Gluten-Free Confetti Vanilla Cupcake from Frosted Cupcakery

 Is it me or is gluten intolerance on the rise?
What seemingly started as a diet fad a few years back, along with simply cutting simple carbs, people who didn't have Celiac disease started eliminating gluten from their food intake.
These days  more and more people, at least here in the States, are cutting out gluten and most of those people, who I've encountered, do not have Celiac disease. This could be and very probably is due to the type of wheat the United States produces in mass production versus the type of  mass produced wheat in Europe. The predominant wheat variety grown, produced and sold in the U.S. is hard red wheat which is naturally higher in gluten content compared to the standard softer wheats commonly consumed in Europe. Why does the United States choose hard red wheat for national consumption while there are better, healthier options for consumers?
The U.S. uses hard red wheat instead of softer wheats because it is cheaper.
Yet another harsh example of big fish cashing in while hindering the health of the American public.

Gluten-free Vanilla Confetti Cupcake from Frosted 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

And that's just the wheat itself.
Part of the processing procedure of wheat in the United States is fortification. Fortified foods are tricky because what's not healthy about adding more nutrients to foods? Right?
Sure, to an extent. An extent that has been long over extended here in the States.
The food fortification process first strips naturally occuring nutirents from foods then adds them back. However, nutrients (vitamins and minerals) that are added to fortified foods are synthetic.

 
Is wheat from America making and keeping people (Americans) sick? It hasn't always been that way. If we are in fact going to be making America great again, how about we start with making the wheat that we the people eat great again. 

Gluten-free Vanilla Confetti Cupcake from Frosted 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

In turn, with gluten intolerance on the rise we've also seen a rise in gluten free foods. From breads and pastas, crackers, tortillas and even desserts: gluten free goods are available at a grocery store near you. That is if you can afford those GF foods and if there is a grocery store near you. 

Frosted Cupcakery in Long Beach offers monthly GF cupcake flavor and January's flavor was confetti vanilla. I love a good flourless chocolate cake and I love bright colors, confetti and sprinkles so I had to find out about this gluten free vanilla cupcake. 

Gluten-free Vanilla Confetti Cupcake from Frosted 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Every bite had me pondering if this cupcake tasted like "normal" cupcakes. The cake was just buttery enough, the frosting creamy enough. One thing that really stood out was the amount of confetti sprinkles inside the cake. So many!
If I hadn't known that it was a gluten free cupcake I don't think I would have detected any difference at all. 

Frosted's February GF flavor is Strawberry Cream Cheese: gluten-free strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting. If the gluten-free version is anything like their gluten-filled version, all you gluten-free friends are in for a tasty treat. 

Frosted Cupcakery 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The cupcakery does have a sign posted on the display case warning that their GF and vegan goodies are baked in the same kitchen as their regular flavors. If you have been diagnosed with Celiac disease enjoy GF cupcakes from Frosted with caution. 

Bob Dylan's A Complete Unknown Revolution

 Last Christmas we all got the gift of reliving musical history by way of the Bob Dylan biopic, "A Complete Unknown". Thanks to my Dad's teachings when I was a little girl, I grew up knowing who Bob Dylan is and am of course familiar with his big hits , "Like a Rolling Stone", "The Times They Are A - Changing" and even more obscure ones like "Tangled Up In Blue" and "Mr. Tambourine Man" but I don't really know much about the man or his music. I know he's Jakob Dylan's dad, lead singer of The Wallflowers. I've always known he's a big deal; I mean he is Bob Dylan after all. I knew that he has a unique voice and somewhere in my memory banks is a distant recolection of hearing something along the lines of him not being the most friendly guy. 

Honestly I didn't have a desire to see the film leading up to its release. I'm not necessarily a fan of Timothee Chalamet and less of a fan of the fact he's currently dating a Kardashian sister. After hearing that my Dad wanted to see it and then that my boss, who used to tour the world with her bands, saw it and thought it was good, I decided I might as well see it while it was still in theaters. If there was a time to learn about Bob Dylan, it was now. 

