{Brunch at Local Bistro}

When our good friend Sarah came back in town for a weekend visit, we drove up to North Scottsdale to meet up with her, our other good friend Dani & Dani's mom, for brunch at Local Bistro. It was so nice to see both of them, since Sarah had moved back to California after graduation this year, and we've been terrible at making plans with Dani. Thankfully Dani's sister's baby shower brought Sarah back to AZ, so we insisted on squeezing in a hang out!

The Italian restaurant is off the beaten path from the 5 mi. radius Chris & I usually give ourselves to drive and try new places, but it was worth it. The restaurant offers brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but is also rumored to have a fantastic happy hour during the week. Good enough excuse for me to come back!

I ordered the spanish omelette, which was filled with chorizo and manchego cheese. The plate also came with some delicious fresh fruit, and herb roasted potatoes. Almost everyone at our table ordered something different, which was great! It allowed us to sample almost everything on the brunch menu. 

{monkey bread french toast with nutella}

{breakfast calzone}

{egg panini}

Dani's mom had originally ordered the smoked salmon breakfast sandwich, but the restaurant hadn't received its usual morning delivery. The chef felt bad, and at the end of our meal we were surprised with two caramel panna cotta desserts! It was at least noon by the end of our meal, since we had been sitting and chatting for so long. That was all the justification I needed to have dessert after breakfast. And I was not disappointed! The creamy desserts were so so good. My caramel obsession continues.

{Sweet Republic Date Night}

Apparently over the last few days & nights I've decided to completely ignore my nice camera, and leave it sitting on the counter as I go rushing out the door. Blast. Thank goodness for my iPhone, so I don't completely loose out on all my memories!

Chris took me on a surprise sushi date (swoon.) and after we stumbled on Sweet Republic ice cream. It's been on my AZ bucket list for quite a while, and every time I hear the sweet treat shop receive a mention in the press I make a mental note to get out there! It's a bit of a drive from my house, and I never would have expected to find it so suddenly!

With 24 different flavors of ice cream, sorbet & froyo like honey blue cheese, banana foster, sweet corn and brownie swirl, it took me FOREVER to decide what I wanted. 

The boyfriend settled on a double scoop of coconut ice cream. It was good, but I probably won't ever order it again. I think he agreed. (We're super snobby about our coconut after eating strictly coconut gelato in Europe last summer!)

I got the salted butter caramel. Hoooolllyyyy it was so good! I near licked the bottom of the cup even though I was already stuffed from sushi. Seriously, I've got to go back soon. I also spotted ice cream sandwiches with cookies made in the shop for sale! Mmmm.

Whoever started the salted caramel trend out there, I'm eternally grateful. 

{Sinful}

At the Phoenix Public Market on Saturdays,

 you'll find booth after booth of local residents selling their best homemade goods,

like fruits & veggies straight off of their farm, fresh goat cheese, jewelry, bouquets, jams & treats.

Sampling one goody after another, my friends and I stumbled on an extremely nondescript booth, with no signs, one box of tools, what looked like a waffle iron and a man in a chef hat. He had one box of product left - cookies. 

Enter the most sinfully delicious cookie I have tasted in quite some time!

Oh boy am I glad we stopped here! 

He was closing up shop, so thankfully we managed to sneak in before he left. 

He unfortunately ran out of batter, so he wasn't able to make any more fresh cookies for the day 

(the reason behind the mystery waffle iron)

BUT,

told us that we could buy a pre-packed pair of cookies, he would give them to us for half price, and would warm them up for us to enjoy. 

That was an offer we were not mentally prepared to refuse.

(Sorry healthy eating streak...couldn't help it!)

The cookie tastes & smells like the best cinnamon, vanilla, fresh-off-the-iron-from-a-state-fair waffle cone you've ever had. Better yet, they take two of these delicately thin, melty cookies and put homemade caramel in the center. 

I die.

Go order some right now. Or visit the public market when you can!

You will thank me later!

{On vacation we... attended Caramelpalooza!}

While Devin was in town, we accomplished an amazing amount of fun excursions.

So many, I have decided to split them up into separate posts so I can share all of the many details specific to each event!

First up...Caramelpalooza!
Devin, Chris & I attended this fun event, getting knee-deep in a very sticky situation.

The Phoenix New Times's foodie blog, Chow Bella put on the event with the help of Smeeks candy shop in downtown Phoenix.

Twelve different well-known caramel makers and confectioners were put to the test as caramel lovers from all over AZ showed up to sample a variety of sticky caramel delights.

Want to see the whole list of entrants? Visit here.

{Caramel Aficionados}

Chow Bella searched far and wide for local experts to be guest judges at the event.

My good friend Omar was chosen!

His limited 50-word submission got picked above a stiff competition, chosen based on his vast knowledge of Law & Order SVU (so clearly he is very judge-y) and a caramel themed haiku.

{Omar & his judgy-ness}

After eating enough caramel to make someone sick, we decided on our favorites. 

Drumroll...

The Caramel Macaron from Essence Bakery Cafe

&

The Caramel Apple Tadpole from Tammie Coe Cakes

I also have to give a shout out to Tracy Dempsey for her caramel with soy sauce aged in bourbon. Holy holy this thing was amazing! I was the only one who liked it, which meant I got three. Fine by me.

More honorable mentions go to: 

Virginia Senior of Urban Beans' dark chocolate-covered crunchy toffee with pecans, which Devin loved,

&

Brendan McCaskey's peanut butter and jelly caramel, which was a real crowd pleaser.  
Me & my allergies unfortunately could not help to decide!

So fun. Still so full.