layer chocolate cake that she heard about from her co-worker. It was the perfect, decadent birthday dessert.

The King's Cake

  • Kristine’s sister Mae had her baby shower this month and ordered some gender reveal cupcakes (pictured above). I was a little skeptical about how this would work, but it was executed flawlessly. After lunch, all the guests were given a cupcake, with instructions not to bite into it until they got the go-ahead. Once everyone was settled, Mae did a little countdown, and everyone took a bite to reveal the blue filling inside! It was super cute and people were so excited, and it was fun to see how they all took pictures and tagged Mae on Instagram. For my own reference, I used the vanilla cupcake recipe from Smitten Kitchen Everyday, My Favourite Buttercream for the frosting, and my usual homemade marshmallow (tinted blue) for the filling.
  • Jen and I returned to Piano Piano for an absolutely delicious meal. Unfortunately the ravioli I remembered from the last time we visited in 2018 isn’t on the menu anymore, but the orecchiette I had more than made up for it!

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

  • I went to see a live-version of one of my favourite podcasts at the Hot Docs Podcast Festival (on the night of a crazy November snowstorm!). Still Processing a fantastic pod hosted by two culture writers at The New York Times, Jenna Wortham & Wesley Morris. They were even more warm, funny and engaging in real life, but it’s an interesting experience to sit still and listen, when I’m normally baking/cleaning/walking/on the move with Jenna & Wesley in my ears.
  • Kristine and I went to see the Raptors play the Sixers and it was an amazing game! All Finals merch was also 50% off so we bought matching shirts, natch.
  • I read Royal Holiday this month, and it was a super cute, fun read. Picture Meghan Markle’s mom taking a trip to the UK and falling in lust/love with the Queen’s private secretary. Outstanding.

Flashback!