And what better place to see it than the single screen movie theater, The Art Theatre in Long Beach. Out of the handful of people who were at the same Sunday evening screening of the now Golden Globe nominated film, I was one of if not the youngest person there.
Two and a half hours later I was awestruck. The acting is great on all accounts: Norton, Fanning, Barbaro. Though it took me a little while to totally suspend my disbelief, after a while I sort of forgot that I was watching Timothee Chalamet. I was watching the story of Bob Dylan. As Dylan got a little older in the movie, his hair a little more poofy, then I was really able to suspend my disbelief. 

Heading into the movie, I thought about what genre of music Bob Dylan fits into based on what I did know. I knew he was a little bit country, he liked the harmonica and he was also a little bit rock N roll. And again, I knew he was, he is, a big deal in the music world. 

Not that there wasn't dialogue throughout the movie, because there was, but Bob didn't say very much. We didn't really get to know him and after a while you come to understand that's how he wanted it. Bob Dylan is a mysterious character. The most anyone got to know him was through his music. If a movie can be carried by the acting skills of it's cast with little dialogue or main characters with fewer lines than others it usually makes for a good movie.  Bob Dylan's style, story and approach played right into that. When he did talk, Chalamet's portrayal of Dylan, from what I know, was pretty spot on. Monotone, mumbly and gravely with ahint of an undisclosed  drawl when he spoke translated to his earnestly sang songs all of which Chamelet took on himself. Every song heard in "A Complete Unknown" was sung by the actors.

Elle Fannings character, Suze, has a couple of key non-dialogued scenes bookended in the movie. Both have to do with not wanting to trust her gut instinct of betrayal, however being moved to tears makes it hard to ignore. It's powerfully moving when the viewer knows exactly what a character in a movie is thinking and feeling with no words spoken. When you can feel the emotions through acting sans words, that's good acting.

I wish we would have gotten more of an understanding of Edward Norton's character, how he fit into Dylan's story and budding career.  What we got was good and the dynamic between the two elevated the experience of watching them on screen together. Same goes for the character of Woody. The costumes and cinematography took you back in time to the 1960's without a second thought about it. 

The Art Theater in Long Beach
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Starting as a folk musician who wound up being signed by one of the biggest record labels of the time, then CBS Records, now Columbia Records, Dylan, so it seems, has always beat to his own drum. He wrote songs about what was going on around him, personally and interpersonally, as musicians do but he didn't try to play it safe. Feelings and thoughts about what was happening in the world around him: the repercussions of the Vietnam war here at home saw a divided United States on the brink of further civil division as Americans fought for equality for all. The uprising protests of the people against the United States government and its policies could be seen in a wide variety of artistic faucets, including music. When Bob Dylan released "1964's "Times They Are A Changing", "Another Side Of Bob Dylan" and 1965's "Bringing It All Back Home" and "Highway  61 Revisited" he wasn't only breaking out of the folk music mold where people had learned to love him, he was bending and blending genres. He was starting a musical revolution during a revolutionary time in America. One might say that Bob Dylan's music in the mid 1960's fueled the revolution, the protests, the changes. Bob Dylan may have very well played a hand in getting Americans to mobilize and make change. That's the power music has. It brings people together on a common ground of understanding. Did the movie inaccurately depict this movement stemming from one album debuted at a Folk Music Festival? Yes, it did. It is a movie after all. It also gets the point across much like how a loud, angry mob of protestors has the power to get people's attention, get people to actually listen and pay attention to what's going on. 

A Complete Unknown poster at The Art Theater in Long Beach
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The last scene of the movie gave me chills which  multiplied as the credits ran and more facts about Dylan were shared. One of those facts being that he's a Nobel Prize in Literature winner for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition. Bob Dylan didn't let the label he was on control the type of music he'd create whether it be folk, country, blues, rock n roll, acoustic or plugged in, Dylan wrote about what he wanted to write about, sang what he wanted to sing about and played the music that he wanted to play how he wanted to play it. Singing about the world as he saw it, obectively, with very little emotional interference, paved the way for so many others to do the same only in their own way from their own perspective. 

