Location:
2403 Bull Street
Savannah, GA
31401
One thing at the very top of my Savannah list of places to visit was the Back in the Day Bakery. I'd seen it on Jamie Beck's blog and she highly recommended it on the list of must-sees she gave me.
On a rainy day it was an amazing, indulging breakfast pit stop.
I mean, biscuits and jam? I could have those every day.
(Also, who knew that I could have been sitting so close to one of my Instagram connections - wow, small world!)
Location:
65 Salem St, Boston, MA 02113
The North End of Boston is one of my favorite parts of this city, it's great for photoshoots and of course, for the food. So, I couldn't believe I had never been to Pauli's before.
Guys, it really is WICKED fresh and CRAZY GOOD!!
The lobster grilled cheese sandwich was not only massive, it was chockful of fresh and huge chunks of LOBSTAH and lots of melted cheesy-goodness (don't worry, I Lactaid-ed myself out).
The catchy "Pauli-tician" sandwich caught my eye, for it's name and for its ingredients (chicken cutlet, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar). Those are my must-haves for literally everything, plus, it's approved by Paul himself! I could eat it again, right now.
Another not to be missed sandwich is the Vito. Why? Because it was created by the "Vito" from The Sopranos.
That's right.
Looking for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Pauli and his team have got you covered. If that's not enough, they also have a full catering menu, as well. Want to order online for delivery? They've got you covered there, as well. I knew the battery powered bikes were there for a reason!
And the team there? They're awesome!
Thank you Paul and the team for treating us to an incredible dinner!
Location:
318 3rd St, Cambridge, MAI had the pleasure of having tea with these two lovelies recently, after a wonderful afternoon at this place.
Here we are at Tatte Bakery, one of the cutest bakeries in Kendall Square. A bakery that is not new to my Instagram feed!
As part of a new series, here I am having tea withAna and Alaina.
Location:
375 Queen St. W. Toronto
Open only 4 weeks now, Little Nicky's already seems to have a cult following of donut lovers.
Mini donuts, that is.
Made on a cute little mini assembly line.
Old-fashioned, little, powdery-sugar-and-cinnamon-covered deep fried goodness.
We love the retro, dinery vibe, and with Ray Charles playing in the background, "A.Mat" said it reminded her of The Cosby episode where the family performs Ray Charles' "Night Time is the Right Time". See video here.
One thing they might want to add to their menu however, is Earl Grey tea. Orange Pekoe (from Tealish) just won't cut it, even if IS loose-leaf and IS quite delish!
Still, with lovely iced lattes and happy little donuts Little Nicky's is already becoming a definite favourite at work this hot summer.
There are two smells worth waking up for.
Coffee. and. Bacon.
Not necessarily together(but that would certainly be bliss!)
Green Mountain Coffee is one of those coffee brands that just got it RIGHT. Founded as a small cafe in Waitsfield, Vermont, the brand has since grown to more than 100 high-quality varieties and most recently acquired Keurig, the single cup brewing system (my sister has one and it's brilliant!).
It's easily the best coffee I've had on vacation when Earl Grey just wouldn't do, and the Nantucket blend has such a lovely fragrance perculating throughout the house, like a promise of the weekend to come...
Many thanks to Green Mountain Coffee for refreshing my coffee stash with the Nantucket and Island Coconut blends!
Location:
144 Main St
Stowe, VT05672
On Main Street, is the Black Cap Coffee shop, a quaint, picturesque coffee house, exactly how you would imagine there to be in a ski town.
For coffee, teas, hot chocolates, you can't go wrong. I didn't try any of there delectable delights, although the Easter sugar cookies were calling my name...
A tea to go and ready to explore a bit, although everything was closed for Easter...except Shaw's General Store...still, it made it easy to go back to our hotel.
Here's a little background on my childhood. I was born in Kerala, South India and grew up in Botswana, Africa, so breakfast was always very fresh and very local.
I was lucky to have farm fresh eggs for breakfast in the mornings. And incredibly fresh chicken. I have literally never eaten chicken as delicious as that, since. In fact, I have since stopped eating chicken!
But I digress.
With my South Indian background, eggs are just ONE of many options for breakfast, and sometimes are just an accompanying dish to other staples, like Upma which is something of a dry porridge made out of semolina flour. Upma with a side of eggs and optionally a banana with a sprinkle of sugar is delicious. Say what? Yes, it is certainly an acquired taste, but worth trying if you ever have the opportunity to do so.
Then there is my all-time favorite breakfast for special occasions: appam and stew. Appam is a fermented pancake made out of white rice. It's a breakfast treat, saved for birthdays, Christmas and New Year. And recently, my Mom has been making it for us whenever we go back to visit Toronto.
Sounds weird to have "pancakes" with something savoury like a stew, but appam is not a sweet pancake. If you've ever tried Ethiopian injera, it's similar but not quite as sour as injera and not served cold as injera.
So, if you're adventurous to try a different type of breakfast other than eggs, I'm sharing my Mother's recipe for Appam and Stew, which is her Mother's recipe and definitely tried, tested and true.
My mouth is watering already.
Thanks for the recipe Mummy! xo
Ingredients for Appam:
Preparation:
1) Wash rice and soak for 2 to 3 hours to grind.
