My aunt, Beans, got me some chocolate from a recent trip to New Hampshire/Maine and I finally tried it. It’s called Coastline Confections and it’s really quite good. I have tried the River Mill with Maine Sea Salt and Morning Loon with Espresso, both are good, but I prefer River Mill. I’m sure it’s just made out of some guy’s basement with its generic “May contain any of the following” label (with every type of chocolate and inclusion the company makes listed) on the back of each bar, but good is good. I won’t question it. (It is also labeled “all natural,” goodie!!)
My Poppy and Fran just got back from a German vacation and they brought me back some chocolate (I love that people see chocolate and think of me!!) They chose a milk chocolate by Feodora, which is fatty and European and heavenly. They add butterfat to it, which makes it smooth, soft and luxurious in the mouth and the flavor is that sort of cheesy dairy note typical of European chocolates (I also detect a hint of hazelnut, but that could be they way it was stored). Nice work, ‘rentals!
My last new love is Yogi Tea, I know I wrote about it before with the “Uplift St. John’s Wort” flavor. I’ve now tried about 4 other kinds (4 of about 85 million) and they are all delicious. My favorite so far is Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut, which I have been brewing at night and dipping ginger snaps in as a bedtime snack. To be more accurate, I’ve been dipping Sweetzels Spiced Wafers into my Yogi Tea, which can only mean one thing; it’s fall in the greater Philadelphia area. Go Eagles!
I just tried Yogi Tea for the first time today, specifically their “Uplift” flavor with St. John’s Wort. Even though it’s caffeine free, I feel a little buzzed from it. And by “a little” I mean “quite.” I like the flavor because it reminds me of the tea Marianna would prepare for breakfast every day when I would visit her (this is when I lived on Crete), except that this has licorice in it, which has been stuck in the back of my throat all day. It’s all organic and I like the spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, fennel seed, etc) in it, but the “uplift” is almost too much for me, I feel a touch shaky, but that could be a different issue altogether. I’d say “Uplift” is pretty good, not great, but I’ll probably keep drinking it.
Back to Marianna for a second; she makes the most amazing teas and tonics from herbs she harvests from the Greek mountainside. If you’re ever in Crete, you should absolutely stop by her workshop, which is located in the stunning village, Maroulas, only a little ways from Rethymno. Definitely worth a trip.
Today’s the day you’ve all been anxiously awaiting; the live launch of Delish.com!! And more importantly, my blog on it. Check it out, read my thoughts on Ace of Cakes and live forever!!!!!!!!
I went to NYC this weekend and went to the Astoria Beer Gardens, which totally ruled and I love the outdoor grill/drinking experience. They had brats and “klobasa” and beer, beer, beer. Of course I enjoyed it. It’s apparently the oldest outdoor garden in the city, so really you can consider it an historic site, not just a place to get sh*t-canned.
The other highlight, besides seeing all my fabulous friends, was brunch at Alias on Clinton & Rivington. I had a meat I’ve never had before: Goetta. Pronounced “gedda.”
This is made from the steel cut scraps of meat, then blended with oats. They made a thin patty out of it and fried it until it was crispy. Sort of like a cross between Hagus and Scrapple. It tasted like a meat granola bar — delicious, but I’m not sure how much of it I could it at a time. But with my cheddar-smothered grits and over-easy eggs with biscuits, it was absolutely perfect. Nice work, Alias.
In the spirit of hotdog month, I’d like to let you know about the wieners of my youth; the wieners that still have my heart. I’m of course talking about Yocco’s “The Hot Dog King.” This is a regional Lehigh Valley chain, which may be why you’ve never heard of it before. My favorite part about it is that they serve Mrs. T’s pierogies, deep fried to sizzling-golden-brown-crunchy-on-the-outside-soft-and-fluffy-on-the-inside perfection.
Of course I adore their dogs as well; they serve them with “special sauce,” which is essentially a poor man’s chili, mustard and onions; pure heaven. That’s the standard, but of course they have other options for y’all fussy budgets. You can also pick up a “doggie bag” that has 12 buns, uncooked franks, some “special sauce,’ mustard and onions. Whenever we go up to Live-Free-Or-Die New Hampshire to visit my brother, we have to bring him a doggie bag (amongst other regional favorites). I’m drooling over the thought of Yocco’s good thing I’ll be up in Allentown on Sunday to get me some….
