Valentine's Day Treats at Susie's Shortbreads

Ah- the joy I get from delivering a gourmet cupcake to an unsuspecting sweet tooth! Yesterday, I went to Susie's Shortbreads to pick up some treats for a few sweet people in my life. TJ Peach, of SS has created some new Valentine's Day flavours and re-themed the classics to surprise your special someone. I made a cupcake delivery yesterday afternoon, but also picked up something a little different for dessert at this evening Valentine's Day dinner. I was thrilled to see SS' chocolate-dipped Rice Crispy Square (I've had a craving for one of those for a while now!) but I also wanted to try something a little different. The Red Velvet whoopie pie immediately caught my eye, as I've never tried Red Velvet cake!

Tucked away on Dresden Row, just off Spring Garden Road, SS is a delightful place to stop in order to quell that sugar craving. Sit at the counter and have a coffee with your snack, or make a delivery to someone special! I've written about SS cupcakes before; both their Strawberry Fields, and their Swiss Alps cupcakes. SS has 100 flavours in their roster, with moist cake and rich buttercreams ranging in flavours from Reece's Pieces and Peppermint, to Caramel Apple and Cinnamon Bun. Check out their incredible list of flavours here. SS also posts a list of their daily flavours, so that you can choose your cupcake before you even enter the store! My friend's Valentine's Day treat was a Black & White Cupcake, or black and red for this occasion!

They also have a selection of shortbreads; cupcake truffles, cake and buttercream centres enrobed in chocolate and cheesecake babies, mini bite size cheesecakes made with SS' shortbread cookie crust. Because all of their products are such a hit, SS has started to sell tubs of their frozen cookie dough and glorious buttercream!

Camped out at Campo

One of my favorite things to do in Manhattan is to tag along with my sister to see how NYers - or the adopted ones at least - live. One of Angela's usual Monday night activities is to visit a resto in her hood on the Upper West Side. The attraction here? On Monday night, Campo's Happy Hour serves 1/2 price bottles of wine! When we arrived at Campo, a group of her fellow musicians had already settled down to a table and some drinks, so we quickly did the same.

As we quickly glanced over the menu of libations, I posed the question that has since changed the Monday night Campo routine: "Does the 1/2 bottle special include sparkling wine?" The answer? YES. And so, the night began, with drinks all around, most of them with fizz!

Whenever I have sparkling wine, or Champagne, I always crave a little salt, so Angela put in an order for one of her favorites; Truffled Parmesan Fries. Now to me, fries and sparkling wine is always a little decadent- mixing an everyday favorite, with something a little special. But theses fries upped the indulgence factor with a sprinkling of nutty Parmegiano-Reggiano and earthy truffle oil.

Truffled Parmesan Fries

As the group was a table of classical musicians, the talk centered around music. As a former music student myself, I appreciated the conversation and the ability to talk to people who were so passionate about their craft, as I am about food. This was a great night, and with our discovery of 1/2-priced sparkling wine, the evening started and ended with a sparkling 'note'!

The World's BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie!

Day 5 in NYC started off pretty much the same as ever, with the first thought in my head being bfast. We got ready for the day and headed down a few subway stops to 74th & B'way for some fantastic baked goods at Margot Patisserie ; a lovely little french bakery and one of Angela's favorites. Once I decided that I would go with the cream cheese turnover, Angie got food envy and changed her order...which subsequently made me change MY order to another drool-inducing treat; an apple and walnut scone.

Angie's turnover had a light and flaky, cloud-like texture of which I've grown quite fond! The interior was filled with a tangy cream cheese filling that moistened the inside and created a wonderful character contrast with the crisp exterior.

My sweet was equally delicious with chunks of sweet apple and crunchy walnuts studding the scone's tender crumb. The sugar crust on top added not only a nice touch of sweetness to the scone, but a lovely crunch as well.

Once we had fulled up for the morning, we powershopped around the 70's, making up for time lost from the previous day's debauchery. After several hours of such rigorous activity, we had worked up a serious appetite (surprise, surprise) we got some lunch at Chipotle, a Mexican fast food chain with a whole lotta freshness. We decided on a burrito bowl; rice, black beans, chicken, corn, tomatoes, peppers and lettuce with two salsas, hot sauce and sour cream. At $2 a bag, this spot also offers a nice size serving of corn tortilla chips for dipping.

