Recently in Food Category

Last Wednesday, my friend, Deirdre Corley, and I decided to put our freelance hours to use by hitting up Mario Batali's new Italian behemoth, Eataly. "All in the name of research!" we decreed while trying to figure out the best way to eat our way through the place on a limited budget. I can tell you right now that our wallets (and tummies) were extremely happy.

Now, I know there's been a bit of a backlash (this being New York, of course) that Eataly is too big and brash. That it's a vanity project. That it's nothing more than a gimmicky mega-store ready to rob your soul. Really people, this is midtown. Aren't we used to this by now? Also, who doesn't want freshly made mozzarella, interesting varieties of pasta you can't find in this country, and a vegetable butcher who'll cut your stuff for free? Yeah, maybe it all sounds a little "boo-zhee." Maybe you don't care about silky chocolate gelato or honey robbed from a eucalyptus tree. But maybe you don't know you want this stuff yet. Maybe you just need to try. it. Trust me when I type this: you do. You really, really do.

Upon opening the heavy metal doors on 23rd Street (or 5th Avenue or 24th Street--this place wraps around the block), you're greeted by bright lights and a culinary wonderland explosion. There are lobster mushrooms mingling with morels, white asparagus pointing at eggplants; there's a cheese man who'll tell you what you want based on what you like, and a vegetable butcher waiting for you to throw her some artichokes. If you're overwhelmed at this point--we were--you can take a breather at any one of the dozen standing tables next to the mozza man and order yourself a glass a wine and some freshly sliced cheese and meat. We would have done this if Martha Stewart hadn't been taking over the place with her camera crew and whatnot. Thanks for nothin', Lady M!

Once you're out of the cheese n' veggie area, you're confronted with more dairy delights to your right as well as mini desserts behind glass, a panini station, honey and jams galore, a gelateria, and the Lavazza coffee bar beyond that which seemed to be packed on our way in and out.

Lots more after the jump...

Happy Post-Labor Day to you! This is my favorite time of year. Everything starts to take on a newer, cooler sheen as we glide out of summer and into fall. This back-to-school time of year is all about new beginnings. It's about sloughing off the mosquitos, preparing to layer back into the cozy, and really mapping out how you want to live out the latter part of the year. For me, the end of summer and beginning of autumn should always be celebrated with brunch.

I gathered with some of my friends in the backyard of a sleepy, homespun cafe nestled within Brooklyn's forgotten Navy Yards. We sipped Bloody Marys and thick coffee in the shade of a birdhouse tree while the sun made lazy patterns across the metal table. It was breezy and quiet, the air often punctuated by the sounds of our laughter or the constant clanking of forks on the one plate with the vanishing sourdough pancake. We strolled onto the cobblestoned street, said hello to bikers in their braids and Belstaff, and then made our way to the Admiral's Mansion.

Then, via bike, truck, and taxi, we journeyed to the more industrial part of Brooklyn to tap dance along the concrete, pastel popsicles in hand...

Will Cotton, Churro Cabin, 2001.

Yes, that's a churro cabin, and yes I want to live in it. I want to sit atop the donut-rock while wiggling my toes in the chocolate milk river, daydreaming absentmindedly with powdered sugar fingers. Will Cotton's world is frothy and sweet--a billowy binge-world of swirly pink and melting cocoa--and, to me, it's what heaven looks like. Here's his take on Endless Winter.

Wouldn't these frigid temps feel better if spent in the shade of a giant cookie tree? Or how about curled up in the window of an ice cream cone and peppermint stick castle...

I'm not a massive sugar hound. If I had a choice between sweet and savory, the salty and crunchy would win every time. I can dig some dark chocolate and hang out with a lemon meringue pie now and then, but sugar's not my thing. "I'll take the cheese course," she says all European-like after her meal.

It took one trip to BabyCakes NYC--the delightful bakery owned by the lovely, talented, and always stylish Erin McKenna--to slay my sweet snobbery for good (and it had nothing to do with sugar). Erin's cupcakes, cookies, frosting shots, gingerbread, brownies, blueberry crumb cake (my faves), and ridiculously addictive Cinnamon Toasties are made without refined sugar, eggs, or dairy. We're talking all-natural, organic, and--dare I say it with the blood of 1,000 cows coursing through my Texas-bred veins--VEGAN. The sweets at BabyCakes NYC are so magically delicious that you find yourself exclaiming, "Nuh-uh-no-way!" when you find out they're actually good for you.

I have to pace myself when it comes to how often I rush to the Lower East Side for a Red Velvet fix. I wish I could go every day. I need to go every day. The BabyCakes Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf wants to live in my fridge permanently. Luckily, for all of us, Erin has decided to share her secrets with the new BabyCakes Cookbook, hittin' a bookshelf near you on May 5th. Chock-full of recipes for most of the items that have made her bakery famous, you can now bring BabyCakes into your home whenever you want. Find out what makes regulars like Mary-Louise Parker, Natalie Portman, Pamela Anderson, and Zooey Deschanel "fan club" members for life. Learn how to make Jason Schwartzman's favorite Triple-Chocolate Fat Pants Cake. It's all in there, and it's all good.

Plus, how can you resist this BabyCakes Cookbook video? Sweet Sensational!

BabyCakes, the Book of Recipes: It's Here (Almost)! from BabyCakes NYC on Vimeo.

Seriously, y'all, you need this cookbook.

Here are some snacks that celebrate all that is this gloriously beautiful day:

Vampire's Lunch courtesy of Stinky Brooklyn

Hibiscus tea and Annie's Cheddar Bunnies on an inspirational writing desk tray

Happy Friday!

A modern girl...
A master chef...
A culture clash...

"Begin by putting tears into your broth."

Ladies and gentlemen, here's my pick for Favorite Movie in 2009 (a prediction): The Ramen Girl starring Brittany Murphy and...ramen noodles. Need I say more?

I recently started eating burgers again.

Meat and Cheese by Mike and Jen aka Duotard video by The Selby from the selby on Vimeo.

One of the things I love most about England is Percy Pig. See him there, to the left? He is adorable, and he is delicious. Percy Pig (and sometimes his gaggle of barnyard friends) can be found at Marks & Spencer, usually near the checkout line. Or queue. Percy is not only the cutest gummi critter ever created (who wants to eat a cola bottle?), he smells like Japanese erasers and tastes like a raspberry marshmallow, if that raspberry had just frolicked with a strawberry in a cranberry bog. I'm assuming he's a pig because he's made out of gelatin, and gelatin comes from, y'know, pigs. Specifically, from the collagen extracted from pork skins or bones. I know. I've been trying really hard to stay away from the stuff. Then, Percy comes squealing back into my life with that cute little mug and that sweet, sweet smell, and I just find him so hard to resist! He was a gift, too. Gifts should be enjoyed, right?

What you see above is the very last Percy. I put him in a plastic bag and locked him in a cupboard because I took down the rest of his pig brethren in a swift and total masticating massacre earlier this afternoon (I figured I should chew them instead of my fingernails during the Great David Blaine Breath Stunt on Oprah--see below). Sadly, now Percy's time has come. To honor his great sacrifice, I'm making a pact with myself to steer clear from gelatin-skin-n-bones products from here on out. I'm doing it for the love of Percy.

God speed, li'l fellow. Yum...that's a good pig.