obligatory post

while my parents were in town my mother was insistent that we partake in some chocolate by the bald man. unfortunately max brenner falls a bit below my usual dining standards, so i feel i'd be doing my readers a disservice by devoting too much time to them. i'll do my best to spare you all and keep this brief.




i started off with a not-quite-caesar salad (romaine, croutons, and parmesan with citrus vinaigrette instead of caesar dressing). my dressing was served on the side in a miniature erlenmeyer flask - which i think was a sad attempt to convince me that there were some scientific methods behind their food preparation.




for dessert we shared the melting marshmallow crepe (melted chocolate chunks and marshmallows, vanilla ice cream, gummy bears, warm chocolate sauce, white chocolate chunks) and melting chocolate heart cake (warm chocolate cake with melted dark and white chocolate heart, fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce). i think they like to name their desserts "melting" to distract customers from the fact that they're clearly unable to serve things in their proper frozen state. thankfully though, since i'd just eaten a salad, any and all calories in the chocolate were thereby completely negated.

if you're in search of light and savory eats paired with rich and decadent sweets then go here if you must. but don't say i didn't warn you.

all in the family

this morning i was treated to a family breakfast out in brooklyn. i probably shouldn't be posting this, but i just couldn't resist sharing one of my grandmother's secret recipes with all of you.





bagels and appetizing (by grandma pearl)

• one dozen bagels
• two plum tomatoes
• three eggs
• several large leaves of romaine lettuce

walk to the corner store and purchase 12 assorted fresh bagels (you may substitue a baker's dozen if your local bagel store allows). upon returning home, remove from paper bag and place in serving bowl. on a separate plate lay down three or four large romaine leaves. hardboil three eggs, remove shells, and place on one side of the lettuce plate. wash and slice plum tomatoes and arrange opposite eggs. serve with a side of cream cheese.



i like to make what my grandmother refers to as a dagwood sandwich. this one is made up of a cinnamon raisin bagel schmeared with cream cheese and layered with sliced egg, tomato, and lettuce.

i know my grandma would be angry with me if she saw this post, but i thought this meal was just far too special not to share. luckily, good old g-ma doesn't have a clue what a blog is.