When we had finished our lunch and were ready to walk it off, we headed down a few blocks only to sit and laze again in the AC. What? It was 35 degrees and we needed some AC! Angie had the stellar idea to pop into Barnes & Noble and peruse the culinary section. She's a smart one! I discovered a number of books that I've never seen in Hali bookstores, adding them all to my list of books to request from Halifax Public Libraries! I don't buy books you see...I don't have anywhere to keep them. God bless my local library for feeding my mind on a loaner basis.

Anyhow, on our way back uptown, we came across a little spot I like to call heaven; Jacques Torres Chocolatier. I'd been all over this website and had decided in advance to my trip that I would pick up a few truffles to sample. I had it all planned out; the Chai Tea truffle, the PB & J, the Champagne Kiss, to name a few...

This plan when out the window when I arrived, however, and saw the in-freakin-credible chocolate chip cookies on display. Angie and I decided that these were too good to pass up, so we bought one to share. The icing on top was when the clerk asked if we wanted one that was fresh out of the oven. Um...hells yes!

Up close and personal.
I had to get a close-up shot to truly showcase all those crevices of ooey-gooey delight!

Aside from the rich cookie base, there was something interesting about the chocolate within this cookie as well. I'm constantly trying to figure out the ins and outs of recipes. I find those from restaurants particularly intriguing, deconstructing every flavour layer to figure out the secret method, or that mysterious spice; the secret of the Caramilk bar baffled me as a child. But this was different. What, besides the intense bittersweet chocolate, and delectable dough made this cookie so unique? Then I snapped this shot and I had my answer. Jacques Torres doesn't use chocolate chips, nor chocolate chunks, but chocolate slabs, layering them one over the other like tectonic plates so that each bite contains a mouth-filling deposit of chocolate. CRAZY!

Once we had recovered from the shiver-inducing effect of that much chocolaty pleasure, we headed back uptown. We sat on the patio drinking Greyhounds- vodka and pink grapefruit juice- and played a game of Scrabble. Normally, this would not have made it into my blog, but my letters were so laughable that I had to take a photo! Clearly, I was not the winner of this match!

For supper, we decided to order in, and what an incredibly insightful decision that was! We got take-out from Indus Valley on B'way, cracked a bottle of red and threw on some Bill Evans jazz. If Angie had been an man, it would have been the perfect date night in NYC!!

We decided to get a couple of dishes to split, and by a couple, I mean far too much food for two!! Angie let me choose a curry, while she went with a standby favorite; the Vegetarian Delight. This dish had a couple components; a mushroom, red bell pepper and potato stuffed with delicately spiced mixed veg and cream cheese and served with homemade peanut sauce. The red pepper was by far my fave. The stuffing mixture itself had almost a minced consistency, and the cream cheese added depth and tang.

We also shared the Dal Taka; yellow lentils cooked with tomatoes and seasoned with a plethora of spices including green chillies, ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin and mustard seeds. Served with a Jasmine rice, this mild, yet flavorful curry also came with nice chunks of zucchini and eggplant.

And how could you get Indian food w/out an order of naan? We upped the ante a notch with the Paneer Kulcha; whole wheat bread stuffed with homemade cottage cheese. This stuff would beat garlic cheese bread any day of the week!

And, yet, there's more. I have an affinity for the crisp-crunch of Pappadams, so we got an order of those, which came with three dipping sauces: red pepper chutney, cilantro puree and pomegranate molasses.

And so ended another great day in NYC. As darkness fell, I had that crappy trip revelation that tomorrow would be my last day to hang with sis, eat good food and take in this amazing city before I had to get back to real life. But we still had one more day to go, and I'd had 5 great days already, so I counted my blessings, gritted my teeth, and tried to make a word with 7 vowels.

Fast Food & Small Plates

Day 4 of my trip to NYC started with a headache and a hangover. After our late night and subsequent late morning, big sis and I crawled out of bed and hauled our water-deprived selves down to 100th & B'way for a good feed of grease. The Metro is Angie's local diner, and spot of choice when in such a state of dis-equilibrium as we were. Insert sheepish face here...

