Frugal Floozie Friday -- The Cupcake Station

It's Frugal Floozie Friday again, and this is Part 2 of my adventures with my BFF Wendy and her daughter Alison. Last week's episode featured a lovely dinner at Jerusalem Garden; this week, we'll continue our saga with dessert at The Cupcake Station.

Our original intent had been to take advantage of the Friday special: 25-cent frosting shots. For just $1, the three of us could get quite a good sugar rush going! We were giddy -- and likely quite annoying, for which I'll publicly apologize -- as we happily bounced like pinballs from one end of the counter to the other trying to pick our flavors. By the time we were done, we had confused the situation sufficiently that we found ourselves with 5 shots rather than 4 ... oh, woe is me!

But our plan didn't last very long, because who could resist cupcakes when they look so pretty, so inviting, so seductive???

And then, as we waited for the rest of our order to be ready, Alison decided that a chocolate-nut-oat bar also looked enticing ... so we added it to the pile: 3 cupcakes, 1 dessert bar, and 5 frosting shots. This is what the scene looked like before we delved in, in the midst of dividing the portions:


Now, first of all, I have to say that I can't even remember the last time I ingested this much sugar! And this isn't the sort of activity to engage in on a regular basis, but it was a lot of fun for a girls' night out. And yes, between the three of us, we polished off virtually everything except for the last crumbs and the last schmears of frosting. To quote a good friend: "Urf."

But I digress ... this is Frugal Floozie Friday, and I need to tell you about the frosting shots! These are a tremendous value - well within the mandatory budget of $5 or less per person - and the portions are very generous. And it's just fun to eat frosting; cake is really just a vehicle for the sugar fix, after all.

Customers can choose any flavor from the entire repertoire which, of course, really makes things much more difficult - it causes brain paralysis! But here's what we finally settled on (left to right, top to bottom ... arranged, as Alison pointed out, "like the Olympics, but better!"):

- Chocolate
- Peanut Butter
- Cherry
- Vanilla Latte
- Marshmallow

I could happily have eaten an entire cake's worth of the Vanilla Latte frosting, as it was smoother than butter and tasted very much like coffee ice cream - subtle flavoring, rather than strong and insistent. The chocolate was very rich, with a hint of the intensity of dark chocolate. The marshmallow frosting was very light, and was good despite being more reminiscent of vanilla than of Fluff.

The peanut butter flavoring wasn't overpowering, either; in fact, in the chaos of our table we lost track of which flavors we were trying among the tan/white varieties, and kept wondering why the vanilla frosting had a hint of nut flavoring ... and then we realized it was the cream-colored peanut butter one. It, too was quite good - it would be perfect with a chocolate cupcake. The only flavor that had leftovers was the cherry, which was a gorgeous color and intensely flavored, but simply couldn't compete with my favorites.

With cupcakes costing only $2.75 and even jumbo cupcakes costing $5, The Cupcake Station clearly offers a multitude of Frugal Floozie Friday options even if you expand beyond the frosting shots.

The only thing missing from our feast was a cold glass of milk ... :)

The Cupcake Station
116 E. Liberty Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-222-1801


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Frugal Floozie Friday: Food and Fun for Five Dollars or Less ... Really!!!

Frugal Floozie Friday -- Jerusalem Garden

Well, today is Frugal Floozie Friday, and we're going out for dinner this time - for Middle Eastern food at Jerusalem Garden.

My BFF Wendy and her daughter, Alison - home for the summer after an exciting term interning at the State Department - joined me for an adventure one recent evening. We had such a fabulous time that this will be a two-part escapade completed next week ... same Bat time, same Bat channel!

We wanted to attend the first night of Top of the Park, described in a press release as:

"One of Ann Arbor’s favorite community celebrations .... (It) offers admission-free concerts, movies under the stars, open-air performances, street arts, family attractions, and a wide variety of cultural activities for the whole community to enjoy."

So we started with dinner before meandering over to the concert a few blocks away, right in the heart of the University of Michigan campus.

Jerusalem Garden is unfortunately located right in the midst of the enormous and seemingly endless project to construct an underground parking structure. There is a sign saying that the two restaurants on that block are still open; but with parking non-existent and the street blocked off, it's not a particularly enticing location. (You can even find a Facebook page supporting the restaurants: Keep Earthen Jar and Jerusalem Garden Open ... go "like" it.)

So we were on a mission to show our love.

We sat on the shaded patio on a perfect summery evening, a small oasis from the dust and consternation of the construction site, and were happy to see three other tables filled in addition to watching numerous customers walk in and then leave with take-out orders.

We were surprised at how many options were available within the very strict $5 per person budget for Frugal Floozie Friday: an assortment of salads and soups, spinach and meat pies, and eight different sandwiches featuring falafel or hummus or lentils and rice. And, of course, desserts were within our price range, as well.

I decided upon the Small Falafel Plate (pictured at the top of the post), which would have been $3.25 with one sampler side dish; but since I could choose a second side dish and bring my total up to only $4.75, that's what I did. I chose tabouli (on the right) and my favorite, fattoush (on the left). Wendy and Alison decided to split the Jerusalem Burger for $5.75: "Ground beef & lamb mixed with onions, parsley and spices baked in grape leaves, wrapped with hummus."

As you can see from the pictures, we absolutely got a huge bang for our proverbial buck -- we were served an incredibly generous amount of food! And it was exceptionally good food, too; Wendy loved the burger, and kept remarking how excellent it was and how enormous just her half of it was.

My falafel patties were perfectly cooked -- crunchy exteriors encasing a crumbly and flavorful filling. The salads were crisp and fresh with subtle flavors, rather than having been overdressed or too acidic (as they are at some places). Our waitress very graciously offered me a second piece of pita bread, which I happily accepted. And the three of us enthusiastically polished off our entire dinner, thoroughly enjoying our feast.

Whereas last week's featured establishment, Schakolad, was more about finding a sinfully seductive treat within the Frugal Floozie Friday price limit, going to Jerusalem Garden was about finding great value for the expenditure. An entire dinner for $5 or less??? What a fabulous deal!


Jerusalem Garden
307 S. Fifth Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-995-5060


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Frugal Floozie Friday: Food and Fun for Five Dollars or Less ... Really!!!