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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Let Them Eat (Fish and) Cake

Bon Chovie fried, fresh anchovies.  Eat the head or twist it off -- it's up to you!


Ridiculously good pumpkin cake with hot fudge sauce and bourbon whipped cream -- the perfect cake to eat outdoors on a frosty autumn afternoon.

Months and months ago, we made our last sojourn to Smorgasburg, the seasonal (outdoor) Brooklyn Flea food market that is for neighborhood "foodie" fare what a farmer's market is for fresh fruits and vegetables.  Shortly after this trip, it closed for the winter.

I haven't come anywhere close to trying at least one thing from each vendor, but I look forward to continuing this quest in the spring. Smorgasburg reopens April 7th.

See past Smorgasburg/Brooklyn Flea posts here and here.

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From the Vaults: Doughnut Teaser

I keep eating doughnuts.  Here are a few.




Doughnuts by Pies 'n' Thighs, via Gimme Coffee





Doughnuts by Dough, via Gimme Coffee

Now that Gimme has switched over to doughnuts from "Dough" in Bushwick, I have to say I like the change.  Pictured above are a blood orange doughnut (anybody else reading Tyra Banks' Modelland? If so, you'll know why I am nuts over blood orange anything), a mixed-berry doughnut, and a chocolate chip and sea salt scone.  I found them superior in flavor to the dense and sometimes greasy Pies 'n' Thighs doughnuts.  I'll still eat PnT's flavors, especially lemon poppyseed, but I'm more often in the mood for a "Dough" frosted glazed.

p.s. Pies 'n' Thighs doughnuts are good if you're looking for the "window to weight gain" pictured below:



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Snackscot

Spotted in a bodega: one tiny, adorable kitten.

I would imagine this must be good for business.  I know s/he makes me want to buy at least twice as many Nutter Butters.

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No Line? So Fine.

The problem with the original Shake Shack in Madison Square Park is that the lines are almost always ridiculously long.  When it opened in 2004, I was working nearby and managed to get in on the ground floor of the phenomenon.  The frozen custard "concretes," which are like Blizzards, and cheese fries were my special loves.  But as the lines grew longer, I stopped going.  I wasn't going to give up most of an hour-long lunch break waiting to place my order.  The food is good, but not good enough to justify the wait. 



Now, Shake Shack is expanding across this city and into others.  Until today, I had yet to try any of the new locations.  I guess I assumed the long line in Madison Square would be replicated at each.  But, happily, I see that I was wrong.  After an early afternoon at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (closed to the public on Mondays, but I have a hook-up!) seeing, among other things, the Alexander McQueen retrospective, we walked over to the Shake Shack on 86th Street.  It was about 4pm, so perhaps the time was a factor, but there was no line at all!



Dan's burger was good, he reported. My fried mushroom burger, filled with gooey melted cheese and topped with crisp onion and tomato and lettuce and pickles, was excellent.  The cheese fries were fresh, warm, and swell.  Dan's root beer didn't disappoint.  My lemonade was perfect. Our Coffee Bean Brownie (coffee-caramel-brownie-vanilla) concrete was sweet and smooth.  And, to make things even better, there was outdoor seating in a public plaza adjacent to the restaurant.  And the bathroom had a changing station.  Golly! What an afternoon of happy flavors and thoughts!



So maybe I won't wait in line for it, but I will take the train.

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There was this one time?

This one time? We had a fairly new baby? And Rusty brought us muffins from Variety?

Much appreciated!  Especially pumpkin cream cheese.

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Mmmm....composty...

I haven't yet made it to Smorgasburg, Brooklyn Flea's all-food market in Williamsburg, but I was happy with the food options at the flea market itself, which I visited well before Smorgasburg opened.

Told I had to try one of the Compost Cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar's stand, I obliged.  It was tasty, but not as exciting as I was hoping it would be.  Perhaps the texture was too homogenized.  I'm looking forward to making my own version.

While there, I also enjoyed my favorite Asia Dog -- the Mash (not pictured).  Potato chips, spicy ketchup, jalapeno mustard? I have no complaints.  I've now had Asia Dog's food at a bar (where they originated), a flea market, a wedding (which they catered!), a pop-up soccer clubhouse (oh, the wasabi potato salad!), and their restaurant in Nolita.  I'm a fan.

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My compliments

We did nothing to deserve a complimentary Lemon-Brown Butter Mochi Cake with kumquat sauce, black sesame streusel, and Il Laboratorio Buttermilk Ice Cream, but were thrilled when it was brought to us at one of our favorite neighborhood spots, Five Leaves.

Thankfully, our relative unworthiness did not sour its flavor.  Delicious!

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"Ginger" should never be an insult.

I got a tip from Daupo that the ginger cookies he spotted today at Paradis were mighty fine -- sweet, soft, and with a good ginger flavor.

Ginger cookies at Paradis?  I've never seen such a thing!  Their chocolate chip cookie was the first item featured on this blog (the epic picture came later), so I always give their cookies a chance.

I went right over -- and bought two, of course.

And Daupo was right.  No "redheaded stepchildren" in the cookie family, these.  Just delicious.

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My pants are too tight. Oh, hello, Pudding.

Yes, I'm too lazy to shop for maternity pants.  The pair I'm wearing today have to be completely unbuttoned when I sit down.  I'm spending my Elevenses eating leftover pudding from The Food Emporium anyway -- tight pants be damned!

