A Dollop will do ya !

Okay, so who doesn't love a cupcake ?  Through Twitter chatter, I heard about a custom cupcake business in Rochester NY, Penfield to be exact.  I heard of champagne cupcakes and became intrigued, nay, obsessed with visiting this shop.  Since my daughter goes to college at the University of Rochester, this was a definite possibility !
  When it came time to pick her up for Christmas break, what better way to start the journey homeward than with a stop at this  curious cupcake shop called Dollop ?  We left the U of R and GPSed it right to Penfield and easity found the tiny shop.  I was so excited, would they have champagne cupcakes ?

The shop was much smaller than I had expected, but was incredibly cute.  We were ably assisted by the lovely Sarah, whose shirt also informed us that she was a Zumba instructor, totally understandable for someone who sells gourmet cupcakes.

There was a board on the wall that listed  the current cupcake, filling, and frosting flavors.
This is a build-your-own cupcake shop, you tell Sarah how you would like your cupcake, and she constructs it for you !  You can also customize your cupcake with assorted candies and toppings as shown in the picture.

To my utter disappointment, champagne cupcakes were not currently available !  Sarah informed us that they were more likely to be in stock on a Saturday,  or for a holiday, not the usual Thursday fare.  Well then, I had to make a rapid change of plan , but that was no problem since there were a few delicious seasonal options to pick from.  I chose a gingerbread cupcake, with whipped cream filling and cream cheese/cranberry/clove icing.   I decided that I had enough going on with the frosting to bypass any added candy toppings.  For my son  I attempted to re-create a Boston creme donut, so his cupcake was vanilla with Boston creme filling and chocolate icing.  My daughter went with chocolate mint cake with chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles, my husband with vanilla cake, lemon filling and cream cheese icing.

The cupcakes were individually constructed by Sarah, and packaged in a box well designed to hold them upright and safe.   I also got an additional four cupcakes to bring back to work with me, all red velvet cake with chocolate ganache filling and cream cheese icing.
  We thanked Sarah, who kindly obliged me by letting me take a couple photos, and headed out for our 5 hour journey home.  Once we were home, it was time to dive into the cupcakes.
The gingerbread cupcake was delicious, dense and more full bodied than I had expected, and the cranberries were a nice addition to the cream cheese frosting.  The only quibble I had was that I had waited hours before I ate it and I think that the whipped cream filling absorbed into the cake.  I could see where the cake was removed and reinserted but the filling was no longer visible.
My son proclaimed that his cupcake tasted just like the Boston creme donuts that he loves, and my daughter was very happy with the chocolate mint one.  The lemon filled cupcake passed my husband's taste test, nice since he is not really a cake lover, pies are his thing...

   I was able to sample one of the red velvet cupcakes the next day at work and it was really fine, good flavor to the cake and creamy frosting.  These cupcakes are not for dainty eaters, they are rich and filling, one will leave you well satisfied.  The chocolate ganache hardened a bit and looked more like a plug of chocolate, but I think that is more a function of waiting a day to eat it.  Such custom cupcakes really should be eaten as soon as possible, I don't think that I did them justice by not wolfing them down as soon as I got them !
   All in all, I was very pleased with the Dollop experience, there is something really fun about being able to custom make your cupcake.   Someday, the champagne cupcakes will be mine !

Don't let them wreck Thanksgiving !

What is so great about Thanksgiving?  Out of all the holidays, it is the one that celebrates food and family the most.  It is a time to gather with your family,  eat great food,  talk and laugh.  There is no card buying, no gift giving.  It is a time to reflect on all the good things that we have and to be thankful for them.  It is a time to share recipes and stories and enjoy family memories.

