Where do your Summer's Travels take you?

   Earlier this Summer, in late June my Summer travels began and I am so glad for what I had discovered along the way! It was my turn to take a little vacation away from daily life at home and from Scrumptious to vacation with my family.  My husband I, along with our three children traveled to the East Bay in Northern
California to visit with family and close friends before we headed to the Coast.

   Before doing so though, I had to visit a bakery in Danville that was recommended to me by a friend of my Mother-in-Law.  This was not just any bakery it was a Gluten Free Cupcake Shop!  I was very excited to visit as I myself am Gluten Free and bake our Gluten Free products for Scrumptious.  There are not many places near my home that produce and serve sinful Gluten Free desserts.  It's kind of an oxymoron, they don't really exist.  Which is why I have found a new passion for researching and experimenting with Gluten Free recipes and desserts.  When you are Gluten Free, it's things like the homemade cookies, cinnamon rolls and scones that I miss the most.  The flavor, texture and light n' fluffy bites are tough to replicate in Gluten Free baking. (If you are Gluten Free you know what I mean; these bland, crumbly, cardboard "desserts", or so are they called, are usually terrible!) Besides baking Gluten Free desserts from scratch (my preference is with lots of chocolate), the closest that I have found are various sweets from Whole Foods Market, (my favorite grocer for specialty dietary needs). So, a new Gluten Free treat is what I was looking forward to!  I met an old High School friend with her kids at Miglet's Cupcake Shop in Downtown Danville.  It was adorable and I wanted one of everything! It was fresh and clean with a pretty in pink feel.  There was a whole display case filled with specialty cupcakes, beautifully decorated and they tasted as equally wonderful.  I purchased four different cupcakes(Carrot cake, Lemon Blueberry, Toasted Coconut and Strawberry Shortcake), some fresh cookies and brownie bites that were so moist and very chocolaty!  I savored each bite!  If you are in the area and are on a Gluten Free diet, you should make the time to check it out.

 
  So, our family then headed to Half Moon Bay where we spent the 4th of July holiday with friends. And, it is here where our camping experience began.  After leaving Half Moon Bay we headed to Big Sur where we camped at Pfiffer Big Sur State Park.  It was gorgeous, we all loved it! A few days later on our way out and on to our next destination we stopped at a little turn off on Hwy 1, where we found the Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant tucked behind the beautiful foliage.  It was small, quaint, quiet and I so badly wanted to sit on the rustic patio to enjoy
a mimosa and taste a bite of a local sweet breakfast treat.
The bakers here are keeping up the traditions of old, as the building has been around since 1936. They serve "soul food" pastries, in my mind, they are simple and just look delicious. I loved it so much so that after we left we stopped not more than 8 minutes further down Hwy. 1 at Nepenthe, where I had to purchase the Big Sur Bakery Cookbook, A Year in the Life of a Restaurant.  Each chapter in the book is a new month that spells out a whole new menu with recipes, revolving around a favorite fruit or vegetable or spice that is popular for that time of year.  Nepenthe is an eclectic spot to stop off at as well.  No bakeries, believe me I looked! But it has a very artsy, sort of old hippie town feel, with a great book store/gift shop called The Phoenix, fountains throughout the grounds and lookout points to the coastline.  Then we continued walking up the path to the top of the hill where you will come to Nepenthe Restaurant and Bar with a "rim of the world" view.  Beautiful scenery to say the least.

   The final stop on our camping tour was in Morro Bay.  Our first full day in Morro Bay was packed!  Starting out by attending a Marine Animals of Morro Bay Talk at the camp ground where my kids became Jr. Rangers, to spending quite some time at the Natural History Museum which had great interactive expos for the kids, to driving into town to check out the local streets.


   There were three local bakeries, however; my favorite was the Sun N' Buns Bakery at the Embarcadero.  They had two very large display cases with every pastry, sweet roll, danish, cookie, sugar twist, etc. etc.  that you could think of, then a third case filled with various cupcakes and bars.

   Thus rounded out my personal bakery bonanza and our family camping expedition.  This will become a new tradition for me as I travel to now seek out new and different bakeries, while I'm sure collecting more "coffee table" cookbooks and recipes along the way.  As my passion for baking and our business at Scrumptious continues to grow, I am forever learning and always inspired.  My cup has runneth over this Summer in things that I am thankful for and this, a new found love for baking on a different level, is one of them.

~Amy~

• Miglet's Gluten Free Cupcake Shop in Danville, CA~  www.migletsgf.com
• Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant in Big Sur, CA~  www.bigsurbakery.com
• Sun N' Buns at 830 Embarcadero in Morro Bay, CA~ 805.772.4117

To check out our Scrumptious selections including Gluten Free treats, visit us at www.Scrumptiousbyaandk.com and "Like" our FB page at "Scrumptious".

Hey there Cupcake!

