From the [Freezer] Fridays: Steve's

I love ice cream. Love it. Always have multiple pints in the freezer. Eat it on sweltering days & freezing cold nights all the same. I gave up alcohol for 9 months (really, closer to ten - am I right mamas?!) and found that challenging. Giving up ice cream for that amount of time would be nearly impossible for me. So, when I tried Steve's (that I originally bought for the pretty packaging) I wasn't expecting anything revolutionary. I'd tried it all; this was just simply changing up for the night. Ohhh how wrong I was. Instead, I had found it. The best ice cream in the whole wide world: Salty Caramel by Steve's. If you haven't tried it, find a place that sells it and tell me that's not the best thing you've ever had. (No don't, actually. I won't think of you in the same way.)

And! Fellow Brooklyners, they're opening a location on Atlantic Ave. Hooray!! (And uh oh.)

Chocolate & Calendar

I'm working on the 2012 Calendar these days and having chocolate during breaks.  (Favorite project + yummy chocolate = pretty good gig)

I've seen Ritter Sport chocolate in our local bodegas for years, but never considered buying them til a friend told me that it was the founder's wife who suggested they add a chocolate bar that was square so it fit perfectly in a sport coat pocket.  Love that.  And love that it's still run by the third generation of Ritters.  Plus, their "snap open pack" is pretty genius.

About Town: Blue Sky Bakery

I can't believe that it's taken me so long to feature Blue Sky Bakery on my About Town posts.  This is hands down my favorite bakery/coffee shop in all the land.  Maybe even my favorite place in Brooklyn.  Just after I had Griffin, when it took an army just to step out of the apartment, my first stop was Blue Sky.  If I could get here, get my latte & muffin, I was set for the entire day.  And I've never considered myself much of a coffee drinker or one for muffins.  But Blue Sky converted me.  The owner is a super nice guy, as is everyone who works here.  And the muffins are crazy good.

My go-to order?  Large latte and a muffin - whatever has pumpkin in it.  The golden child of muffins?  Well, it's a tie: Pumpkin, Banana, Chocolate Chip and Zucchini, Raspberry, Chocolate Chip.  Runner Up?  A slice of the Banana Chocolate Chip Bread - not your average banana bread! (Hmm, maybe my go-to order should be anything with chocolate in it.)  John likes any muffin with cream cheese in it.  Yes, cream cheese IN it.  Again, it's my favorite place.

If you're in the area, you really must stop in.  Pick up some muffins for you, your co-workers or your host.  Call ahead for an order of 6 or more muffins.  And get a muffin card - your 10th muffin is free.  Enjoy!

Blue Sky Bakery
53 5th Ave
(between Bergen St & St Marks Pl)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 783-4123 
Hours: 7:30am - 1:30pm (opens at 8am on weekends)

[photos, top to bottom: Kingsley waiting patiently outside of Blue Sky while I took the photo; muffins straight from the oven; Pumpkin Apple Walnut muffin]

I scream, you scream, we all scream for...

I have definitely asked this question on here before, so I apologize for the redundancy, but it's too fun a game not to bring up more than once: What do you want to be when you grow up? Or get to 30? or 40? Or if you could change career paths tomorrow? Or what would you do if you had a year off? or if you had no expenses? It's one of my favorite things to ask people because you get some great answers & I think really get to the heart of what they love. And when you're doing what you love, you're not only doing yourself right, but you're really contributing to your community and your local & national economy in the best & most efficient way. Because different interests and ideas and passions is really what makes the world go round. Don't you think? I do:)

I'll step down from the Life Coach Stage, now. I got my Tasting Table email yesterday & was introduced to Milk Made, a NYC-based ice cream delivery service started by Diana Hardeman, that makes unique flavors from local ingredients. Hello, genius! And hello, my alternate career path! I die for ice cream. It's the one sweet I can never turn down, even on cold January nights. Bryers Vanilla Bean or Mint Chip are grocery store pick-up staples. In my home state of PA, it's Turkey Hill's Phillies Graham Slam. When I want to treat myself or dinner guests, it's Brooklyn Larder's Almond Gelato. But what makes Milk Made so super genius & special is 1) the never-duplicated, locally-sourced flavors, and 2) it's delivered to your door. April's flavors are Mint Chocolate Brownie and Honey Lavender Granola (and the granola is by Early Bird - the best granola out there!). I mean...