It makes me angry to see how commercialism is starting to chip away at this fine day.  Stores are opening earlier and earlier on Friday, many starting to open on Thanksgiving Day itself.  Businesses are staying open, even my gym was open on Thanksgiving Day.  Don't these employees deserve to have a day off to celebrate a national holiday with their families ?  The whole Christmas shopping mess is stressful enough without  making people guilty if they don't rush off on Thanksgiving to start the buying frenzy.  Thanksgiving will cease to exist, everyone will either be working or shopping on that day, and that would be a sad thing, indeed.  If we don't fight it, we will lose one of the most beautiful and important holidays of the year.  Marketing and commercialism have already taken away most of Christmas's beauty and meaning, we can't allow it to happen to Thanksgiving, too.  I refuse to shop or even think about shopping on Thanksgiving.  The best gift that you can give your family on that day is your time and attention and love.  Oh yeah, and maybe a piece of pumpkin pie !

News Flash : Eat less and you will lose weight !

  Today was a big day for me.  I actually was able to get into a pair of size 10 petite dress pants that haven't fit me for the past 3 years.  They are still a little snug, but definitely wearable.  How did this miraculous thing happen ?  It is no big secret, I am eating less and exercising more.  I wish I could say that I found a miracle food or crazy exercise that just melts the pounds off easily, but that would be a lie.
  I vowed about 3 months ago that I would  lose 10 pounds by my doctor's appointment in December to help keep my upwards trending blood pressure at bay. I started out a little over 150 pounds, I am now 136 pounds and proud of it !
  Nobody want to read about diets and losing weight, so I am keeping this brief.  I shamelessly used the internet to my advantage.   I found a free website to help me calculate how many calories I SHOULD be eating to get to my target weight and to help me track what I eat,  caloriecount.about.com .   I log what I eat every day,  the site helps me keep track of not only calories but also the nutritional content of what I eat.  It has been an eye-opening experience for me and I make better food choices because of it.   The best part about it is that it is free, the only money that I have spent is for my gym membership, which helps keep me motivated to exercise.
   I still eat the foods I like and I still go out to restaurants, because as you all know, I love good food !  I just keep the portions under control and don't exceed my calories for the day.  Once in a while I even take a day off and don't count, but the next day it is back on track.
   Is my blood pressure better ?  I will have to update you in December on that one...

Music AND Food at Mezzaluna in Saugerties NY

Good food and good music is a fine way to start off the weekend !   My husband John  had mentioned that his piano teacher was performing at a local restaurant  and would I like to go ?  Hmm, food and music on a Friday night, that sounded quite alright to me.

Off we went to a little restaurant called Café Mezzaluna, billed as a "Bistro Latino."  Ned Hixon and Michelle were scheduled to be the evening's musical entertainment.  Ned is my husband's piano instructor and I had spoken with him on the phone several times, but we had never met.  The mysterious Michelle had no last name given on the website announcement, so she is just "Michelle" to us. 

We were the first people in there for dinner, arriving a little after 5:30 pm.   This place was very small, maybe 6 tables plus a bar and a few tiny tables near it.  However, it is very colorful inside and decorated with local artwork on the walls.  The piano and mikes were set up at the front of the restaurant, setting the mood...

I particularly liked the single unisex bathroom with the purple door, a nice touch !

The atmosphere is very homey and fun, we noticed a checkerboard and checkers precariously perched within reach...

Our server was Cheri (exact spelling unknown), and she  was very friendly and helpful, recommending favorite wines and gladly answering all questions.  Wine is always tricky, as I prefer reds while the husband usually prefers whites.  Cheri came to the rescue recommending a Clifford Bay sauvignon blanc,  not too expensive but a customer favorite in taste tests.  It was very pleasant and liked by us both.  I did manage to drink most of it, as usual...

Both of us decided to try the small empeñada-like appetizers,  John selecting the beef-filled and me the vegetable and goat cheese filled.

These were served with a spicy fresh salsa, very good.   They arrived nice and hot with a flaky good crust, delicious dipped into the salsa.  Here is an inside view of the vegetable one -

The cheese was subtle and not overdone, allowing you to taste the nicely cooked veggie mixture.

For my main entree I opted for the tinga, a mixture of shredded chicken and chipotles in adobo sauce served with rice and black beans.  Surprisingly, my husband ordered the same, a very rare occurrence for us !

