Tina Fey Can Vouch

As much as I love Brooklyn, I can count on my fingers how many times I have visited due to its distance from the Bronx. But, I added my second hand and ventured out with my London friends on a beautiful Saturday morning. We all met solely for the purpose of trying these very well know donuts from Peter Pan. This 62-year-old pastry shop is located in the largely Polish neighborhood of Greenpoint. A regular stop for locals as well as a destination for outsiders, the line is always out the door! Using a bit of inappropriate imagery, Tina Fey herself claims that Peter Pan donuts are the best she’s ever had. Not only did I split a variety of donuts with my friends onsite, I also brought many back for my roommates. My point being that I have a good understanding of a majority of these donuts. Though it helped me to realize that cream and custard filled donuts are simply not for me, I also reached the conclusion that I could eat cake donuts for days. My favorites were the maple glazed and blueberry buttermilk! I would recommend starting with these or trying an extreme molten lava filled cake donut. I know that will be my next purchase. Thank you, Peter Pan, for giving me a reason to explore another amazing neighborhood in Brooklyn. Happy eating, everyone!

Banana Pudding Machine

I have actually never jumped on the bandwagon of the obsession with one of the most well-known bakeries in New York, Magnolia. That is until I tried the very much hyped Banana Pudding. I mean it is even labeled “Famous Banana Pudding” on the menu. That title just speaks for itself. This stuff is in such high demand that you’re not guaranteed a purchase if you show up too late. I will be the first to say that I wouldn’t ordinarily buy banana pudding or even eat it if available, but I had to try Magnolia’s. This pudding is so magical that you don’t have to even like pudding or bananas and chances are you will still love this sweat treat. It is incredibly smooth, silky, and creamy. The ingredients mix so well together that you never get too much of one ingredient in a mouthful. Just recently, Magnolia came out with the decked out version that includes…CHOCOLATE. People are going crazy for this stuff! It took my roommate, Megan, many trips to the bakery to finally be able to purchase it before it sold out. This pudding is surprisingly made with Oreos, even though it tastes like chunks of cake. I am telling you, this stuff is delicious. Whether you’re a chocolate lover or tend to stay loyal to the traditional vanilla pudding, you must try one of Magnolia’s most famous treats. Be careful…it’s addicting. Happy eating, everyone! 🙂

One Cheap Date

Los Angeles granted me the pleasure of trying the cheapest dessert I have ever purchased from a bakery. I was very impressed by how delicious and substantial this $2 ice cream sandwich was. That’s right, two dollars!! As the ultimate broke college student stop for dessert, the line to this gem was long outside the door. Obviously the Californians know what’s good. Let me set up the scene inside this bakery. So, you walk inside to the huge store front and become overwhelmed by the sugary smell and ridiculous amount of cookies. You first get to chose which two flavors of cookies you want to sandwich your ice cream, and then you get to pick the ice cream itself. I personally would have been happy with anything chocolate, but I ended up choosing the traditional chocolate chip cookie, an M&M cookie, and peanut butter cup ice cream. My expectations were not too high before I tasted the sweet treat as I knew I was about to taste the most inexpensive dessert I had ever bought. To my astonishment, it was fantastic! The cookies were somehow soft and gooey and the ice cream was creamy and not too cold as to break the cookie. The sandwich kept its shape without being too hard. I do not know how Diddy Riese does it, but thank you for redefining a cheap date. Happy eating, everyone!

Best Way to Wake Up

What other way to motivate yourself to wake up at 4am for a road trip than with some fresh, quality donuts?! Blinkie’s Donut Emporium is a hidden gem, also a mom and pop shop, of the Valley and conveniently only a 15 minute walk from my friend’s house in Woodland Hills. We loved these donuts so much that after Malia’s mom picked us up 5 different ones to share, we still felt the need to return for a nice and healthy breakfast two days later. This is the type of donut shop that cares so much about its customers, that they are up hours before the earliest risers to produce the best donuts whenever the first person decides to walk through the door. I was very impressed by the amount of options and how delicious each of them looked. I have never seen such a vast and diverse amount of fresh donuts in one shop! After stressing about which delicacy to try that morning, I happily landed on the healthiest option I could find–the chocolate chip cinnamon roll. If you cannot stand a lot of sugar, stay away! But fortunately (or not), I can stand any amount of sugar at one time. This glazed donut was absolutely delicious as it fell apart in my mouth with every bite. The chocolate chips were melted enough to be soft without losing their sturdy texture. I would tell you to get this one, but really I want you to try them all so you can tell me which to get next time. Thank you, Blinkie’s, for helping me wake up before the LA sun rises and warms the city. Happy eating, everyone!

I Found My Heaven

I would say it is pretty enlightening to finally understand what heaven is like. The Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco led me to this insight. It is one of those areas of the world where every one is happy and no one would dare count a calorie. I hope that every person will one day be able to experience the beauty of this chocolate corner. My friends, Megan, Ashley, Malia, and I had to stop, gaze, and show the huge “Ghirardelli Square” sign some respect before we entered into the magical kingdom of chocolate. Once we walked in, we had to concentrate on choosing the best store to purchase our highly anticipated Ghirardelli sundae. Once we landed on what we thought was our best option, we drooled over the menu for a good twenty minutes, unable to choose from the 50 unique, yet seemingly perfect sundaes. Luckily, my obsessions directed me to my sundae in about 15 seconds. My eyes aimed right at the “Intense Dark Sundaes,” and then, no surprise I found the word “Espresso” and knew it was all over. The Espresso Escape sundae was everything I hoped and dreamed I would experience in the Ghirardelli Square. It contained THREE layers of handmade dark chocolate hot fudge, two HUGE scoops of espresso chip ice cream and was topped with whipped cream and an intense dark 72% chocolate square. Thank you, Ghirardelli, for reinforcing my dedication to land in heaven. Happy eating, everyone!

BJ’s Famous Pizookie

Ever since this summer when I discovered what a Pizookie was, and actually made my own version with my roomie, Irene, I became obsessed with the idea of trying an original from Los Angeles’ beloved BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse. This unnecessary little dream of mine actually came true when I  traveled to LA with my friends over spring break. Because I had anticipated this moment for so many months, the trip to finally try the Pizookie was very dramatic. I love my friends because they were all just as excited–we planned out which Pizookie’s we wanted to order hours in advance. So, the second the waitress sat us down we, almost aggressively, blurted out our order before she had the chance to ask us what we wanted to drink. With that being said, my friends fortunately let me take this picture before we dug in. We started with the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, then moved onto the traditional Chocolate Chunk, and finished with Salted Caramel. The cookies were freshly baked, oozing with chocolate, and perfectly warm. Decadently topped with vanilla bean ice cream that slowly melted into every bite of the cookie, this sweet treat was quite the indulgence. Though I don’t expect to ever make it back to BJ’s, we have ingredients ready for the next time we are craving a delicious skillet cookie. Happy eating, everyone!