Bayleycanrana Peanut Butter Banana cupcakes.
Megan Seling: One does not show up to (former Scene writer) J.R. Lind's WrestleMania party empty-handed. He and his wife Olivia craft an entire menu of delicious pun-filled food — we've highlighted it in What'd You Eat column before, in fact. So for Sunday's WrestleMania 33 party, I knew I had to bring something awesome. And because Bayley is the best, I created the Bayleycanrana Peanut Butter Banana cupcakes, inspired by one of her signature moves. The banana cupcake has a mini Reese's peanut butter cup baked into the center and it's topped with whipped peanut butter buttercream, a little hunk o' peanut butter cup and a banana chip. And of course the cupcakes were finished with a little sparkle, which perfectly matched the fringe cape Bayley wore to the ring last night. Were they good? UH, DID BAYLEY KEEP THE RAW WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP BELT? HECK YES!
Amanda Haggard: This weekend, because my in-laws were in town and we didn't have a lot of time to cook, I ate at an array of chain restaurants — Chili's, Newk's, Slim Chickens and Samurai. I left most of the meals feeling like I'd had enough sodium for weeks, though I did enjoy my salad at Newk's. But honestly, the best meal I had all weekend was from the Kroger deli: a rotisserie chicken, some simple pasta salad and a delicious superfood salad with kale, cranberries, cashews, carrots, blueberries, sunflower seeds and various other tasty tidbits.
Stephen Trageser: A couple weeks back, I had some mushy, freezer-burnt fish fillets. I have moved on from the freezer to the display case of ready-to-cook fish, and had much better luck. The way it was packaged, I thought I had a couple of cod fillets on my hands, but it turned out that it was basically half a fish. Slathered with spices, lime juice and olive oil, it baked perfectly at 450 degrees. It went great in tacos with some spicy guacamole I made.
Cari Wade Gervin: On Sunday I went to a “cake and dip” party — that’s right, a party where everyone has to show up with either a cake and/or a dip or spread. (Also: wine.) I knew someone else was making pimiento cheese, and my food processor is still packed up somewhere, so I settled on making a cheese ring. It’s basically shredded cheddar, a grated onion and some garlic, pecans and mayo, and then you put strawberry jam in the middle. My mom used to make it for parties when I was a kid, and it’s delicious. Scene food writer Lesley Lassiter said, “When you were telling me about this, I thought it sounded really gross, but it was actually great,” if you need additional proof that it’s good. I ate far too much cake and dip, and everything was amazing, but special mention must be made of a lemon and raspberry mascarpone cake with candied lemon slices that apparently took three days to make. I had a leftover slice for breakfast this morning; still delicious.
What'd you eat this weekend?
Cari Wade Gervin's cheese ring.
The “cake and dip” party spread.
