When there's no more room in Hell, the Dead will walk the Earth.

It is time, Ghosts and Goblins, for my favorite holiday - Halloween. Have you carved your pumpkin? Created your costume? Gotten candy? Purchased fangs?

I have done none of those things but I have made a shitload of cupcakes for an office party and some for a friends cocktail party and now I am going to make some for Halloween night. Pumpkin cupcakes. I will post pictures and reviews after they are done.

I'm a little hungover from my friends Halloween/pumpkin carving from last night. There was no pumpkin carving... there was only drinking and eating carnitas (homemade) and playing celebrity. It was a lot of fun.

Betty Boop lost her head.



Who are these strange people? Ah yes, my friends.



Tonight, after I get Halloween candy, I will pass some out to the little tots who swarm our neighborhood and then watch horror films with friends.

I'm staring at copies of "Dead Alive", "Dawn of the Dead", "Cemetery Man", "Return of the Living Dead" and the video game "Manhunt 2".

I'm not a big horror fan but we did see "30 Days of Night" in the theaters recently and I though it was pretty good. I liked "28 Weeks Later" better. But I enjoyed it. My more horror-savvy friends were less impressed.

Ok, I'm off to make pumpkin cupcakes and get into the spirit of the best holiday.

FYI - this pumpkin recipe is the best thing ever. It's pumpkin-ginger and I've paired it with cream cheese frosting and it may be the best cupcake to pass my fair lips. I'll post photos of them in a while. Here's a few of the ones I delivered to the party and to the office party.





And here are photos of my father's cat just because she is the cutest fluffy thing in the world. She's fat and happy and tough and sweet and sexy... yes, sexy. As a friend once said, "She is the Marilyn Monroe of cats".





HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Red velvet, i hope to know thee well.

I have heard tell of the Red Velvet cake. I have heard stories of glory, stories of woe... and yet I had never tried to master said delicacy.

Tonight, fair readers, I braved the pristine beaches of Fort Red Velvet.

Alllll right... enough with the ridiculousness.

I made some cupcakes. And they are pretty damn good.

Someone close to me is secretly getting hitched tomorrow and I made him and his bride two Red Velvet mini-heart-cakes. Aaaawwwwww.

Here they are.

G'night.

No Hollandaise? No problem!

Further along the road of trying to be healthy and still eat like a pig, my fiance and I have been making Eggs Benedict... without the Benedict.

Eggs Benedict may be my favorite dish in the world. Ever. En totale.

And if I can enjoy this weekend morning ritual so can you.

All you need to do is buy eggs, real canadian bacon and whole wheat english muffins. And voila! A yummy, relatively healthy breakfast meal where you only miss the fatty, super-tasty sauce for a minute.



Oh, and this is my gorgeous cat. He's grumpy, but he loves me.

San Francisco treasures

So I spent five lovely days in the City by the Bay buying art, eating good food, hiking an almost insurmountable hill, relaxing in The Snug and hanging out with friends (and admiring the view from their new house).

San Francisco always woos me when I go there. It is my home town, after all. There will always be a part of me that belongs to the fog, sleepy trains and ocean air. I love New York - especially the size, pace and complexity of it- but when I go back to San Francisco I remember that I have a love affair with the slower, more casual but very cosmopolitan city on the West Coast.

My friend, Jess, and I went to Chinatown and found the perfect wedding cake for me and fiance.



or



or



My fiance is part Chinese and I thought the first two cakes would be a classy, understated way to make his family feel comfortable.

We saw these in the window of the A&A Bakery in Chinatown in case you're interested.



Now possibly my favorite restaurant in the whole world - or at least in the top three - is Betelnut in San Francisco. If you are in the Bay Area for the love of good meal, go there.





Get the Little Dragon Dumplings.



The Korean Charbroiled Pork.



And I recommend the Minced Chicken in Lettuce Cups (eaten too quickly to get a photo), the Emerald Fire Noodles and the Tiger Shrimp if they're on the menu. My friend and I had some sake Lemon Drops that were also divine.



If you have never been to the Pelican Inn then your life is not complete. It is one of my favorite places on Earth and I suggest you make a reservation to stay there for a night or two posthaste. It is snuggled in the hills of Muir Beach and Muir Woods. Muir Beach is a five minute walk away, they have an English pub complete with local beer and a dart board and rooms with four poster beds, bathtubs and reading nooks. In essence, it's as close to Heaven as you're gonna get for under $300/night.





We walked to Muir Beach and hiked up a large hill overlooking the ocean. I felt like I was going to keel over and only made it to the top thanks to the urging and lying of my friend (as to how close we were).







This view is from very far up *the hill* which we later learned is affectionately referred to as "Heart Attack Hill". These are the Farallon Islands which my companion, a native San Franciscan (born AND bred, unlike myself) explained. There are located in a treacherous stretch of sea and rock that is a popular breeding ground for Great White Sharks. Needless to say, I'm glad I was viewing it from this far away.



We stumbled back to the Pelican and crashed out in one of most charming places: The Snug.



The Snug is for guests only and is located right off the bar. We had a few glasses of wine next to the fireplace sitting in arm chairs discussing life, love and how out of shape we were.

If you like fog, food and dive bars San Francisco is a good bet for a relaxing and invigorating getaway. It is indeed my home away from home.

One man's creation is another man's madness.

Dear Readers,

I feel compelled to warn you that the following material is not appropriate for the faint of heart. Proceed at your own risk. Achtung! Peligrosa! Beware.

When my fiance and I drove up to Southampton last Friday night it was quite foggy and dark by the time we reached the Hamptons. We drove along Route 27, a two lane, windy road along which there are many houses and businesses of varying sorts. We passed some kind of lot with large, looming figures posing in the dark that appeared to be only what I can describe as a monster-factory. Turns out it was "Yesterdays Treasures".

So on our way back to Brooklyn we had to stop and take photos of what had given us quite a start on our nocturnal journey a few days before.

Behold.