I am a huge fan of chipotles in adobo, and this was really tasty !   Tender shreds of chicken coated in the wonderful adobo, served with the black beans and yellow rice with a small side of lettuce, tomato and red onion that was fresh and cool with the chicken.  The menu made it sound like this dish was very spicy and so did Cheri, but to my taste this was very mild.  It had good flavor, but was in no way spicy hot.  Cheri must have sized us up as spice wimps.  Little does she know that my husband has been adding hot sauce to nearly everything he eats probably since he was able to hold his first bottle !

I had the good intention of bypassing dessert, but after downing 3/4 of the bottle of wine,  some dessert and coffee sounded like the right thing before the music was to begin.   It was a double expresso and flan for John, and cafe con leche and an expresso/chocolate dessert for me.  

I foolishly forgot exactly what my dessert was called, but it was like a chocolate truffle laced with expresso and poured into a cup.  You eat it with a spoon, but it is thick like a fudge/truffle.  This was chocolate perfection, the slight bitterness of the expresso was the right complement to the soft sweetness of the chocolate.  I was glad to linger over this and eat it bit by bit while enjoying my cafe con leche.  The coffee here at Mezzaluna is very good,  I need to come back here for more...

This was my husband's first time tasting a flan and he was happy with it.  It looked like a classic fan with caramel sauce and he finished it all ...

By this time the all the tables were full and the music was set to begin.  Ned plays piano and sings,  doing a mix of jazz/pop standards.   He started out with "Georgia"  and proceeded to do some Stevie Wonder and James Taylor.  A highlight for me was a version of Edgar Winter's "Dying to Live", a bit unexpected but a pleasant surprise.  Ned has a smooth singing voice and nice phrasing, but his real gift is his piano playing,  very easy flowing with nice jazz improvisations and runs.  From what my husband has told me Ned is a huge Beatles fan, so I was expecting a Lennon/McCartney tune, but that was not to be.

     Then came the Hudson Valley debut of Michelle !  From the little info I could get about her, she works at a local hospital,  used to do dinner theater years ago  and has just recently gotten back into the singing world. She  joined Ned and she did nice versions of  "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Killing Me Softly."  She and Ned had a good duet with James Taylor's  "You've Got a Friend."  She has a pleasant solid soprano,  and did a strong version of  "If I Loved You" from Carousel, where you could hear more of her theater sound.  She did appear a bit nervous,  not much between-song banter even though a good part of the audience appeared to be friends and family.

 I try not to be intrusive while taking pictures, I used no flash, but Ned caught me taking this one, I guess I was not too subtle...

I did a better job not disturbing him with this shot -

Here is one of Michelle enjoying the act of performing !

My hat is off to her, it is  not easy to get up in front of a bunch of people,  many of them strangers,  and sing your heart out.  By 9 it was all over, and we were strolling back to our car, stomachs full of good food and hearts full of good cheer.  Live music really is the best, and what is better than to sample some of the local talent that is all around us !









                                                                              

I spent the night at New World Home Cooking !

Okay, I am a camera.  A rather nice Sony Cyber shot.  At least, my owner likes me, but she is not very picky...

Here is a self portrait -

I am a nice cool blue, and look pretty sleek , if I do so say so myself !

My owner takes me everywhere, even to work.   I don't get out much at work,  but restaurants and events are a different story, then I  get to come out and play !

I was psyched to find out that she was going to New World Home Cooking on Friday night, and get this, her family from Connecticut were coming up just to go out to dinner!   Ah, surely I  would get to come out and play.

I should let you know that my owner is a real foodie, totally obsessed with food.  She and her family want to try these Chopped dishes made by Ric Orlando.  All I keep hearing about is some kind of chocolate pear taco.  Okay, already, let's go and check this out...

Here we are  -

I  remember this place,  very cool.  This should be fun !

We get a table right near the kitchen, which is nice because this way her family can get a good view of what is going on.  I am thinking, it is only food, people, but whatever floats your boat, I guess...

Her husband and Dad are having some good male bonding talk, nice.

Her Dad and her brother want to try the elk dish from the Chopped show.

