Belated Birthday Lunch

I dropped the kiddos off at school today and went into the city to have brunch with my mother and sister.
We went to a very sweet place called the Carmine Street Cafe. I had a pot of Earl Grey tea and Challa French Toast. NUMMY.
We ordered the brownie with ice cream for dessert and it came with a candle and my mom and sister sang happy birthday to me. Belated but appreciated.

We then walked uptown and mom went sneaker shopping and I parted with them and jumped on the PATH to go home and get the munchkins.

The City

I'm such a stuck up New Yorker. (and YES, despite my living in NJ now I am still and will FOREVER be a New Yorker) I don't even feel that I have to name the city because really, it's the only city that matters non?

I took the ferry into the city yesterday for a sugar stalking and as I was riding the ferry watching the boat leap and frolic in the Hudson I looked out at the city skyline and realized what a seriously complex beast that island is. It truly IS the city of a million stories. I suppose at one point mine was one of them.

I had made myself a promise/resolution that when the weather turned warm every day the boys were in school I was going to take either the PATH or the ferry into the city and walk around.
Unfortunately for me the last two trips have resulted in the purchase and consequent consumption of some SUPER yummy confections NONE of which are any good for my weight loss.

Yesterday I went to The Doughnut Plant and despite the rave reviews and accolades that place gets I was rather unimpressed. Perhaps it's because I've never HAD a really good doughnut and my standard is Entenmann's and Dunkin Donuts but I found the Myer Lemon doughnut to be lacking in lemon flavor and the Tres Leche was the strangest texture I'd ever experienced in a doughnut. It was chewy almost elastic like and again perhaps this is what a high quality super de dooper ingredient ladened Doughnut is supposed to taste like and my white trash pallete simply isn't up to snuff.
I will say however that the creme filling on the Tres Leche was like crack and the overall taste of the doughnut was superb. I just couldn't get past the texture.
Guess I'm a cupcake gal for real!

From there I wandered to Broome Street to Babycakes to pick up a couple of their St. Patrick's Day Specials "Jameson Soaked Vanilla cakes" for Mike.

They opened at 10:00 and I got there at 11:00 and was told they weren't ready yet.
While I was there I was also shoved out of the way (NOT literally) by the delivery of a new displaycase. I watches yummy looking baked goods be tossed onto another counter to make room for the case and the original girl who was assisting me basicly left me to assist with the counter instillation. Another lovely cutie pie saw me standing there and asked if I needed help.
The shop is cute as a button and folks, it smells AMAZING in there. I mean SO SO good. Like cinnamon and goodness baking.

I have not yet tasted the 4 cupcakes I purchased. When I told Mike they didn't have the Jameson cakes yet he said I should have just walked out.

I however CANNOT do that. Not only because they are cupcakes and I think walking out of a cupcake shop without a purchase is against my religion and I'd be smited on the spot, but more importantly because I am all about supporting independent small businesses. ESPECIALLY small independant ones that are selling Vegan cupcakes. (To me nothing is sadder than a child or an adult who cannot expereinece the beauty of a cupcake beacuse of wheat allergies)

I think I'm going to go back today with my sister and see if perhaps the service isn't any better today. Maybe if I go later?

I left with 4 sweet treats and realized I was just a hop to Sugar Sweet Sunshine and so I scooted my tushy over there hoping THEY might have a Saint Patrick's themed Cupcake.

They did not let me down (I KNEW they wouldn't) I don't know what it is about that place but I can't leave with less than a dozen cupcakes. Okay I DO know...their cupcakes rock my socks.
They had Bailey's iced cupcakes so I got two of those, I also got two of their lemon cupcakes becuase I LOVE them, two pumpkin, two almond buttercream with vanilla cake and 4 vanilla with vanilla buttercream.

Today we have three cupcakes left. Less than 24 hours after purchase. Mike says he doesn't like their cupcakes and threw out a pumpkin last night. (AACCKK!) He ate a Bailey's and said it was good.

He also ate one of the Babycakes cupcakes and said it made him gag. He spit it out and threw it in the garbage.