Now, I don't have to tell you how good a greasy bfast looks when all you've got swishing around in your stomach is sweet champagne...and vodka...and Redbull... This was pretty standard; two eggs, bacon, toast, substitute fries for hashbrowns, toast, and the NY staple, grape jelly!

After our feed we managed to mosey to CP to spend the day lounging in the sun. We suntanned for awhile, then moved to the shade for naptime. Now, the problem with me and a hangover is that nothing satisfies me. I will eat all day long...Pretty soon, our stomachs were growling again and we headed over to The Shake Shack.

The Shake Shack was on my list of spots to hit since Saveur Magazine's Jenni Avins voted their burgers one of the Best Burgers in the US. We got sodas and crinkle fries and the most delish fast-food cheeseburger that I've ever tasted. The Shack's burgers are 4 oz. patties of beef, ground fresh daily, and cooked medium. Juicy and tender, just one bite of this burger had me practically on the floor. Simply dressed with cheese, ketchup, mustard and far too much mayo for one person to consume, the patty was nestled within a soft, buttery bun.

RIGHT?!?

This is what 'With Bite' is all about; delicious food, with some serious attitude...

After our religious experience, we trotted down to Columbus Circle for the antithesis of a 'power shop'. Actually, it was definetly the most unmotivated shopping experience of my life. It was hot and we were lazy. So what does one eat in the blistering heat? Why, ice cream, of course! I figured that if I was going to spend the whole day eating, I might as well go all out!

I had been searching for an ice cream store the whole day. My hopes were dashed when I discovered that Cold Stone Creamery was closed, but I was filled with delight when I saw the sign for Hagen Dazs!! This bit of Brownie a la Mode was just the thing to fill the last bit of empty space in my stomach. After this bit of sweet, we were pretty much spent and high-tailed it back to the apt. for our customary AC infused 4 pm nap. Man, I sound so lame!

Now, here's the sad part- dinner. I am ashamed to say that I forgot my camera. This sucked harfcore as the food not only tasted incredible, but looked that way as well. :( We had been heading down to Chelsea to take in a comedy show, but unfortunately, it filled up before we could get in.

We ended up at Tia Pole, a Brazilian tapas bar where the line-up was out the door and the place was abuzz with chatter. We got the last two seats in the house; barstools at the corner bar and ordered some Sangria.

To start, we shared one of the daily specials; heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese and toasted pine nuts. Sweet, thick wedges of tomatoes in a rainbow of hues were dressed simply with a pungent goat cheese drizzle and crunchy pine nuts. Next, an order of garbanzos fritos - fried chickpeas - served as the perfect bar snack to munch on as we paused between dishes.

We ordered two more small plates. Angie chose the paquetitos de jamón con alcachofa, little bundles of manchego cheese and artichoke enveloped by serrano ham and baked in the oven just slightly so that the meat was crisp and the cheese was gooey. She then indulged my odd meat & chocolate obsession and we ordered the chorizo con chocolate; small toasts slathered with a warm bittersweet chocolate and thinly sliced spicy palacios chorizo; mmm, salty-sweet!

And so ended another incredible day in Manhattan. We took our time on the way home, checking out the sights in Chelsea. It was an awesome day of lazing and eating- the epitome of a great day on vacay!

Travel to Italy, Cuba and France all in one day!

Day 3 in NYC. This day started out as a dream day in NYC with strong coffee and freshly-baked croissants from Silver Moon Bakery on Broadway. I'd attempted to try their stuff on my last visit, but alas, one can only eat so much! Anyhow, this place has been written up by the NY Times and The New Yorker, and has been called "The sweetest spot on the Upper West side."

As opposed to table service on the patio, we trotted back to Angie's apt to have brekkie on her terrace- restraining ourselves from tearing into the bag the whole way home!

While sis got a "plain" croissant- and I use the term plain loosely as it was an incredible bundle of buttery delight- I succumbed to a tempting almond croissant. Oh, if only the Internet provided for scratch 'n' sniff! The croissant had a crisp, flaky crust which disguised the melt-in-you-mouth pastry beneath. The almond filling inside was abundant and not too sweet, which played nicely with the dusting of powdered sugar. Of course, the crunchy almonds on top finished off this delightful creation!

