The Girl Who Ate Everything

Blogging about food and whatever since 2004.

bread-aholic's anonymous, and cookie-aholic's, and sandwich-aholic's...

right_side_bread_r13_c2_f6
ciabatta family

How long does a loaf of bread last for a normal person? More than one day? Yeah, I thought so.

As you know, I am not of the normal variety of humans, thus the ciabatta grande (grande being a rough Italian translation for, "if you eat this whole thing, you're a pig") from Sullivan Street Bakery did not last more than a day. It didn't even last an entire day. Hell, not even half of a day. I've never gotten a grande before (it's safer for me to get a media), but my logic for buying it was that it would last two days. I had to plan ahead because today (Sunday, or perhaps that holiday called "Easter"; my unreligious self celebrates absolutely noooothing) I'm almost certainly not stepping outside. As I procrastinate by writing this blog entry, Word™©billgatesownstheworld is concurrently open to my food history paper of ultimate doom on dim sum. It's full of doom because unlike dim sum, it's absolute crap. For a food history paper, it doesn't have a lot of history in it, which will probably give me a negative grade. My teacher will have to invent a new alphabet of negative value to accomodate the atrocity that I'll have to email to him tomorrow, email because he's in Italy right now, where people probably do not eat grande ciabatta loaves in less than a day.

On a random note, one of my friends got robbed on a train in Italy last week. Very robbed (as opposed to only somewhat robbed). I'd like to visit Italy someday, but I guess I'll keep all my belongings in my pants. Or underwear. And then lock my underwear. Or the train cabin that I'm in.

honey on ciabatta
honey on ciabatta

What did I do with all that bread? I mainly soaked it in extra virgin olive oil sprinkled with black pepper, but I did try a slice with my new jar of Colorado sweet yellow clover beeraw honey. Creamy and sweet, oohh yeah. I didn't go into Dean & Deluca with the intention of buying honey, but it was there, it looked pretty, and a jar would probably last me more than a year, so I wouldn't say it's a huge investment.

I did have a reason to be at D&D, not even related to buying food, even though that's what I ultimately did. I'm currently working on a commodity food chain something-or-other essay (I forgot the official name) for my Food and Nurtition in a Global Society course and I picked beeraw's buckwheat honey. We were allowed to choose just about any food if it fit within certain guidelines. Examples of foods other people are doing are Tropicana orange juice, Kraft cheese singles, and JIF peanut butter. Why did I choose honey? Well...I'm stupid. (And I really like their honey.)

One part of our project is to contact the company and get information about how the product is made, where it comes from, how it's transported, etc. The difference between beeraw and just about any other company is that it's small. Very small. I thought that maybe they had employees to deal with customer service, but the number on the homepage appears to be for the owner's, Zeke Freeman, cell phone. While in a sense it could be easier to get information from a small company than a large one, it's also harder because getting ahold of one person responsible for running a company is harder than getting ahold of a customer service rep for, say, Tropicana.

I understand that, of course, so I can't hold a grudge against the company. I'll just warn you that if you want to email them with questions, you probably won't get an answer. There's an email address on the page for a reason, right? I guess that's in case of an emergency ("THE BEES ARE LOOSE!!!"), which certainly isn't my paper. I did get to talk to Zeke one time and we had a nice conversation, but I was terribly unprepared for it, thus I wanted to schedule another time for me to make follow-up questions. It never happened. Although my essay would be a lot better with confirmed information straight from the source, it won't die without it, and I can make educated guesses about the information I'm not sure about.

Oh...so I went to D&D to ask someone there where they got the honey from. I'm pretty bad with interacting with people, so it took me a while to figure out how the hell to go about asking someone, especially on a crowded Saturday afternoon. After a long time of staring at the honey rack (which is painfully located right by the cookie rack, which is painfully overloaded with delicious cookies from around the world, even MCVITIE'S DIGESTIVES, OOH HAA!!), I realized, "Hey, these people work here. I buy stuff from here. I think I deserve...almost any kind of information I want, and maybe that magical monkey's paw I've had my eye on." An employee helped find me a guy that I could ask my distribution question to, and I found out...well, not much. They get their honey from Roger's International, who in turn gets the honey from "I don't know, so I guess I have to find out."

