Death by Dessert

I have made, in my own humble opinion, the best dessert yet. It was from a recipe, so my success is partly owed to the excellent writing of the reciepe. It was a Devil's Food Cheesecake designed by Junior's Cheesecake, one of New York's earliest and still best cheesecake bakeries. It had cheesecake (perfectly soft but not mushy), devil's food cake (moist but still firm), and fudge frosting (yummmmmmmm......). While it wasn't bakery quality yet because I can't decorate cakes worth a darn, the layers came out mostly even and with enough fudge frosting smothered on it I was able to make it look straight and pretty even. And of course yummy.

Did I say it was good? No? Well, let me go taste some more to see if I still like it.

Yup. Still good. Anything else I should say?.......Nope, time to eat more cake!

Ode to a Sandwich

If I were a poet, I would be writing lyrical verse regarding a particular sandwich. And while those of you who don't know me well may think that only a "guy" could be so bewitched by a sandwich, let me tell you that given the right set of ingredients, toasted-ness, and overall satisfying composition a mere sandwich can, in fact, inspire a girl to exclaim "DAMN! That's a GREAT sandwich!"

See.......that's why I'm not a poet. But I do love Max's Broiled Rock Shrimp, Spinach and Cheese Melt. I have had dreams about this sandwich. I have even tried to replicate is a few dozen times, never with any success. It is like the best of a grilled cheese and Oyster's Rockefeller on a perfectly toasted french bread roll. Which I realize sounds completely bizarre now that I write it, but it is a really great sandwich. I only get to have it once ever year or so when I go home to visit my parents.

And visiting my parents brings me to the fact that my little brother just graduated from pharmacy school. When they called his name, they called him Doctor Snell. Which made me pause. This new doctor, is he really the one that put my head through the ceiling in the kitchen? Is he really the one that chased my mother around acting like a velocaraptor? Is he really the one that hid under my bed until really late at night and woke me up by pushing my matress up and down to convince me it was an earthquake? Is he the one I tried to throw off the edge of the Grand Canyon? And then the ceremony ended, and we met up with my brother, who's first words were (in reference to the tree nut lei he was wearing, gifted by one of the alums) "so, how do you like my nuts?"

Yup, that's my brother, the pharmacist. An engineer and a pharmacist, contributing members of society (kind of). Who would've guessed?

A $50 Breakfast

T and I spent a long weekend in Key West. I was expecting beach and sun and some nice bars. What I wasn't prepared for was how I just wanted to sink into the culture, to sit on the deck of one of the restaurants until I was wrinkly and grey. Not once did I look at my watch, although come to think of it, I'm not sure I we ever had any clocks, cell phones, or other time-keeping pieces with us. Although the roosters got us up in the morning, I had no problem with getting up that early so we could get a table at one of Jim C's recommendations. While all the food was good, the breakfasts were the most memorable. They were at places that had nothing more to them than corrugated metal and some scattered pool chairs.

It was at one such place, sitting in rickety old pool chairs, underneath a big with over-sized tropical leaves that I had my $50 breakfast. T ordered pancakes (nope, not made of gold, and not outrageously expensive either). The coffe was good and hot. And my only complaint was that I had this persistent fear that the roosters were going to peck my toes to get at my breakfast. I had the guilty pleasure of a lobster and shrimp benedict. Yes, that's right, I had buttery lobster and perfectly succulent shrimp with poached eggs and the most decadent key-lime hollandaise sauce I have ever had. Lets see......lobster, shrimp, eggs, english muffins, key lime juice, and BUTTER!

SINFUL!

And worth every penny, I may add.....