Easy-bake Birthdays

[Easy-bake birthday cakes from CHOW]

There were a lot of late July/early August birthdays in my life, including my Mom, my brother-in-law, my cousin, my uncle, my good friend on the East Coast, my childhood friend in Northern California...so many special people turning one year older!
I unfortunately can't be with any of these people on the big day (boo!), but if I were, I may be inclined to try an easy-bake birthday cake over at CHOW.

In college I was all about the Betty Crocker mixes (don't those taste so good?? Admit it, I know you like them, don't lie to me!) but perhaps I've graduated to an easy-bake cake. The Triple-Malt Chocolate Cake looks pretty yummy. I'll be storing these recipes for more birthdays and celebrations when I have the opportunity to see old friends again.

And, if you've never visited CHOW before, I highly recommend it to anyone who likes food, reading about food, looking at food, thinking about food... it's pretty awesome.

Thank You!

[Mo+boy share a birthday dessert at Extraordinary Desserts in Little Italy, San Diego]

As of 30 minutes ago, I am officially 25. Woohoo!! Tonight we celebrated with friends at Karen Krasne's Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego. I also got a special birthday surprise from my coworkers---more gocco inks, more screens, and more bulbs to add to my new toy! I can't wait to play with it! Thanks to everyone who chipped in and came out to celebrate, it was lots of fun!

Here's a pic of me and the boy. It was unfortunately pretty dark in there, but I like the picture anyway. =)