Unless you have been living under a rock recently, you might have noticed a new craze for cupcakes! Desserts have been given a huge makeover with cupcakes taking center stage. Cupcake bars are becoming the modern replacement for the traditional wedding cake, and themed cupcake trees are guaranteed to be visually as well as tastefully satisfying!

Many major cities have also created official Cupcake Crawls!  Yup, you guessed right, works just like a pub crawl! A cupcake crawl is the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon laughing with friends and stuffing your bellies with delicious treats, all while giving you the power to critique, constructive criticism only of course, along the way!! Here at Parties that Cook we have given you some guides of popular cupcake crawls in our three major cities of operation; San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle! Use these ideas to plan your own unique cupcake crawl in a city near you! Just remember, stay hydrated and pace yourself! Cupcake crawls can take a full day to complete! If your feeling extra passionate about your cupcakery encounters, you can also give out special awards such as;  ‘Best Overall Cupcakery’, ‘Best Individual Cupcake’ or even ‘Best Priced’!!

San Francisco– Sara from The Daily Obsession gives a detailed explanation of her favorite San Francisco cupcake bakeries, complete with pictures and reviews!!

Chicago– Chicago Bites food bloggers Tammy Green and Bridget Houlihan have created a Chicago Cupcake Crawl Guide, covering all essentials needed for a delightful experience!

Seattle– Seattle Weekly Blogs is sure not to leave Seattle behind in the cupcake obsession!

Don’t quite have the sweet tooth? Already done a cupcake crawl? Think of what other kinds of “crawls” you can come up with, we love the idea of a coffee crawl! Leave us a comment about your creative ideas and success stories!

What better way to entertain the rowdy World Cup fans that will be crowding your living room for this Sunday’s big game, than to give them a themed and scrumptious appetizer such as Albondigas, more simply known as Spanish meatballs!! This recipe is a Parties that Cook favorite and is sure to score a winning goal!

Ingredients

Meatballs (Albondigos):
2/3 cup dried breadcrumbs soaked in 2/3 cup chicken broth
2 pounds ground beef or a mixture of veal, beef and pork
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
4 Tablespoons (2 ounces) minced Serrano or prosciutto
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Flour for dusting meatballs

Sauce:
2 Tablespoons olive oil +1 Tablespoon oil
1 yellow onion, minced
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 chipotle in adobo, seeds removed, diced finely
1/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 bunch parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic
12 saffron threads
1/4 cup blanched almonds
1/4 teaspoon pimenton (smoked paprika)
Parsley for garnish and toothpicks for serving
Loaf of bread for soaking up all the sauce

Methods/Steps

Form Meatballs: To make meatballs, combine the soaked breadcrumbs, ground meats, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, Serrano, eggs, salt and pepper in a medium sized bowl and mix with your hands until combined. Shape into 1-inch meatballs. Dust lightly with flour.

Brown Meatballs: Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan. Brown the meatballs over medium-high heat, in batches, until golden brown on all sides.

Sauce: Meanwhile in a separate pan, heat 1 Tablespoon oil and add onion; sauté for 3 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and chipotle and cook for an additional minute. Add wine, broth, salt and pepper.

Put the parsley, garlic, salt, saffron, almonds and pimenton in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until well chopped. Add mixture to sauce then add the sauce to the meatball pan.  Cover and cook meatballs for 7 more minutes.

Serve: Transfer meatballs to a warm serving platter.  Pour warm sauce over meatballs. Garnish with parsley leaves, and serve with toothpicks.

Recipe adapted by Parties That Cook www.PartiesThatCook.com from Delicioso! By Penelope Casas.
Serves/Makes

Makes 24 meatballs