Bittersweet Moments Sweetened With Mini's Cupcakes

Today is my last Thursday at work. Meaning, tomorrow is my last day at my current employer. There have been definite highs and lows at my job. The highs, absolutely being the opportunity to meet and work with some of the most magnificent people I will ever come into contact with.
Evidence of this?

Mini's Cupcakes. My favorite Salt Lake cupcakery, for good reason.

Why do I love Mini's? I've eaten about a million cupcakes. Although, it certainly felt like the majority was in a span of two weeks while we were searching out the best cupcake in New York at Serious Eats. I've never been so sugared out in my life. After eating all these cupcakes, and swearing them off for a period of time, I was able to return to Utah, and return to Mini's.

They are the perfect size. Enough to satiate but not so much that you wish you could die or pull all of your teeth after consuming one. More importantly, they are always moist, have excellent flavor balance, and have frosting and ganaches that are blended well and not grainy or sickeningly sweet. As an added bonus, Leslie has incredibly fun and delightful flavors that tease the palate into wanting more.

What did my wonderful friend and co-worker delight me with? From top left: Black & White, S'More Please, Diva. Bottom left: Twister Sister, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Chocoholic. Leslie (the owner and baker) pretty much had my heart when she started combining salty and sweet - and made delicious ganaches.

Mini's also does seasonal flavors. This holiday season, I was fortunate enough to experience a Gingerbread with Cream Cheese, Eggnog (filled with eggnog custard) topped with Eggnog Buttercream (and an optional splash of rum), Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate with Dark Chocolate Peppermint Ganache, and a Dark Chocolate with Nutella spread. Wowee - my heart did little flutters when I saw what was coming out.

Lastly, you should see what my breakfast of champions was completed by. (If you didn't see this coming, you haven't figured me out yet)

New York Wins: Ciao for Now

On the way home from the amazing 4th of July fireworks event in New York City, I had one of those funny "only in New York City" moments.  My husband was out visiting and we had earlier seen a friend   and former coworker post on Facebook that he was also visiting the city.  We'd been at the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating contest that morning so didn't see his post until 5:00 p.m.  Figuring it was too late to catch him we continued on with our plans.  So, what happened?  We randomly run into him while exiting the L at 1st Ave and 14th Street.  Crazy, right?  Out of 8.3 million people we ran into the one we knew.

I swear there's a reason to this story.  As we continued our conversation on how crazy it was, the odds, and also updates on how life was, we discovered that he was visiting his girlfriend who happened to only be living blocks from my apartment.  Since it was late and we were all hot (muggy, humid subway) we concluded that we should have brunch the following morning.  A call around 11ish was arranged (hey, we're not all morning people.)

Insert mention of Ciao for Now.  Ciao for Now happens to be across the street from our friend's place so it became our meeting spot.  Even though it was a Monday, Ciao for Now was kind enough to offer their Brunch Menu (it was after all, a "holiday," sort of).  I ordered the Hungbuster.

 Hand grated potato, rosti style with two sunnyside up eggs on top. Add pork, chicken or veggie sausage or bacon — $2

What did I think?  The eggs were phenomenal.  The bacon exceeded my expectations.  I love bacon but I find that so many places can't seem to get it right - at least, what I deem to be right.  It was perfectly chewy and crispy all at once and thick cut.  I'd return just for that.  I can't say as many positive things about the potato.  We had a discussion over at Serious Eats about hash browns vs. home fries.  The conclusion from our site and discussion was that we preferred home fries when done right but ordered hash browns at places that hadn't mastered home fries.

Sadly, Ciao for Now has not mastered their version of "hash browns."  They were mushy and honestly had an odd flavor.  Sad.

I still give Ciao for Now a thumbs up.  I visited their cute little shop this morning to pick up some cupcakes for a tasting and while their hand grated potatoes were a fail I have a hard time not loving this place.  They are ever so friendly and I can tell the owners take pride in their food.  The cupcakes weren't too shabby either.  The cream cheese frosting on the red velvet cupcake was actually close to perfection.