Brooklyn Larder

When I was living in Park Slope, Ronak and I frequently drove back and forth between the two boroughs-- across the Manhattan bridge, down Flatbush, and right on 7th Avenue. One warm day we decided to continue on straight to Prospect Park for a picnic. We pulled over and popped into Brooklyn Larder, an epicurean oasis on one of Brooklyn's busiest traffic arteries. We grabbed egg salad & bacon sandwiches, tabasco potato chips and fizzy lizzies-- a combination that still makes our mouths water.

Irish Goodbye

Ronak and I had a pre-St Paddy's Day meal before he left for his trip--reuben sandwiches, Guinness, and green tea mochi (not so Irish, but definitely green).

North of the Border

If there's one thing about winter that we can get excited about it's hot chocolate-- drinking it from a paper cup on the street or from a mug cozy on the couch. Either way, it has to be made from scratch.

I usually use dutch cocoa, but the alluring packaging of Taza Mexican Chocolate inspired me to try something different. I didn't know this, but Mexican hot chocolate is traditionally made with water. Since we prefer milk, I used skim to maintain a thin consistency. It also takes a bit more work to make than I expected. The discs have to be finely grated and gradually added to hot milk, then continually whisked for 2 minutes straight. The result did not disappoint... the hot chocolate was rich, but not too sweet, with a perfect frothy head of foam.