The Case of the Encoded Cookie Cake

Someone at work shared his cookie birthday cake from the Milk and Cookies Bakery on Commerce Street here in NYC. I found my slice to be fine and pleasingly crumbly. Though the dark chocolate ganache on top was slightly more rich than I would have liked, it was still a good mid-afternoon diversion.

Don't ask what was written in icing across the cake. Apparently, it's something of a secret. Inside Joke Cake!

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Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Cake Takes the Cake

My son turned one a month ago. We decided not to throw him a big "First Birthday" party because he'll never remember it and we have so many adult and baby friends we'd need to invite that we'd never find a suitable party venue we could afford.

What we did instead was show up at a local park on his birthday with a picnic blanket, cake, water, and a few snacks. We also texted and emailed a bunch of people at the last minute inviting them to stop by for a piece of cake. The impromptu get-together meant we kept our numbers and budget low.

The cake I chose was really more suitable for adults than babies, and slices were more like incredibly rich, moist brownies than cake. The key ingredient that made for this texture? Mashed banana. It was dense enough that revelers didn't need forks or plates, which was perfect for the park. Peanut butter frosting served alongside made for an optional topping.

I am looking forward to making this cake again. It was really good.  Find the recipe for the cake here (I used coconut oil instead of olive oil). I also used this frosting recipe.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Baby! I hope there are countless cakes in your future.

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Birthday Bites

You may have noticed that I'm fond of the edible birthday. It's true. I hardly need gifts anymore. Just feed me.

This year's birthday was another good excuse for eating with friends. I was surprised (truly surprised) by a birthday brunch of some favorites from Pies 'n' Thighs -- chicken and waffles, chicken biscuits, and a doughnut "cake." What you see above are the delicious, delicious remains of that party. Thanks, friends!




Because I didn't have time to bake myself a cake to share with family and friends, Dan brought home "cookie pies" from The Blue Stove. One was chocolate chip, one chocolate crinkle, and one snickerdoodle.  Happy Birthday to me! We shared two after dinner and had one with breakfast the next morning. Frankly, I liked them better than traditional whoopie pies, though they had a little too much cream filling (event for my taste) in their middles.

My favorite almost-four-year-old also helped her mom bake me a "proper" birthday cake the next night.  It was lemony and rich (not pictured). We all enjoyed large pieces with whipped cream. I probably need the recipe.



Finally, on a whim, I bought myself a package of these limited edition Birthday Cake Oreos. Don't you hate it when the store is out of classic Double Stuf? It leads me to all sorts of wild experimentation. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Oreos (their 100th birthday is TODAY!), but I really didn't like the Birthday Cake flavor much. I have a sweet tooth, but MAN, are they ever sweet. And Dan was out of the country during the week that followed my birthday, so I was forced to eat them all myself. Total Oreo-filling-plus-weird-sprinkle-pieces overload. But I managed. I nearly always do.
 
I miss you, Double Stuf!! You're my true birthday wish. Be back in stock soon!

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Early Birthday Presents

I love the day that Easter candy first makes its appearance in the stores -- or, at least, the day I first notice it.  That day was yesterday, and I snagged a couple of my favorites because today's my birthday and I "deserve" a treat.

Though I prefer an original Cadbury egg over the other flavors (the filling is always creamier in the former), orange is nice for a change.

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Photo Essay: Peruvian Picnic at the Canoe Club

Outstanding food from:

Chicken Latino, Pittsburgh (PA)


Bonus Shot: Someone spotted this bee snacking on a mayfly and I managed to get a photo.



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You could learn a lot from this dimly lit birthday party.

Okay, so the photos are underwhelming (I'm talking about my photography here, not the subject matter).  I optimized as best I could without having to open Photoshop.  People don't seem to light their houses for photo shoots.  Weird.

If necessary, just take my word for it -- Isra's birthday party feast was marked by an outstanding snack buffet.

My favorite items were:

• radish and butter open-faced sandwiches (with good, fresh butter) -- I think I ate 6.
• strawberry and cream cheese open-faced sandwiches
• slices of prosciutto
• very spicy pickles (provenance unknown)
• perfectly ripe fruit slices, including peaches and plums
• Spanish almonds (which I thought tasted a bit like cashews)
• some kind of cheese that was incredible and unrecognizable (to me). 
• blackberries

And, of course, the company was nice, too.

Birthday Fish-a-ma-jig

My sister's birthday was a few weeks ago, and it was in her honor that I had a McDonalds Filet-O-Fish sandwich for dinner that day.  Above is the photo I sent her to prove it.

You might remember my sister, Cali, from her guest post about her law school food storage habits.  It's worth reading.  Eventually, I wrote its sister post (zing!) about my own fridge-full of food.

