The meatballs at this LES hot spot are great, but have you heard about the amazing ice cream sandwiches?
We’ve whipped up this recipe for gougères (fancy cheese puffs) over and over again. It never gets old.
Like a mini slice of pumpkin pie, these bars are a delicious treat for Thanksgiving or any time.
You may have noticed that TFAW are very wedding busy lately — one of us is getting married and the other is a guest at six weddings this year. Yup. Crazy.
Us cheese fiends pick like-minded people for friends. I was excited to celebrate my friend C at her bridal shower wine/cheese tasting class at Artisanal Cheese Center, the NYC mecca for cheese lovers. We must have eaten at least 1/2 lb. of cheese each. I was so stuffed I didn’t eat dinner (this is RARE).
Congrats, C!
Looking for a side dish that tastes like it was more work than it really was? These sherried mushrooms are flavorful and easy to pull together in a pinch.
Mushrooms cook down a lot, so don’t be overwhelmed when you purchase 2 lbs. of them. This was also my introduction to “cream sherry,” which actually isn’t creamy at all, but gives a great taste to things. Available in most liquor stores.
Sherried Mushrooms
recipe adapted from Eating Well
2 lbs. white button mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp. olive oil, to coat pan
1/3 cup cream sherry
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
ground pepper, to taste
1/8 cup shredded parmesan or asiago cheese
Coat large sauté pan with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms in the pan and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Lower heat to medium, and add sherry and garlic. Cook 10-15 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Garnish with parmesan or asiago cheese before serving.
They’re an excellent side to a steak, topping for a veggie burger or appetizer to your main course. Cook a large batch and add to your lunch throughout the week.
Wow. That is a bold statement, eh? During a weekend trip to Florida earlier this year, A-Tooch rekindled her love with the best dessert she has ever tasted.
Behold: Columbia Restaurant’s White Chocolate Bread Pudding
It’s nothing fancy. In fact, it’s only about $9. The main items — bread pudding and white chocolate — don’t appeal to many people. It took some convincing to get others at the table to go in on sharing this. And share you must, because it is HUGE and rich. They weren’t disappointed.
The sweetness of white chocolate isn’t overpowering, and the sauce is blended with a pungent rum. It’s served warm and garnished with chocolate shavings and strawberry slices, which are merely a distraction from the amazingness that is the actual soft bread and sauce itself. If you’re a bread pudding fan like me, you’ll also appreciate the mix of gooey insides and crusty outside pieces. It’s amazing.
What’s the best dessert you’ve ever eaten? Tell us here or on our Facebook page 
A-Tooch has tried thousands of a few times to patiently wait for a table at LES hot spot The Meatball Shop. She finally made it.
The meatballs were great, but that’s no surprise. Almost every review I read praised the different meatball variations and sauce options. But the ice cream sandwiches. Hardly anyone mentioned the ice cream sandwiches!
I opted for the daily special cookie — Milk Chocolate Chip Cherry, stuffed with Vanilla ice cream. A little twist on the original. Oh, and the vanilla was that rich vanilla bean that is way better than any regular vanilla.
Here’s my friend N, a happy camper. He got the Chocolate Chip cookie and special Pistachio ice cream combination.
The Meatball Shop posts pretty front and center on their site that they don’t take reservations. The trick (only took me about a year to figure this one out): go at “senior citizen o’clock.” That’s what I call the hours after brunch but before dinner when almost no one but senior citizens are eating. Or, Sunday funday day drinkers coming to a stop.
TFAW have a case of the Mondays 
We are dreaming about this perfect iced latte pick-me-up from Cafe Lalo in NYC. #nofilter
Miss Yunks had never been to The Fireplace, so when she saw the Boston Brunchers planned a brunch there she jumped on the opportunity to attend. Last Sunday, she trekked across town to join some lovely Brunchers in Brookline.
