eat me drink me

Yeah, I know, this is one cute cookie. When my Belgium friend brought it to me I did what any respectable girl does witha bunny sweet–I bit the ears off. It was immediately worth it given the cookie’s light lemon notes and mellow sugar kiss, which came from the bright frosting. While Paul brought me the goodie, it originally came from  Cookie Road, the bakery-cafe he works at in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Here, owner Aneta Szot hand-paints her delicious sweets with gentle, loving care, making each one unique. I know I felt love when I was given it, and even more while I devoured the adorable treat.

To kick off my attempt to be better at blogging (ha!) I thought I would share a little juicy tidbit about Tillie’s, my old place of employment.  According to a piece from New York Magazine’s Daily Intel, Russian spies were using the Fort Greene coffee shop to do devious spy like things such as: sipping black coffee, wearing berets, gossiping, and passing state secrets.  The Wall Street Journal reported:

“The U.S. and Russia have sent spies to each other’s countries for decades, even in the 20 years since the Cold War ended. Still, the latest allegations come at a time when relations between the U.S. and Russia have been warming….They used coffee shops, bookstores and street corners to contact handlers, according to the FBI.”

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One thing you should know, I think Starbucks is brilliant.  Well, more I think the people behind the brand are brilliant.  Not only have they made coffee into a luxury and necessary item, but they have trained us to ask for it by funny names like caramel macchiato, or crave a skinny vanilla latte, or even worse, use a benign size system.  Tall?  What does that mean?  I worked in a cafe for over 5 years and nothing was more annoying then someone asking for a grande macchiato when really they meant a medium (I think) latte.

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Yesterday I hit up Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene to hear Louisa Shafia talk about her book, Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life.  Well, let’s be a little more candid, I mainly went to try the food she whipped up from recipes in this stunning cookbook.  On the table, she had a briny, crisp red cabbage, apple, and dulse salad (page 86),  a fluffy, fresh tortilla Espanola (page 36), and the bittersweet, flourless chocolate cake with prune puree and hazelnuts (page 65).  Um, yum?!  Each hor’dourves sized bite had a unique, refreshing flavor, but the best part, Shafia had gotten all her ingredients from the Fort Greene Farmer’s Market.

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There are few things better in life then throwing some balls around, and eating pork.  Lucky for you (and me), that is exactly what you can do at the hip newish venue, Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  At first I was skeptical about a bowling alley that charged $40 an hour to play, but once I checked out their menu by Blue Ribbon, I was hooked.  My appetite instantly picked out the roast pork sandwich ($10) with white queso, poblanos, and sweet onions.  Lets just say I dreamed about this savory, gooey meal for many nights after.

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