 

I can't remember the last movie I recommended but I started recommending this one to friends almost immediately. One friend said she'd been getting lots of people recommending it to her and that they had been on a Bob Dylan listening kick ever since seeing it. I too was guilty of this as I listened to Bob Dylan for days after seeing "A Complete Unknown" with "Like a Rolling Stone" on heavy rotation and in most cases, with me singing along.

 

In the political atmosphere that America faced then and are currently facing now, his lyrics still have the power of delivering a sense of comfort in the possibly of hope. Maybe, somehow, some good will come out of an administration that's hell-bent on stripping rights away from people. An administration set to diabolically widen the gap between the rich and the not rich.

 An administration of oppression and suppression aimed at keeping the American people dumbed down and barely surviving. Keeping them too worn down to fight or even empower themselves. 
As a woman in this country, a country that re-elected a known rapist, racist, reality TV star billionaire who had Americans attempt to throw over the government because he's a sore loser, I sure do hope that changes are a coming. Change is good but it is hard and to get people to listen, you have to be loud and you can't back down.
In essence, that's what Bob Dylan did and look at him now. 

Since my Dad planned on seeing the movie himself, I got the idea of doing a joint dad and daughter, movie review: someone who doesn't know very much about Bob Dylan and someone who does.

Below is my Dad's take on "A Complete Unknown":

Being born in 1963, my life began almost simultaneously to Bob Dylan's influence on American Culture. The times were heady. Politically John F. Kennedy was delaing with crises in Cuba and Vietnam - and musically, Beatlemania was sweeping the UK and beyond. Bob Dylan's first album, released a year prior, did not establish the artist in any sense of notoriety. But, his 1963 release, The Freewheeling Bob Dylan, served as a catapult - Bob Dylan had arrived. 

The new film by James Mangold, "A Complete Unknown" attempts to tell the story of the celebrated and complicated singer/songwriter's musical comeuppance and generally succeeds in its depictions. 

I am no Dylan aficionado, so I did not recognize many of the filmmakers' innaccuracies surrounding some intricate details of the story. 

Personally, I was intrigued by the insertion, visual and otherwise, of some other folk music artists of the time - Mary Travers, Odetta & Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee - but longed for others like Ramblin' Jack Elliot and John Lee Hooker. Each actor seemed to capture the essence of their character - emotionally, physically and personally. The fact that each of them performed the music and mimicked the likes of Dylan, Joan Baez,  Pete Seeger and Johnny Cash is remarkable. 

Timothee Chalamet portrays the Dylan mystique flawlessly and Ed Norton nails his role as Pete Seeger - the beleaguered musical mentor. Watching the interactions of the two on-screen harkened the idea of Dylan as Seegers' own Tyler Durden - a bold and mysterious alter ego the Seegers struggled to contain. 

The film is not flawless and includes many Hollywood biopic tropes - but it is an acting tour de force. "A Complete Unkown" also achieves another grand accomplishment - it sparks a new generation of interest in the legend, and more importantly, the music of Bob Dylan. And that is a very good thing. 
- review written by Curtis DeMartini

The times are indeed changing.
A mere four days into Trump's second term as the President of the United States of America and we're  witnessing: 
 the largest deportation operation in United States history
 the name change of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America
intolerance of the transexual community
threats of funds being withheld from a devastating natural disaster in a "blue" state
blatant anti-semitism on display for the world to see at the Presidential inauguration 
already high grocery prices on the rise
social media controlled by the government
insurgents being pardoned
Snoop Dogg supporting red

This is only the beginning. 

