Click on the button below to see the route we took on our Autumn Saturday walk.
« July 2008 | Main | September 2008 »
August 2008
August 31, 2008
August 30, 2008
Autumn Saturday: Mostly Manhattan
Jon couldn't wait to try out the places Pam and In-Young took me on Tuesday night, so this morning we planned a little trip to Chinatown on the way to Brooklyn.
Heading down Seventh Avenue--just across from Sheridan Square--we passed this scene. An art installation? The results of an overeager cabbie? Who knows, but I couldn't resist snapping a pic of this woman checking for a dial tone. (As Cindy Adams says, "Only in New York kids, only in New York.") Every weekend walk has to start with a stop at Doughnut Plant. But the place was shuttered, and our plan for a breakfast of doughnuts was foiled! Closed for vacation? Until September 5th? How could they!? Doughnutless, we headed for our next stop.
I must have told Jon "I think it's this block" at least three times before I found New Wonton Garden again. The food is so good and costs so little. These gigantic bowls of soup were only $7 apiece.
Noodle time...with chopsticks! And, as promised, I'm wearing the T-shirt that Pam and In-Young gave me. (Thanks again, you two!)
The next stop in our Tuesday night dinner redux was Teariffic for bubble tea and toast with condensed milk. Jon was so happy with his tea that he spent most of the afternoon talking about what we was going to order next time and the time after that...and the time after that. (Anyone know if there's a 12-step program for bubble tea?)
Our final stop in Chinatown before heading over the bridge to Brooklyn was at Fay Da Bakery for pork buns. Oh. My. God. These were dangerously good--the closest thing to linguica rolls I've ever tasted. Pam and In-Young raved about this tasty babies, and I needed to try one. Unfortunately, though, the bakery was closed when we three stopped by on Tuesday night. But it was open Saturday morning! The bun is slightly sweet and light as air. (It's very similar to the bready part of a linguica roll.) The filling was like a Chinese BBQ pulled-pork sandwich: a little bit sweet, a little bit savory, and just plain delicious!
And so, our bellies full, we waddled over the Brooklyn Bridge and up to Prospect Park. But with daylight shrinking, storm clouds gathering, and gnats swarming, we decided to take the train home. I hope it didn't rain on this bride's wedding day in Grand Army Plaza!
Scene on the Street
We spotted these two signs on our Summer Friday IV walk. The first one was on a coffee cart parked across from the Starbucks on the corner of Astor Place and Lafayette Street. This is the coffee guy's answer to a Starbucks "venti." The second one was a salon on on the corner of Lafayette and Jersey Streets. I guess that dog on the inside is a real rebel.
August 29, 2008
Wearing the Blog-Love
Pam and In-Young, readers, real-life cookie tasters, and fellow foodie adventurers, surprised me Thursday afternoon with this neato T-shirt to thank me for all my bring-in-ables.
What a surprise! I went in to the conference room for a lunchtime screening of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and came out with this goodie.
Thanks, Pam and In-Young! I am so wearing this on my next walk, which will be tomorrow.
August 28, 2008
Reader Query: Caramel-Stuffed Cookies?
Alicia, a longtime reader and fellow blogger (over at The Slacker Kitchen), wants to try flavor variations on my stuffed Golden Girls cookies. She asked:
“Have you thought about filling the Golden Girls with caramel?”
Caramel's a difficult ingredient to use as a cookie filling. If the caramel is really liquid (like a jarred caramel sauce), it will get absorbed into the cookie. If the caramel is too hard (like a Sugar Daddy candy), the stuffed center of the cookie will be really, really crunchy (and could potentially ruin any dental work you might have). But fear not! I have a trick for those of you jonesing for a caramel-stuffed cookie.
I haven't tried those individually wrapped caramel cubes/chews, but I think they might be a little too tough to work as a cookie filling. Rolos are chocolate-coated caramel candies that stay soft yet semisolid at room temperature, and they work really well. I've used Rolos successfully in my The Girl Scouts Are Gonna Be Jealous and Chocolate & Salted Caramel cookies. So I'd stick with the Rolos.
I haven't done a caramel-stuffed version of my Golden Girls. Give 'em a try, Alicia, and let me know how they turn out!
August 27, 2008
Tuesday Night Dinner: Cheap Eats in Chinatown
Last night, Pam and In-Young, readers and real-life cookie tasters, took me out to dinner in Chinatown. First stop: New Wonton Garden for noodles. Roasted duck and chicken with noodles in a super rich and tasty broth. Yum! My grandmother used to tell me I had chicken soup for blood...she wasn't kidding.
