Tag Archives: Cookies

ROC City Part 3: Wegmans

The Wegmans in Pittsford, NY

“What is it… a grocery store?” Wegmans is hard to describe. It’s more than a grocery store: it’s a destination. I was 13 (okay, 20) before I realized it’s called a plastic bag, not a Wegmans bag. If you need to grab a quick delicious lunch, you pop into Wegmans for a sub, a soup, a slice of pizza, a cookie cake, whatever. Need a new toothbrush? A kumquat? Fiddle head ferns? A bouquet of flowers for your mom’s birthday? A prescription? A place to drop the kiddies while you do your weekly grocery shopping? A DVD? An endless array of gummy worms, chocolates, or peanuts in bulk? A pint of Ben and Jerry’s at 3AM on a Tuesday? (no? me neither…)

You can literally find all of these things at Wegmans. And everyone is nice! And helpful! And there are ten people waiting to answer every question you might have about how to prepare a piece of their fresh produce, or a slab of amazing fish, or the endless Wegmans brand products they offer. No, they did not pay me to write this. They don’t need MY help. They are one of the very few American companies to NEVER have had to lay off a single employee. Did you hear that? Not a single employee.

When you ask an upstate-ex-pat what they miss most about home, they might tell you they miss the Garbage Plates, or the breakfast spots, or the festivals… but you can be absolutely certain that they will tell you they miss Wegmans. Everyone does.

A cookie cake from their phenomenal bakery

*Update: I had no idea this aired last night, but if you don’t believe me… Wegmans is getting press on Letterman. Look!

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Summer’s So Close I Can Taste It

I’m obviously a girl who loves her sweets. But there is a sweets subcategory that always gets me: fruit. I love a good peach pie, or a lemon raspberry cake, or even an apple baked with sugar and cinnamon. Now that summer is waving at me from just a few short months away, I’m thinking lemons. And since I’m always thinking dessert and I’m always thinking cheese, what came out of my brain were these deliciously light, crispy lemon cookies with a smooth, creamy center to round it all out.

On the menu:
Crispy lemon cookie sandwiches

Cookies:
(recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Lemon Poppyseed Cookies)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest (2 to 3 lemons)
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter (make sure 1 is at room temperature)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring lemon juice to a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat; cook until reduced by half. Add 1 stick butter; stir until melted. Cream remaining stick of butter and 1 cup sugar on medium speed. Mix in egg and lemon butter. Mix until pale, about 3 minutes. Mix in vanilla and zest. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix completely. Refrigerate dough for 30 – 45 minutes.

Pour remaining 1/2 cup of sugar on a plate. Roll spoonfuls of chilled dough into 1 1/2-inch balls; roll them in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Press each with the flat end of a glass dipped in sugar mixture until 1/4 inch thick. Bake until just browned around bottom edges, 8 to 9 minutes.

Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. mascarpone cheese
2 Tbsp butter (at room temperature)
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon zest (2 lemons)
1 Tbsp milk (only if your filling is particularly dry or sticky)

Cream together both cheeses, butter, and powdered sugar, adding milk if necessary. Add lemon zest and vanilla. Mix well. Spread 1 Tbsp of filling between two completely cooled cookies. Refrigerate sandwiches until ready to serve.

Note: if you’re serving these for guests, make sure you refrigerate at least one hour before serving so the filling firms up completely.

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Food Cart Friday!

In my opinion, and from what I’ve read online and in newspapers, New York is behind in the food cart trend. Sure, we have lots of halal food, cupcakes, falafel, and chicken and rice, but where is our creme brulee cart? Our bacon dog cart? Our gumbo cart? All in due time, I’m sure. For now, I’ve done a little research into the tastiest midtown food cart options in Manhattan. And no better day than Friday to treat myself to a little fried fish and some cookies.

Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart: 46th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue (closer to 6th Ave, south side of the street) I decided to try Kim’s Aunt because most websites claimed that the fish was fresh and made to order, quelling two of my food cart fears. Who wants to eat food that’s been sitting in a grease pit for hours? Not this girl.

On the menu:
Flounder sandwich (fried flounder pieces, tomato, lettuce and white sauce on standard white bread)

Verdict: YUM. Oh, beautiful fried fruit of the sea. While the bread got soggy in the ten minute walk from the cart to my warm little office, I barely even noticed. The coating on the huge chunks of fish was crispy, the flounder inside was flaky and tender, and the veggies were crisp and fresh. You can’t get much in midtown Manhattan for $4.50 but this sandwich will fill you up and keep you full straight through the 3:00 office slump. Props to you, Kim’s Aunt, whoever you are.

Treats Truck: in some sort of sneaky PR move, or perhaps just to keep the population of midtown from gaining a collective five pounds, the Treats Truck moves! Their schedule can be found on their website, but for the past few Fridays they’ve been stationed on 45th Street and 6th Avenue from 12:30 – 3. Uh… or so I hear.

On the menu:
Double chocolate sandwich cookie with mint chocolate filling
Chocolate chip cookie
Vanilla sandwich cookie with vanilla filling
Double chocolate sandwich cookie with chocolate fudge filling
Double chocolate sandwich cookie with peanut butter filling
NOTE: I did not eat all of these cookies in one sitting, nor did I buy them all on one day. And this was strictly for research purposes. It’s a tough job reviewing cookies. Honest.

Verdict: Why hello there, brand new love of my life. This is my kind of cookie. The chocolate sandwich cookies had the PERFECT consistency: crisp on the edges, chewy in the middle. The vanilla sandwich cookie had a crispy texture all the way through, which is not MY favorite, but I’m sure some would disagree with me. And the chocolate chip was standard fare but delicious none the less. As you can probably tell… I recommend the chocolate sandwich cookies. And anything with frosting is alright with me.

If you have a New York food cart recommendation, lay it on me! Is there a creme brulee cart that I’m missing? Maybe it’s best if I don’t know about that one.

*top picture c/o Serious Eats

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