I for one am eager to see what new music comes out over the next four years and the changes that it can spark. The future doesn't look so bright right now. While these obstacles we're faced to overcome and not succumb to are big and scary and daunting, we can't let that stop us. To quote the great American President Franklin D. Roosevelt " the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". We the people cannot let fear stop us. They want us to be afraid. Afraid and poor, hopeless and powerless.
We can overcome.
It will not be easy, but it has been done before.
We have done it before.

No one is saving us from us USA, it is time to face the music. 

Cutie Pies from Laurie's Pie Bar in Long Beach

 When it comes to holiday time desserts, pies take the cake.
Cupcakes do come in a variety of holiday appropriate flavors like gingerbread, chocolate peppermint and eggnog, there's something about pie that sparks that special yule time joy. 

In search of pie for my Dad's then upcoming Christmas visit I stumbled apon Laurie's Pie Bar in Long Beach. No bakery's holiday menu would be complete without the Thanksgiving classic, pumpkin pie and the Christmas favorite apple pie as found on Laurie's menu along with a an assortment of fruit pies, mousses, meringue and my Dad and I's go to this time of year, pecan pie. 

Cutie Pies from Laurie's Pie Bar in Long Beach
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I almost walked right past the quaint downtown storefrontwhere it's so tiny! All of Laurie's pies are baked from scratch everyday, a fact confirmed when you walk into to the cozy little store because it smells like you walked into a piece of pie!
They have vegan pies, gluten free pies and savory pies. You can get a whole pie, slice of pie or a cutie pie. You can even take a pie making and baking class at Laurie's Pie Bar!

Let's go back to cutie pies...

A Cutie Pie from Laurie's Pie Bar is a grab & go pie. Layered inside a small mason jar filled with a mousse pie: pressed crumbled crust on the bottom, pie filling in the middle topped with and fresh whipped creme to top it off. When you pop the lid off the top of a Cutie Pie it resembles a cupcake which brings us to my review. 

At $10 a pop, I was happy to see that the cuties pies are larger than they appear in photos on-line. I got Banana Cream and my Dad got Mexican Chocolate. Both of the flavors we got are only available as Cutie Pies. 

Holiday activies kept us busy so we didn't get to around to enjoying our Cutie Pies until a few days later. 

Banana Cream Cutie Pie from Laurie's Pies in Long Beach
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I thought for sure the whipped cream topping would be melted and sad looking but when I popped the lid off of the mason jar I was pleased to see the whipped cream was still intact. Spoon in hand I dug right in. The thick layer of banana creme made it tricky to get to the crust at the bottom for a fully rounded bite. Tricky but not impossible. 

The whipped cream was still fresh and there was a lot of it. The banana cream was not overpoweringly banana flavored even with the slices of real banana in the middle of it. The graham cracker crust was crumbly and offered a bit of savoriness and texture to the whole, sweet, creamy,  kit and cabodle. It was a tasty mouthful when all three fit on the spoon. Pressing down once reaching the crust layer helped get all three layers of the goodness in one bite. 

The whole banana cream Cutie Pie itself was rather sutble when it came to it flavor. Even with the thick layer of whipped cream and even thicker layer of banana cream it wasn't overpoweringly sweet either. 

It's not an overdulgent sweet treat which is perfect for this time of year when we overindulge in everything or at least tempted to. I gobbled my Cutie Pie right up and honestly could have eaten more. At the end of his visit my Dad still hadn't had his so I sent him off to the airport with a spoon and his Mexican Chocolate Cutie Pie in his pocket. 

 I don't frequent pie shops too often so I'm not sure if there are other Cutie Pies out there. Laurie might be on to something here. Great for eating on the go, pinics, party favors or if you're saving a little pie for later a Cutie Pie from Laurie's Pie Bar is sure to put a smile on your face. 

 

Halsey for the Holidays

Barely three years after releasing her forth album, If I  Can't Have Love, I Want Power angelic faced songstress with a tempest past, Halsey, added album number five to her catalog. On October 25th, 2024  she dropped The Great Impersonator. 