Our next stop was Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I was hoping to try the wasabi ice cream, but it wasn't available last night. Instead, I got the black sesame. It had a light peanut buttery flavor, and it was the perfect little bit of sweet to have after the savory noodle soup. Be careful, though: only two samples allowed per customer! (Yes, I got the warning... I hope I didn't look like "that guy" who'd load up on free samples and walk out without ordering something.) When I got home, I ordered T-shirts online for me and Jon.
We topped off the night with some bubble tea. Me being the bubble tea newbie, Pam rightly warned me to suck up the tapioca balls slowly. We also got some mango pudding and toast topped with condensed milk. As Ina Garten might say, "Toast with condensed milk...how bad can that be?" Well, the answer is terribly, awesomely delicious! I think condensed milk is my new best friend. (Thanks, In-Young, for the following pics.)
Next time, we're going out for real ramen noodles--as in from scratch, not bricks of "oodles of noodles" you can get at the grocery store for 5 for $1. I can't wait... Thanks, Pam and In-Young! I had an awesome time!
August 26, 2008
A Cookie As Big As Your Head--Literally
On Saturday, Jon and I followed up Friday's really, really long Brooklyn walk with a shorter, intra-Manhattan trek up Madison into the 80s (or was it further north?) and then back home again. Along the way, we stopped off at a Le Pain Quotidien, which is a chain of schmancy-ish bakery/open-face sandwich stores, for a pit stop...and a cookie.
This chocolate chip cookie tasted pretty good--it had the crunchy exterior/chewy interior texture combo I like--but it was huge...and expensive. Blame this one on Jon. There's no way I'd pay $3.50 for a chocolate chip cookie, even for a cookie as big as my head!
Le Pain Quotidiens have sprouted up all over the place in the last year or so. Kind of like how Starbucks started appearing on practically every corner in NYC back in the day and how Jamba Juice and American Apparel stores are everywhere now. (Speaking of the latter, how many T-shirts can one single chain of stores sell?)
But even if you're not a fan of Starbucks, Le Pain Quotidien, or Jamba Juice, there is one thing they're good for: bathrooms!
Sin-a-Buns and City Walks: A Blog Made in Heaven?
Lisa, a reader from California, emailed me the other day to say:
“Hello - I don't know where I stumbled upon your blog but I have been reading it for the past few months. I LOVE IT!!! I too love cookies but have yet to get into a baking frenzy. When I do, my first try will be the Sin-a-Bun cookies. I love cinnamon! One thing about your blog I really enjoy are the pictures from around town [I, II, III, and IV]. I love city living. Although I miss gardening. Keep up the great cookie work.”
Thanks for writing...and reading! If you're a fan of cinnamon, I'm sure you'll love my Sin-a-Bun cookies. When you get a chance to make them, I'd love to hear how they turn out.
I'm so glad you like the travel/walk posts. I'm going to continue them throughout the year, so you'll get a chance to see the city in all seasons, not just summer. (I think "Summer Fridays" are done for now, so I'll soon be doing "Autumn Saturdays.")
I too love city life. I'm originally a country bumpkin and do miss having a back yard...and every once in a while I get a serious craving for grilled burgers and hot dogs. But I think there's no greater fun than just taking a long walk around the city and finding new stuff. Plus, it's free...except for the wear on my sneakers...and it's great exercise! (I've got to work off all those cookies and snacks.)
Thanks again for writing and reading. I hope you'll be a reader for a long, long time.
August 25, 2008
Summer Friday Star-Sighting Follow Up
Back on our first Summer Friday, Jon and I saw Kathryn Erbe filming an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent at 1 Centre Street. Last night, the episode in question aired! I grabbed my camera and took a shot of my TV. I wasn't quick enough, but a split second earlier you could see that she was wearing the same tailored white shirt she was wearing when we saw her. For a scene that barely lasted 45 seconds you wouldn't believe all the equipment and people involved...not to mention the catering!
Oatmeal Cookie Guy Joins Operation Baking GALS II
Operation Baking GALS organizes bakers and food bloggers into groups of volunteers who send soldiers in Iraq cookie-stuffed care packages every month.
I signed up about a week ago. If you've got the time and feel like doing something nice for someone you don't know, you should sign up too!
Round 2 ships this week. I made my S'mores cookies, which I hope will be a nice reminder of home.
Update (8/25 @ 12:51): I just got back from the post office. It looks like it will take about two weeks for my package to make it. Before I sent it off, though, I added a few more goodies: a couple decks of paying cards, a package of poker chips, some beef jerky, and some Quamut guides to card games. I hope the cookies make it there in one piece and that the Zip Loc box keeps them nice and tasty! But if not, at least the guys will have some other stuff to open and enjoy.