Elk ?   Isn't that like a deer ?   I will never understand these people !

Oh boy, my owner is having a glass of wine, always red.  She had better keep her head about her, I don't want to get banged around here ...

Here comes the food.  Whoa, that is one big hunk of elk !

Looks pretty good, even if it is a deer...   My owner is allergic to nuts, so I hear, so the chocolate hazelnut  spread is keeping this off limits for her.  Her Dad and brother seem to like it...

She opts for some risotto, looks really good, I must admit.

There are some pretty awesome mushrooms in there.  Believe me, they ate a lot more food than just his, when she drinks she forgets to take pictures of everything !  They had Cajun shrimp, and blackened string beans, and scallops with figs, brie and pineapple quesadillas, you name it, they ate it !   It all must have been pretty good, because there was not much left once they finished with it.

Finally, it is dessert time, and she gets to order her taco.  I love this woman, she is not embarrassed about ordering a TACO for dessert.

Okay, I guess it really is kind of an awesome taco, on its little pear throne and everything.   Nicely spiced pears inside, with a delicious cardamom crema embracing it, a little herb action on top.  It has some nice bittersweet chocolate inside and out,  to seal the deal.   It must have been good,  because there was nothing left when she was done with it !

I am just starting to enjoy myself when they decide to stop eating and are ready to go home.   I  am in luck, because she thinks that she is done with me and puts me in my case and slips me into her bag, but she misses and I fall out.  Freedom, at last !  She and her family get up and say good-bye to Ric, but she doesn't realize that I am here on the floor.  Score one for the camera !

It isn't too long before someone sees me lying here on the floor and comes to rescue me.  I hope that these people are fun,  I am ready to get this party started !  Things get a little fuzzy from here on out, but I think that they are checking me out at the bar ....

Well, okay then.  Jesus, am I going to be in trouble when she sees THIS !

Thankfully, these people are honest and okay.  I must have blacked out after this because I woke up later nice and snug in my case and in somebody's desk drawer.  Whew, I spent the night at New World Home Cooking and lived to tell about it!  My owner comes to fetch me, all happy and relieved that I am fine and that some honest person turned me in.  Wait until she sees the little gift that they left her ....

Hudson Valley Garlic Festival at Saugerties, or All Hail the Stinking Rose!

For the first time in several years,  my son and I  were able to attend the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival in Saugerties NY as guests rather than workers.  While he was a scout, we were obligated to work the event as it was the troop's  best fundraiser.   Now 15 and no longer into scouting, we could attend as guests, and I must say it was very relaxing!

  We arrived before 12 noon, knowing how crowded it gets.   First we made a loop around the booths and exhibits, seeing what was available.  Basically, you are here to eat.  There are sections of craft booths and a children's play area, but make no joke about it, this is all about the food and how many ways you can work garlic into it.

  If you ever wondered how many different ways you can ingest garlic, well,  there are quite a few.  This man in white will encourage you to do garlic shots !

I am not sure exactly what this entails, as the little glasses looked like cloudy vodka to me, but these people decided to go for it.  Maybe they really wanted that sticker that the man in white was tempting them with...

I decided to pass on the shots, maybe next year, and then I saw this :

Garlic ice cream !  Yes, this was going to be the year to finally brave up and try this.  I ordered myself a cup and when the worker asked how many spoons we needed, the bemused look on my son's face said it all,  one spoon was all we needed !  So I  sat down and dug into this -

You can't see it that clearly in the picture, but this was vanilla ice cream with finely chopped bits of garlic in it, large enough that you could see them.  You could definitely taste garlic, but there was no trace of bitterness and after a few spoonfuls,  the fear wears off and you eat it with enthusiasm !  It sounds crazy, but the garlic bits become like candy and I loved it and would not hesitate to eat it again !

