Batson's Blog

Wow! I almost didn’t stop at Bowtie Bakery . That would have been a huge mistake. I was up at Concord Mills Mall and I decided to check out Purple Cow Bakery . I arrived at the address I had for Purple Cow, but there was no bakery there. I Googled the store and one of the search results that came up was “Bow Tie Bakery.” It looked like Bow Tie Bakery was near the Carolina Place mall. Frustrated that Purple Cow evidently moved or went out of business, I was going to call it a day and head home. While driving towards Interstate, I passed the mall. I did a u-turn and found Bow Tie Bakery – located next to Sogo Japanese Seafood and Steakhouse in a strip mall. I’m not sure what I was expecting, if anything, when I walked inside. What I got was a huge selection of cupcakes. Each one was a different, enticing flavor and was visually impressive. I probably spent 10 minutes trying to decide which cupcakes to get. I ended up choosing five of them. I ended up sharing them sin...

It's back to Concord this week. After trying DOUGH Bakery last week, I went closer to the downtown area and found The Sweet Life . I had to double check the address. My GPS said I was at 196 Church Street, but it the building didn't look like a bakery from the outside. After getting out of the car I realized there were two large banners with a cupcake and the words, "The Sweet Life," on it. However, when driving by, trying to pay attention to traffic (minor details, you know...), the sign didn't jump out at me. The Sweet Life is located inside an old house-turned-business. Apparently there's an invitation/graphic design business inside as well. I'm not sure if it's run by the same people as the cupcake shop or not. When I went inside, the only thing I spotted was the bakery. The first thing I noticed was the interesting choice of flavors. They had banana pudding, vanilla chai, peanut butter and jelly, and caramel apple. Each cupcake lo...

It's a double dose of cupcakes today since I missed posting last week. I'd heard about DOUGH bakery several months ago. I was at an event they provided treats for and ended up with one of their business cards. I went online to the DOUGH website , but it didn't list cupcakes as one of the goodies they bake. That left me with the old fashioned option: I called them. I asked if they had cupcakes and the man on the other end told me they did. They had chocolate, vanilla and, the new standard, red velvet. Obviously, they didn't have the selection of a shop that's dedicated specifically to cupcakes. I figured I'd give them a shot. When I got to the store, it was just as the man on the phone had said. There were a handful of cupcakes available in three flavors: vanilla, chocolate and red velvet. They added some variety by mixing up the frosting. Some chocolate cupcakes had chocolate frosting while others had vanilla. Some vanilla cupcakes were topped ...

Thousands of people were in Concord for the Bank of America 500 this weekend. I made a stop, just south of the Speedway, at Granny Mac's Bake Shop . I wasn't really sure what to expect going there. Had I checked out their website, I probably would've had a better idea. Once you walk in, there are donuts, cookies and other goodies to the right. The cupcakes are to the left. I started walking to the display case and quickly noticed that these cupcakes are huge! They’re Perkins Mammoth Muffins huge or Sam’s Club huge. One thing's for sure: you don't need too many of these cupcakes to make a hearty dessert. Strawberry Cupcake This cupcake was potent! I could smell it in my car on the way home even though the cupcake was securely packed into a plastic bakery box. There's a nice strawberry flavor to it. In searching for awesome cupcakes this year, I've realized that some strawberry cupcakes have a really strong strawberry flavor (almost to t...

As WWE is gearing up for Wrestlemania, TNA is preparing for Slammiversary. With their new pay-per-view model, Slammiversary is the next big pay-per-view TNA has -- but it's not until June. We'll see if that new model generates any additional interest or buys. Saturday night they were in Concord, North Carolina for a live event. For $16 (I didn't bother trying to get floor seats), it doesn't matter what event they're gearing up for or how many pay-per-views they have. I'll buy a ticket. I went to a TNA live event in 2008. I got to help out at a different live event in 2009, clearing the broken table (courtesy of Team 3-D) from the ring and taking the photos for the fans as they posed with A.J. Styles in the ring after the event. This time, I wasn't wanting to meet the wrestlers or network with anyone. It's just something to do on a Friday night for a relatively cheap price. I've been reading spoilers and catching bits and pieces of I...