Instant Gratification

We received a beautiful All-Clad waffle iron, thoughtfully paired with waffle mix from Bouchon Bakery, as our first wedding present. Having arrived right to our doorstep, within 24 hours we broke down and whipped up our first satisfying batch.

Tis the season

...for pumpkin bread!

Breadzel

I have even more respect for the art of making bread after having made these pretzel challah rolls. While few ingredients, there are many steps before the dough can actually be called bread. Three out of the four hours it took to make the rolls was spent waiting for the dough to rise-- which it did so nicely I even impressed myself.

Once the rising, rolling, knotting, and proofing were completed, I plunged the puffy little knots into boiling water before baking them for 20 minutes in the oven. The rolls came out shiny and golden, and perfect for dipping in dijon mustard.

Red White & Blueberry

The 4th of July was a perfect day: we slept in till 10, made blueberry dutch pancakes for breakfast, celebrated Théo's 2nd birthday, and ended the evening watching the spectacular fireworks display over the Hudson River...

Buvette

A spontaneous lunch at Buvette on Wednesday was a nice change from the ordinary workday.

'NOLA

For Christmas Silka & Jake gave us a jar of homemade granola. Needless to say it was delicious and so didn't last us very long. As soon as they filled us in on the recipe I made my way over to Kalustyan's on Lexington to pick up all the ingredients for Nigella Lawson's totally perfect granola.

Oat Meals

They say the closer you live to work, the more likely you are to be late. I can attest to that! Recently I’ve been waking up 45 minutes earlier so that I can take my time at home and still get to work on time. When I was living in Brooklyn, I spent that extra time commuting-- now I use that time to catch up on reading, write lists and make breakfast, the best perk of working so close to home.

This new routine of mine coincides nicely with our joint goal to eat healthier breakfasts. This week we started each day with a bowl of McCann’s quick cooking oatmeal. Oatmeal can be a bit boring, so to keep it interesting we've been changing up the toppings:

Monday: Bananas with Toasted Pecans & Brown Sugar

Tuesday: Blueberries with Brown Sugar & Flax Seeds
On this day, I had an ripe banana lying around so I mashed it up, and mixed it right into the pot of cooking oatmeal. Delicious! (Thanks to Phoebe for this tasty idea!)

Wednesday: Apples & Cinnamon.
To make the apples: Peel, core and dice 2 medium apples. Place them in a small pot with 2 tablespoons of water and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Cover and let simmer until the apples are soft and the juices are mostly evaporated. About 5-7 minutes.

All this healthy eating has us thinking about the bagels, eggs and bacon we’d like to have this weekend!