Cupcake Fail (Is The "Fail" Thing Over?)

Homemade cupcakes, by the lovely C.  Maybe I should have stuck to those for J's birthday.

Instead, like 2,794 other people, I bought the Groupon for a dozen delivered cupcakes from BonaFide Cupcakes (a delivery-only establishment) for $20.  A few months back I made the decision to send a friend returning from maternity leave a dozen Georgetown Cupcakes for about $40, instead of the two dozen minimum required by Curbside Cupcake for only slightly more because I know and love Georgetown Cupcake (P.S., that order was easy, delivery on time, cupcakes impeccable in condition and taste). 

I figured I'd just try BonaFide out with this Groupon - it's a great deal, and I could throw it onto J's birthday by sending them to work.  A little extra surprise. 

As these Yelp and Urbanspoon reviews show, BonaFide had a tough time getting its act together post-Groupon.  I read those on my delivery day morning, but I felt confident nonetheless. After all, when I ordered, they admitted they were super crazed and wouldn't be taking orders until after X date.  Luckily, J's birthday is X date + 2!  Perfect!  I ordered, it was confirmed, and then 10 days later at delivery time, no cupcakes.

No one really answers the phone, so callers have to leave a message.  I e-mailed and called several times as we neared the fourth hour after the scheduled delivery time.  I received a call that was like a comedy of errors, stating the wrong date and wrong company building.  Am I on candid camera?  I was told that for sure it must have been on one of today's delivery trucks, which were almost through with their route.  But alas, who knows, because the system was down.  "Can I call you back?"

Despite giving my telephone number to call back, BonaFide called J, who until then was oblivious to his never-to-be-seen surprise cupcakes.  He was told to call back to reschedule.  I called back immediately, and of course left another unreturned voicemail. 

The next day, nothing.  No cupcakes, no calls.  Another voicemail left, another e-mail sent.  After close of business I notified Groupon of the problem.  I'm pretty sure it's not the first they heard of it.  Groupon immediately agreed to cancel the Groupon and refund my $20.  By tonight (Thursday) my refund posted.  I haven't heard from BonaFide since Monday mid-day when the system was "down," despite my e-mails and calls.

I understand that the Groupon caused an influx of business--that's what it does!  But if you can't handle the orders, don't accept them.  A day (or two!) of leaving voicemails and sending emails to get NOTHING when I was trying to give a gift was Not Awesome.  It's not the worst thing that ever happened to anyone in the world, but it's a pain in the ass.

BonaFide Cupcakes
By all means, if you find a way to have them deliver your order and you get to taste them, do let me know in the comments how they tasted.

Friday I'm In Love

...with turkey salad.  Oh that?  It's my delicious turkey salad wrap from the Maryland Food Co-op.  It could have used twice the turkey salad, but I could add whatever I wanted veggie-wise and--um--it cost about $3.40.  I splurged on a bag of chips.  

What a week!  It was a blast to finally make it to a Food Blogger Happy Hour.  I was a bit late, and people were kind of sitting all around in already-settled conversations, but I still managed to meet the lovely folks behind Eat, Run, Read; I Flip For Food; DC Loves Food; DC Fud; Eat By Tweet (aggregates tweets by official restaurant accounts by city so you can get news and specials, it's pretty sweet); The Frozen Fix (inspired me to finally get this KitchenAid attachment); Seeking CB, and maybe a few others? 

A few people at the happy hour asked me if I cook.  I do!  We do!  [In reality we really assemble more than cook, but you know.]  We go out once or twice a week.  You may recall that when I started blogging I was a poor student in an unpaid internship.  I frequently accomplished harrowing feats of frugality, including The Summer Of Bringing Lunch Every Single Day Without Fail.  Basically, I don't share recipes because it's all simple stuff that we didn't invent.  We make the same favorite things over and over.  Nothing like this or this or this or this.  Unless we're entertaining.

Speaking of cooking, Inkpad made the compost cookies, yum yum yum yum yum!  I finally got to try them, and I didn't have to dirty a dish : ) I know for a fact that she included pretzels, toffee chips, and potato chips, among other items.

This week in the food-related Internet:

Angela & Mark at I Flip For Food went to Minibar by Jose Andres!  Looks completely amazing--I want to go eventually, but I have no idea when!  It remains on The List.

I want a wood-burning oven in my kitchen (an OMG moment from WSJ).

Everyone's favorite Top Chef judge (not to mention accomplished chef and restaurateur) is talking about the importance of being local, creating jobs, and avoiding chemicals.  High five, chef!

FREE ICED COFFEE on May 11 from participating Dunkin' Donuts, my favorite.  (via @frijolita). Ya'll, today I tried the 99 cent iced coffee that 7-11 has been screaming to me about--yes, screaming.  I drive past a 7-11 and there's a huge tarp/sign advertising it.  Basically, it's as if you took the supersweet frozen coffee blended thing and let it melt.  SO sweet, re-dairy-ified with who-knows-what kind of milk or cream (!), and just yuck.  I just want good coffee--cold.  With milk.  Not skim. 