In 2020, Halsey's album Manic topped my best albums of the year list.
Hesitantly approaching my own healing adventure, I found that listening to her lyrics from that collection of songs soothed me before realizing that they did so because they made me feel seen.
Learning more about Halsey herself made me appreciate her more.

There's a lot of therapy talk these days, however the negative stigma that characterizes mental illness is still strongly prevalent. And it doesn't dissipate when and if you find yourself coming to terms with having a mental illness yourself.
Halsey understands.
That understanding is monumental because it leads to compassion which takes away shame carried with it. The heavy burden of internal shame can lead to autoimmune diseases, various health aligments, chronic pain, further mental illness, substance abuse, addictive behavior, depression or suicide.
Learning about your or a loved one's mental illness and figuring out the tools to use to manage it, or them, is self care though it may not feel like anything but at the time.

Earlier this year when I heard The Great Impersonator for the first time it hit my ears like a call back to the Halsey we heard on Manic. Moreso than on her last album, 2021's  If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power.
With softer tones and melodies rather than industrial driven anthems, Halsey highlights her vulnerable side in a vulnerable way once again on this album. The singer who's always changing her appearance on and off stage, took her chameleon like fashion approach one step further on this one. She fully encapsulated the album title with promotional press photos of herself made up as different music icons from across generations: Dolly Parton to Aaliyah to David Bowie and Bruce Springstein, she pulled off each look flawlessly. 

Halsey's The Great Impersonator album cover 

These Halloween costume inspiring photos are in direct relation to the album title itself. Right under the surface of the psyche of someone who battles mental illness lays something that a lot people do that even more people probably don't  realize.
We mask.
In order to fit in and not be looked down on, pittied, or treated differently for having a mental illness people will essientally "mask" who they are when around certain people or situations to be precieved as being (more) in accordance with what society and culture deem normal therefore acceptable. While masking is a coping mechanism it's not necessarily a healthy one. 

Halsey's The Great Impersonator, from it's title to how was was promoted to the 19 tracks on it is an homage to this mental illness behavior. Another step in bring awareness to and ending the negative stigma surrounding mental illness issues and the people who have them. 

Track number four, "Letter to God (1974)" struck a cord with me and the transition from track 4 to track 5 , "Panic Attack" holds the magic of listening to an album. The way that the songs are paired ttogether in such a way that they melt from one to the next as the album plays on is the audible synchronicity that makes the art an album and listening to an album, rather than single songs on their own, magical. If you're unsure of what I mean, listen for yourself. 
"Panic Attack" sold me on that first listen, it's my favorite song on the album and the stand out one in my opinion. An intentional listen to it's lyrics offers a better understanding of  daily mental battles so many people struggle with in secrecy.

About-Face "Light Lock" lip gloss by Halsey
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Along with making music Halsey also has her own cosmetics line. About-Face launched in 2021 "for the generation of e-girls and e-boys out there who want to express themselves with vibrant pigment and messy make-up" as Halsey herself puts it.
If  you dive a little deeper you'll discover that about-face is a therapy term. In therapy "about face" means a complete change in perspective, attitude or behavior. Essentially a radical shift in someone's approach to a situation or or issue they are working on; it signifies a significant reversal of direction or viewpoint.
Most likely it's not a coincidence that About-Face came about 3 years after Halsey's toxic relationship with rapper G-Eaze ended and she started healing from that.

So far I only have one About-Face product: a frosty blue glittery lip gloss that I would have killed for when I was in the 7th grade and never did find that perfect shade of iridesenct blue gloss. 

Her high performance, vegan, clean make-up and cosemtic products are inspired by and for a diverse artistic community. They're loud, glittery, fun and they come with a message of acceptance. 

I Would Leave Me If I Could - A collection of poems by Halsey
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Ten months after releasing Manic Halsey released a book of poems "I Would Leave Me If I Could" in November of 2020. The passages give more insight to her inner workings. 
 Reading them made me think of the album Manic and I'm pretty sure some of her poetic writings were plucked from the pages and used as song lyrics. It serves as another reminder that as isolating as mental illnesses can be, if you do have one you are not alone and it's nothing to be ashamed of. 