Anyway, Cali and I both have a taste for the sandwich above, which she and a friend call the "fish-a-ma-jig."  I eat one as a guilty pleasure every month or two, but only enjoy it if it's JUST out of the fryer.  Even then, if it's not eaten quickly, the last corner bite tastes sort of dreary and cold, so I don't linger. My favorite part?  Oozing tartar sauce.  I know this will gross some of you out, but I strive for honesty in these posts. And I like sauces.

Happy Birthday, Cali!  Here's to another year of occasional fish-a-ma-jigs.  My wish for you is that this next year will also find you living with a fully stocked fridge (she graduated from law school, folks! AND got a job!).  It's good to share this guilty pleasure with you.

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Birthdays at Bars

Chocolate Bourbon Birthday!

Two charming friends had birthday celebrations over the weekend.  The weather was hot and steamy here in Brooklyn, so I appreciated that both get-togethers took place at bars with outdoor spaces.

James' birthday soiree happened at The Woods.  The bar's outdoor space is large and there's a mighty fine taco truck parked out back.  This worked to my advantage, as a delicious dinner was one of my goals for the evening.  Dan had an asparagus taco and a chicken taco  ($2.50 each).  I had a chicken burrito filled with chicken, rice, corn, verde salsa, and beans ($5).  Nice.

We also enjoyed reading the geopolitical equations someone had written on our table with black marker:



My favorite, not pictured here, said "USA - Australia = Jesus Camp."  While I doubt the scribe of this sentiment really knew what he/she was talking about, I like the idea that she/he was thinking  a good dose of Australian values is the only thing keeping the U.S. from becoming one big Jesus Camp (a fine documentary, by the way).

I wasn't drinking much at the Woods, but I was talked into trying a "pickle back."  This is a shot of whiskey (often Jameson) followed by a shot of pickle brine.  Now, I love pickles and had no problem thinking about drinking the pickle juice.  The whiskey was what worried me.  But I found that once I took the plunge everything was just fine.  The pickle flavor wiped any bitter alcohol away.  I felt refreshed and ready for more.  This could be a dangerous drink for me!



The second birthday gathering I attended this past weekend was Kelly's.  She celebrated with a "day drinking" session at Spuyten Duyvil.  We enjoyed plates of cheese, pickles, and olives from the bar.  I drink a sparklng wine from Juve y Camps and a (non-alcoholic) ginger beer.  But the highlight of that afternoon was snacking on segments of mini chocolate bourbon bundt cakes from The Blue Stove.  They're quite a deal at $3 each, tasting moist and sweet like cake and frosting all swirled into one.

More summer birthdays, please!

Trickle-Down Cakenomics

Caitlin made a vegan chocolate cake for a Passover/birthday dinner on Monday evening. She brought some into the office yesterday and gave a leftover slice to Jeff. Apparently knowing how I feel about cake, Jeff offered half of his slice to me. It was delicious.

If you think you don't like vegan food, you should at least make an exception for vegan chocolate cake. I love vegan food, but I wager you won't be able to tell that most vegan chocolate cakes are vegan.

Now that I've used the word vegan so many times in a row, I'm exhausted.

I ate in the dark again.

Happy birthday, DMP! It turns out I don't like apple brandy, but I do like you.

Also, thanks for the brownies, Jessica. Their texture was tops -- silky and soft.



I hear the cupcakes, which were good, but entirely too enormous, were from The Blue Stove.

Happy, Ryan?

I am at Ryan's house, enjoying Sam's lively Chinese New Year birthday party as I type this. There's a lot going on.

The woman next to me is speaking rapidly in French, some crab rangoons are frying in a dangerous amount of oil heated over a turkey burner in the back yard, Chuck Norris (in The Octagon) is having flashbacks on the wall, several ladies are dancing like mad, and I just ate something tasty with noodles.

It has come to my attention that some of my friends fear that if I do not write a blog post about a party they've thrown or a meal they've fed me, it must mean I was disappointed by it -- and, by extension, the friend in question.

However, just for the record, it's often too dark for a good photo. See the top of this post for blurry phone photos I'd rather not have posted. I don't like using flash, either. The results aren't much better. Believe me, I mean no offense if your party does not end up on Snackreligious, especially if the lighting is dim. It doesn't mean I didn't enjoy myself, or your refreshments, immensely.

Other reasons I might not blog about the awesome snack you gave me include:

• No camera/phone on hand.
• I ate the thing too quickly (because it was so good, was melting, was in danger of being eaten by someone else) to get a photo.
• I plumb forgot to write the blog post.
• I just don't write about everything I eat. Something's going to be left out.
• I've already blogged about it in some other context and don't want to repeat myself.
  