We continued to cruise down the food alley, my son enjoying a soft garlic pretzel and me snagging some of Ric Orlando's blackened green beans at the New World Home Cooking booth.  Ric is our local Chopped Champion and such a friendly, personable guy.  Seeing my son's Ramones shirt, he shared some memories of seeing the Ramones at Toad's Place in New Haven, and of feeding one of the Ramones,  Joey I think, at the restaurant.  He is a great chef and a down-to-earth guy, more about Ric later.

We continued our food journey, getting some of the kettle corn that my son loves, and me picking up a crab cake along the way.  There was a long line for either a crab cake or coconut shrimp, it was a hard choice but the crab cake called out to me.

I opted to go sans bun, and the cake was very good, nice and crispy on top but soft and with a respectable amount of crab inside.  It was a nice chunky cake with visible chunks of onion and that was just fine with me...

The last thing on my agenda was to stop by the lecture/demo tent, as I noticed that Ric Orlando was doing a garlic cooking demo at 1:45 pm.  We got there very early, while the previous lecturer was still on.  As he finished, we noticed that not many people left, but we were able to get a couple seats in the last row.   Ric was focussing on black garlic, something that I had never seen or tasted.  His first dish was a risotto, using the black garlic and finished with truffle oil and cheeses.  He passed around some black garlic so that we could touch and see it, quite interesting with the texture of black licorice.

While the risotto cooked, he constructed a salad of sliced strawberries, chopped tomatoes, chopped black garlic and fresh basil leaves.   This was dressed with balsamic vinegar and fresh ground black pepper, plus any salt/sugar necessary to adjust the seasoning.  The one thing that he emphasized throughout the demo was that you should season as you go along, he likes to make sure that you develop layers of flavor, not just throw salt and pepper in at the end to just sit on top of the dish.

The demo was set up with a slanted mirror over the workspace, to help everyone get a better view of what was going on, especially appreciated by us back-row folks.

We all got to have a shot glass of risotto and the salad, both really delicious.  I am a sucker for risotto anyway, and this one was very good, creamy and rich tasting...  The salad was delightful and you could really taste the black garlic, it almost had a anise or licorice flavor to it, quite refreshing !   I have made strawberries with balsamic and black pepper before, but I never thought to add tomatoes and/or garlic, thank you, Ric !

By this time, my son and I were full, hot, tired and ready to head home.  We came home with a couple of goodies.

Perhaps the best thing that we came home with are good memories of some great food, great people, and a nice day spent between mother and son ...

Yeah, I can see you !

Time for some nonsense, people !

I know that no one really wants to hear about work, but I  have a kind of unique job that provides some moments of, well,  absurdity that should be documented.

I am a personal teller, kind of an odd name for someone who is nowhere near the person she is waiting on. Not to worry, it will all become clear...

I  work at a local credit union, the only one in the country to offer a 24/7 personal teller system.  Yes, I said 24/7.  Yes, you can come to our credit union at 3 am and you can talk to a live person and cash your paycheck.  You can even come in on Sunday and we will be there.  We are staffed continuously except for Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day.  Not so fun for us, but pretty convenient for our members.

 I am part of  a pool of people who wait on members remotely, through a personal teller machine that is capable of two-way audio and visual communication.  This machine looks a lot like an ATM, but if you press the "start" button you quickly will  see that this is no ATM...

In fact, some unsuspecting people get so flustered that they just back up and run away, because when they hit that button one of us appears on the screen and tries to talk to them !  This happened much more when we first started the operation, but it is still pretty funny to see grown people back away and pretend that they never touched this machine.  Some are  just speechless and stare at you, not sure what to make of this craziness.

So I sit in my cubicle and talk to random people all day, from 6 different branches, helping them with their banking needs.  I get to wear a rather annoyingly heavy headset  that is not cordless, so I am tethered to my station for most of the day.  Don't even ask what this does to my hair.  I have gotten pretty good at seeing how far my leash will let me roam, but that is basically only to the neighboring cubicles. I am still getting used to looking at the webcam when speaking to the member, rather than looking at their image on my screen.  We are on camera nearly all day, but there are no makeup people in sight...

