Second Food Tour: A Movie, Cookies and A Lot of Toddlers

I led my second tour last week and it was a lot different than my first. This time around, there were 7 Moms (including myself) and 8 kids (one 5-week old, six 2-year olds and a 6-month old). I expected a bit of chaos, but got a lot more than that.

Since the majority of the kids were toddlers, we started off at the Big Movies for Little Kids film series at Cobble Hill Cinemas. It was the first movie experience for many of the children, and surprisingly, they all sat fairly still throughout the two short films, happily munching on popcorn.

Afterward, we walked over to One Girl Cookies, on Dean Street. Before moving to Park Slope a few years ago, I lived right across the street. I still miss that block, the neighborhood, and my proximity to some of Brooklyn's best sweets, a lot.


From the first time I stepped inside One Girl Cookies, it's been one of my favorite places in all of Brooklyn. First, I love the decor: blue walls, swirly chocolate brown and cream wallpaper, white subway tiles, and butcher block counters. It's hip, cozy and cheerful with an old-fashioned feel. I actually thought a lot about One Girl Cookies while coming up with ideas for my own kitchen (if you click, scroll down to see the one I'm referring to).


Cookies are the main attraction and I love One Girl's approach. About the size of a silver dollar, they can all be eaten in one or two bites. They're fun to order, too. Named after members of the owner's Italian family, they offer great ideas for baby names (think Lucia, Penelope, Cecilia, and Juliette) and you can't help but wonder about the women that inspired these dainty treats.

They're all addictive, although if I had to choose, I'd say the Olga (mint ganache sandwiched between two sugar cookies) and Lucia (a shortbread, caramel, and chocolate layer bar) are the best. As if the cookies weren't enough, there are unbelievably moist cupcakes topped with a crown of icing, Il Laboratorio gelato, ice cream sandwiches, fudgy brownies, chocolate or pumpkin whoopie pies, and a rotating menu of cakes, too.

Originally a mail-order business that owner Dawn Casale started in her West Village apartment in 2000, One Girl Cookies moved to Boerum Hill in 2005. Dawn now runs the business with Dave Crofton. They first met when he applied for a job as a baker and are now married. Together, they've created one of the best bakeries in Brooklyn. It's a place where you want to linger and try every single sweet.

I had been in contact with Dawn about my food tours and arranged to have some sweets ready when we arrived. As expected, the kids devoured most of them. Quickly. See that hand with chocolate-covered fingers reaching for a cookie? That's my son, eating what was probably his tenth one. And this smiling little guy is Dash, another very happy customer.

After attacking the sweets, the kids were ready to run, climb, jump and turn the place into an indoor playground. There were kids running toy cars over what we soon found out was Dawn and David's family tree (displayed on a delicate material that could be easily damaged) and others trying to climb shelves in the store. Then there was my own son who was trying to swipe sweets from the window display.

Sitting in a movie theater for an hour and then gorging on sugar was clearly not the best combination for a pack of 2-year old boys. A better idea would have been to stop in the shop, pick up some sweets and head to a nearby park. Lesson learned!

To help me plan future tours, I asked all the Moms to send me feedback. The one who joined with her 5-week old (and who found me through This Little Piglet!) said how nice it was to get out and spend some time with other moms. She said she felt comforted by the fact that there was no reason to feel nervous if her son suddenly cried or freaked out. Her comments and the experience itself reinforced my original plan to focus on parents and babies. New parents are usually the most desperate to connect with people who are going through the same changes they are. And when your child mainly sleeps and eats, you can actually sit, talk and savor the food you're eating! Hopefully, I can find a way to include older children on future tours, but for now, I'm sticking to babies 12 months and under.

My next tour is on Tuesday along Atlantic Avenue and two Moms with newborns are already coming. Contact me if you're interested in joining, or spread the word to any new parents you know. I'll be posting more details soon.

One Girl Cookies
68 Dean Street
212-675-4996

Molly Wizenberg's Cider-Glazed Salmon

I started this post over a year ago. Right around the time I stopped blogging altogether. It features a recipe from one of my favorite food bloggers, Molly Wizenberg of Orangette.

Orangette was one of the first food blogs I discovered. It's still a favorite. Molly had been blogging for a few years by the time I discovered her. I spent the first few weeks catching up. Her writing felt familiar, as if she was someone I knew well. I wished, and still do, that I could write like her. Like many of her readers, I was swept away by the love story that unfolds on her blog. The short version? A fellow food lover from New York found her while searching for a lemon cake recipe online. He's now her husband and they run a restaurant in Seattle. Dig through her archives to find out more. It's a foodie love story fit for a movie.