Not so exquisite now! I took this photo while I paused to let the almond filling melt on my tongue, took a nice gulp of dark roast, and proceeded to devour the rest. This sucker didn't stand a chance! Once breakfast had settled, we hoped on the subway and headed down to the West Village to take in some famous foodie sights. We were headed to Murray's Cheese which, to put it into perspective for a foodie, is the Chrysler Building. I had a need for cheese and this spot - an institution for cheese lovin' NYers -was the spot to go.

In addition to cheese, Murray's also sells fresh bread, pasta, gelato, specialty chocolates and various antipasti items including cured meats, olives and nuts. Angie had to drag me away from the Cheese Straws. Again, Scratch 'n' Sniff...is there an app for that?!?

As an olive lover from an early age and a martini lover a little later, my eyes were bulging out of my sockets with visions of lemony olives, blue-cheese stuffed ones, Queen-size greens and succulent kalamatas.

And then, there was second breakfast. This was a snack to end all snacks! As soon as I walked through the door, I was hit with the heady aroma of freshly-baked bread, ripe cheese, fruity olive oil, spicy meat and charred tomatoes. It turned out that the source was right next to me in the form of Fresh Mozzarella & Sopressata flatbread. They're clever marketers, those peeps at Murray's, for conveniently placing these puppies right by the front door, making them the first scent that you encounter. $3.99 was pennies to spend on a delight such as this.

Here it is; warm flatbread with a crunchy crust and soft, fluffy top, smooth and sweet mozzarella, spicy sopressata and intensely flavored sundried tomatoes.

After our snack, we strolled over to Soho to get our shop on. After several hours of this rigorous exercise, I suggested to Angie that we take a quick repose in the form of mid-afternoon Margaritas at Cafe Habana, one of my all-time favorite NYC restos. This place is amazing! The line-up was pouring out the door with people chugging Coca-Cola from glass bottles, cool fruit smoothies and eating Cuban corn with the juice dribbling down their chins.

It's also one of the tiniest restos you'll ever take a seat in; no elbow room, no leg room and no personal conversation room- the two PR girls next to us shed significant light into the trials and tribulations of the Bradley Cooper - Renee Zellweger - Jennifer Aniston love triangle. I know, I know, YAWN- I'll get to the food.

As per usual, we got two rocks-salt Margaritas at a whopping $7.95. I never pay a heed to this price however, as I'm usually tipsy after just one sip!

We started with an order of the Cuban corn; two cobs of peaches 'n' cream corn roasted on an open flame, sprinkled with salty cotija cheese and chili powder and served with a wedge of lime on the side. This stuff is the resto's most popular dish. The sweet heat of the chili powder mixed with a shot of citrus really wakes up an otherwise plain dish.

Now, normally at "the Cuban" I order the same thing, Baja-Style Fish Tacos; beer battered catfish topped with a mix of crunchy red and green cabbage, shredded carrot and red salsa served yellow rice and black beans. On this visit however, we arrived during brunch service, and exhaulted the fact that we could try some Cuban-style eggs. We ordered the Huevos Divorchiados; two scrambled eggs with red and tomatillo salsas and creamy roasted potatoes. A s/o of black beans rounded out the meal quite nicely!

Now, I know that this may not look like the most appetizing dish in the world, but the spicy red and tart green salsas combined with the potatoes and earthy black beans created a fantastic flavour pairing. Not to mention the fact that our tangy Margaritas brought this entire meal together.

Haha. I took this photo for all ya'll Tims fans out there. Newly introduced to the American market, Canada's beloved Timmies has been re-named Tim Horton's Coffee and Bake Shop. I'm sorry to say it, but I don't know if it's gonna last. Angie said that this Tim's location replaced a Dunkin' Doughnuts which always had line-ups our the door, but there wasn't a soul inside... Moving on!

After a brief nap, a little primping and alot of priming, we were ready for our night on the town. We were headed to Flute Champagne Bar in Midtown to celebrate the Bday of one of Angie's closest pals.

