Chilmark Chocolates (Martha's Vineyard)

On our yearly trip to MV, ABF & I met his family for a quick trip to Chilmark Chocolates. It was our first time there, but the rest of the clan had already discovered the delicious bites and was going back for Round Two!

It's a tight fit inside, with room for a quick single file pass by the glass cases. There wasn't too much time to linger, but there were so many possible choices!

I ended up picking a few random bites that sounded good, starting with the dark chocolate/GrapeNuts combo. My mom used to make this crazy-good GrapeNuts pudding when I was a kid (note to self-- make that pudding soon!) and I figured it was probably a great crunchy add to chocolate. I figured right. This was one of my favorites, and I didn't even stop to take a picture.

Every bite was delicious-- their toffee was crunchy, sweet, and just salty enough.

I was planning to bring back a bunch of chocolates for my coworkers, but Chilmark was closed that Tuesday, so we'll have to wait until our next visit. We know better-- this is the time of year when most places are shutting down for the season! Either way, we know now that Chilmark Chocolates is a must-stop the next time we come visit the Island.

Chilmark Chocolates

19 State Road

Chilmark, MA 02535

(508) 645-3013

Follow @Lkpnyc

Dairy-free Hot Chocolate

I love how Pinterest makes me consider trying new ways of making old favorites! This time the spin is on a classic cup of hot chocolate.

And what better time than on a cold winter's day when the boiler in my building had (yet again) broken. That meant NO heat and NO hot water! The cats and I were FREEZING! INDOORS!

A lot of the recipes I found called for coconut milk, but I wasn't ready to make such a big change to an old standby just yet. I had some Trader Joe's unsweetened vanilla almond milk on hand, so that's the first one I tried.

I'm working more milk alternatives into my life lately-- not for any particular reason, really, but it's a nice bonus that almond milk has a ton fewer carbs in it compared to dairy milk. I am certainly not qualified to talk about hormones, blah blah blah, but almond milk seems like a nice simple substitute for the heavier cow's milk. Just ignore the silly grammatical error on the box (before "it's" time!?!?!? WRONG!!!)

[Okay--I thought about it.. maybe they meant they will milk no almond before IT IS time (to milk it)?]

I slowwwwwwly heated up the milk, then melted a half square of unsweetened chocolate into it, whisking as I went. Once it was warmed through, I sprinkled in just a smidge of Splenda to sweeten it. I sprinkled some freshly ground cinnamon into it and called it a day.

This came together in less than 5 minutes and was surprisingly good! Is it exactly the same as cow's milk hot chocolate? Of course not? It's not as thick and heavy, but it did have a strong chocolate flavor, just enough sweetness, and warmed me right up on a chilly January day. This was a great little experiment that turned out quite deliciously!

Do you have a favorite milk alternative? Let me know in the comments!

Almond Milk Hot Chocolate

(1 serving)

1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)

1/2 block of Baker's unsweetened chocolate ( you could use a few T of cocoa powder)

Splenda, to taste

Freshly ground cinnamon (dash or 2)

Slowly warm up milk in saucepan. Add the chocolate bar and let it melt, whisking as you go. Once the bar melts completely, remove pan from heat. Add Splenda & spices as you like them. Serve & enjoy!

Follow @Lkpnyc

Woolworth Tower Kitchen

ABF & I met for a mid-week dinner recently, and we popped back into a place that makes its mark on the downtown skyline: The Woolworth Tower, which is also one of America's oldest skyscrapers.

Inside the famed Woolworth Tower building (pop in the lobby of the main building to get a look at the STUNNING marble ceiling) is this fabulous eatery, Woolworth Tower Kitchen, where dishes are well thought out, fresh, and fabulous.

We each started with a drink--the Malbec for me (lovely!) and a dry gin & tonic for ABF. Life in London definitely gave him a new fondness for that drink. Me, I just can't do gin so much.

