This just in … whimsy & spice has arrived

whimsy & spice

Friends of my brother have recently started a boutique confectioners business. Aware of my fondness for food blogs, Ray sent me the link to their blog right away (why are all these great food blogs out of NYC, anyway?). Sweet fine day is an ongoing tale of a couple starting a family and a business, at the same time. Drool over incredible photos of dulce de leche brownies, and view interesting posts about the trials and errors of creating the perfect marshmallow, the right shortbread cookie, etc. Throw in a few Asian recipes, some photos of very cute kids and you’ve got a reason to check in every day.

So imagine my excitement when Ray informed me that whimsy & spice had opened an etsy shop! As soon as they were available I purchased some caramel-infused marshmallows. Along with it came chocolate marshmallows, and samples of nut and spice biscotti and shortbread cookies. I was so excited I nearly forgot that I eschewed desserts for the rest of the week. Then again, if I eat this for breakfast, it’s not exactly breaking any rules.

I can’t do the food photography justice, so you’ll have to visit their etsy shop, their Web site, or their blog and see for yourself.

Thanks, Whimsy & Spice. I love the marshmallows. I’m bringing them to work, a) to enjoy with my morning cup of coffee, and b) to show off and instruct everyone to get buy their own.

If I lived in Brooklyn I would visit you at the Flea, but since I don’t I’ll continue to enjoy your find shipping services.

my whimsy & spice shipment

By the way, the marshmallows. They taste … like marshmallows. Incredibly light, fluffy and fresh marshmallows. I shall have some hot chocolate tomorrow specifically to enjoy with a light, fluffy and fresh marshmallow.

Cupcake Mania

Via aloha_pineapple on FlickrCupcakes have been on my mind lately, especially since my trial-run of the Banana Cupcake recipe (hint: if you want to be super-popular at the office, go with chocolate. People look at you funny when you say ‘banana cupcake with amaretto buttercream”).

I watched with fascination this past weekend an episode of “Throwdown with Bobby Flay,” where he went head to head with a cupcake baker/rocker from LA. I was disappointed with the outcome, mainly because sometimes I think Bobby is a boob and I appreciate a good cupcake baker. Especially in HD. The rocker made a moist, decadent Red Velvet cupcake with sky-high cream cheese frosting. I felt cavities forming just watching. I also felt the drool dribbling out of the corner of my mouth as I watched. Mmmmmm …. frosting ….

The other cupcake news to inform you of is this recent article from MSN.com about the best cupcakes in the country. Sure, they mention the CR. And I’m happy and all, but I would love to try some of these other treats, liks the Fluffer Nutter from  “Cake Fetish” and the Fat Elvis from “Saint Cupcake”. What is that commandment again? Thou shalt not covet another man’s cupcake.

Insert shameless plug here

My neighbor Rick has a new blog up and running, to go along with his food site, CalorieLookup.com. If you’ve ever wondered how many calories are in those vanilla wafer cookies you wolfed down yesterday afternoon … you can look it up on his site.  Actually … I just looked it up and those particular vanilla wafers that I – er, I mean you – ate yesterday aren’t on there right now, but the cool thing about CL is that I can add my own foods to the list if I don’t find it. That is, you can add your vanilla wafers if you don’t find them. Because, I certainly didn’t eat any cookies yesterday. Right.

Rick is doing some other cool stuff … like tagging your foods, and saving your favorites. Cheers.