Friday night, I had dinner with the Smith sisters at Bonjung Sushi in Collegeville. I was surprised at how good it is! Let me just say that it has taken me a while to warm up to sushi; it started with inari as a gateway, then I moved up to actual rolls. I’m still not into the sashimi or sushi jawns, I’m more of a maki/temaki kinda gal. Bonjung is a BYO, which is one of my favorite things about PA, the prevalence of the BYO. We started off with a Mudslide Roll, tuna & avocado topped with a mix of crunchy miso & spicy sauce, and a Rock n’ Roll, shrimp tempura, cucumber, spicy sauce with tobiko outside. (I read a little about tobiko and it sorta grossed me out, of course not enough to stop eating it).
We moved on to a variety of sushi, which I avoided. Keels brought some mini cupcakes, which we noshed with some green tea. I forget where she picked them up, but the bakery in question had pretty good red velvet (a rarity that I cherish). I highly recommend Bonjung; it’s the best sushi I have found in this butt pile of strip malls and fast food chains I call home.
Wednesday night I went to Taste of Summer in Central Park. Did I pay the $350 for the tickets? Hell to the No, I got in with one of the restaurants my company represents. Practically everyone did crab and shrimp and not well at that. There were 3 restaurants that had crab cakes and none were what I would call “good”. There was a lot of use of coconut, which is nice for the summer. Some of the stand-outs there were the Smoked Sea Bass Rolls from zocalo, Filet Mignon from Quality Meats and Lever House’s Strawberry Almond Shortcake with lemon cream (pictured).
The winner of the night was definitely San Domenico’s Soft Egg Yolk filled Raviolo in truffled butter. The yolk oozed out as you cut into it and the truffle butter was just the perfect touch to make it over-the-top decadent. I could only eat one, though I wanted to cram more into stomach.
Some notes:
I was wearing jeans and a button down shirt (fancied up for me) and a majority of the other ladies in the place were dressed in the tackiest prom dresses circa 1995. I have never seen such amazing fashion (amazing in a bad way). Also, where does Serendipity 3 get off making a drink called Frrrozen Hot Chocolate? Where I come from, that’s called chocolate milk or a milkshake. Maybe it’s just me.
Last night I met up with a friend of mine to check out Mitchel London’s Burgers and Cupcakes (9th Ave between 35th & 36th). I love this idea; what’s better than those two items?
We ordered a burger (medium) with blue cheese and double thick bacon (the only other bacon choice was turkey — no f*cking way). The burger itself was good – juicy and tasty. The blue cheese was very salty and the bacon was way too thick and the texture was more like jerky than bacon. The bun was soggy, which is to be expected with all the juicy goodness, but I didn’t love the flavor of it.
The cupcake was chocolate with vanilla icing that was dyed blue. This is just a personal thing, but I don’t like vanilla icing to be dyed any funky colors unless it is a special occasion because it give the impression that the icing is flavored. Yes, I realize I’m a stickler and a little crazy. It tasted like a homemade cupcake – the cake was fairly standard, nothing unusual or particularly fabulous and the icing was fine.
The verdict? Go, but maybe just stick to cheddar cheese and skip the bacon. Enjoy a cupcake, but don’t expect to be blown away. I would go back for the burgers.
I finally went to The Stanton Social on Sunday with my Poppy and Fran. I was so excited to try their Kobe Beef Slider ($6 for one) I also ordered Pierogies with caramelized onions and truffle creme fraiche ($8 for four).
I started with the pierogies, which were pretty good on their own, but with the onions and creme fraiche, they were excellent. Then came the slider-it came with cheese and a slightly zesty sauce and it had a tiny pickle and tomato slice, which I picked off. It was also served with blue potato chips, which were neither here nor there. The slider was cooked perfectly and although it was yummy with a good bread-to-beef ratio, I don’t think it is worth the price. I picked at my dad and Fran’s food (huevos rancheros, red snapper tacos) and thought it was flavored really well and enjoyed it. All in all, the small portions were surprisingly filling and the food was good. Would I go back? Yes, but I’ll steer clear of the slider.
