everybody LOVES cookies

i'm a bit of a rare bird, a + t readers. i like to keep my water filter on the window sill because i'm convinced that the sunshine, and moonlight do just as much to purify my water as the actual filter. i like to lecture my friends on the importance of NOT refrigerating tomatoes, EVER. even if it makes the boyfriend + i argue. i know what a good tomato is supposed to taste like, and refrigerating it does not work. i also like to have a cookie if i'm watching my weight. well, this happens for a number of reasons. as soon as u make your mind up 2 deny yourself something, you find that u crave that single thing. for me, that's sweets. typically, i dont even want them, but once i start gearing up for something that requires me to slim down, i find myself wanting 2 suddenly bake a batch of brownies.

blessings 2 my friend 4 introducing me 2 cookie party. it's this lovely bakery + party experience in hanover new jersey with some of THE most delicious cookies i've ever tasted. the basics of each cookie are simple, good creamy butter, light sugar and just the right amount of flour to bind them to make each cookie light, toothsome and delicate. i was gifted a box of different kinds, to make a decadent holiday breakfast of this morning with my darling, relaxing over cups of tea.

the site has all sorts of cookie descriptions, but since the very first taste, i had my favorite. the s-cookie is like no other. it's immensely buttery, without being greasy, sweet without being cloying and crumbly without falling apart in your lap. it is, quite possibly the very best cookie i've ever had. second in line is the chocolate dipped s-cookie, drizzled with milk chocolate. the delicious lemon italian knot seems to be laced with something sophisticated, like limoncello or meyer lemon and gives the illusion of having a well portioned, diet friendly bite of light, lemon cake, only without a shred of guilt. the cream cheese drop is delightful, with it's glaze giving off a touch of liquorice or anise + it has the same satisfying cake like texture of the lemon knot. we started our morning off with the delicious chocolate cookies and peanut butter balls, reminiscent of some elementary school treat. it made this lovely snowy day seem like childhood all over again.

buzina pop

ahhh the new year, with new brasilian food! we decided to go on a special saturday lunchtime date to celebrate our anniversary, and to a restaurant i'd not heard of!

buzina pop is a beautiful, bohemian, brasilian restaurant on the upper east side. even in the january cold, it gives the feeling of a botequim in rio or buzios with beautiful touches of bright green glass 

distressed wood + casual fabrics. the upstair seating

 even featured a 'boutique' selling dresses + bracelets + things for the beach. 

we settled into a booth, ordered some cocktails - a rather tasty and fiery bloody mary for him, and a ' ze de caixao'  a sort of punched up caiprinha with ginger, honey and mint added. i decided to forgo the mint to keep my palate from being overwhemled.  i like my cocktails simple... the menu offered brasilian food in the style of a LOT of restaurants in the country, light, innovative, eclectic, all while still being simple. 

because we were starving, we ordered a casquinha de siri. for those readers who arent familiar with brasilian food, the best way to describe it is a small crabcake like dish, with coconut milk, dende

oil and lime, but this version often features a bit of cheese to bind it. the casquinha was delicious; the sharp flavor of the fruit juice cleansing the mouth after each fresh mingling of the crabmeat and small grinds of cheese. 

to follow, i ordered the pupunha carpaccio, a smallish plate

 of seared scallops, over a carpaccio of fresh (unheard of in this country), large hearts of palm. the plate was delicately dressed with a fine hazelnut-honey vinagrette with fine ribbons of mint and basil to tie the sweet together with the clean, fresh taste of the seafood. although the two scallops seemed a rather miserly portion, in keeping with the new year, i didnt order a mid-course. 

i tasted a bite of my beloved's ipanema sandwich, a lovely reminder of the beautiful misto-quentes of brasil, stuffed with grilled shrimp, a slice of fresh pineapple and some breadcrumby-herbacious stuffing. the bread seemed freshly baked, soft and crunchy where it should be, and the flavors together, 

 were completely satisfying. the entire meal was healthy, delicious and although it was lunchtime, we felt sure we'd eaten well enough that we deserved dessert.

the first thing we noticed on the dessert menu was the avocado mousse. this was a fabulous take on a brasilian breakfast favorite, the batido de abacate, which is just a sweetened, avocado milkshake, but with chocolate nibs and some syrup added for decadence. the pudding was rich, sinful and sweet, but with avocado as it's basis, completely healthy.

buzina pop is rumoured to be moving downtown. this lovely gem does seem a bit out of place on it's corner on the upper east, but i cant imagine a more perfect setting or a more perfect menu. 

A. a good solid A.

marsha brown, new hope pennsylvania

HAPPY NEW YEAR, foodies! i know i'm behind, like always, but it's a new year + we here at spices + vines have a new attitude!

i'll start right off catching up where we left off and that was a holiday dinner at marsha brown in lovely new hope, pennsylvania. a friend's mom was visiting on a december weekend and we decided that after a day of traipsing around in the cold, we needed some yummy creole food 2 warm our bones. enter marsha brown. the restaurant is housed in a century old de-sanctified old church on the same beautiful strip of main street that houses all those boutiques in the town. we settled in for some pre-dinner cocktails and took in the menu.

the first few standouts were the salads. we each chose a different one, my favorite being the hail caesar, even though i'd ordered the sexy dried fig with goat's cheese and walnuts. the caesar was garlicky, crisp, lightly dressed and opened the appetite perfectly. another friend ordered the chopped salad and never spoke one word, so it must have been exquisite. the other chose the beet salad, but i refused a taste rather than anger myself over another salad i hadnt ordered.

as a starter, two of us decided to split a rather large crabcake. as you can see from the photograph, it was so fragrant and tantalising that we couldnt wait to properly photograph it before digging in to taste. it was seasoned aggressively with black pepper, barely there breadcrumbs, and hints of herbs to just complement the jumbo lump. having grown up on the northwest coast of florida, i like to think i know a thing or two about crabcakes. this one was baked under the broiler, it seemed rather than pan fried and it made the difference. this one was crispy and flaky and moist all at the same time.

being a southern girl myself, i opted for the eggplant ophelia, a dish that seemed very familiar to me, according to it's menu description. it was described as a bit of a crabmeat, shrimp and eggplant casserole. it arrived at the table, elegant and stately, atop a creamy sauce and like the crabcake, it was delicate while being spicy and the slices of eggplant were oooked (baked? sauteed? i'm willing to experiment a few times trying to find out...) to tender perfection. the vegetable yielded to the fork without resistance, and the balance between the spice of the seafood and spices to the smoky quality of the eggplant and it's creaminess was mindblowing.

the girls ordered a mixed grill of beef tenderloin and split a whopping three pound lobster between them and the tiny taste i had of those convinced me that whoever the chef is at marsha brown definitely had a lot of love 4 the south. the steak was tender, cooked to temperature and surprisingly simply salted and peppered (a rarity in a lot of non-steakhouses) and the lobster was superior, served up with clarified butter, laced with a bit of garlic for good measure. the properietors of marsha brown are to be commended and lauded for bringing the authenticity of good creole food to the northeast in such an elegant environment, with such care. i think it's safe 2 say, i love the place. it gets an A. even without dessert.