I handpicked these great Cupcake Bakery Logos from 99designs.com. All of these are only $99 each and that includes some customization of colors and putting in your Name and Tagline. How awesome is that? You can also start you own logo “project” and get designers to submit their ideas. Very cool.
Say NO to SOPA & PIPA! Please contact your state reps and make sure they are voting NO! Unless you like to live in a country where you will be charged 5 years of jail just for uploading a song online.
James Beard House “Celebrity Chef Tour” comes to The Rugby Grille at Birmingham’s Townsend Hotel on Sept 22. The dinners raise money for the James Beard Foundation. The Celebrity Chef Tour brings James Beard Award winners and other celebrity chefs to venues around the country for spectacular dining events.
So who will be cooking for you? Chef Aaron Butts of Joseph Decuis and Chef David Gilbert of Forest Grill will join TheTownsend’s Executive Chef Jim Bologna for a culinary adventure throughout the evening. You can read more about the chefs and the event here.
What to expect? You will be enjoying passed hors d’ouevres, a multi-course dinner and expert wine parings. Some items on the menu include mini Wagyu burgers with heirloom tomato jam and blue cheese mousse and foie gras enrobed in licorice. Yum yum!
The Celebrity Chef Tour starts at 6 pm on Thursday, September 22. All-inclusive tickets for are $160 and are on sale now.
Hi Girlies and Guysies 
Its been a few since I gave something away. I love this book. Its full of cute cupcake ideas, so original and creative. Hello, Cupcake! is a great cupcake cookbook. Karen Tack & Alan Richardson really went above and beyond in this one. From corn on the cob, to meatball and spaghetti cupcakes, to penguin, cat and clown cupcake designs. They cover it all. So, one of you gets one Check out their blog too.
To enter, just comment below with what your favorite dessert is. Or, if you don’t want to tell me, you can talk about how many fingers you have instead 
Giveaway ends on May/13/2011 11:59pm EST. It will be Friday the 13th! lol. Only open to US and Canada residents. Also, please be patient if your comment doesn’t appear right away. I may have to approve it.
For additional entries:
1) Follow me on twitter @mirauncut
2) Retweet this on twitter: @MiraUncut is giving away a Hello, Cupcake! book http://www.mirauncut.com #giveaway
3) “Like” me on Facebook http://on.fb.me/hHGsnn
4) Share the giveaway from my facebook page on your stream
5) Subscribe to my RSS feed
If you do the extra stuff for additional entries, be sure to enter a new comment for each saying for example : “I tweeted this and here is the tweet url ….” Also, if you already follow me on Twitter and Facebook, just add an extra comment for each and say “I already follow you” or whatever. Basically, you need to make a different comment for each additional entry so you can get credit when a random comment number is picked. You can only do one extra entry per each type.
p.s. The people behind Hello, Cupcake! have no clue who I am and have nothing to do with this giveaway. If you win you also agree to email me a picture of you with the book to be used on the blog.
We have been to Wolfgang Puck Grille on several occasions. I say “several” because its outstanding and we keep going back. Its one of the four main restaurants in the MGM Grand Casino & Hotel in Detroit. I’ve reviewed one of the others, Saltwater, a Michael Mina establishment, here. During the various visits I have snapped photos of the dishes and deserts, so here we go…
Of course, you have Wolfgang present, even if it is in the form of a painting. Also, the decor is modern, but warm, with dark wood tones and over sized lamps. Additionaly, the kitchen is visible from the dining room, so you can view the bustle of chefs in the back.
The bread on the table is a trio. A white, a gorgeous wheat olive bread, and a thin crispy herb bread. My favorite was the olive bread. It was superb.
The Calamari ($11) was ah-mazing. It came with a sweet thai chili sauce. There is nothing worse than over fried chewy calamari. These were far from that. Mixed in were small little octopi that were fun to eat.
Also had the Truffled Potato Chips with Maytag Blue Cheese Sauce, Chives ($10). There was just something off about it. I’m a big blue cheese fan but this was not tasty at all. I actually sent this back. I can’t believe I’m saying that. But I really sent it back.
The butternut squash soup was divine ($9). Creamy and perfect with lots of flavor depth.
By far my favorite dish was the English Pea and Goat Cheese Ravioli ($15). Talk about a p-u-n-c-h of flavor. My hubby is not so much of a pea person and he loved it. I can’t wait to have it again. Its that good.
The pasta had a perfect bite to it, and the creamy pea filling as was flavorful, you had to savor each bite.
The hubby also like their Wild Mushroom Fettuccine with Cipollini Onions, Rosemary, Shaved Parmesan ($18). He had it on two of the occasions. Its very straightforward, simple and fresh.