My essay is gonna suck balls.

raisin scone scone innards
Sarabeth's raisin scone

I didn't want to leave empty handed, so I impulsively bought a raisin scone from Sarabeth's ($2.50). It wasn't like any other scone I had--instead of tender and crumbly, it was more bready and squishy--but it was definitely one of the better scones I've had.

cookie close up
Moravian black walnut cookies

Behold, another impulsive buy. You may have noticed that I'm not one to get boxes of cookies very much, instead preferring to get obscenely huge one-serving cookies (if a serving is 500+ calories). For some reason, the tubes of Moravian cookies ($10) tempted me, odd because 1) I couldn't see what they looked like and 2) their claim to fame is "world's thinnest cookie", which in my opinion isn't something you shout to the world to gain attention. "This cookie has the thickness of a piece of tissue paper; ephemeral cookie-ness can be your's, NOW!!!" Hell, gimme the world's thickest cookie; now we're talkin' (death by cookie). However, while I was standing by the rack and killing time, I overhead a guy excitedly point out the cookies and say, "These are the best cookies ever!" Oh crap. If he's excited about the cookies, then I'm excited about the cookies.

small stack
small stack

Dear Salem Baking Company: Oh my god, do not make these cookies anymore. THEY ARE SO TASTY. I don't know how to describe them. They're just...well, they're tasty and insanely easy to snack on because, yes, they're really thin and crispy like crackers, which means you can easily eat a whole tube in a day. I'll have you know that I didn't eat the whole tube in a day (perhaps...half the tube), but it will be gone by the stroke of midnight, or more likely before then. [sigh] These cookies smell awesome, and they tasted even awesomer. They possess the happiness inducing, concentrated flavor of heart-clogging sunshine. Must be the fat. And the sugar. And the combination of the two. I can never, ever buy these cookies again. Moravia, what have you done to me?

nutter butter mmm
nutter butter

Speaking of cookies, I tore into Bouchon Bakery's nutter butter cookie sandwich the other day. Unsurprisingly, I was blown away, despite that the cookie was just crispy (with buttery-ness, ooh-hooo!) and not chewy-centered like my favorites. The creamy peanut butter filling was....uguhg...(brain melts). Yeah. The peanut butter cream was enhanced with extra drool-inducing powers. If you like peanuts, you must try this cookie. There were actually peanut chunks in the cookie. And if you don't like peanuts, you should try it anyway.

Focacceria
Focacceria

For lunch on Friday, I went to Focacceria on MacDougal Street due to a sandwich craving (I found the restaurant by browing the sandwiches section on menupages...because I have no life).

open kitchen
open kitchen

For a small place, it feels somewhat spacious due to the large open kitchen and high ceiling. I liked the bright yellows and blues. They felt kinda rustic. Or mediterranean. ...Yeah, I dunno what I'm talking about. It's a comfortable environment, especially on a rainy afternoon.

free bready things
free bready things

My meal began with a plate of free bready things. NOO, BREAD IS MY DOOM! I ate some of the bruschetta, but the real star was the focaccia, which is obvious since the place is called Focacceria. I'd like to think of a better description besides "pillowy soft", but it was pillowy soft, and I'd totally use a loaf as a pillow if I didn't think the oil would rub off all over my head and...yeah, that's gross, nevermind. My head is oily enough from my hair folicles. And yes, that was too much information.

sammich for one (or..two) bitten
sammich for one!

I ordered the "Honey Roasted Turkey, Fontina Cheese & Caramelized Onions" sandwich on rosemary focaccia, which came with a small side salad of baby greens perfectly coated in olive oil and vinegar dressing. BREAD!!! I LOVE YOU, BREAD. Not being any kind of expert on focaccia, I thought this bread was pretty awesome. Look at those adorably, fluffy, golden rounds! My only complaint, probably because I'm not the hugest meat fan, is that there was more meat than I would've liked in proportion to the other ingredients. I did like the turkey though, even though I don't usually like cold sliced turkey. I think I would've been happier with just a cheese and onion sandwich, which I'll keep in mind for the future. "NO MEAT, JUST GIMME DA CHEESE. And pungent bulbs."

"Pungent Bulbs" would be a horrible name for a band.

My bill including the tip (kind of a big tip considering that the sandwich wasn't very expensive, but the one waitress in the restasurant was nice) was about $10. Not bad. I don't think I'd go back by myself, but if anyone wants to go out for sandwiches, I'm there.

Friday night I saw a Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie concert with the incomparably music obsessed duo (I'm not kidding; they stayed out until 3 AM and although I haven't gotten the final word yet, that probably means they met many musicians) of Honey and Yetta. Since Yetta is Jewish, she couldn't eat regular food and thus brought her own "Jewish food". She shared some almond cookies and marshmallows with me.