There are three different options right there for giving the gift of Halsey this holiday season, we love options!
 Whether it's the gift of her music, her make-up, her book of poems or all three, the biggest gift that Halsey gives is the gift that keeps giving: compassion and understanding without shame which leads to self love.
Don't keep your or a loved one's mental health underwraps, have a happy holiday!

I Would Leave Me If I Could - A collection of poems by Halsey & About-Face "Light Lock" lip gloss by Halsey 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Doechii @ Camp Flog Gnaw 2024

Tyler, the Creator's live music creation, Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival celebrated it's 10th anniversary last weekend. The two day festival was held at Dodger's Stadium in LA. It's line-up is currated to showcase a unique range of hip-hop/rap/soul music and artists with more traditional hip-hop genre sounds to those that are more alternative. This year's line-up included Erykah Badu, Andre 3000, Yves Tumor, The Marias, Raye, plus many more, a slew of surprise special guests and Tyler himself headlining to close out night one. 

The 33 year old mastermind released his eighth studio album, Chromakopia, on October 28th and it quickly hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Chromakopia may have come a little too late for Grammy Award nominations this time around, however, Camp Flog Gnaw 2024 brought more than one artist to it's stages who are nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award. 

One of those artists who's coming in hot with four Grammy Award nominations is Doechii. She's also featured on one of Tyler's new songs from his latest album, Chromakopia, titled "Balloon". 

The 26 year old from Tampa Florida dropped her third mixed tape, Alligator Bites Never Heal on August 30th. The mixed tape, which is commonly musical projects with less constraints and less commerical pressure of an album or extended play, garnered Doechii a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance for her single "Nissan Altama" and Best Remixed Recording for "Alter Ego" Kaytranada remix featuring Kaytranada and JT. 

Doechii @ Camp Flog Gnaw 11/16/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

By 3:30 on Saturday afternoon a formidable crowd gathered at the CAMP stage, also known as the Main Stage, to see Doechii. It was quite a scene seeing that many people at a stage that early at a festival.
She hit the stage ten minutes behind schedule but was right on time to give her fans one of the best sets of the weekend.
Before getting things going she greeted the crowd, reminding us that she'd just wrapped up her own tour and was ready to keep it going at Flog Gnaw. 

Decked in GOLF appropriate attire: a striped polo shirt, booty shorts, knee high stockings and stileto heels, the first three songs came from Alligator Bites Never Heal to get the crowd going. And they do so, effortlessly. Next up was "Spookie Coochie", a throw from her 2020 debut. After that the already amped up crowd got evn more amped when Doechii brought out special surprise guest SZA for the song "Persusasive". The crowd roared as SZA, a vision in a pink and yellow butterfly top and baggy cargo pants emerged and worked the stage. Their combined energy was electric, bringing some fans to happy tears as the two songtresses performed together. Once the song was over, SZA sung Doechii's praises before handing the stage back to her. 

SZA on stage with Doechii @ Camp Flog Gnaw 11/16/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

As the set went on Doechii showed us what shes made of. She started off with a taste of spoken word poetry. She rapped. She sang. She sped things up then she slowed things down. She got the crowd involved with vocal ques. She twerked a little. And she did all that without losing her breath or a beat. 

By the time she started singing one of her biggest singles, the Grammy Award nominated "Nissan Altama"at the end of her thirty minute set, with the help of her bacing DJ, Doechii kicked off her shoes so she was free to run around the stage. 

A ray of positive energy, Doechii's drive, ambition and passion for her craft prevailed. She thanked Tyler for creating a space for all of the weirdos to be creative and keep creating in their own way, while also congratulating him on his 10 year Anniversary of Flog Gnaw. 

Out of all of the great sets that took place at this fest, I'm glad I was able to catch this one. 