Mike, our friend had the lamb chops with a balsamic glaze ($45). He said they were some of the best he has ever had. I don’t believe those are on the menu. I think they were a chefs special that night.
Last time we had the house made Ricotta Gnocchi, Italian Sausage Bolognese, Fresh Basil ($17). We ordered it without the sausage bolognese and with their vegetarian tomato sauce. This was the lightest gnocchi, so pillowy and soft. The sauce was good, but a little strong. I can’t really complain about it though, since we had modified the dish. It was still pretty good though.
On our first visit ever to Wolfgang’s, it was fall I think, so, at that time they were offering their pumpkin ravioli, with a sage butter sauce. This, like the pea ravioli was so amazing and full of flavor. We actually went back and had this another time as well.
Now, onto the desserts Are you ready? You will want to lick the screen once we are done.lol.
On one occasion we had the pecan pie. Wow. They only offered this for one week, and it had the vanilla cinnamon ice cream on it, with a sweet apple compote. The best pie I have ever had. And beautiful presentation at that.
Michigan Honey Crisp Apple Tart, Almond Cream, House-Made 50 Bean Vanilla Ice Cream. The presentation on this was the only memorable thing. It was good, executed well, just nothing mind blowing.
Also divine was the rum raisin bread pudding with vanilla ice cream, and I think it was a Jack Daniels sauce. I loved loved loved this. Warm, gooey and satisfyingly sweet.
The dessert I had on our first visit was the Guanaja Deep Dark Chocolate Souffle, Crème Fraiche,
Chocolate Sorbet. THIS is a chocolate lovers dream. It was made with dark chocolate and not really sweet, which I loved. The sorbet had a little bitterness from the chocolate, that was perfect with the creme fraiche.
The souffle itself was presented so beautifully in a pan. It was light and airy, crispy on top and gooey on the bottom. 
Wolfgang Puck Grille is a definite yes! Do yourself a favor and head down there. They also offer a priz fix menu on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday and are always part of Detroit Restaurant Week. The ravioli is always fabulous, and this is a place where you don’t want to skip dessert. On all my visits, they have never let me down and continue to impress.
Tucked away into the side of the building that houses Bastone & Vinnotecca, is Cafe Habana. It has a little sized dining room compared to its sister restaurants. I liked the dark feel of the place. From the rustic brick style walls to the wood tables to the crystal and iron wrought chandeliers.
Their menu is big enough to want to try several things, and they entice you with these little plate appetizer dishes that you just want to try.
Started off with some Tostones – twice fried green plantains, with mojo ($3). I always enjoy plantains at home. If you have never had them, they are closer to a potato than a banana. These were really crunchy and I enjoyed that.
Pan Cubano – grilled Cuban bread with chimichurri ($3)
The bread was just like any normal bread. BUT, the chimichurri made it knock your socks off good.
Calamare Fritos – fried calamari strips with sweet & spicy citrus sauce ($9)
Hubby had the Quesadilla – grilled vegetables and herbed goat cheese ($8) . It’s technically listed as an appetizer but that didn’t make it too small.
It was really generous on the goat cheese too.
I was craving something more and hearty. What satisfied that itch was the Fricas de Cameron – seared shrimp and bell peppers in a spicy tomato sauce over saffron rice ($13). The shrimp was surprisingly sumptuous. The bell peppers and chunky tomato sauce the are perfect merger between the rice and shrimp. My one qualm with the whole dish was there. was. not. enough.rice! When I asked for more, the waitress brought me a teeny tiny ramekin. The rice to sauce ratio was really off.
Ahhh..the piece d’irrestance. A tres leches cake with chocolate covered hazelnuts. The hazelnuts didn’t have to be on this plate. That cake was perfection. A very generous portion, perfect to share. Its simple, moist, rich and light at the same time, and just mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Thats all I can say about this. mmmmmmmmmmmm.
A neat thing in the decor of the place was the real Cuban pictures which are part of an art display or competition I think.
There was one thing that I found very very disappointing. Our waitress was terrible. I’m not over exaggerating. She barely checked up on us. Mind you, its a very small room, and there are not many tables. And the worst part is it took her 15 min to charge my card, of which she swiped like 3 times on 3 different computers because she couldn’t figure out something or other.
The bad service we experienced aside, Cafe Habana is definitely worth a try! Food is fresh and alot of little plates to try. don’t forget, the Tres Leches cake is a MUST! Also, check out the Commune (literally an underground club), if your there on a Friday or Saturday night.
always uncut,
mira.