We ordered a flight of flutes for $20; Le Baron Magic Flute w/ a glass of Chateau Moncontour 2005, Blanquette de Limoux and a glass of the luscious, sinfully sweet Clairette de Die. This was a great gameplan as it allowed us to try a few types and determine our favorites. Several glasses of the exquisite apricot flavoured Clairette de Die were consumed in this mission.

The night was still young when we left the champagne bar and trotted to a party just past Lincoln Centre. I got a serious salsa lesson, splurged on a cab and fell into bead, as visions of champagne flutes danced in my head.

A great night IN, in NYC

Day 2 in NYC. Let's just say that after our late night on Thursday, we had a subsequent late morning. In order to destroy the cobwebs that had taken up residence in my brain, big sis and I went for a walk/run in Riverside park. By the time we got back at around noon, it was 34 degrees, hot and humid.

In this type of weather, what else do you do but lounge and relax? Accompanied by my friend, and Angie's previous roommate, we attempted to take up residence on a grassy knoll in Central Park. The heat soon had us begging not only for the shade, but moreso for 4 pm to hit so that we could take full advantage of Happy Hour. Well, we succumbed to both of these cravings and hit HH and hour early! At 3 pm, we dragged our wilted, sweaty, sunburned bodies into Harry's Burritos on Columbus Ave, hopped on some barstools and ordered a round of Margaritas- rocks & salt.

Once our thirst had been quenched, we had a quick shop around Broadway, Columbus & Amsterdam Aves in the 70's, then headed uptown to Angie's spot. I have to say, though at first I groaned as to the 52 steps required to get to sis' 3rd floor walk-up, they certainly did help to keep me in shape- especially when we had dinner to look forward to!

We started a trend on Friday, one that continue for the rest of my vacay which consisted of a 4 pm power nap. In that kind of weather, and with that much tequila in our bellies, a quick lie-down in front of the AC was necessary!

For dinner, our pal re-joined us and we ordered in from one of their favorite spots; Charm Thai on Amsterdam. We put on some tunes, cracked a bottle of red and went to work making some decisions for dinner. Actually, to be honest, I had no choice in the matter, but was simply told what I would be having for dinner; no complaints here- I trusted the experts, and I was in good hands!

By the time dinner came, about 10 minutes later (those NY delivery guys mean business), we popped the cork on some champagne, deconstructed the vault that were our take-out containers and revelled in the scents of lemongrass, basil and coconut milk. Even the rice smelled amazing!

We got an order of Kee Maow, chicken with flat rice noodles sauteed with basil, tomatoes, onions and chili. Holy heat- this dish was spicy! The chicken was juicy, sweet, and it seared my mouth with its blanket of tomato-chili sauce.

We also got an order of Green curry w/ tofu, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, eggplant, peppers, basil and chilis. I was thrilled with this decision as the mild curry proved to be almost an antidote the red curry's fiery heat. Though the sauce was certainly sweet, it had a light consistency which prevented it from being cloying. The veg itself was crisp, and flavourful adding to the dish's delightfully fresh profile. I was also happy with Angie's choice of going all out vegetarian by adding tofu to the mix. Being a devout carnivore, I never go this route, but the tofu's meaty yet silky consistency added a nice addition of to the dish.

All praise for the curries aside, this dining experience was all about the curry puffs. These treats were foreign to me. I thought that with the amount of Thai and Indian food I 've tried, I would have come across these goodies before, yet this was my first encounter with the concept. And the concept is this; warm, deep-fried pillows of crack. Yup, that's right- from my bite I had almost a drug-like addiction to these suckers.

The flaky, buttery pastry was filled with a mixture of minced chicken, potatoes, onions and a sweet curry that tasted more dessert-like than appy. Served with a contrasting vinaigrette-based dipping sauce of cool cucumber and spicy red onion, a mere mouthful of the pastry and filling lead me to a near-euphoric state. YES, they're really THAT good.

Given my epicurean curiosity, I quickly googled Curry Puffs and found that they're a Malaysian dish. I found a recipe, directions and additional info on the Rasa Malaysia website that I intend to make as soon as is humanly possible!

And so, we finished the last few drops of champagne and sat out on the terrace to digest. It was actually fun to stay in and enjoy the benefits of delivery; no dressing up, no subway, no over-priced bottles of wine and my bed just three feet away. All-in-all, a great night IN in NYC.