Poll Roundup VIII
According to my Cookies at What Cost? poll, it looks like there are some big cookie-spenders out there. A full quarter of respondents said there was no limit to what they would pay for a bakery-made cookies. No limit? Oh my! I should totally charge for my cookies.
I guess I'm cheap. I said $1 was my limit! (Maybe I should have voted for "Pay for cookies? Are you kidding!?")
Voting still remains open, so feel free to weigh in.
August 24, 2008
Picturing S'mores
Here's the recipe for my S'mores in process.
Cream the creamables. Two sticks of butter, two cups of dark brown sugar, and a quarter cup of white sugar.
Combine the wet ingredients. Darnit...I broke a yolk!
Add the wet ingredients to the creamables. Mmm. Smooth and silky.
Combine the dry ingredients. Don't forget to add the ground graham crackers, and don't forget to freeze the mini marshmallows first!
Add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Spin!
Scoop and bake. Keep
an eye on these guys and be careful not to overbake them because the
marshmallows could melt too much, and you could end up
with cookie-shaped floor tiles.
Introducing a New Category: Walks
I was messing around online this morning to see if there was a way to map out our walks. (I'm always on the lookout for ways to make new content!) And guess what...success! The Prevention magazine site has a tool called MapMyWalk that does just that. So I've started a new category called "Walks," where I'll post course maps that list our tasty stops along the way. After all, what would a day-long walk be without a doughnut...or four?
Click on the button below to see the route we took on our Summer Friday IV walk.
August 23, 2008
Summer Friday IV: Desserts Grow in Brooklyn
This is it...our final Summer Friday of the year. (*Sigh*)
We couldn't start a summer Friday without stopping by Doughnut Plant, of course. I had a white peach yeast, and Jon had a triple chocolate cake. We'll definitely be returning for "Autumn Saturday" posts as well.
Cranberry Street in Brooklyn Heights, just across from the Fruit Street Sitting Area and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. (I'm from Carver...of course I'd live on Cranberry Street!) In my scratch-ticket millionaire fantasy, we'd own a brownstone on this street.
Sometimes you just need some lemonade and cookies. We got the perfect snack at One Girl Cookies in Boerum Hill. This place was much more our speed--and taste--than Levain Bakery.
You know when fall's a-comin' when the leaves start a-changin' in Prospect Park. (See...trees do grow in Brooklyn.) I took these pics near Dog Beach.
End-of-summer ice cream cones--blackberry for me, mint chocolate chip for Jon--from Blue Marble Ice Cream on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Just the right the snack. This was such a cool and mellow place...I wish it was across the street from our building in Manhattan.
Dusk on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade as we walked home to Manhattan. At left, the Brooklyn Piers waterfall. (The pic needed a little something else, so I Photoshopped in a sprig of lavender.) At right, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. It's getting darker earlier and earlier now.
August 22, 2008
Variations on a Theme II
Amelia--a reader, real-life recipe user, and fellow food blogger (over at Stripey Dots)--posted another tasty variation of my Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.
She's done a version with blueberries, a version with cranberries, and now a version with strawberries.
Yum. Another good improvisation, Amelia!
August 21, 2008
Lovin' the Lavender & Lemon Lovelies
Laura and her husband Chris are our upstairs neighbors. They're also readers and real-life cookie tasters. After trying some of my Lavender & Lemon Lovelies, Laura emailed me to say:
“As always, thank you so much for these delicious cookies. I knew they were primarily lemony and obviously the white chocolate chips, but I could also taste that they weren't that simple. So I just read about the lavender and black pepper. Strange? Yes. Delicious? Yes, yes, yes!!!!!!!!!!! Love the L&L Lovelies!”
Thanks, Laura! The savory side of lavender is slightly peppery, and I think the tiny bit of ground black pepper I include plays up that aspect of the lavender nicely.
August 20, 2008
August 19, 2008
Picturing Lavender & Lemon Lovelies
Here's the recipe for my Lavender & Lemon Lovelies in process.
Cream the creamables. Two sticks of butter and two cups of light brown sugar. I use dark brown sugar in most of my other cookies, but I wanted a lighter color and flavor here.
Combine the wet ingredients. I used three extracts--vanilla, lavender, and lemon--in this recipe. I used only 1/4 teaspoon of the lemon extract. I could have used lemon juice, but I had the extract on hand and was afraid that the juice and the zest would have made the cookies too lemony. (I didn't let the "naked" lemons go to waste, though. I used them in a lemon-cayenne popcorn topper. Stay tuned for that!)
