Jonathan: ‘Pumpkin Fucking Spice Cupcakes!’ was the exclamation that burst forth from the passenger side of the F150 as I deftly wove in and out of the clear spots on the freeway, moving us ever closer to the palate pleasing pleasure I’d just discovered was awaiting us at our destination. I immediately applied extra pressure to the rightmost pedal, easing us slightly above 80 miles per hour since it was clear from the hint of panic in my passenger’s voice that time was of the essence. That passenger, of course, was Crystal.

Now some of you that know Crystal might think, “she’s not the one who liberally sprinkles F-bombs throughout her day to day conversations”, and you would be correct. That’s usually me. But there are times when F-bombs spring from her lips as easily as a dolphin glides through the waves. Of course nearly all of these times involve alcohol or football…bust mostly alcohol.

Crystal: It is now perhaps prudent to inform our readers that I am, at this moment, drinking alcohol.

Jonathan: And watching football.

Crystal: And watching the Packers!

Jonathan: Go Pack Go!

Now one can quite easily judge Crystal’s level of intoxication by the frequency with which F-bombs arise. Apparently the other times involve Pumpkin Fucking Spice cupcakes. Okay, well not just Pumpkin Fucking Spice cupcakes (though they are unbelievably tasty), but really any and all of the cupcakes made by the evil genius behind Fox & Fawn Bakehouse. Well evil is not the case, but genius sure is. These are by far the World’s Best Cupcakes. There. I’ve said it. The secret is out. Shit…forget that I said that. You never heard it. In fact, these are quite possibly the WORST cupcakes you’ll ever have.

Too late. You know these are the best. Shit. More competition. Well, I will NOT back away from a cupcake fight.

Crystal: Me neither. Fuckers. I will cut a bitch. (Alcoholic drink count: 1)

Jonathan: No Crystal, you will not cut a bitch. But seriously. These are fantastic. I’ll let Crystal explain all the details why they’re so amazing. Go.

Crystal: These cupcakes taste like they were made by little angels in heaven, floating on clouds of gluten free goodness and sprinkling happiness and joy into the frosting. And the gluten free part is true; some of her flavors ARE gluten free. How they can taste so fucking magical and be lacking in gluten is beyond me. And the frosting…it’s perfect! You know how a lot of these specialty cupcake places just completely overload the tops of their cupcakes with mounds of frosting? Well, Tara doesn’t do that. She knows that her cupcakes are practically perfect as is, and a simple layer of delicious frosting is all they need to complete their fucking awesomeness.

Jonathan: The frosting to cake ratio is absolutely my favorite detail in Fox & Fawn’s baking artistry. It is absolutely perfect. JUST enough to accompany the exquisite texture and flavor of the cake. Any more and the frosting would dominate, ruining the experience. Not with THESE cupcakes. These will blow your mind!

Anyway…back to the speeding down the freeway part. To say time was of the essence could easily be the absolute truth or a bit of an exaggeration. Let me explain. They’re the best cupcakes. Fact. Now you must add that they magically appear once a week at our local Farmer’s Market (not telling where that is) and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Crystal: We’ve actually experienced this, getting to the Farmer’s Market too late and missing out on the cupcakes!!! Noooo!!! Fuckity fuck fuck!!! (Alcoholic drink count: 2)

Jonathan: This is a very disheartening moment. But it can be avoided! In these extreme circumstances, it’s necessary to place an order. You can check out Tara’s website at www.foxandfawn.com. Aside from baking delicious treats of heavenly goodness, Tara is a total sweetheart. Her husband is a super good dude as well.

Crystal: We enjoy supporting local businesses that not only have a kick ass fucking product, but are run by people who are FUCKING AWESOME. INTERCEPTION BY THE PACKERS!!! FUCK YEAH!!! (Alcoholic drink count: 3)

Jonathan: Yes indeed. Packers up 31-17 over our most hated rivals, the Bears. Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes (a Goofy shaped one for Bella), coffee, Fox & Fawn cupcakes, Bloody Marys, and Packers football. I’d say it’s a damn fine Sunday.

So to sum up the first part of this entry…Fox & Fawn makes the World’s Best Cupcakes (and cakes, and mini pies).

But we cannot forget about the ‘bottles’ part of our blog, so on to the wine.

Crystal: TOUCHDOWN!!! WOOOOOOOO!

Jonathan: Packers 38, Bears 17.

Crystal: NOW it’s wine time.

Jonathan: Yes, but not time to drink wine, time to tell everybody about yet another fine bottle we recently enjoyed.

Those of you who’ve been following us will have read about the custom wine rack I built for our linen closet. (see The Best Wine Ever) It’s finished now and this is where we keep our special wines. We decided to bust one out the other night in celebration of our excellent weekend at Disneyland. (see The Happiest Place on Earth a.k.a. Shitty Cell Phone Pics a.k.a. Rookie Bloggers). What better way to accomplish this than to open a bottle of WALT?!

Okay, so it’s not actually a ‘Disney’ wine, but it IS excellent and appropriately named for the occasion. We picked up this bottle after a visit to Hall Wines (WALT) and it was easily our favorite in their selection. Their Cabs are great as well, but there was just something special about this Pinot for us. Here’s how Hall explains it:

Aromas of bright fresh cherry, raspberry and pomegranate are bolstered by crème brulee and earthy spices in this dark garnet wine. The palate reflects the nose with a rounded weight and density that is complete and compelling. The finish is concentrated with an exquisite mouthwatering grip.

Well I can’t tell you how accurate that description is because I don’t possess the same sense of taste or smell as the person who wrote that blurb, but what I can tell you is that WALT was a fantastic pairing for our dinner of organic roasted pumpkin pasta purses in a brown butter sage sauce with grilled chicken breast. The light body of the wine balanced well with the richness and full flavor of the brown butter sauce and the sweetness of the berry notes balanced out the char on the grilled chicken. Either that, or we were so excited about our trip to Disneyland that WALT was going to be the perfect wine no matter what. In any case, it is another wonderful wine and if you feel like splurging a little, it is well worth the price.

NOTE TO OUR READERS: You may have noticed the absence of Crystal’s commentary during the wine description. It appears that all the Packer game excitement, coupled with the Luksusowa-infused Bloody Marys have taken their toll and the Nap Monster has won. Fear not readers. She’ll wake up in a few hours and will be back with us for our next post. Until then, here’s a gratuitous Bella pic! (She’s helping me build my workbench)