...Man, I love Jewish food. Bring on the cookies.

Comments

Martha / April 16, 2006 3:58 PM

Man, I love reading you and all, but you're totally turning into my bread enabler. This is do NOT need. Thank god I live a 20 minute subway ride from most of these places, or I'd be out the door before the end of each damn entry. Mmm...bread.

piccola / April 16, 2006 10:23 PM

I'm ashamed to admit that I've eaten an entire challah in 24 hours before. In my defense, it was not a challah "grande." :-)

Kathy / April 16, 2006 11:03 PM

Oooh, found the English name for the block of noodle dish: "Fried rice cake with soy sauce." Oh heck, why didn't I think of that? I suppose that's pretty straightfoward lol. In Vietnamese it's called "Banh Bot Gao Chien Trung." Good luck finding it - but if you do, you'll be rewarded in divideds. It's soo damn good!

chochotte / April 16, 2006 11:08 PM

I am pleased that you recognise the utter greatness that is the McVitie's digestive biscuit =) Simple, but oh so effective!

Have you tried the chocolate (milk, dark and limited edition white!) coated ones, and the ones that have chocolate AND caramel, and the chocolate orange ones?

They are at their best when dunked in tea, though it does take years of practise and experimentation to discover your own personal preference of dunk-length and dunk-depth.

pumpkinpie / April 16, 2006 11:51 PM

In the spirit of Easter, perhaps you could post a review and innards photo of the Easter Turducken. That is, a mini Cadbury egg inside a peep, sealed in a chocolate bunny. Just like the platypus, it is a billed mammal that lays eggs.

roboppy / April 17, 2006 12:54 AM

Martha: 20 minute subway ride...THAT SHOULD NOT KEEP YOU FROM THE BREAD! ;) Actually, I'm pretty damn lazy so it would keep me from the bread. Hm. Yeah.

piccola: I'VE DONE THAT TOO! Or almost the whole thing. I seriously tried to eat a whole loaf one day, but it was too big and by the end of hte day I never wanted to eat plain challah again. :P

Kathy: Thanks for the info! I'll have to keep my eye out for that...cos I don't think I've ever noticed it before. :| Or should I be eating more Vietnamese food? (yes)

chochotte: MCVITIE'S! AWESOME! The last time I bought a pack, I ate the whole thing, hence why I never bought a pack again. I'm not sure if I've tried the chocolate...but man, that's like covering crack in more crack. I CAN'T HANDLE THE DELICIOUSNESS! Once I bought a pack of Penguins and my friend and I ate them way too quickly. Kinda gross. But tasty.

I like my cookies undunked. I mean, I don't dip things in liquid. ...Okay that sounded weird. But someday I may try this famed "dunking stuff in tea" ...thing. :)

pumpkinkie: Oh noo, Eater turducken!...THAT THING IS SCARY! If someone else makes one I'll eat it. Some of it. And then I might puke, haha. But I would like to take some innards shots of one.

muffintopsown: (Your name rocks.) Thanks for the worshipness! Bread and cookies totally ...pwnz...yes.

Laynie / April 17, 2006 2:04 AM

I've always been a silent reader, but I absolutely love your site. The food pictures and the fun captions especially. Keep up the good work, Robyn, and please never stop eating (as long as you share)!!

From Our Kitchen / April 17, 2006 2:48 AM

I was making monkey bread earlier today and as I was cutting the dough into little bite-size pieces I was thinking how great they would be as pillows! So soft and cushy... When I shared this with my family, they thought I was weird. But we're thinking on the same lines here!

Deb / April 17, 2006 8:55 AM

1. Would be happy to bring Mom some chocolates,
2. I'm in Central NJ,
3. Your bread posts are torturous during Passover, and
4. Thanks for all the great photos and descriptions!

I have Vinnie's (from Somerset) sicilian pizza with eggplant in my freezer just waiting for Friday, post Passover. I'll make sure to take some photos.

My John would love those nutter butter cookies.

I'm going down to get some pineapple before I eat something I shouldn't. ;)

Enjoy the fantastic weather--do you you ever get down to any places in Battery Park?

roboppy / April 17, 2006 11:33 AM

Laynie: Thanks for reading! I'm continue to share the details of everything I consume as long a I still have use of my arms...(flails arms)...yup, still do!

From Our Kitchen: MONKEY BREAD! Ahh AHH I've never had that, but I've heard of it. And that' it's massively delicious? Dude, I want some (er, too lazy to make it myself, of course). Bread as pillows is a totally normal thought!