Add the wet ingredients to the creamables. This slurry smelled so good...and relaxing! Lavender is aroma therapy, but lavender cookie dough is aroma cure.
Combine the dry ingredients. Yes...that is ground black pepper you see on the left. The pepper accentuates the subtle savoriness of the lavender. Don't worry: These cookies don't have a peppery bite, just a little something in the background that signals savory to your taste buds.
Add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Let everything mix and mingle.
Scoop and bake. These cookies are light, sweet but not too sweet, and aromatic without being too floral. Come to think of it, these would be great to have with a cup of tea. (And yes, that pic on the right is totally Photoshopped. I couldn't find dried lavender to use as a garnish!)
Poaching Prohibited Encouraged
I got inspired by a recent post on how to poach eggs over at Smitten Kitchen and decided to give it a go myself for dinner Monday night. It was really simple, actually. The secret is to use vinegar in the poaching liquid so that the egg white firms up and doesn't spread all over the place. (Otherwise, you'd probably end up with something that looks like a jelly fish.)
I grilled a couple slices of sourdough bread on my countertop contact grill and threw together a salad with a really simple vinaigrette of 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, and 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (the same vinegar I used in the poaching liquid).
I topped the poached egg with a grind or two of black pepper and a pinch of sea salt.
This was a super light, super easy, and super quick dinner for two that took five minutes...tops.
(On second thought, though, I probably should taken a pic with the yolk cut open and spilling all over the toast. Talk about perfect grill marks!)
August 18, 2008
Lavender & Lemon Lovelies
I had planned to make iced cookies topped with individual lavender blossoms. Golden cookies with a light, lemony icing and little flecks of purple…they were going to look awesome!
I searched high and low for dried lavender but couldn’t find any. (Maybe I could have used a lavender potpourri sachet, but then again, I’m glad I didn’t.) So…full disclosure time: Yes, if you couldn’t tell, that sprig of lavender is photoshopped in.
Unlike most of my other cookies, I used light brown sugar here. I wanted the chewy texture that brown sugar imparts but not the dark color or the rich molasses flavor. I wanted this cookie to be delicate and aromatic, and I knew that dark brown sugar would drown out the light flavors of the lemon and lavender.
Because I nixed the icing, I decided to use a small amount of white chocolate chips in the dough itself. (I haven’t given up on the icing/lavender-blossom topping!) The white chocolate compliments the light flavors perfectly and adds a richness and sweetness without overpowering the cookie.
I also used a small amount—just 1/4 teaspoon—of fresh ground black pepper. Yes…black pepper. Trust me…it really, really does work here! (And thanks, Lorraine, for picking up the lavender extract for me!)
These cookies start off tasting like a lemony sugar cookie. Then you get the light aromatic burst of the lavender, which then trails off with a teeny-tiny background note of black pepper. It’s a three-step flavor profile that starts with sweet and citrusy and then takes you through through both the sweet and savory aspects of lavender. It really is the perfect cookie for a hot summer day.
Makes 4 dozen cookies. For more of my thoughts on lavender, go here and here. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Lavender & Lemon Lovelies.)
Creamables |
2 sticks butter 2 cups light brown sugar |
Wet Ingredients |
2 eggs 2 tablespoons lemon zest 1 tablespoon lavender extract 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract |
Dry Ingredients |
3 3/4 cups oatmeal 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup white chocolate chips 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper |
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and then add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth.
- In another large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
- Shape dough into balls—about 2 tablespoons each.
- Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
- Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.
August 16, 2008
Bobby Flay Wuz Robbed!
If you're like me and Jon, you probably thought it was a joke when Bobby Flay's chocolate chip cookies lost to the Levain Bakery's chocolate chip cookies on Throwdown. We decided to test our hunch this afternoon.
Here's the "famous" Levain chocolate chip cookie. What to say? It's the perfect cookie...if you're looking for something that's simultaneously dry and underbaked. But, above all, this baby is bland. The cookie itself has no sweetness and absolutely no flavor. Except for an overabundance of chocolate chips and maybe a dozen or so walnut pieces, there's just nothing going on here. It's one of those cookies that has so much white flour in it that it leaves a glutenous film on your tongue. Thank goodness we got a couple bottles of water too!
Here's the Levain oatmeal raisin cookie. Hello...oatmeal? I think I spotted maybe four or five oats in this thing. And not a hint of cinnamon. You call this an oatmeal raisin cookie!? This one was slightly better than the chocolate chip cookie, but I have to say that neither is worth the cost: $3.75 apiece. Yes, you did read that correctly...three dollars and seventy-five cents...apiece! The cookies we bought at a kid's lemonade stand in Saratoga were 10 30 times better and were only a tiny fraction of the price: only 50¢ apiece. We think Bobby deserves a rematch!