Last year, Molly published A Homemade Life, her first book. It's a collection of touching stories and food, of course, sneaks its way naturally into every one. I was sad when I finished, but because each story ends with a recipe, I get to revisit it often. I think I dog-eared almost every one.

I missed Molly while she was in New York promoting the book last year, but finally met her a few weeks ago while she was here for the paperback release. We spoke for just a few seconds, but I was surprised, and honored, that she recognized me from my own blog. It was so nice to see her in person, hear her speak and see that she's just as I imagined. Warm and friendly, soft-spoken yet witty and sarcastic. Very articulate.

At first, Molly's life sounds perfect. But the more you read about her, the more real she becomes. She's been through a lot and is clearly wise beyond her years. A true old soul. I'd already been planning to start writing again, but hearing her talk about the book and how she became a food writer made me even more motivated.

I've made dozens of Molly's recipes over the years and they always seem to turn out perfectly. This cider-glazed salmon was no exception. It might be one of my most favorite yet, along with this granola, this salad, and this butternut squash puree that I wrote about back in 2006.

But, back to the salmon. It's poached in fresh apple cider and reduced with cream till you're left with a sweet, delicious caramel-colored sauce that you'll want to slurp straight from the pan. It'd be a great dinner party dish or the perfect meal for two.

Now that Molly's book is in paperback, I thought it'd be a good time to finally publish this post. I might have made her salmon recipe over a year ago, but I still remember it perfectly. Give it a try and pick up A Homemade Life as soon as you have a chance. You won't be disappointed.

Cider-Glazed Salmon
Serves 4

For this recipe, you'll need a large 12-inch skillet with a lid. The pan should be large enough to hold the salmon without crowding and to provide plenty of surface area for boiling down and thickening the sauce.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium shallot, peeled and halved lengthwise
2 cups fresh unfiltered apple cider
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
Salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a large, heavy skillet, combine the butter, shallot, and cider. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove and discard the shallot.

Place the fillets gently in the pan, adjusting the heat so that the liquid just trembles. Spoon a bit of the liquid over them, so that their tops begin to cook. Cover and simmer very gently. The fillets will cook for 8 to 10 minutes per inch of thickness. To test for doneness, make a small slit with a paring knife in the thickest part of the fillet: all but the very center of each piece should be opaque. (It will keep cooking after you pull it from the heat). Transfer the cooked salmon to a platter, and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm.

To prepare the glaze, raise the heat under the pan to medium-high, add a pinch of salt, and simmer, stirring frequently, until the liquid is reduced by about two-thirds. It should be slightly thickened and should just cover the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the cream. Stir well to combine. Return the heat to medium-high and boil, stirring frequently, for a few minutes, until the mixture darkens to a pale golden caramel--like those Brach's Milk Maid caramel candies, if that helps--and is reduced by one-third to one-half.

Place the salmon fillets on 4 plates and top each with a spoonful of sauce. It should coat them like a thin, loose glaze. Serve immediately.

Note: If you'd like to make this for only 2 people, halve the amount of salmon, but not the sauce quantities.

Next Food Tour: Monday, April 19

I know it's short notice, but my next food tour is tomorrow. I'm still in a trial phase and most of the people joining are friends, but slowly the word is spreading. On Tuesday, I had 2 people and tomorrow, it looks like there will be at least 5 and maybe 1 more. If anyone else is interested, you're welcome to join us!

Most of the kids coming tomorrow are toddlers, so we'll be meeting at Cobble Hill Cinemas at 4pm. Every other Monday, the theater screens movies for kids ages 2 and up. Tomorrow's viewing is an Earth Day celebration featuring two short movies: Dr. Seuss's The Lorax and the Academy-award winning film, The Man Who Planted Trees. While food will always be a major focus of my tours, I'll try to combine them with events such as this from time to time, especially when older kids are coming.

After the movie, we'll be heading to my all-time favorite spot for sweets. If you'd like to join for that part only, we'll be arriving around 5pm. For more details, email me at: brklynfoodie@yahoo.com. To get updates about future tours via email, sign up for my newsletter.

First Food Tour at Nunu Chocolates

Before telling you about my Brooklyn food tours, I was taking all sorts of steps behind the scenes. Spreading the word among Moms I know, reaching out to local businesses, and making a long list of places to include. Putting the idea in writing and sharing it was my first big step. Leading a tour was the second. I can now check both off my list. I'm really doing this.

