All We Do is Eat

Hello friends!

I hope you all had lovely Christmas and New Year celebrations! Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to see his family.
We received an especially exciting gift on Christmas Eve from our wonderful new city. Now let me preface this story by saying that every New Yorker receives this gift…no matter how well you keep up with the cleaning. As I was finishing up packing for our trip, I went into the bathroom to grab a couple of things and I noticed something moving by my foot. When I moved away, the BIGGEST roach you ever saw scuttled off! I started screaming and jumped onto the toilet (lid was up, I didn’t care, I was saving my life). Dan came running into the bathroom thinking I had hurt myself and when he saw that ugly monster crazily running all over the bathroom floor, trying to escape, he exclaimed something that I can’t write in this blog. Luckily, I had stocked a can of insect spray under the sink and my hero of a husband unloaded a half a can of poison onto the 3 inch long beast. Once that thing stopped moving I leapt off of the toilet and ran to the other side of the apartment. I can’t even begin to describe my horror. Thankfully, I have a husband who can push nightmares aside to pick up dead roaches and flush them down the toilet.

Sorry, I didn’t get a photo.

And according to other New Yorkers I have told this story to, they assured me that it will happen again, even with a clean apartment, and even though I have now become a paranoid clean freak/drain plugger/crack filler. Maybe next time I’ll be brave enough to get a photo. After it’s dead, of course.

In lighter news, it snowed here in the city and I got some great photos of Central Park! I met Dan after work and we got off the subway in mid-town so we could walk home in the snow. It was so much fun to see all of the families out, sledding down the hills in the park. And, of course, what could be better than watching the tiny dogs jumping and disappearing in to a 3 foot covering of snow? Nothing is better, folks, I promise.

 Dogs playing on the left

View of mid-town from Central Park

We also finally made it down to this adorable little British shop that I’ve been dying to go to since before we moved. It’s called Meyers of Keswick. It’s incredibly small, but full of goodies.

They make fresh food items in their kitchen, like Steak and Kidney Pie, Black Pudding, bangers, cheeses, butter and cream. A black cat greeted me in the back of the store, and I was more intent on petting her than getting a picture. You can see her on their website! Her name is Molly and she has an adventure story, which you can read about here. She's adorable!

I did, however, get a photo of the delicious Brandy Butter I bought! Apparently, Brandy Butter is traditionally used on Christmas puddings and mince meat pies. Well, being that it’s made of brandy, butter and sugar, I just spread it on my bagels and banana bread and it is amazing. Click here for a recipe so you can try the deliciousness!

That's their adorable business card in the background

Another place we visited recently is Chelsea Market, where they sell all kinds of amazing food. Have you sensed yet that New York City is full of food? Basically, if you’re not going to a show, you’re eating. So plan to eat A LOT of delicious food when you visit. And then be prepared to walk it all off. Anyway, for my Seattle area friends, Chelsea Market is like a newer Pike Place Market, without fish throwing. When we walked into Chelsea Market it felt like home. The market has been built into a huge warehouse. It’s not open-air like Pike Place, but the main passageway is open to all the little shops.

Main passageway

Our mission was to visit the Doughnuttery, where they make donut holes sprinkled with flavored sugar. We ordered Paris Lavender and Green Apple. SO GOOD!

The donuts float down the river of oil, and then a little arm flips them onto their other side. Once they're done, they're flipped out of the oil to drain. Then they fill a bag with donuts and sugar, shake it up, and hand it over the counter.

Some of the other shops included a spice and tea shop. Just look at all of these beautiful goods!

 Spices - gorgeous!

I'll be going back to pick up one of these fancy teas

One last note…I’m sure some of you have heard of the infamous Cronut (Croissant/Donut) invented here in NYC. Dan and I haven’t tried it yet, but we’re going to get on that soon. Especially since a new shop in Brooklyn has invented the Cragel (Croissant/Bagel). Brooklyn is as full of good food as Manhattan, and I’ll be sure to share my indulgences with you as soon as we make it over there!

Thanks for reading!

Carole