~Custom "Theme Party" Injected Cupcakes~
  
    Katie and I didn't originally set out to include Cupcakes on our Scrumptious Menu.  However; because of the growing "Cupcake Craze" and popularity of them among our clients we decided to add them to our menu after all.  As many of our clients and friends have young children, as we do.  What kids don't like cupcakes?!  But we knew that ours had to be different from all of the other cupcakes out there.  With Frosted, Sweet and Saucy as well as Great Dane for competitors we wanted to set our cupcakes apart from those offered at nearby bakeries.  So, we decided to make our cupcakes "injected"!  This means that every cupcake has a filling down through the center of the cake.  Depending on the flavor of cupcake the injection may be a mousse (vanilla or chocolate), peanut butter, fresh fruit, curds, or creme (coconut creme or a variety of fruits).
So, not only are our cupcakes "injected", but they are slightly lower in price compared to our surrounding competition, and we will deliver them to you for your party!
   We have two categories of our Injected Cupcakes on our Menu; Simple or Specialty. However, we can bake any cupcakes and add "theme" toppers, sprinkles, decorations, or custom colors to coordinate with your party.  This is very popular and finishes off the look of your celebration wonderfully!
Take a look at some of our Custom Scrumptious Creations:

Curious George

Curious George~ Our Specialty Peanut Butter Cup with "George" rings and half of a Reese's peanut butter  cup on top.                                                                                                                               

Curious George and his Bananas

                                                                                                            Curious George~  Custom Cake request: yellow cake with banana cream injection and yellow colored vanilla butter cream frosting, topped with "banana" candies.

                       


                       

Dr. Suess~ Our Simple Pure Vanilla cake with aqua and red colored vanilla butter cream frosting, topped with "Dr. Suess" toppers.  

                                          

  

Custom Cake Request: Banana Split Sundae~ dark chocolate cake injected with banana mousse, butter cream frosting then drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with a maraschino cherry and a plantain chocolate square.

Princess Belle

Princess Belle~ Custom Cake request: yellow cake with banana cream injection and yellow colored vanilla butter cream frosting, topped with clear sugar crystals and Princess Crown toppers. With a personal "Belle" cupcake for the Birthday girl.

Doggies on parade

  
Doggies on Parade~ These are our MINI cupcakes in Black and White.  (Our minis
do not come injected as they are just too small to do so.)
These were created especially for Shutterbug Photography in Los Alamitos, who held pet photography sessions.

Birthday Confetti Candy 

Birthday Confetti Candy~ custom cake request: white confetti cake, topped with butter cream frosting, rolled in Nerds candies, and topped with a Marachino cherry.

Bunnies and Chicks~ Easter Birthday

Bunnies and Chicks~ custom cake request: chocolate and yellow cakes, injected with vanilla mousse, topped with pastel colored butter cream frosting, sprinkled in colored sugar crystals and pearls and finished off with bunny and chicks picks.

If you have a Birthday party coming up, let us TREAT you!

      www.Scrumptiousbyaandk.com  ~ See Cupcake Listings on our Menu to see all of our Scrumptious flavors, or inquire about your custom theme by sending us an e-mail.  Scrumptiousbyaandk@yahoo.com

~Amy~

Scrumptious combined with Pilates

   How do baked goods and exercise, let alone Pilates, go together? Well, if you exercise more, maybe you can sneak a few extra bites of your favorite treat!
Our friend and fellow female business owner, Johnna Carreno Green supports us at Scrumptious!  And for that we thank her!!!  Johnna is a Pilates Instructor who teaches at her own studio in Belmont Heights, as well as being an instructor with Stroller Strides of Long Beach, she is a mom of a beautiful little girl, and an exercise queen herself!

   I have learned quite a bit about Pilates from Johnna over the last few days.  Including trying out her Semi-Private Cardio Reformer Class.  It was AWESOME, I felt great afterward!  I held myself a little taller all day!  Johnna offers Private and Semi-Private classes as well as the Cardio Reformer class.  
What's even better is that childcare is included in the cost of your class!  Johnna says, "After becoming a mom in early 2010, I have a new found respect for the demands of balancing motherhood and a healthy lifestyle. Because of this childcare will be provided during your session (additional $5 charge for 2nd child.)"

   As a working mom myself, I have a lot of respect for other females who work to help support their family, especially those who own and run their own business!  It takes a lot of work keeping family life and business affairs in order. Which is why I relate to what Johnna says about how important it is to find a balance and stress reliever that works for you.  For me, it's Yoga and now Pilates!  I need the quiet, inner peace, and mental relaxation after a full day of 3 kids, managing my household and helping to run a baking business.
Johnna said, "After a successful run in the entertainment industry I found another passion~Pilates!  I spent years living a hectic lifestyle before I discovered that Pilates would give me the results I needed both physically and mentally.  Pilates gives me the inner peace as well as confidence in my body that I didn't have before."

   As we support each other's businesses, Johnna graciously agreed to sell our NEW Granola Bar out of her studio. It's a great healthy little snack for after a hard workout.  These bars are sweetened with honey and fruit, there is no sugar added.  That combined with crunchy salty nuts makes for a snack that you will crave!  The Granola Bar sells for $2 individually.  You can also order them in a batch and get 9 bars for $17.


To contact Johnna Carreno Green for more information on "Pilates by Johnna", e-mail her at Johnna.Carreno@gmail.com

Check us out at: www.Scrumptiousbyaandk.com

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