Levain Bakery’s Chocolate Chip Cookie
The quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie has ended. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I sent myself a gift box of cookies (this happens after 22 years of marriage) from Levain Bakery. Four monsterous 6-ounce cookies: Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, and Oatmeal Raisin – wrapped in a beautiful white box with a blue bow were delivered to my door on one of my two favorite holidays (the other being Halloween). Read more 
“A Visit From The Goon Squad”
A Visit From The Good Squad was written by Jennifer Egan and awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The 340-page book has won numerous other awards and endorsements but has also been criticized for its unconventional format. At first the book appears to be about a group of characters in the music industry but music serves as a backdrop for the characters across the generations. Read more
Fun and Useful Products
Useful and innovative products – both American and European – are readily available in the United States although these products are not in every mall in America because their distribution network is not extensive. Serving a specific purpose or market, these products usually have a specialized use and as such, are unique, innovative, and essential.
Consider the Lifehammer, a tool for the car that can both crack glass and cut a seatbelt to aid in emergency escape. Or, the 100% cotton glove that fits the hand but doesn’t fall apart after one washing, or the padded Thorlo sock that truly cushions the foot; or the Native Union Pop Handset when you want the comfort of a hand-held full size phone with the use of a cell phone. Each of these products serves a specialized purpose and can be purchased through the internet. Read more
The Chocolate Source
There is no big mystery to chocolate except how luscious it tastes in every form. As with most creations, the quality of the ingredients – cocoa beans, butter, cream, sugar, and the endless selection of nuts, fruits, and products mixed with the chocolate – matter; the higher the quality, the better the flavor. Some chocolatiers go so far as to grow and roast their own beans, while others purchase high quality chocolates and blend them. We all have our preferences: milk, dark, and even white chocolate although some connoisseurs do not consider white chocolate to be “real” chocolate. In any form, most of those that indulge agree that chocolate is simply delicious. Read more
Ciudad Real, Spain: Weekend Getaway
Ciudad Real is located approximately 115 miles south of Madrid and is accessible in less than an hour from Madrid’s Atocha train station via the high-speed train Alta Velocidad Espanola (AVE). A small city of about 75,000 people, Ciudad Real is located in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha which conjures up thoughts of windmills and Don Quixote. This is the area made famous by Miguel de Cervantes more than 400 years ago in his classic Spanish literature. Read more
“Lords Of Finance”
In 2010, “The Lords of Finance” by Liaquat Ahamed, a professional investment manager was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History. A non-fiction account of “the bankers that broke the world,” this 505 page book takes a complicated topic – macro and microeconomics – and makes it easily understandable. Read more
For The Love Of Caramel
My first introduction to caramel was in the form of those perfect little commercially produced squares wrapped in plastic. It was love at first sight and I realized that almost everything (apples, ice cream, popcorn, chocolate, cookies) tastes better with caramel. Even the Girl Scouts discovered the marvels of caramel when they started selling Samosas and there are a hundred variations of the “turtle” with chocolate, nuts, and caramel blended together. But, the real epiphany was when I tasted homemade caramel: creamy, buttery caramel that melts in your mouth and leaves a lingering sweet taste. Read more
You Know You’re In The USA When…
Forty years of my life were spent primarily in the United States and so the culture of this great nation is at my core even though there seems to be more cultural diversity in the US than any other country in the world. Read more
“Forks Over Knives”
A few weeks ago, my friend, Kathy recommend a book called “Forks Over Knives” and also the movie of the same title. Her 13-year old son had decided several years before that he wasn’t going to eat anything that had eyes and became a vegetarian. In her search for information on a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle, she came across this book and movie. Read more
The Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown
During my daughter’s primary and middle school years, history was part of her curriculum every year. She spent a year studying Spanish history and memorizing the 17 autonomous communities in Spain (and had the wisdom at age 7 to ask me “why do I have to learn these?”), another year devoted to the Middle Ages (6th grade) and a semester on Greek history which culminated in a class trip to Greece to see the sights they had been studying. At the time,we didn’t think twice about her history curriculum although my husband was on a quest to show her as many ruins as possible. Read more
Paddock Post 