A Little Escape... (and a recipe)

On Friday I shared that my hubby and myself went down to the Central Coast of California... what we consider the CC, having lived there for the bulk of our lives, for a mini get away. We arrived late Tuesday night so as to have all day there to spend doing some of our favorite things and to visit with friends. Wednesday we spent a little time shopping and visited a doughnut shop that I had seen on Instagram, before heading to San Francisco, to cut our drive back to Sacramento in half and to avoid rush hour traffic. We had only a few hours to spend, wanting to get home before midnight, and had two stops in mind. The first was Wax Museum, we had not visited this smaller version, and having been to both the Hollywood and Las Vegas version, we decided to go. I was luckily able to see some of my favorite stars from the past ( see photos below) and took the opportunity to snap off some fun photos.

Our view at breakfast on the Central Coast
before leaving for San Fran

Breakfast.. a fav at Spy Glass located in Shell Beach Ca.
Crab Eggs Benedict 

Hot out of the fryer, a Creme
Brulee Doughnut with burnt sugar
crust on top from the SLO Doughnut Co.

Visiting the famous Bubble Gum Alley in San Luis Obispo Ca.

The second was what is known as The Dungeon, an attraction with live actors that lead you through the dark history of the under belly of San Francisco starting well before the 1800's. It was described as giving a good scare, but not the reach out and grab you, gross visual type a typical haunted house attraction would give you.As it was late in the day, early evening really once we finished with the wax museum, it ended up being myself, my hubby and two other couples, all being younger than half our age. We were shown into a dark room, after posing for the pre-required tourist photos in front of a green screen, taking an elevator ride, the tour began. I was picked upon to spin a wooden wheel to decide our fate for the tour and then.... well I am not going to tell you any more, as I do not want to ruin the fun should you ever have the chance to experience it. It was great fun, informative, and yes at times, could be scary... simply by not knowing what would happen next...and often involving being in the dark.  As all things are in San Francisco it was expensive, especially when you count the over priced parking fees that now are the norm ( we paid 36.00 out of the 45.00 max for parking), but it was a grand way to spend a little over an hour. 

Once we got out, we were very hungry, and The Rain Forest Cafe was right there so we took advantage and decided to keep the kitsch theme of our trip going. We sat in the Under The Sea room just adjacent to the Jungle Room dining on a yummy burger to the sounds of roaring tigers and trumpeting Elephants and what seemed like the "Volacano" desert and birthday song sun at least a half dozen times. The food is always good, and about average priced for such a venue, and we for one enjoy the kitsch themed restaurant. 

The view for supper.

Of course had to stop at the photo booth before leading out to take a stroll.

We took a nice stroll, hand in hand down Pier 39, finding a secluded area to gaze upon the Bay Bridge... before too long it was time to face the fact that we had to get into the car once again, and make the little over 2 hour drive back to home. We hated to have it all end and talked that we would not make it a whole year before getting away the next time, and how lovely it was to have a little escape.

Now for that recipe.....

A recipe so easy you can be in your PJS

I have actually not been feeling well for several days and between that, exhaustion from the two day whirlwind road trip and the triple digit heat, I have not moved from the couch for several days, but today being stir crazy as well as having a hankering for a sweet I decided to throw together a little baked good. Last Tuesday on my FB fan page I shared a dump cake recipe, so named because you basically dump all the ingredients into a baking dish and well, bake it. Other than spices it only included three ingredients. Easy. So this week following the same idea, and picking a very retro favorite, I made fruit cocktail angel food cupcakes. It is beyond simple, only uses two ingredients,  AND I even made it healthy by making it with the fruit being in water with no sugar added! So here is what you do...

This is all you need.  I made cupcakes as I like the crunchy
top...  and individual servings it creates,
but you can bake this in a large baking dish.

I used fruit cocktail, but you can use pineapple,
as seen on Pintrest, or any canned fruit with juice....pour the
whole thing in, juice and all!

Stir with a spoon and watch what happens.... it expands... it
is pretty darn cool! Mix well. 

I found out that a little less batter is better, these are a bit full... the sprinkles were an extra fun touch.

Bake according to box directions. I baked mine at 325 degrees for about 28 minutes and rotating the pans half way through. 

You end up with these yummy cupcakes with crunchy tops and
soft sponge like cake with bits of fruit throughout. 

Bonus edit photos...