Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Easter Desserts

For Easter dinner at my grandparents' house I made an Apricot-Coconut Cake with a whipped cream and sour cream frosting. Some people don't like coconut (2 people, it turns out) so I only put coconut on half of the cake.



When I took the first few pictures, I thought the toasted coconut looked like hair so I made a face out of jellybeans.





Here are some pictures of the sliced cake. The filling between the layers is apricot preserves.

With coconut



Without coconut

The day before Easter, I helped one of my friends make a Coconut Cake with cream chese frosting and topped with untoasted coconut.



My grandmother made some Mexican bread pudding or Capirotada. Her version is made with raisins and pecans.




All the desserts were delicious!




Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Dewey's Pizza

Dewey's Pizza
18516 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood, OH 44107
216-228-2299
Dinner; April 12, 2009
Party of Two


Candied Walnut and Grape Salad



Half Socrates Revenge and half Wild Mushroom pizza

Even though I've been to the Dewey's on the eastside for both eat-in and take away many many times, I've never taken pictures or written a review of the place. I guess I had to go to the westside location to get the job done.

Dewey's has some of the best pizza around. Both locations have windows where you can watch the dough being tossed and the rest of the pizza making taking place. In fact, both stores have a similar look to them. Comfy, bright and cheery.

You can't really tell from the picture I took, but the crust is thin like a New York pizzeria. It's that magic blend of crispy and chewy and a perfect base for the white or red sauce and lots of toppings. Our pizza had a boatload of toppings. The pies never want for toppings, but this was a little ridiculous in a good way.

You can order any pizza as a half with any other pizza regardless of whether one has red sauce and one has white sauce. I always get at least half a Wild Mushroom pizza unless I'm ordering with someone who hates the smell of garlic. I prefer the white sauce, but the red sauce is good too.

I've had most, if not all, of their salads, which are truly phenomenal. The candied walnut and grape is one that I've ordered frequently. Diner 2 has a walnut allergy so we got them on the side. I ate them all.

The menu always includes a seasonal salad and pizza. I hope they bring back their strawberry and macadamia nut salad because that was killer.

I don't like to get negative in my reviews, but I will say that I was sorely disappointed with my westside Dewey's experience because they did not have my beloved Barq's Red Cream Soda on tap. They have Mr. Pibb on the westside! Who prefers Mr. Pibb? I told the waitress, "That's why Cleveland Heights is better."

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Bloodsuckers!

On taxday from 10 AM - 6 PM at the Powerhouse, the Red Cross is holding their 12th annual Bloodsuckers Buffet. It's one of their biggest blood drives, and their goal this year is 300 pints.

But donating is only a small part of the reason to go. Everyone who attempts to give blood gets a goodie bag filled with all sorts of fun stuff. Okay, it's mostly coupons and bumper stickers. And a t-shirt! Also a pen! There are door prizes where I've won anything from cds to tickets to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The buffet part of the event is always good, and they even have the Lorna Doones and Oreos you get at most drives.

I'm already signed up to try to donate in the early afternoon. They take walk-in donors, but you can make an appointment at the American Red Cross website. If you see a gal with a couple phlebotomists inspecting her arms for a good vein, it's probably me.