2) SEMOLINA: Just before grinding the rice (in a blender), mix semolina in a cup of water and cook in low heat stirring constantly till it turns to a thick batter. Take off from the stove and leave to cool.
3) YEAST: Take litle luke warm water in a deep bowl and add the yeast and the sugar on top of the yeast and close it with a plate and leave it to rise for 10 to 15 minutes.
4) RICE: Drain water from the rice and grind the rice in a blender (USING ONLY MILK) little milk at a time to a smooth consistency. Batter should not become too loose by adding more milk (so be careful with that while pouring the milk). Divide rice and grind into two batches, instead of allat once. That will give more room to grind.
5) Add the cooled semolina mix and the risen yeast mix into the rice batter and mix properly and leave it to ferment for 6 to 8 hours. You may leave it in the oven, overnight. In warm countries it rises faster than in colder countries.
6) BEFORE MAKING APPAM: Take egg white and beat well with little milk and add this along with salt and one table spoon of sugar into the batter and mix well and keep it for another one hour before starting to make the Appams.
7) HINT: IF THE BATTER IS TOO THICK YOU MAY LOOSEN IT
BY ADDING MORE MILK AND MAKE THE APPAMS
THE SAME WAY YOU MAKE PANCAKES USING
A NON STICK PAN OR A CAST IRON PAN.
8) Don't FLIP the pancakes, just wait until they bubble and are cooked in the center.
CHICKEN STEW OR VEGETABLE STEW RECIPE:
(Ingredients are the same whether you cook chicken with potatoes or only use vegetables)
1) One small chicken whole or Only the chicken breast : 500gm.
2) Ingredients:
3) You can add any of these vegetables or all while cooking the
chicken:- Potatoes, Carrots, Beans, Cabbage, Cauliflour,
Peas, Tomatoes etc or just potato with chicken. I prefer that.
4) Preparation: Heat pan, pour oil and put the chopped oinions,
cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and let it cook a bit.
Then add the green chillies, ginger, garlic, curry leaves.
Mix and after a little while add the chicken, salt with little water to
cook the meat. (At this time, you can add the vegetables of your
choice)
Once the meat is cooked add 3cups of whole milk. If you want
more gravy add more milk.
Now add the black pepper powder, mix and boil again (not long
though) and serve with Appams either with Chicken stew
or Vegetable stew.
Options: Whole milk or 2% milk or Evaporated milk or Coconut milk.
You can use any of these of your choice.
Location:
896 Whalley Avenue New Haven, CT
New Haven for a day, how better to spend it than breakfast with my friend Dela Chic?
She also comes bearing gifts; awwww, thanks Christine!
You know how much I like it hot, right? And it's so rare that pepper jelly is actually spicy.
Stir It Up is something else entirely. Packs a punch!
Patricia Kiernan, the creator of the stuff, is a Jamaican native who has been using her family's recipes to offer deliciously spicy (or mild, there is also mild) catering. Their event planning is one aspect of Stir It Up, the retail side has this incredible pepper jelly, that even my Mom loved. The lime-zest may be for you if you like it a tad less hot. Great to try as a marinade, too.
I enjoyed it for breakfast one morning....
Location:
509 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
To me, there's nothing better than a warm croissant and coffee or tea with breakfast.
Nothing.
Except, maybe with bacon.
Chocolat in the Gaslamp District of San Diego, appears to be a gelato/dessert bar, but they have warm croissants and pastries as well, served right to your table if you wish to sit down to eat for breakfast.
Which I did, savouring the moment (like this stylish patron was).
Their gelato spread looked divine, and is definitely worthy of a second visit!
Location:
Makriyianni 3, Athens
It's time for breakfast + the Acropolis!
Who knew we'd have a view of the Acropolis from our breakfast nook situated on Makriyianni street?
Splendid. As was the sandwich and croissant. Greek coffee is going to take me some time getting used to though.
Great little cafe/deli, with a fantastic vantage point of the Acropolis. I'm happy to see the Nile Guide agrees!
Location:
1428 6th Ave, New York, NY
Sometimes you just want simple bacon, eggs n' toast for breakfast. Add pototoes in the mix and I'm in heaven.
For $6?
Can't beat that.
I love NYC.
Location:
20 Spring Street, New York, NY
We celebrated N's cousin's birthday with her friend at Bread in Soho. Great venue for brunch and, well, bread.
A very cosy spot that was fully jam packed. The service was excellent as were all the dishes. They even threw in a tiramisu cake on the house.
Location:
904 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
In celebration of the Royal Wedding this Friday, there are several events happening in the city.
The Fairmont Royal York's EPIC Lounge will be serving English Breakfast for $21 and Library Bar will be hosting a royal tea party for $35 at 5am during the televised broadcast.
Le Meridien King Edward is also serving traditional English breakfast for $65, in the Sovereign Ballroom with scones and baked beans, starting at 5am.
The Windsor Arms is hosting the Royal Experience a la carte.
CBS is hosting a Royal Viewing Party at 5am in the Atrium of the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, prizes will be given out for wedding dress or bridesmaid dress or hat. Free tea and scones.
For more events around the city and in Ontario, check out Global News's list of events.