ABF ordered their Chicken Paillard salad, which is one of their most popular dishes. Arugula, thinly-pounded chicken filets (buried under a pile of greens), sliced green apples, spicy candied pecans, and two lovely slices of brie topping it all. I think this is going to be something one of us orders every time we visit.

I opted for the Cobb salad with grilled chicken. They make it in the chopped style, which normally I don't care for, but these were manageable bites, and not pulverized pieces. The scallion ranch dressing was so good that I asked for an extra serving of it. Yeah, that's right! I don't think I'm ready to start saying I LIKE ranch dressing, but I think I like flavored ranch dressings (chipotle ranch, avocado ranch etc).

Our salads were both quite filling, but we still decided to get dessert. Our server told us that the chocolate mousse cake was really good, so we decided to share that, but we honestly weren't expecting it to be spectacular. And yet it WAS. Deep, rich, decadent chocolate, with a fluffy, almost spongecake-like base and velvety mousse filling--great googaly-moogaly!

Even if you're not in the financial district area, WTK is just a few steps from the R and the 2/3 train. It's the perfect spot for grabbing a bite before or after walking across the Brooklyn Bridge (which is our plan once the weather gets nicer)!

(Note: WTK is closed on weekends)

Woolworth Tower Kitchen
The Woolworth Building
9 Barclay Street
New York, NY 10279
(212) 571-2930

Follow @Lkpnyc

CT: Cocoa Michelle

Jen A & I took a quick trip out of NY to Westport, Connecticut. While the hotel's location and offerings were not quite what we expected, we made the best of it. One of the bright spots on our trip was in the final moments in that town, as we stopped into Cocoa Michelle for a drink and bite to take on the train ride home.

It's a very commuter-friendly spot--it even features a timetable of the weekday train schedule so you know how much time you have to get that coffee/chocolate fix!

The main room has the espresso machines and some take-away treats (sandwiches, yogurt, chocolates), but walk through the middle seating area and there is a whole room dedicated to chocolates that are (almost) too pretty to eat!

It was still pretty early, so we opted for a caffeine fix first--I ordered a sugar-free peppermint latte to go! Jen got sugar-free vanilla. She didn't care for the vanilla flavor, but I was quite happy with my mint!

The woman behind the counter was very friendly and helpful--service was as warm as the coffee!

We also got some chocolates: chocolate ganache for me, and apple pie for Jen (mine's the blue one in the first photo in this post). The ganache was good--rich, warm, satisfying, but OMIGOSH that apple pie chocolate!

If you're looking for a warm drink and tasty bite to take with you on the go (by train or car), Cocoa Michelle is a fabulous place to start!

Cocoa Michelle
54 Railroad Place
Westport, CT 06880-5912
(203) 221-0020

Follow @Lkpnyc

Hudson Valley: Lucky's Chocolates

LP hosted a bunch of us last weekend in the Hudson Valley area, and we had a great time, despite lots of rainy, rainy weather. LP remembered these delicious chocolate chip cookies from Lucky's, which used to have a random outpost out near Woodstock. When we checked it out, we found that that spot was gone, but there was a brick and mortar store SIX MINUTES AWAY in Saugerties, New York. To the cookiemobile!

Lucky smells like one big chocolate rainbow. They have their own chocolates, from truffles to brownies to cookies, but we were there for one thing and one thing only: chocolate chip cookies!

They carry plain chocolate chip, choc chip with walnuts, and oatmeal raisin. I was happy Laura picked the ones with walnuts--I was in a nutty mood.

We took in a few minutes to enjoy the sparkly, colorful interior--it's a fun place to sit and enjoy your sweets--but we had to get back on the road and head home for dinner.

Of course, we weren't so rushed that we couldn't take some sample bites in the car. This cookie was every bit as good as it looked/smelled--you would swear your mom or grandmother was in the back, baking away.

Oh yeah, that's a good cookie. That's a GREAT cookie.