Doechii set-list at Camp Flog Gnaw 2024: 
1. BOOM BAP
2. BOILED PEANUTS
3. DENIAL IS A RIVER
4. Spookie Coochie
5. Persuasive
6. Stressed 
7. DEATH ROLL
8. PROFIT
9. Crazy
10. CATFISH
11. NISSAN ALTAMA

Get Your Day of the Dead Bread from Gusto Bread

Celebrate Dia de los Muertos with Gusto Bread on 4th Street in Long Beach!
The Mexican holiday where families gather to welcome back the souls of deceased loved ones with food, drink and celebration comes right after the beloved holiday of Halloween here in the States. The celebration of life and love happens over November 1st and 2nd, All Souls Day or Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos). Tradition says that the gates of heavan open the night of October 31st and spirits of children can visit their family members for 24 hours while the spirits of adults can do the same on November 2nd. 

Pan de Muerto & Calavera Macarons from Gusto Bread
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Gusto Bread is a delicious modern artisanal panaderia that offers renitions of different kinds of bread including loafs, sweet breads, tradional Mexican pastries and those with a bit of a twist like their double baked concha (!!).

November 3rd is the last day to get their special Day of the Dead Bread.
Pan de Muerto is a Mexicn sweet bread assiocated with Dia de los Muerto. This smooth, round bun is a symbol of  the circle of life because of it's circular shape and with extra dough arranged on top to respresent a skull, cross bones and tear shed of the living. It's to be enjoyed at Dia de los Muertos celebrations, shared on alters in remembrance or both. 

 Calavera Macarons from Gusto Bread
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Gusto's day of dead bread with toasted fennel, orange zest and dusted it with floral vanilla and rose sugar is definitely something to celebrate! The roll is as perfectedly round as a bread roll can get. It's texture is fluffy yet firm. Biting into it is almost like biting into pillowy Challah bread. The orange zest was immediately decectable, delicately springing my tastebuds to life. The fluffiness and the zest paired with the floral sugar coating had me humming mmmm with every bite. 
 Before I knew it I finished my Pan de Muertos before I finished my cup of coffee.
I wasn't done yet though.
Gusto Bread keeps the Dia de los Muertos celebration going with Calavera Macarons! These super cute almond meringue cookie sandwhiches filled with cafe de olla buttercream are shaped and decorated as sugar skulls and are super yum! The macarons are light and chewy with a hint of almond and the cafe de olla buttercream is to die for. It's a buttercream frosting filling fit for a cupcake. 

They also have a whipped cream filled Pan de Muerto made with Sonora flour grown and milled from Farmer Mai Nguyen. It's big enough for the whole family to share and enjoy. 

Calavera Macarons from Gusto Bread
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Don't delay! Tomorrow is the last day to get your Dia de los Muertos treats from Gusto Bread until next November. Get there early because once their Pan de Muertos and Calavera Macarons are gone, they're gone!

If you dont't make it to the store in time to buy a Gusto Pan de Muerto here's a receipe from Gusto to make your own at home. 

In October We Wear Pink

Halloween tends to overshadow the fact that the month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
The movie Mean Girls reminds us that "on Wednesdays we wear pink", however in October we wear pink in support of and in solidarity with Breast Cancer patients, surviors, those who lost the battle and as an important reminder that early detection is key. 

In January of 2023 I found out while doom scrolling one night that a good friend from high school had lost her battle with breast cancer. Stacey was just shy of 40 years young.

 Back in high school we were two peas in a pod in a most tumultuous way induced with heavy underage drinking, Marlbro Lights and lots of late night romps. As teenage girls we grew up in the early 2000s before the Me Too movement, before thearapy talk of toxicity in relatonships or trauma, when body positivity was not a thing. It was anything but an empowering enviroment for budding little women and while I was secure in all of my insecurities, Stacey was the opposite.
With her blonde hair and curvy body she flaunted her confidence and it seemed that she usually got what she wanted.

