Clap If You Believe in Donuts!

Inspired by Bitch Cake's wonderful blog that shares her love of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a new friend and I made our way to Peter Pan Bakery yesterday. Unfortunately, our timing put us there after church had let out, and the racks were all but cleaned out. Greenpoint has a large Polish population and according to my friend J., who grew up in mostly-Polish Detroit, post-church Poles are like donut locusts. Church, Then Donuts; that's the ritual. Who knew? I had been looking forward to racks full of pastel icing and sprinkles and so many to choose from! and it was not to be. Still, there were two Red Velvet Donuts left [see above; again, who knew?!] and one sour cream old-fashioned to share, and they were awesome. I'll come back! 

Measuring my life in espresso spoons

I wanted to do something fun after my trapeze lesson so I stopped into the nearby Stumptown Roasters café at the Ace Hotel and enjoyed a tiny, precious macchiatto made by a cute young hipster dressed like a dandy. It's been fun seeing (and tasting) how people make espresso drinks now that i know how to make them myself. Stumptown takes their beans oh-so seriously and this guy was a craftsman; he may have been friendly, but his product was all snobby artisan. Now, I always do my best as a barista (my colleagues recently named me Most Improved Foamer!) but my efforts are not nearly so highfalutin: If Stumptown beverages are like coddled Italian Greyhounds, mine are like big dumb yellow Labs. But both have their appeal! 

Meanwhile, that twee little cuppa blew a caffeine shotgun blast right through my sternum. Shazam!!

That coffee is for me, by the way

I'm about three months late on this but it was fun making a Mad Men avatar this morning. 

I've never seen even one episode, but I like the samba playing on the site. 

Dude, I'm so Baked

It's funny how your life can change. A few weeks ago I was looking around in Dean and Deluca, and deciding I wanted a treat, I randomly picked up a  "Sweet and Salty" brownie. I don't usually go for a brownie, but it seemed interesting and cost as much as I wanted to pay. I didn't even look at who made it, I just stuck it in my purse and took it home. 

And then. 

Oh, sweet Jesus, the goodness. Having had this brownie, I will never be the same. I'm a fan of chocolatey/salty from way back before Obama made it so and I was eating a perfectly-textured combination of rich, fudgy and tangy. Now I was interested in the label: it was made by Baked, and a quick google search told me they were in Red Hook, Brooklyn. 

Thus, a field trip was born. How was I going to get there and what was I going to have? 

I went on late morning Tuesday, to beat the crowds and because I can. I had an open mind, but I really wanted to try a cupcake, maybe that same Sweet and Salty, maybe the Malted. My recent trip to Cake Man Raven was holding me for Red Velvet, so I would leave that alone. I took the F train to Smith St./9th and took the B77 bus from there. I got off the bus prematurely when we got to Van Brunt St., but the bus drops you right across the street. Look in the right window, you can see my reflection, in the blue coat. Hi!

It was full but not crowded, and everything they had displayed looked delicious. The young man working behind the counter was extremely friendly, I told him I wanted a cupcake and he walked my through my options. From left to right: Sweet and Salty, Aunt Suzie's pistachio, Malted, chocolate with vanilla buttercream [back], chocolate with chocolate buttercream, Red Velvet, vanilla with chocolate buttercream, vanilla with vanilla buttercream. 

He was very enthusiastic about the Sweet and Salty, and of course that was the combo that had brought me here in the first place, so that's what I chose, with a regular coffee. The cute plate was a nice touch:

Yeah, it was stupidly, head-rollingly good. Moist cake with a pleasantly crunchy crust, a salty ganache center, and frosting that was lightly whipped but densely flavored. It packed a punch but was petite enough to encourage seconds; I gave serious thought to a Malted, but erred on the side of the better health choice. Not a problem, I'll definitely be back. 

Ch ch ch, wah wah wah

Jason, we hardly knew ye. I'm sure I'll watch at least five minutes of at least one of these movies today. 

Red Shoes, red hots

I went to see the restored print of The Red Shoes this afternoon 

with a bag of red hot candies in my purse.

Mo' Brooklyn

I've got the time to explore, I'm taking it. Today I walked over the Williamsburg bridge for the first time. 

After my trapeze lesson [that's another post] I took the L to Williamsburg, walked over to Caracas Arepa Bar, [I've been dying to try this place but the East Village location is tiny and usually packed, last time I tried to get in the hostess was a jackass and it put me off trying for awhile. The Brooklyn location is definitely better.] had a delicious lunch and chatted with the friendly waitstaff. The guy behind the bar gave me directions to the bridge, he said he went over almost every day on his bike or skates, with his Venezuelan accent this sounded like "back or skets." I found it easily and had an extremely pleasant stroll over to the Lower East Side. 

Arepa, with beef, beans, cheese, and plantains. Delicious! 

Heading across: 

Manhattan side view: 

Brooklyn/Jersey side view: 

Back home! Great day!