Fingers crossed they make their way to my Brooklyn nabe by summer! Look up their NYC delivery zones here for you or a friend. (What a great gift!) And check out Milk Made in action on their Red Velvet Madness here. Is it time for a snack break yet?

[images courtesy of Milk Made]

Turkey Day Vaca

We're heading to Charlottesville, Virginia for Thanksgiving with John's family. Would have loved to have gotten it together to make something cute like these little guys - from none other than miss Amy Atlas. Seeing as I'm dressing myself in the morning by reaching into black trash bags, the cute desserts are going to have to wait til next holiday when I know where my socks are - let alone the pots & pans.

And for all you Black Friday shoppers out there - type in FRIDAY at checkout (on Friday only) and get some free L&H greeting cards!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

[photos courtesy of Amy Atlas]

Sweets & Treats Shower

I helped host a Sweets & Treats shower for my sister yesterday. We're a big sweet tooth family, so I felt like a sugary shower was perfect for her. I have talked about these pom poms before & decided to make them myself. And it was easy peasy! In the middle of fluffing the tissue, I didn't think they were looking so hot - but once they're up, they look pretty good! On the table, we put out Ball jar favors filled with confectionery goodness and I made picture-wrapped chocolate bars, via Martha of course. That Martha - she sure can whip up some great ideas for a party. It was such a fun party. Really though, how can you wrong with sunshine, candy, cupcakes & champagne?!

Photographing Food

I'm in the process of submitting a recipe to a food column & am struggling with the photos. They never look quite right. Can you imagine a food magazine or blog with bad photos of the food? No matter how good the recipe, you'd never want to make it. So I'm clicking through marthastewart.com to get inspired. Love these little ladybugs!

[images courtesy of marthastewart.com]

Poll: Recipe Cards

At the NSS this year, we gave away banana bread samples (a recipe from my best friends grandmother) with this letterpressed recipe card postcard. I love recipe cards and have been thinking about designing some for L&H - but do you think enough people still use them? I have a recipe binder that I use as more of a collect-all folder for all of my varying shaped recipe cards, tear-outs & print-outs. It's kind of a mess. Recipe cards (and a nice little box) would certainly be neater. Do you write out recipes? How do you organize them? Do you prefer to keep them in a folder or a book or a box? Talk to me, recipe collectors!

New Blog Love: Eating is Art

I found Eating is Art from Katy Elliott & frolic! and I am hooked. Designer/blogger Tricia has opened my eyes to a new way to look at food. She has an 'eating design' studio called Taste Matters. (Tricia describes eating design as using food to communicate stories, ideas, or messages.) One of my favorite projects was her recent Favorite series, where she chooses a person (living, not-living, fictional, real, present or not present) and creates a full sensory experience relating that person and food. She chose her brother for this one. It's very touching. I highly recommend reading more here.


[all photos courtesy of Eating is Art]

Sweet Tooth: Milk Bar

Calling all sweet tooths (or is it teeth?) in the New York City area - head to Milk Bar stat. My sisters and I went here on Sunday, and I found myself in my own little Willy Wonka factory - but circa 2009 and way better. I will let some of the menu items speak for themselves - and then you can walk yourself over there and waddle yourself home: blondie pumpkin pie, candy bar pie, crack pie, cornflake-marshmallow-chocolate chip cookie, compost cookie, corn cookie, cereal milk. Need I say more.

[photos courtesy of seriouseats.com]