Summer Friday III: A Day at the Races
We were going to take another marathon walk through Brooklyn and back, but the weather forecast was iffy. So what to do? Head up to Saratoga Springs and bet on the ponies, of course!
Who needs handicapping? The secret to my success is betting by name. Case in point: I doubled my money on a horse named Casual in the first race. If we had stayed for the final race, my favorite pick for the day, Backseat Rhythm, would have payed out big bucks with 6-1 odds.
To beat the crowd, we left right after the seventh race and walked downtown through Congress Park. On the right is one of Saratoga's famous springs. When we lived in Saratoga in the summer of '97, we'd walk here after dinner and feed the ducks. Then we'd go to Stewart's for $1 cones (Raspberry Graham Cracker Crunch was a favorite), which are now $1.75...talk about inflation!
Jon's two favorite Saratoga houses. The house on the left is on Union Avenue near the racetrack, and the one on the right is one of North Broadway's famous mansions that's occupied only during the summer horse racing season. Every time we pass the house on the right, Jon talks about the time he saw a guy on the veranda getting his hair cut.
We ended the day at the Malta Drive-In Theatre on Route 9.
August 15, 2008
August 14, 2008
You Can't Go Wrong with Chocolate (and Sea Salt)
Laura and her husband Chris are our upstairs neighbors. They're also readers and real-life cookie tasters. After trying some of my Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookies, Laura emailed me to say:
“Was just checking out the site and see that you quoted me re: the Orange in the Coconut Cookies. I called my husband to tell him! Okay, so I'm a dork but it makes me feel like a celebrity! :~) As I said those OCCs are outrageously delicious and Chris still hasn't stopped talking about the Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies.
Once again thank you so much for the cookies (and please thank Jon for being the delivery man!) So what can I say about these Chocolate & Sea Salt cookies except that chocolate cookies laced with Cocoa Pebbles can be nothing but good. I believe this is another winner.
Thank you Wonderful Cookie Man!”
Thanks, Laura (and Chris)!
Tuesday Night Dinner: Eleven Madison II
Eleven Madison is our go-to celebration restaurant. (For some reason, we always end up there on a Tuesday.) This past Tuesday night, to celebrate the end (for now) of Jon's having to work 14-hour days for 9 days at a clip, we had the tasting menu. It consisted of 13 courses and lasted for about 4 hours. Gulp.
1. Predinner nibbles. 2. Baked potato ice cream with wild char roe. 3. Heirloom beet salad.
4. Tuna tartar with heirloom tomatoes. 5. Fois gras with cherries and pistachios. 6. Poached lobster with bacon panna cotta and sweet corn.
7. Turbot with a stuffed squash blossom. 8. Suckling pig with braised cipollini onions, baby leeks, and apricot chutney. 9. Lamb with roasted eggplant, fried sweetbreads, and sheep's milk yogurt.
10. Cheese course. 11. Raspberry sorbet and raspberries filled with balsamic vinegar and lemon verbena. 12. Chocolate and peanut butter "palette" with caramel popcorn and popcorn ice cream. There was also a bonbon plate that I forgot to snap. I think I'm still stuffed!
August 13, 2008
Oatmeal Cookie Guy Joins Operation Baking GALS
I read about Operation Baking GALS (Give A Little Support) on Tracey in WA's blog, and I instantly thought of this story.
When Uncle Bruce was in Vietnam, Auntie Anne baked a sheet cake-sized cookie and sent it off to him. She thought that one enormous cookie, rather than many little cookies, would have the better chance of reaching Bruce intact. But when Bruce got the package, it was filled with crumbs...homemade with love, but crumbs nonetheless.
Operation Baking GALS organizes bakers and food bloggers into groups of volunteers who send soldiers in Iraq cookie-stuffed care packages every month.
I signed up earlier this week and am waiting for my baking orders. I missed Round #1, but Round #2 starts soon. If you've got the time and feel like doing something nice for someone you don't know, you should sign up too!
August 12, 2008
Picturing Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookies
Here's the recipe for my Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookies in process.
Cream the creamables. Two sticks of butter, Two cups of dark brown sugar, and a 1/4 cup of cocoa powder.
Combine the wet ingredients. Wow, those yolks are bright!
Add the wet ingredients to the creamables. Spin!
Combine the dry ingredients. Remember to grind the Cocoa Pebbles!
Scoop and salt the cookies.
Bake. Ta-dah!