We are unique as tellers in that we wait on people in different towns and even counties, so you get to see a lot of regional differences.  The members from the wealthier communities do more deposits, deal less with cash and more with checks.  Occasionally have a bit of a condescending attitude, too.  They get annoyed when they have to show their ID,  shouldn't everyone already KNOW who they are ?
The people from the less wealthy communities deal mostly with cash and spend more of their time paying loans and withdrawing money, if at all possible...  They like to send other people to pay their loans,  kind of interesting.

So what kind of questions do I get asked?  Am I an avatar ?  Seriously, why would anyone create an avatar of a 50 year old woman wearing glasses?  I  mean really, people.  The  other popular question is "Can you see me too ?"   Well, I  just asked you to place your photo ID on our scanner so I  can verify who you are, so yeah, I  can see you.  I can even see your boyfriend lurking on the side, or your wife standing behind you telling you what to do !  And no, I  am not inside the machine, does that really make any sense ?

Communicating with people about their money can be amusing in itself.  Many people come to us and declare that they are cashing their check, but what they really mean is that they are depositing it and getting some money back.  Some are depositing to their "checkings," not really sure how this became plural...   One enterprising young man  comes in to "direct deposit his check."  Who needs electronic banking when you can do it yourself ?

Also, the phrase "a lot of money" means very different things to different people.  Usually when people say this, they mean maybe a few hundred, nothing really astonishing.  The people that are dealing with thousands have no need for "a lot of money."  I especially like the people who need the balance on their account, in the multiple  thousands, only to take out $40.  Like that $40 bucks is really going to break  them...

Then there are the jokes.
"Can I help you with anything else ?" say I.
"Well, if you have the winning lotto numbers that would be great !"
If I had the winning lotto numbers, why would I  be sitting here ?

or
"Wow, if this thing is 24/7, you must drink a lot of coffee !"
Sigh.

or
"If you have any extra hundreds, that would be okay !"
No, that would not be okay,  I  would rather keep my job.

Such is the life of the "personal teller."

"Chopped" sampling at New World Home Cooking

    Would I like to sample some of the dishes that helped make local hero Ric Orlando of New World Home Cooking a "Chopped" champion ?   You bet I would !   He was offering them on the tasting menu for the month of August, and I could think of no better way to bring my stay-cation to a close then to enjoy some champion dishes.

      We arrived there at the very unfashionable time of 5:30 pm  on a Sunday night, so we had ample choice of seating !  It was a beautiful calm day so we opted for outside on the patio.

 The back patio is small but lovely, with a scenic little gazebo seat that was soon to be filled with a lively little family.  To the right of the gazebo was a small vegetable garden, a sign of good things to come !

Our server Josh was very friendly and informative, gladly answering any questions and happy to make recommendations.

New World's Menu is  full of many choices for hot and cold appetizers plus big meals, so food selection is fun but a bit daunting, my eyes often want more than my stomach should hold.  Tonight was easy though,  since I wanted to try some of the "Chopped" dishes,  we decided to go with a selection of several small portions instead of a big main meal.  Bring on the food !

We started our feeding frenzy with hot and spicy shrimp and coconut crusted crab cakes.

My husband loved the shrimp, perfectly cooked with wedges of lemon and nice and spicy.
They definitely tasted as good as they looked !

The crab cakes were beautifully presented with nicely spiced lines of aioli.  A small relish of chopped tomatoes and olives accompanied them, garnished with a sprig of my beloved cilantro ! There was no filler, these were nice dense patties of crabmeat with a light crispy crust.  My husband is usually not a big crab fan, but after tasting these he said that he would have no problems ordering them...

Next came one of the "Chopped" dishes, the rum raisin jerked quail served with coconut rice and greens.
As you can see from my photo, this is not a particularly "pretty" dish, very dark subdued colors,  as the rice was served underneath the quail and sauce, but the flavor was right on.

This jerk sauce was complex and hot enough for me, which means it was not violently hot. The quail was tiny, as you would expect, but nicely cooked and held up to the flavor.  The raisins were a sweet counterpart  to the heat, and the coconut and greens added some texture and were excellent to sop up the saucy goodness.

