Blackberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I've been wanting to try Williams-Sonoma's Big Blueberry Muffins recipe for a couple of weeks now, but the summer heat has kept me from turning on my oven. Today I gave in. I had guests coming over and I thought muffins would be a nice parting gift. Upon gathering the ingredients and inspecting the quality of my blueberries, I noticed that they were a little overripe and came up with an alternative. Blackberries and chocolate chips.

My guests loved them. Success! If you'd like to try the blackberry and chocolate chip version, omit the blueberries and use 3/4 cup blackberries cut into blueberry size and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Add the berries and chocolate to the flour mixture and then fold in the other ingredients. Enjoy!

Mission Valley Cafe

 

I've been told that I should try Lakeside Cafe however, I'm rarely in that part of town. Normally we stay in Mission Valley for breakfast or venture out for an ocean view with our meal. Mission Valley Cafe opened last month and it's the same as the Lakeside Cafe. They are both owned by San Diego Home Cooking. Check out their site for more locations and the entire menu. 

I ordered the Baja omelette. It's filled with bacon, Ortega chilies, fresh tomatoes, jack cheese, and topped with avocado. So good! With an omelette comes your choice of bread or pancakes AND one of many breakfast potato options, fresh fruit, or cottage cheese. Not bad at all. It was enough to share with my kiddo and not have to order a separate meal for him. 

The service was outstanding. Everyone greeted us on the way in and we got a round of thank you's on the way out. 

The interior of the restaurant is contemporary. I was shocked. I thought it was going to look like an IHOP or Denny's but it was really nice. They even have a great bar where you can grab a couple of drinks and an outside patio where your pets can dine with you. 

I'm definitely coming back. Can't go wrong with good food, good service, and a central location.

Stella Cupcakes

 A blogger, Apollinas.com has created a tribute to Stella McCartney's citrus fruit spring pattern with a cake. She made a citrus cake with lemon curd filling and lemon orange butter cream. Please check out the link to see her beautiful work and her adapted recipes.
I made these tasty treats and packaged them up as favors for my birthday. They were well received. :)

• To make the cake, I used a white cake mix. I added 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese and 2 tablespoons orange zest in addition to the egg whites, oil, and water the recipe already calls for. *Save those oranges for the OJ you will need for the butter cream frosting. When baking the cake, lower the temperature of your over by 25-50 degrees than the recommended temperature on the box. This will help the cupcakes rise with a flat surface instead of a hill. The hill is a harder to decorate.

• Here's the link to the lemon curd recipe I use or can use the one given by Apollinas.

• I followed her recipe for butter cream to the letter and it came out beautifully. It was creamy, buttery, and had just the right of citrus flavor. Gorgeous.

• When shopping for your fruit, pick the tiniest lemons, limes, and cuties possible. The cupcakes give you very little room for decorating. The original version of this was done on a 10 inch cake so she could have more surface area for fruit and mint. 

• If you choose to fill your cupcakes, check out this link for helpful tips. It's a little more work but makes the cupcakes much more flavorful.

I know you'll enjoy these baked, filled, and frosted gems. Perfect for summer.