At this party, however dimly lit, I made a special effort to put the ice cream cake under a lamp to take a better picture. Bought at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, it was layers of green tea, black sesame, and pandan ice creams. Superb!





Fun party, too.

Happy (dense, sweet, frostinged, chocolate) Birthday to me!

Mint brownie from Flying Monkey Patisserie
Reading Terminal Market
Philadelphia, PA.

So far, I remain unsponsored and sorry about that.

If any local restaurant owner or chef wants to pay me (in food or gift certificates) to write about how awesome his or her fare is, I'm open to the idea. Especially if that restaurant is Buttermilk Channel. Because, that's where Matt got the dinner we ate for his birthday a few weeks ago, and it was resplendent -- moist chicken with a slightly salty breading, cheddar-filled waffle wedges, a thin and sweet syrup (tasting slightly of balsamic vinegar?) bread & butter pickles, coleslaw, and candied/bacon-flavored almonds. I now wish to try everything on the menu, once I can stop hyperventilating with delight.



While we're on the subject of Matt's birthday party, take a gander at the snack and appetizer buffet he assembled. This is some serious snack curation. Well done, birthday boy. Well done.


p.s. Does anyone else have 7 or more friends named Matt?

Some will eat sand; I prefer cupcakes

This afternoon I sort of crashed A's first birthday party by tagging along as R and H's friend in tow. The host mom, J, was as sweet as her backyard space, as lovely as her birthday girl daughter, as friendly as the other guests in attendance, and as welcoming as the mini cupcakes from Crumbs (I had two -- vanilla M&M and chocolate Oreo). I felt right at home.



Baby guests gathered around the play area to eat a little sand and occasionally drink water from plastic watering cans.



Adults and kids alike enjoyed pasta salad with peas, broccoli, and tomatoes (my favorite dish); carrots and hummus; blue tortilla chips; and a pitch-perfect fruit salad served in a carved watermelon "bowl." I don't know that a one-year-old always knows when it's his or her birthday, but everyone at this party seemed to know it was a celebration. I had a great time.

Did I mention there were Jello shots for the grownups? I had two strawberry-coconut servings. Right on.

Not too sick to snack.

I missed D.M.'s birthday celebration because I felt like I had to spend an evening at home fighting off a potential cold, but Dan brought me a piece of the cake at the end of the night. Miss Molly, did you make this?

Buttery, bright, light, sweet, tender lemon cake? I feel better already.

Have your cake

We'll be snacking on birthday cake for a few more days. The carrot cake this year includes both almonds and pecans (toasted), for a supreme nuttiness. The cream cheese "icing" is almost more like a thick glaze. I habitually add the zest of one orange and a bit of juice. I've read discussions online in which people claim carrot cake is inferior to spice cake, dry, not carroty enough or too carroty, but I think this recipe from Cook's Illustrated Magazine solves those problems perfectly. One key seems to be in the use of a food processor to emulsify vegetable oil into your wet mixture before stirring in the dry ingredients and shredded carrots. Don't give up on carrot cake until you've tried this one. Unless you just don't like carrots at all, in which case I can't help you. I really can't help you.

I can understand Dan's desire for carrot cake on his birthday each year. His birthday cake should, after all, be to his specifications. This rule was impressed on me at an early age. When I was a kid (and youth, etc.), everyone in the house who was old enough to choose got to pick her or his birthday cake each year. I remember my dad choosing chocolate pudding cake for his birthday many times. That's a cake that still seems like magic to me, as it creates its own sauce while it bakes. It's two desserts in one! And it's perfectly appropriate for a birthday in an often-chilly month.

I quickly settled into a routine of requesting Mississippi Mud Cake. Some versions of this cake include coffee, but my mom's was fudgy chocolate and marshmallow creme. We lived near the Mississipi for 10 years, so I know that in reality the river mud is neither that tasty nor desirable. I'd rather squish my toes in the cake any day. As an adult, I know that this cake also represents a loving sacrifice on my mother's part, as she did not particularly like marshmallow creme. She must have enjoyed my birthday cakes more when I was younger and hadn't settled on my repetitive choice.



Yum. Chocolate cake. That's still okay with me, too.

Happy Birthday!

Every year for Dan's birthday I make a carrot cake (my rules: no raisins; no pineapple). Not because I'm boring and predictable but because that's what he wants. I haven't had time to make one yet for this year, but it's coming.

Here's a peek at a past cake to whet your appetite:



My current favorite carrot cake recipe is one from Cook's Illustrated magazine. I've subscribed for about 7 years, but I think I'm getting over this magazine. Too many recipes I don't really want to make. Any suggestions for what I should try next? Not to be all diety, but I hear Cooking Light is actually good.