This may have been the ugly duckling of the meal, but it was a swan to the taste buds...


No meal is complete here without Ric's blackened string beans.  This is one of his signature dishes,  crisp green beans coated in blackening spices and stir fried, served with a remoulade sauce.  These are just as  addictive as french fries, once you start eating them you just can't stop !

We finished up our main course frenzy with a Vietnamese salad for my husband and my "Chopped" dish of white chocolate mole trout with warm Napa cabbage.  Now, white chocolate and trout don't sound good together, but on the plate they were just fine and rather pretty looking, if I may say so.

The mole sauce was not sweet at all,  it actually had a more neutral flavor that let the trout shine through, more of a hint of while chocolate than rich heavy sweetness.  This was by far the mildest flavored dish of the night, but it was successful to me, I would not hesitate to order this if it were on a menu.

We normally get a large Vietnamese salad to share,  so I  think seeing the little personal portion is a bit underwhelming.  This benefits from a larger presentation, it looks much more impressive in a large bowl with masses of chopped peanuts on top.  Or maybe it is just my shallowness showing...

Well, after all this fine food and two glasses of wine,  I completely forgot to photograph our desserts.  We decided to bypass the "Chopped" dessert, papaya and stinky cheese were not doing anything for us at this moment.  We selected the tapas trio.  This consisted of a shot glass of lemon curd  topped with berries, a goat cheese chocolate truffle, and  a mini  stout beer float.  Yes, a stout beer float, a small glass of stout topped with ice cream and whipped cream with a swirl of chocolate syrup.  I am no stranger to using stout in dessert,  I have been know to make chocolate stout cupcakes on occasion, so this was a natural for me.  I pounced on  the goat cheese truffle, dusted with cinnamon and chili, absolutely delicious.  My husband claimed the lemon curd and we both supped on the stout float.  I highly recommend that dessert trio, it is a great mix of flavors and is great fun, too !
     Just when I think it can't get any better,  I find out that Ric will be on "Chopped" Champions later in September.  I  can't wait to see what he dishes up next time !

virtual trip to Rochester NY, let's go !

I have realized that many of you have never had the pleasure of driving from Saugerties NY to Rochester NY.   I can't let this continue, no one should be left out of the fun and adventure, that would be just, well, un-American.  So here we go,  I am taking you on a virtual road trip !  Go grab a snack, use the restroom if you must and let's get going !

This is a long trip, so first we must pack up the car.

   That looks pretty good, we have plenty of clothes, lots of snacks and even a spare mattress pad,  you just never know when one will come in handy.  Like I said, this is a long trip and we just might end up staying overnight.

 So now we are on the road. We are taking the Thruway.  This is pretty much the only road we will be on, for oh, about 4 hours, no worries... 

We will take turns driving.  While you are driving this is what you will see :

                                 

                                                                                          

  

When you are not driving, you can see this-

 If you are feeling a bit more creative you can even see this -

I will warn you, I will do everything in my power to make sure that YOU are driving when the road looks like this -

The white walls of death and I do not get along well, so I will leave that part of the trip for you.   It will make you a better person, really.

Okay, repeat the last 3 pictures or so in an endless loop for about 4 hours and we will be very close to our final destination, Rochester.

We will be very happy to see this -

and even happier to finally see this !

Yay, let's drive around town and check out some cool buildings, we have been in the car for so long that I am not sure that our legs are working anymore....

Pretty awesome, wouldn't you say?

I kind of like this big glass one -

Maybe we will even drive over this nifty bridge.

Hey, there is the National Museum of Play !  Bet you didn't even know that we had one...

Too bad that we don't have time to explore it because, darn it, we have a 4 hour ride home .

Good thing we packed all those snacks and a change of clothes, because we are back on the road again !

Maybe we should check out some cool cloud formations on the ride home. 

    

Whoa, not when you are driving, though, we almost ran into that lock on the Erie Canal !!

Whew, that was a close one.  We have been driving for a few hours now, we must be getting close to home.   Here comes a road sign, let's check it out -

uh oh