FYI, marshmallows left in pudding overnight take on a sort of soft-foam texture.  Odd.

Also!  While I have mentioned I found Whole Foods' chocolate pudding to be TOO chocolatey and rich, the F.E. pudding is just my speed. The only thing I don't like about this in-store brand is the packaging.  Because the pudding cup is "rippled" around its sides, it is impossible to scrape all of the pudding out with any utensil.  Wasted pudding is a disgrace.

p.s.  Here's a funny picture of my cat wearing my hair as a wig. It is un-staged (i.e. he crawled under my chin and sat down like that):





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Other stuff I ate last year:

Grey Dog cookies are huge!  Big cookies have to be soft for me to like them, and this chocolate peanut butter one worked for me. Several times.





Molly and David gave me pie!



Ian gave me pie!



I made a plum cake!

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Have your nest and eat it, too.

So.  It turns out, I'm nesting.  But I refuse to blame this entirely on pregnancy.  I've always loved organization, despite what my overstuffed-with-stuff apartment looks like (let's just say these photos of our place are really flattering).  Given a blank check and some more time off of work, I'd fill my shelves with boxes and organizers and happily alphabetize files, books, and spices all day.

I took most of a day off work last week so that Nick and Dan and I could go to the Brooklyn (Red Hook) Ikea.  There, with some early Christmas money from generous relatives, I bought a large shelving unit and many organizational accoutrements.  The shopping endeavor naturally left our party famished, and we stopped for lunch in the Ikea cafeteria before heading home.



Yum!  I had potato, broccoli, and cheese croquettes served with macaroni and cheese.  The guys had Swedish meatballs with potatoes and lingonberry preserves.  Dan threw in a few extra pieces of garlic toast, and we all had lingonberry soda (my favorite part of the meal).  I suspect Ikea is at the top of the cafeteria food game.  Everything was clean, the food was delicious and comforting, and the prices were dirt cheap (Dan and I spent just over $11 for the two of us).  I think I might make eating there -- I mean organizing my apartment -- a more regular habit.

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Happy Birthday, Kyle!

On Kyle's birthday, I was privileged to join the folks celebrating at local beer garden Loreley for sausages, fresh pretzels, and chats.

They had beer; I had Possmann Country Apple German Apple Juice.  There's no alcohol in there, but it tasted like a party.  And I don't like beer anyway, so I'd drink this any day.


p.s. Technically, it's Poetry Tuesday, but I haven't gone to bed yet (been up making cookies), so it's still Monday for me.

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Thighs n Thighs

I have a new favorite dinner at local favorite chicken joint, Pies 'n' Thighs.  Surprising as it may be, this doesn't involve pie.



My current favorite side dish is the watermelon salad, which includes cucumber and jalapeño.  This is significantly different from how I like to make watermelon salad (with red onion, feta, and black olives), but it's light and refreshing.



The horchata is my beverage of choice this summer.  It's cold and tasty and spiced, without being too sweet.  I've had it at several restaurants, but the mixture at Pies 'n' Thighs is one of the best I've had.

Here's the main event:




It's the "Chicken Biscuit," it's $5, it's decadent, and it's phenomenal.  What you see here is a sandwich of chicken breast with hot sauce and honey butter on a fluffy biscuit.   There's so, so, much butter.  It can't possibly be healthy.  Just watch it ooze:



I love it so much.  This is currently my go-to comfort meal, y'all.

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CSA and my bated breath

My CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program's vegetable distribution begins in two weeks.  The video above features our farmer, Zaid, and his produce.  22 weeks of fruits and vegetables, here I come!

Zaid reports our first week could include:

Lettuces
Spring Garlic
Mixed Greens
Radishes
Japanese Turnips
Possibly garlic scapes

Can't. Wait.

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Ah, to live in Cupcakeland

I'm no fiend for cupcakes. I'm more fond of classic sliced cakes and pies. But I like a good cupcake, and I'll try out the new neighborhood cupcake shop. And this cupcake, in specific, tasted fresh and light. Furthermore, the "Cookie" frosting pleased me. I'll be back.


Cupcakeland
390 Metropolitan Ave
(between Havemeyer St & 5th St)
Brooklyn, NY

How dark is too dark?

For me, 81% is too dark.

The almonds and sea salt in this Mast Brothers chocolate are swell, but I think I'm more of a 60% dark sort of gal. It's good to learn these sorts of things about myself.

(this chocolate was a gift from Jenny. I love the packaging, and I've been dying to sample the Mast Brothers' wares. Great present! Thanks!)

Peer Pressure Blogging

I got a lot of encouragement from members of our large party to blog about a recent dinner at Petite Abeille, a charming Belgian restaurant on 17th Street (among other locations), near Union Square in New York City.

The meal? Delicious, comforting, warm. I had vol au vent and frites. Incroyable!

The staff? Friendly, thoughtful, genuine.

The location? Charming, Tintin-a-riffic, cozy. And a little dark. Just too dark, in fact, to take good photos (see dimly lit Belgian chocolate mousse, above). Hence my reluctance to blog about the meal.

But I did take that one photo, and I do sometimes fold under pressure (and the meal was great), so here I am.

BabyCakes, meet Baby Cakes

BabyCakes vegan bakery's Banana Bread





Baby Cakes by Brad Neely, Creased Comics (watch 'em all!)

Takumi Take-Away.

The soup base was a little greasy, but the flavors were nice.

Ramen Takumi
90 University Place
New York, NY