Whether it be: a local punk rock show at an obscure venue, a night out of town for Motocross or Monster Trucks, a house party, camping, leaving a concert early to get a show poster,  making up choreographed dances to "Forgot About Dre" in the middle of the night, wreaking havoc around our hometown in her yellow cabriolet with the top down, dancing Thursday nights away at Popscene, going to underground raves, or dressing in a Moulin Rouge-esque outfits at a Country themed school dance, if I was in, Stacey was down.

Stacey was living her best life way before that was a popular moto. She wasn't even 18 yet and I was right by her side. 

When I found out about her passing it hit me hard, literally knocking the wind out of me.
We had an unhealthy falling out a while ago but I never had ill-will towards her and all of the memories we shared over the years. I couldn't help but think of all time spent together partying and sharing cigarettes. As cliche as it sounds, it could have been me but it wasn't, it was Stacey.
Stacey was young and lived fast and hard and big, anyone who knew her in our high school years knew that. I like to imagine she did after our friendship faded, too. 
 All of a sudden the phrase live fast die young made too much sense in a moment when nothing made sense.
Stacey died of Breast Cancer. 

When I saw that SusieCakes has Breast Cancer Awareness cupcakes I saw it as an opportunity to pay tribute to my old friend who lost her battle with the disease at such a young age and to help spread awareness to other women, young ladies, girls and families.

 

For the month of October SusieCakes teamed up with Susan G. Komen, the world's leading breast cancer organization, to create a recipe for change in an effort to make days better for those affected by Breast Cancer. From October 1st through October 31st SusieCakes has a few different options of Komen Cupcakes and cakes and throughout the month will donate $1 of every Komen cupcake sale and $5 of every Komen cake sale to Susan G. Komen to help find a cure. 

There are a few different ways your sweeter side can support Breast Cancer Awareness month with Susie and Susan: 

Komen Cupcake: your choice of chocolate or vanilla cake topped with a natural pink buttercream frosting complete with the signature SusieCakes swirl and sprinkled with natural pink sugar.
- $4.99 each 

Komen Ribbon Cupcake 4-pack: two chocolate cake and two vanilla cake cucpakes topped with the same natural pink buttercream frosting only these ones are decorated with a pink ribbon stencil and bordered with natural pink sugar. 
- $23.96 for the four pack (24hr notice required)

Komen Ribbon Flourless Cupcake 4-box: four flourless chocolate cupcakes topped with natural pink buttercream frosting decorated pink ribbon stencil and boardered nautural pink sugar. 
- $25.96 for the four pack (24hr notice required)

Komen Cake: A delicious 6-inch vanilla cake with pink buttercream frosting. This cake ships nation wide and comes with a complimentary candle, match box and you can customize the message on it. 
- $94.00 (shipping prices are included in the price of the cake)

All SusieCakes treats are baked fresh daily and 80% of the team at SusieCakes are female. One on every eight women in the United States will confront a breast cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, SusieCakes' founder Susie Sarich is one of those 1 in 8 women.

Breast cancer isn't just a satistic, it is a harsh reality. Susan G Komen is the world's leading breast cancer organization, dedicated to saving lives and investing in breakthrough research to prevent and one day cure breast cancer. The goal of this sweet partnership is to create a recipe for change and make days better for those affected by breast cancer. 

If you got your fill of cake but still want to donate to raise awareness you can donate directly to Susan G Komen . 

The American Cancer Society offers a Breat Cancer screening guidline you can share with loved ones to spread awareness about breast cancer and early detection even further. 

The National Breast Cancer foundation offers insight on Breast self exam, explaining what they are, how to do them and when to do them. You can download a free early detection guide for yourself, friends and family. 

Another valueable resource for women's health is Planned Parenthood where you can also get information about Breast Cancer, awareness, prevention, etc.
Utilizing services offered at Planned Parenthood is where I was advised to get a second opinion from a primary doctor which resulted in my first mamogram before the reccommended age of 40 for annual mammograms. Subsequently this led to my first bisopsy which never would have happened without without a visit to Planned Parenthood. 

Don't forget to wear pink this month and share this post with friends and family!