Happy Easter Weekend!

I cannot wait to take my little monster to the beach for the first time this weekend.

She's quite a city girl, but I know she's going to love all the smells and all the space to run around at the beach. I can't wait to see what she thinks of waves. Hopefully it'll warm up a bit!

snow storm at city bakery

Due to the storm which has turned the city into an idyllic snowglobe, no one has unlocked my office. I went across the street to City Bakery - one of my favorite places - and got myself a raspberry bran muffin. It's super moist and the raspberries give it a great tartness. Thanks Jack Frost.





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Cappucinos at home

If you're young in New York, you're probably wasting more money than you'd like at Starbucks. My guilty pleasure is getting a big bowl cappucino at Le Pain Quotidien. I just got a big, bowl-style latte cup on sale at Pottery Barn to help me accomplish this satisfying indulgence at home. I already have a coffee maker, so all I needed was this amazing little contraption from Bed Bath and Beyond. (You may be able to find it elsewhere, but that's where I got mine.) You don't need a giant, annoying espresso machine for frothy milk. Get one of these little Bodum milk frothers for around $20. If you don't yet have a latte cup, you can just use a cereal bowl. I like to sprinkle some sugar in the bowl/mug first, then pour the hot coffee in so it dissolves quickly. Then pour in just a little skim milk into the frother, pump it for about 30 seconds until it at least doubles in volume. Then I like to throw the glass container of the frother into the microwave for 30 seconds. (It makes the foam stiffen a little bit.) Pour it on top and voila, a perfect cappucino or latte.

Invent your own ice cream

I've been trying to get down to Lulu and Mooky's for months. I was finally in the neighborhood last Thursday and after a delicious pork bun lunch at Baohaus, I indulged in some ice cream. It's a teeny hole in the wall on Allen Street (129, between Rivington and Delancey). When you walk in, you're met by two kitchen aids, a nice man behind the counter, and hand written signs on the wall filled with possible flavors. There are numerous kinds of fruits, then there are the go-to chocolates, vanillas, and staples of that ilk, and there are also herbs and spices like rosemary, cinnamon, and cardamom. You can invent your own, or you can pick from the Customer Combinations that others have already crafted. Once you pick your flavors, he mixes them into a little cup of cream and then pours the concoction into the kitchen aid. After all the flavors have blended, in goes liquid nitrogen, which causes the silver bowl to spill over with eerie Halloween fog. When the fog subsides and the potion seems done, you are presented with your own hand crafted cup of creamy, delicious (depending on your flavor combination) ice cream.
I mixed fresh cherries with almond extract and cinnamon, which resulted in an ice cream that tasted like cherry pie. My friend Pete got peanut butter, cardamom, and M&Ms. His tasted like a savory Indian treat with a nice sweet smattering of M&Ms.
You may not have the same obsession with ice cream that I do, but if you do get down there before this summer. They just opened in October and in the colder months, there's no wait, but I bet the summer will be lines out the door.

Also, I saw a sign that they cater and I would love to hire them for a summer cocktail party