(cough) Yeah. Well. We're not the only ones who like the idea.

Deb: Aww, you wouldn't actually have to bring my mum chocolates! Unless she bought em. ;D It'd be cool to meet up though...not that there's much to do where I live in northern NJ. Actually, I'm not under the impression that there's much to do in NJ! If you know good Jersey eats, let me know. I think my disdain for NJ has to do with the "you have to drive everywhere" thing, which doesn't appeal to the "I ate driving" part of my brain.

Ohh I forgot about the no-bread thing! :| Dude, I could use that kind of restriction. INSTEAD, I EAT A LOAF OF BREAD. What's up with that?

I haven't been to any places in Battery Park--got any suggestions? Sadly, I never even go to that part of Manhattan, even though it's close. I've been to the movie theater, haha. I've been to Battery Park once years ago as a tourist and now that I live here, I never go!

carol / April 17, 2006 12:16 PM

COOKIES!!! *inhale inhale..gasppp*

Hobnobs rock my world. (as do u)

i'm like.inhaling blocks of tofu this week..

Cathy / April 17, 2006 1:01 PM

I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes bread so much. I can clear a loaf of special tasty bread in no time so don't feel ashamed. I bought a tasty loaf of homeade white bread from an Amish vendor at the farmer's market saturday and there is NO way it's going to last me until next grocery trip. BTW-thanks for posting so diligently. I look forward to your posts everyday. I have a hard time posting just twice a week. I commend you. :)

A / April 17, 2006 2:29 PM

Hey Robyn -- I try not to read you before lunch, you'll have me eating my shoe. Now I am hungering for cookies!!

Sorry your friends got very robbed (as opoosed to just robbed). My dad got robbed in Italy too -- and on a train! I guess it happens quite a bit.... hmmm... maybe it's easier to rent one of those little scooter thingies....

A

roboppy / April 17, 2006 8:10 PM

Carol: Oh man, I forgot yuo gave up cookies! Uhhh.

Hobnobs! I would like to try...one.

Inhaling tofu? That sounds dangerous! Like it would result in the blockage of airways.

Jane: Oh, you know me too well; that's one of my favorite combinations! ;) I used to buy large containers of plain yogurt and...yes, splodge in the honey. Hooya. That yogurt is way too awesome.

Cathy: Bread-aholics are coming out of the woodwork! Man, if I study in Paris next semester I'm just going to live on bread.

Oh, I post diligently because I'm horrible with organizing my time. ALL TIME IS BLOG TIME. OR EATING TIME. And then there's a small percentage of school time. Oh crap. I'm glad someone's benefiting though. ;)

A: Maybe I should make a shirt that says "Hungering for Cookies" or "Gimme Cookies" and ...uh, peopld would give you cookies!

ITALY! WHAT IS UP WITH ITALY?!

ed: Man, I haven't had an ice cream sandwich in ages. I could go for one.

lori / April 19, 2006 9:31 PM

*I think honey is a very wise investment. I must say that that honey on ciabatta shot is tantalizing.

*I've seen recipes for those Moravian sugar cookies (nice shot, BTW!). Maybe they're really made small because people could die from the sheer deliciousness of them all. :-0

*Is Focacceria an entire resto devoted to focaccia? Good god!

Hey Rob, I'm back from my 17-day trip to the US. It's good to be reading your posts again. I've missed ya!

roboppy / April 19, 2006 9:50 PM

Lori: HONEY IS AWESOME! And when you find out there are a gajillion times, it can be an addiction. ...And I'm already addicted to sugar, so that's probably not a good thing.

I really should've shared those cookies. I ate..the whole tube.

The restaurant has a lot of other kinds of food, but I suppose focaccia is a specialty? They've got pastas and stuff. Screw that, I want bread!

Your posts have made me sooo jeaaalous; you really made use of your 17 days. ;) I swear, I'm going to make a guidebook and go on a FOODING THROUGH LA AND SF THE LORI WAY tour.

Cat / April 20, 2006 7:27 AM

Bread is too good not to kill in one sitting, I could basically live off of nothing but bread. Being in college myself I love nothing more than a delicious sandy on the green.

Rose / April 23, 2006 8:54 PM

I've been to the Moravian village in North Carolina. It's fun to see them MAKE the cookies too. And they are good...never too heavy and filling

roboppy / April 24, 2006 10:31 AM

Rose: Not too heavy or filling...hence why it is so easy to eat a WHOLE TUBE OF THEM, HAHAAHA HAHAHA OH GOD WHY?!!?!

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