Beat it
We’re always curious as to what goes on behind the scenes of a restaurant’s kitchen; how the food is made, the sexism in the kitchen, the different stations, the burns, blah, blah, blah. Currently, I’m (Caroline speaking) reading Dalia Jurgensen’s memoir “Spiced,” so I may be a little more interested than normal. I personally like being behind the stove, cooking away, concentrating on the meal and not the service aspect, that’s the fun part for me. So when Tasting Table tweeted about Shuna Fish Lydon’s (the pastry chef at Peels) Gooey Butter Cake it led me to her fun and informational blog, Eggbeater. Wanna know about opening a restaurant? becoming a chef? how to interview for a restaurant job? She’s got the post and the information not to mention the experience (Bouchon, French Laundry, do you need more?). Have a look, if you’ve ever been curious about the restaurant life.
it’s cookie time!
It’s true, Girl Scout cookie time is officially over. Major sad face! Even when Girl Scout Season (i know, i know, its Girl Scout Cookie season but its like hunting those girls down just to get those cookies) comes around, I’ve got my eagle eye out for the khaki and green but alas they were hard to find here in New York City. Luckily, there are some highly innovative bakers out there that have created homemade recipes of delightful thin mints, do-si-dos, and the melt in your mouth samoas! Thanks to Baking Bites, we can enjoy the pleasures of Girl Scout Cookies whenever we want!
Some tips before you venture into making these delicious Samoas, these little suckers are time consuming so plan on spending a couple hours making these cookies. It may be key to get good quality caramels like the recipe calls for, instead we used cheap-os which we think might have made them less stickier. Its important to have sticky caramel-y, coconut toppings so that it sticks to the butter cookies.
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The Art of Eating In: Espresso Banana Muffins
So far we’ve tackled two whole days of not eating out and these Espresso Banana Muffins have been a huge help. Caroline’s pretty good about eating breakfast at home, but since Joe’s 13th Street location is right on my way to the office, more often than not I’m tempted to pop in for a latte and a croissant (or on a really decadent day, one of the seasonal doughnuts they stock from Doughnut Plant!). Of course that doesn’t fly when you’re supposed to be making all of your meals at home so we decided to bake these muffins over the weekend so we’d have them on hand for a quick a.m. bite during the week. Heated up and served with this surprisingly tasty instant espresso (which is a cinch to make at work; Caroline would never stoop to instant, she is a Gorilla “Espresso-a-go-go” French press gal through and through) they are the perfect way to start the day.
Continue reading The Art of Eating In: Espresso Banana Muffins…