The Brunchers were told we could order anything we wanted from the brunch menu. While I was deciding between an egg dish or pancakes, this hunk of bread was served and made my entree decision a lot easier: eggs it is.
Bread was served warm – my favorite! I nibbled the bread, which I believe was potato bread with specs of potato skin, and sipped my hot coffee, while we perused the menu.
I love a strong coffee, and The Fireplace’s brew met my high coffee standards. I also appreciated how the refills kept coming. We decided to share a few salads with the table and order our own entree. Orders of the crispy cornmeal waffle and challah french toast also made their way around the table. I had a bite of each and each was delicious. We weren’t sure what to expect with the crispy cornmeal waffle. Would it be fried and crusted in cornmeal? It turned out it was not fried, just made with cornmeal. It was crispier than a traditional buttermilk waffle but still had a pleasant texture and was soft in the middle. I’d happily eat a whole order!
We shared the Beet & Orange Salad over Boston Lettuce with Parsnip Chips, Brebis Blanche Sheeps’ Milk Cheese, Toasted Walnuts & Citrus Vinaigrette.
Not surprisingly, the salad was delicious. Orange, beets, and creamy cheese are strong complimentary flavors and combine for a perfect early spring time salad.
I internally debated over ordering the Rustic Vegetarian Hash with Mushrooms, White Beans and Caramelized Onions, Poached Eggs and Hollandaise or the Three Egg Omelet with Broccoli, Tomatoes and Scallion and ultimately decided to order the vegetarian hash, but with scrambled eggs instead of poached eggs with hollandaise.
The sun joined us around the time our entrees were served so please excuse the shadow! We had a window seat and the sun was welcome company; it just wasn’t the best addition to photos. My brunch entree was a very generous portion of hash, topped with a generous serving of scrambled eggs and a slice of multigrain toast on the side. The eggs were fully cooked and the hash was tasty. The white beans added a creamy flavor that gave the potatoes a little flavor boost.
Overall, I was happy with my brunch experience at The Fireplace. The service was impeccable; our server was accommodating, patient and kept the coffee flowing. The food was fresh, homestyle comfort food, and the company was a lot of fun! I had a great time chatting with Michelle, Shelby, Shelby, Jen and all of the other Boston Brunchers!
My opinions on this brunch were not influenced by the fact this meal was complimentary to the Boston Brunchers.
It’s becoming the best annual foodie tradition for A-Tooch (see 2012 and 2011): the return of Village Voice’s Choice Eats.
Two big themes I noticed this year: Brooklyn and meat. Lots of it.
Because I am a peanut butter fanatic, I also hopped on this delicious, sweet and light fluffernutter pastry from Brooklyn Kolache. I had never tried anything quite like it before. Probably considered dessert but I started with it. Oh well
One of my favorite spots of the evening was another Brooklyn joint, Allswell, who served up the most amazing mini pies. Mine was rich with beef and stilton cheese, in the family of a very gourmet pot/shepherd’s pie.
A few other standouts included (Top L to R above): Cherry Tomato Tart with Smoked Feta and Herb Vinaigrette from Dirt Candy — something even us meat eaters were salivating over // rich Porcini Ravioli from Max — because, well, they always do Italian right // a rotini roll from new-to-me spot Pete Zaaz.
I gotta get out to Pete Zaaz — the menu looks really creative. While many of the dishes aren’t staples on the menu of some of these restaurants, that Porcini Ravioli is at Max, and boy is it tasty.
As any foodie pro knows, I skipped out on most of the booze in favor of a few extra food plate (or five) to fill my tummy.
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Pot Luck #5
TFAW have a lot of foodie friends. So while we often do big dinners out, we like to cook, too.
I’ll call this Pot Luck #5 because that feels about right. I have blogged many of our pot luck gatherings over the years because they are just so awesome and delicious. We typically share the type of course we are bringing and no additional hints. Which, of course, leads to how “lucky” we will be.
Our last gathering brought an interesting, but tasty, combination of items.