BEST of 2014

As I said in my metaphorical toast— it’s been a delicious year. So many foodie ventures! I’ve indulged in yummy things on the East and West Coast (sweet and savory). I baked, sampled, tasted, ate, and gorged on so many delightful eats. But here are my Best of 2014!

New Recipe

Let’s face it—I like to try out new recipes especially when it comes to baked goods. These are the recipes that really took the cake this year!

Caramel Cake

Chocolate Christmas Cookies

Banana Blondies

Bite

I had a lot of bites this year, like a lot. Between Taste of Tribeca, Taste of Hope and all the other chowing down I do, there was no shortage tasty bites, but these were my faves.

Pumpkin Fig Cheesecake

Sugar Couture

Avocado Smash

Little Collins

 

Drinks

Even though apparently I sampled a whole bunch of flavorful libations this year, one spot had my favorite sips.

Fig and Olive

Appetizers

Appetizers can sometimes really steal the show. The starters at these restaurants made for delectable beginnings.

Central Kitchen

Flea Street Café  

Brunch

As that in-between time, brunch menus can offer the sweet and savory stuffs of both breakfast and lunch. This year however, my taste-buds danced for savory brunchy dishes.

Duck Confit Hash

Park & Sixth Gastropub

Shrimp and Grits

The Bistro at Grove Square

Dessert

Dessert is my most favorite time of day. Love salty, but I have a weakness for sweet thangs, and this year, these two desserts really satisfied my sweet tooth.

Snickerdoodle Sammie

Bareburger Hoboken

Pistachio Crème Brûlée

La Nonna

Dish

It’s practically impossible for me to pinpoint the best dish I devoured in 2014, as there were so many extremely delicious, covetable and dreamy eats.  But I stumbled on this one as something I thoroughly enjoyed this year.

Pancetta wrapped Scallops

Battello

Most Memorable Meal

It’s hard to say what makes a meal memorable. Is it the delicious dishes, the fresh ingredients, the agreeable atmosphere and service? Or is it the sheer thrill of caloric ingestion? There is one place that comes to mind that most definitely checks all of the boxes for my most memorable meal in 2014.

Brenda’s French Soul Food

Can’t wait to see what tasty things are to come in 2015!! Don’t forget to follow along on facebook, instagram, twitter, and yelp!

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MangiaMore: Rice Krispie Treats

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Rice Krispie Treats are delicious childhood memories that pop and crackle, stick to your teeth and bring a dose of marshmallowy comfort.Chewy, gooey, goodness.

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So when I found myself a little glum, I decided to go back in time and whip up some extra tasty Rice Krispie Treats. Once again, I turned to Cookies and Cups and used this perfect proportions recipe. Addictive and so so yummy.

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MangiaMore: BANANA blondies

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It's becoming abundantly clear why I cannot lose a pound. Not one. Not a single one. I can’t stop baking!

You know the expression, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”? Like, I really can’t agree with it. I can think of  a zillion billion things that taste way better than how I imagine skinny would feel (I can only imagine friends… I know what strong and healthy feel like, but not ‘skinny’ per se).

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These banana blondies just happen to be one of those delightful things that might just outweigh thin. Cookies and Cups is making it impossible for me to drop any weight and achieve that “tasty” skinniness.

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First of all, I would not describe these as blondies. They’re something more like a moist flavorful cake with a healthy smear of delish brown sugar frosting. They were buttery and dense, like a blondie, but they didn’t have that cookie-like crumble; they were just smooth and bouncy like this banana cake.

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-->Secondly, if there is an option of browning your butter instead of using plain-old butter, always, always go the browned butter route. Just the smell of browned butter is lusty—sensual, seductive and sonorous. It makes everything ten times more scrumptious and infinitely amplifies sex appeal.

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-->C: This frosting was a jaw dropping. So wonderful, I wanted to take some off of the blondies to eat with other goodies. The luscious icing had some sugar heating involved like the frosting of my caramel cake and the deep yumminess of browned sugar like the pear cake but somehow, it outshone both and was utterly mouth-watering perfection. There are no words.

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Finally, the combination of the cakey base and the smooth and creamy caramelized brown sugar frosting was practically out of control. Like ridiculously, wildly, disgustingly delicious. Every bite (I cut the blondies into tiny tiny itty bitty square, aka bites) was like heaven. The banana flavor was just strong enough to linger on the tongue and waft delicately into hearts. The frosting sealed in the moistness with a rich and creamy caramel note, pulling out the beautiful moments of browned butter in the bar. And with these powers combined, the banana blondies were practically invincible.

I think this is what skinny feels like…

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