Perhaps I won't be going back today....

Dum Sum, Candy and Cupcakes

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting in the flesh a fellow mommy who posts on an alternative parenting site I am a member of (www.mayhemmommy.com).
We met at Jing Fong for Dim Sum (I always want to sing when I put those to together - Jing Fong, Dim Sum, Jing Fong, Dim Sum...They sound like nonsense words) because I'd heard rave reviews about it.
I have to say I was supremely less than impressed.
We were seating at a private table which was nice and then for the first two minutes we were inundated by the Dim Sum carts. Har Gow, Shrimp Noodles, Shu Mai and a few other dishes who's names I do not know were on our tables in a matter of seconds.
Then nothing.
Tumbleweeds rolled past our table...
I am a HUGE Har Gow and Shrimp Noodle fan. Ok...rabid fan is perhaps more proper. I truly think I could snarf them down on a daily basis in quanities that just cannot be good for me.
I have days where I dream of these two dishes.
They were not very good at Jing Fong.
That's not to say that I didn't finish them all and just about lick my plate clean beacuse, hey, even sub par Dim Sum is still Dim Sum...
I just didn't understand at all what the hype on this place was.
We waited and waited to get the sesame balls that I adore and we DID have yummy egg custard tarts that were very yummy. The Sesame Balls were worth waiting for and were just the way they are supposed to be.
Dense and chewy and sweet and fried and just GOOD...
nummy...now I want them again...

From there we walked to Economy Candy on Rivington Street and got too much candy:

and then went to Sugar Sweet Sunshine for cupcakes.
Holy YUMMERS people.
Those are some kick ass cupcakes.
Seriously.
I'm not a huge fan of butter cream icing, it actually makes me slightly ill so I went in not sure what to expect. The lemon cupcake with lemon icing was divine as was the pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese icing. The Red Velvet with Whipped Cream icing was meh...not my thing but the vanilla cupcake with the almond butter cream icing? Yeah....THAT'S what I'm talkin about people.
If all buttercream were like that I'd be in serious trouble.
Next week I'm going to hit Golden Unicorn for Dim Sum and then try Babycakes Vegan cakes and Amai Bakery for their Green Tea Cupcakes...

Happy Birthday to me...

The day started out fine. We went into the city to Best Buy and I got a new camera. We went to Applebee's for dinner and then to Cold Stone Creamery for an Ice Cream Cake for me.
We took the bus home.
When we got home PT made his second pot of coffee of the day and again started in on his missing container of Sweet and Low packets.

This morning he made coffee and I couldn't find the container that we keep them in. I tore the place up looking for it and neither of us could find it.
I truly have no idea where it went.

PT decided to be a cranky bitch and went on and on and on about the place being a mess and how I can make it nice for my friends yesterday but not for him. I told him today was my birthday and I was going to clean tomorrow.(We had the same conversation this morning when we couldn't find the Sweet and Low the first time around)

He took his piece of birthday cake and cup of coffee to the couch and as he was sitting down he said (again) This place is a fucking pigsty mess and I snapped. I started to clean the apartment top to bottom with the fury of one pissed off woman.
I threw my piece of birthday cake in the garbage without so much as a bite of it.
When I started to mop the floor he got up and told me I was being silly and to let him mop the floor.
Yeah, I don't think so.
I told him to just sit down and not to talk to me anymore tonight.
He tried to make me laugh and I wasn't having it.
He made an attempt to apologize and I told him it was too late.
I'm putting the kids to bed now and when they are asleep I'm going to walk up to Dunkin Donuts and get myself a hot chocolate and I'm going to grab him as many sweet and low packges as I can fit in the damn bag.
I'm not letting this go and he's not getting off the hook for this one. He behaved like a selfish brat tonight and turned my birthday into something it didn't have to be. All becase we can't find his stupid Sweet and Low packets for his precious cup of coffee.
On the upside, my kitchen is cleaner than it's been in months and I saved the calories on a peice of Ice Cream Cake...