LP took me on a short drive around the downtown area before heading home--it's very cute and has a lot of great stores.

Downtown Saugerties is quite picturesque--it reminds me of parts of downtown Attleboro from when I was a kid. Lots of storefronts, colorful paint, thoughtful storefront displays.

Worth a stop if you're nearby or even just passing through on your way somewhere else. And pick up a half-dozen cookies or so. One is not enough!

Lucky Chocolates
115 Partition Street
Saugerties, NY 12477
(845) 246-7337

Tweet

Sex & Candy

That Sara of NYCNomNom got invited to attend a party at NYC's Museum of Sex, and she invited me! It was billed as a night of firefighters, decadent desserts, and possibly something else, but I was already in at that point!

I arrived shortly after the event began, and I noticed it wasn't half as full as I thought it would be. Free chocolate AND NYC firefighters? This place should be filled to capacity! Oh well, it made it all the easier to get to the truffles.

Hello, deliciousness! Those are red velvet cake truffles on the left and spiced chai truffles on the right. The red velvet were moist and decadent and quite wonderful, but they were immediately out-awesomed by the spiced chai.

The ladies of Mimi Truffle made these addicting bites of dessert heaven, and while they mostly do catering and special orders, oh man, I think they could build an empire just on the chai truffles.

On the adjoining table was a mini-cupcake tower from Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery. These chocolate cupcakes had wasabi-cream cheese icing and crushed wasabi peas on top. This was good, but not as amazing as I'd hoped. I like the burn from wasabi, but I know not everyone does. I would have liked a little more heat and a little more sweet, but these were still well made. The cake was perfect--light, airy, and not at all heavy.

We also sampled the chocolate explosion or bomb (I couldn't read the sign that well--handwritten on an index card and tough to decipher)--chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, and chocolate whipped cream. I liked this way more than Sara did. Was it an explosion of flavors? No, but it was a whole messa chocolatey goodness. YUMTASTIC.

Sandwiched between the truffles and the cupcakes was a display from Michael Allen desserts.

I enjoyed the texture of the macarons, though the ones billed as raspberry tasted a lot more like strawberry.

The cream cheese were a bit bland.

The raspberry truffles (the ones in white) were tasty, the chocolate were okay, but my oh my, the mini canelés, however, were custardy, burnt-sugary cylinders of confectionery triumph.

I wasn't expecting much from these so I didn't even really focus my camera too much on them, but they were perfection! These are not easy to make, and they did a stellar job of it!

There was no one directing this event, it seemed, no one greeting people and explaining what to do, so we pretty much just fended for ourselves. After milling about and enjoying some sweets, Sara & I headed down to the restroom to 'powder our noses.' I noticed Sara was taking longer than usual in the one-stall room, and hoped it wasn't from bad food! She came out with an impish grin and I soon saw the reason: you can write on the chalkboard in the bathroom. Which we both promptly did. You're welcome, Mom :)

Then we made our way carefully out of the dark bathroom and into the also dark, but much warmer, wine bar. Called , it features a lot of different add-ins, flavors, and whatnot that purportedly contribute to feelings of love (and other things ahem).

I'm pretty sure that's all bunk, but it's done in a spirit of fun.

Sara & I opted instead for a glass of their red wine (and I said no to the brownies!)

The wine was fine--nothing amazing, not terrible. I probably wouldn't bring a bottle home, but it was perfectly suited for sitting in the cafe and catching up with a friend.

Overall, the event seemed a bit disorganized--all that finger food and no plates?!?--it could have used more order and a clear leader, but we still had a great time. NYC Firefighters and there WASN'T a line out the door? Notice how there are no photos of firefighters!?! How can this be! They should have had a photo staging area! It would have been good press for everyone! However, it was a unique and tasty way to spend a random Thursday night, that's for sure!

Museum of Sex
233 Fifth Avenue
NY NY 10016
(212) 689-6337