Maybe Ben's should start serving The Mother In-Law (via WWDTM blog).  What?! A tamale playing hot dog?!

DIY cake platter out of old/different stuff! (Thanks InkPad).

I have to go now, because someone brought home cupcakes from the recently-opened Frosting ("A Cupcakery Bakeshop").  They all look pretty darn good, and the flavor selection is sweet...um, awesome.  "Campfire" has a graham cracker bottom, chocolate ganache layer, and DAMN marshmallow frosting.  Update: I also indulged in the carrot cake.  Both had super moist and delicious cakes and really tasty frosting that wasn't too sweet, a complaint J reserves for Something Sweet.  Interesting flavors and textures, too.  What a pleasant experience!

This isn't food related, but it should improve your weekend.  Have a great one!

Have a car and ye shall travel...through Brooklyn to find the best cupcake!

Why else would you travel?  The below was written by the wonderful and fabulous L--the hands-down coolest person in New York City. When I asked what she was up to on a recent Sunday morning she was all, "You know.  Cupcake tour.  The usual."  Jealous much?  I begged her to document it.

With two of my best gal pals C&E, our mission was clear: find the best cupcake in Brooklyn. E & I have tasted many Manhattan cupcakes and there have been some hits and misses. With C's upcoming bridal shower, E thought we should do a cupcake taste test to inspire the cupcake to have at her shower, only a borough away in Long Island City.

1st Stop: One Girl Cookie, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

Check out the selection!  [Ed: I like how they acknowledge the spikiness.]

We had one of each--carrot cake w/ cream cheese icing, chocolate cupcake w/vanilla "hot pink" frosting...  Carrot cake was by far our favorite, it was a moist cake with a sweet cream cheese icing. We liked the chocolate, but cake was a little too dense--but the frosting was delicious. One Girl Cookie has an adorable decor that just screams "girly" bakery.  Only problem is people set up shop in their seating area like it's a Starbucks!! Really not cool, there might have been 6 mini tables and no one was moving for us, so we took up two stools at the bar. If you're not into cupcakes they have whoopie pies, macaroons, and mini cookies. I tried a mini chocolate chip and mint ganache sandwich cookie...loved both!!

Back to the car...

2nd stop: Baked, Red Hook, Brooklyn

Super excited about this stop...Baked was recently featured on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" for its salty sweet brownie. There was no time for brownies today, we were all about the cupcake. Lucky for us there have a salty sweet cupcake, we also selected their carrot cake cupcake and lemon drop cupcake.

Salty Sweet Cupcake!!! Oh yes, it was a good as expected--chocolate cake, caramel filing, chocolate frosting with sea salt. Best cupcake I've ever had.  The cake was moist and delicious the caramel and salt and chocolate...so hard to describe, but so awesome! Carrot cake cupcake had a true carrot cake feel and taste, very nice but felt like eating a muffin. [Ed: Zing! That's a dis.]  Lemon drop cupcake was so soft it practically melted in our hands, also sweet and very moist!

Baked has a more rustic, almost "manly" feel in its decor. Wood lined the walls, tables and counters, we had a nice seat in the back to take in all the action.

We picked the salty sweet cupcake as our absolute favorite!! Cant wait for C's shower to see which cupcake made the cut!!

Thanks for sharing, L.  Wish we (all) could have been there.  I had a salted caramel cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake this past Saturday and it was flippin' amazing.  Their cupcakes are tiny, but oh so good.  I will definitely bring you some when you come down in May.  If I say it on the internet it must be true. 

Fridays are Fahbulous, and So Are Sesame Street Cupcakes

So the people have spoken (the people = YOU), and 16/26 (about 62%) of you say you'd go into Crumbs (one of the 9274 locations coming soon) and eat Georgetown Cupcakes to their faces.   Interesting!  Just don't start with anyone, readers.  Fighting is unladylike (and also, ungentlemanlike).  And now the week's (most important) news:

Speaking of cupcakes, heeeeey these cupcakes look like Sesame Street characters!  Via EBG.

A few weeks ago I read this article in the Times about growlers, and then on Saturday I saw one!  Thanks Shel for having friends hipster-ish enough (as opposed to old-school beerlovers, the other sect that seems to have 'em) to have a growler.  I love when I learn about something (I didn't know what a growler was prior to reading the article) and then encounter it shortly after--knowledge is power.

Announced this week on Twitter by Dairy G itself (herself?), Dairy Godmother will be featured on Tastiest Places to Chowdown: Presidential Edition, airing March 7 at 10pm.  Set your DVR accordingly.

In honor of the holiday, The Shiksa Blog brings us "Hamantaschen and the Story of Purim."  These treats are delicious and those of you who follow me on Twitter know how hard it can be to keep these little triangles CLOSED.  Via LB.

Yearning for summer Restaurant Week? Restaurants Unleashed Week, March 1-7.  The deal that caught my eye first was at Tabaq, yummm.

Also, watching curling is like drinking merlot, apparently.  NICE!  I guess watching aerials is like drinking 5 Hour Energy.

Have a great weekend!  It's supposed to be nice out, so go out for brunch--what's your first pick these days?