I've been contemplating this idea for over a year, putting it off out of fear and uncertainty. Now that I've gotten started, I can hardly contain myself. My head, which for so long could only handle Mom-related information, is spinning with ideas. This is still a major work in progress, but I haven't felt this determined by, or dedicated to, a project in a long time. It's refreshing.

My first tour was on Tuesday with Karlyn, who I spent many years with at Food Network, and her son Fox, and Bernadette, who I met in Park Slope soon after having Nico, and her daughter Eileen. Nico stayed home for this one, but he'll be joining my next tour on Monday. Details to come!

Eventually, I hope to make a few stops per tour. Since this was my first, I started small and settled on one (a smart decision considering it takes a long time to get anywhere with a few toddlers in tow).

We met in Park Slope and walked over to Nunu Chocolates on Atlantic Avenue. Opened by husband and wife team Justine Pringle and Andy Laird, Nunu represents everything I love about Brooklyn businesses.

Justine and Andy make all the chocolate themselves in a small kitchen that you can see while relaxing in their cozy space. They didn't know anything about making chocolate when they started and don't have any formal culinary training. To get their business going, they've worked countless hours and multiple jobs over the last few years. They continue to work about 18 hours per day, 7 days a week. When asked if they ever take vacation, Andy told me they took a half day for Thanksgiving. Hearing their story only made me more excited to boast about the good food Brooklyn has to offer, and the incredible people behind it.

With Andy's help, we selected an assortment of treats, including salted caramels, chocolate covered graham crackers, a ganache with organic raspberry puree and another with mezcal chili. All of Nunu's chocolate has a 53% cocoa content which allows it to be sweet, but not overpowering. Everything was delicious and Andy was nice enough to send us home with a few extra samples.


Eileen and Fox were happy to help us taste test, of course.

Nunu also serves coffee, tea, wine and beer and is open from 7am-9pm, every day. You can find their chocolates at various locations throughout Brooklyn, or you can join me the next time I take a group of Moms and kids there. I plan on going back soon!

Nunu Chocolates
529 Atlantic Avenue

917-776-7102

Brooklyn Food Tours for Parents & Children

A lot has happened since you heard from me last. I stopped working at Food Network, became a full-time Mom, and in two months, baby boy #2 will be born.

For me, becoming a parent marked the end of leisurely restaurant meals (temporarily, at least). And of course, food blogging fell by the wayside. But my devotion to eating the best food I could find never wavered. If anything, I became more obsessed. Case in point? I joined the Park Slope Food Coop. I also became the honorary planner of food-related outings for a group of new Moms I met.

On one outing -- a six-mile walk to satisfy a croissant craving -- my friend Bernadette suggested I start my own food tour business. A light bulb went off. I’d been exposed to the food world during my 7 years at Food Network, but never felt like I could get close enough to what really interested me: the food.

I considered culinary school, but knew I didn't want to be a chef. I started this blog thinking I wanted to become a food writer, only to discover that writing about food is very, very hard. Finally, thanks to Bernadette’s brilliant suggestion, I realized I could do what I do best. Walk, talk about Brooklyn, and show friends, and eventually food-loving strangers, the best places to eat.

It’s been a year since that inspiring walk to Fort Greene. At last, I’m ready to get this going. I'm starting food tours for parents and children in Brooklyn.

I know what it’s like to be a new parent, to feel immobilized, as if you can’t venture too far from home, fearful you’ll be stuck with a screaming infant and scornful looks from strangers. I want to help parents see that they can still be adventurous with kids. Outings with children, especially those that revolve around food, are different, of course. Even when you live in a very kid-friendly neighborhood like mine, the idea of eating out with a little one is daunting. But anything that gets you out of the house, talking to other parents, and walking, and treating yourself to something delicious, is good for both you, and your child.

When I first had Nico, I met many women who were afraid, or unsure, about doing anything adventurous with their babies. I on the other hand wanted to take Nico everywhere. It wasn’t always easy, but I was always glad I’d tried.

I'd love to get some feedback from all of you, if any of you are even still out there, and would be forever grateful if you'd help spread the word. I have a long list of tours I want to plan, but need to start slowly to make this the best it can be. Hopefully, over time, I can help new parents discover some of the best food Brooklyn has to offer (and eventually in Manhattan and beyond). As I've learned since becoming a Mom, it's all about baby steps.

My first tour will be a trial one with a few friends and their children on Tuesday, April 13. We'll be leaving Park Slope around 4pm and heading to some sweet spots along Atlantic Avenue. If you’d like to join, contact me for details (you can now find my email under my profile). I hope to plan a few more in April and will post all the details here. Stay tuned!