i speak sugar.

I've been having a crazy hankering for sweets lately. Its a craving I cannot kick. Now that the leftover blondies I made for a friends birthday last week have all been consumed, I've been setting my sights on other confections making their rounds online.

There's not enough time to bake all the things that are catching my eye, so I've settled on Easter-themed M&Ms, chocolate covered almonds and raisins: Boring. However, if I could get paid to stand in my little kitchen, test recipes and eat cake batter out of a mixing bowl - this might be where I would start -

These chocolate mini-muffins:

Salted caramel cheesecake pie:

Mastering the coconut cake from the Peninsula Grill in Charleston, SC:


Strawberry Mascarpone Ice Cream Cake: Is it summer yet?

Sticky Toffee Pudding: classic.

Festive cupcakes from Sprinkles remind me of home:

going blonde.

No change to my hair color - just the delicious smell of brownies that aren't brown flowing out of my little kitchen. I chose to make blondies for a friends birthday since I think they have better potential than brownies to be really tasty with added ingredients like coconut, chocolate chips and raspberry jam. Took the idea from Joy and adapted them to what I had in my cabinet. The swirled-in jam with the toasted coconut on top added some unexpected flavor. Threw in some chocolate chips because that's always a good idea:

 Raspberry Jam Blondies adapted from Joy the Baker

1 cup all-purpose  flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4  tsp salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup of jam

Unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Line bottom and sides of a 8×8 metal pan with parchment paper.  Grease with butter or shortening and dust with flour.

Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Remove pan from heat and, using a wooden spoon, stir in the brown sugar. Thoroughly mix in the eggs and vanilla extract.  Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated and gently stir in the chocolate chips. Spread the batter in the pan. 

Dollop three spoonfuls of jam across the batter.  Use a butter knife to swirl the jam through the batter.

Bake for 20-23 minutes rotating pan half-way through. Edges should pull away from side of pan and the top will be golden brown.

Let cool completely in pan on rack. Lift the ends of the parchment paper to remove from pan. Cut into squares.

lately: mid-march.

Some recent snaps from around town:

PIZZA is my favorite food. Truly. It had been a while since I had a good slice and Paulie Gee’s was a good pick. If only it didn’t take 3 trains to get to Greenpoint.

St. Patricks day! I wasn’t getting hammered like everyone else, but it was fun to see everyone and everything decked out around the neighborhood. We have a ton of pubs on our street so there was lots of festivity going on.

A cheeky reminder.

The best ice cream I have ever tasted. Found at Treehaus – which is a cool place in midtown. Would be a perfect place for lunch with the sandwiches, a hot bar of healthy food choices, cold pressed juices and an entire section of locally produced items from NYC and Brooklyn. Since they are based out of New York, I can't wait to track down some more Phin and Phebes flavors. Also – the latest Kinfolk ice-cream-themed issue has a story on the duo behind the ice cream – you can check that out here.

Browsing antique stores in the East Village for a little side project. The Upper Rust has some great stuff while the block it's located on is loaded with cute shops.

A perfect New York moment – this man was playing “somewhere over the rainbow” under a bridge in Central Park. I tried to record a little bit from a park bench nearby without being creepy. The sun was out, and all felt nice and quiet for a small amount of time while he played.

warm in the winter.

I've been holding off sharing pictures from my trip to the beach last February. A combination of long to-do lists and bittersweet nostalgia, I guess. Tough coming back to winter after a warm weekend away with family I miss dearly. We did have to come back, however, and looking back at these pictures makes me miss it all over again. Glancing at myself in the mirror tonight, I am reminded of what some sun and a quick breather from the city hustle will do to your complexion.

When going back to Florida, I'll most likely be going to one of two places: the west coast where I grew up, or the east coast where I spent summer vacations, spring breaks, and long weekends as a kid. The east coast of Florida is known for better beaches and bigger waves. My extended family has had a house on the beach over there for many years, and it's where so many memories are tied to. Black top roads, hot sand, the salty Atlantic Ocean. My grandmother's lemonade, fresh seafood, the farmers market on Ocean Drive. Falling asleep to the soft sounds of waves, the creaks from the rickety ceiling fan, and wind chimes in the back yard.

No matter how much older I get, I vividly remember my childhood at the beach house. No real worries in the world except a high tide and sunburnt shoulders.

Breakfast at Nora's table. 

Oceanside Farmers Market

There's a good looking guy.

Hanging Big Lowell's new air plant and teaching him how to use an iPhone

weekend in march.

View from the Upper West Side

This week is flying by so fast, last weekend seems miles away. I got to play house in a different part of town, spend time with my oldest friends and a new furry one, ate well and ran all over Central Park. Fast, fun weekend. Also, a double feature of weightless snow and blazing sun. Thank you, New York.

My roommate for the weekend.

Amazing dinner in Brooklyn.

Home.

Snowball fight.

Walks in the park with sticks. 

Sunshine on CPW

Brunching in the West Village and Golfing in Chelsea.

the lowcountry.

Josh and I took a trip to Charleston, South Carolina this past weekend. Flights were booked last fall, when Jet Blue was having a great sale. As it turns out, our flight out was the first direct flight Jet Blue made to Charleston from JFK - and they were kicking off the launch with free candy onboard (wahoo!). We made it a long weekend away taking a few days off so we would have plenty of time to explore and eat our way through the city.

Charleston is such a charming place. It had been a while since I was last there, and I had forgotten about all the amazing architecture, cobblestones, and the porches. I could park myself on some of those porches for days. What I will be going back to Charleston for, though, is the food. Josh and I were buzzed off the flavor from local southern ingredients prepared by some very talented chefs. Since the Charleston Food and Wine Festival was going on, everyone was on their A-game.

Our little rental! 

Butcher and Bee

Pecan tart at Husk

We can't wait to go back to Charleston!