Banana Chocolate Scones and Tea with Alice in Wonderland

It's a Mad Hatter Tea Par-tay!   

I love quaint.  I tend to tilt my head and sigh "awwww" when I spot quaintness.  This is one reason why I melt as soon as I land anywhere in Europe; any city on the entire continent could be renamed "Quaintville".  (Side note: I just made up two new words.  If you're playing a drinking game while reading this, I advise you to buckle up; there's more ridiculousness where that came from).

One of my favorite things to do every morning in any European city: sit outside at a quaint little cafe on a tree-lined cobblestone street,  while sipping something warm and soothing and munching on a deliciously flaky pastry, watching the elegant locals stroll by.  So quaintly.

Magical Fairy Dust kindly greeted us at the front door.

 

This is just one reason why I love New York: it can rival Europe with its quaintliness.  

By now you can probably guess which word popped into my head the first time I walked into Alice's Tea Cup: quaint!  This charming little tea shop is not only adorable, it serves some of the most tasty scones I've ever had.

I ordered the appropriately named "Alice's Mad Morning Tea" which included my choice of one scrumptious scone, my choice of eggs, crunchy homemade granola with vanilla yogurt, and of course, a quaint little pot of tea.  My friend Mel chose a similar spread, except instead of granola, she received a plateful of yummy cookies.  We quickly learned an important lesson: you can't go wrong here.  

Homemade granola sprinkled with fresh berries

I chose the signature "Alice's Tea", a blend of Indian black tea, Japanese green tea, vanilla and rose petals.  Smooth, silky, almost creamy...one sip and I immediately understood why this tea has a dedicated following. 

Then came the hard part: choosing The Scone.  I have never seen so many different types of crazy tasty scones in my life.  Scones are one of my favorite breakfast pastries (anything made with outrageous amounts of butter ranks high on my favorites list), so I took some time making my very important choice.  After staring at them for a while, and animatedly discussing them with the Scone Lady (there was lots of pointing and oohing and ahhing),  I finally narrowed it down to three: 

Option #1: Glazed Pumpkin Scone

Option #2: Berry Chocolate Chip Scone

Option #3: Banana Chocolate Scone

While I wanted to try them all (and I will--these have been added to my already very long Next Time List), I chose #3.  First, because it contains bananas, which is a fruit, which made me feel better about eating a scone the size of my head.  Second, because I believe that chocolate makes everything better.  And it did--crumbly, buttery, fruity and chocolatey, this scone was quaintly delicious.

As if the to-die-for scones weren't enough reason to come back, Alice's Tea Cup also makes cupcakes, cakes, and many other mouthwatering desserts that have also been added to my Next Time List.  

Banana Nutella layered cake?  Are you people in my head?

I can't wait to try all of the locations, and have another lovely and quaint afternoon tea.

Also added to the Next Time List.  This list is getting long.

Alice's Tea Cup

156 E 64th St

New York, NY 10021

www.alicesteacup.com

212-486-9200

Fact: Peanut Butter Is Awesome. Bigger Fact: The Peanut Butter Co. is Awesomeness x 1000

If everyone dreamed of dark chocolate peanut butter,
the world would be a happier place. 

To say that I'm a fan of peanut butter is just plain silly.  "Fan" doesn't begin to cover the all- encompassing obsession I have for this superfood.  I'm not sure why peanut butter has such a hold on me, but for some reason I cannot control myself around it.  


In fact, I cannot keep peanut butter in my house.  Why?  Because one of my joys in life is to sit on my couch with a jar of peanut butter and a spoon and before I know it...the entire jar is gone.  Poof.  In one sitting.  I've seriously done this a few times.  (You say "eww", I say Winner!)

The Peach Smoothie.  Just kidding.

If you have never eaten peanut butter with a spoon, I don't know what you're waiting for.  (To really connect with this story, I suggest taking a spoon to a jar of peanut butter while you read this).    


And if you're feeling really wild and crazy, here are two fun ideas that you should maybe try: sprinkle some M&M's into the peanut butter jar and gently scoop out a little mound of the creamy mixture dotted with M&M's for a crunchy, colorful mixture that's oh so tasty.  Or another random idea, mix a spoonful of peanut butter with a spoonful of Nutella; double dip for optimum deliciousness.  These are just two amazing ideas I've heard about that I can imagine were really successful. 


Ok back to my story.   So now that you better understand my obsession with peanut butter, you might be able to see that I was a teensy bit excited when I learned that there was a restaurant entirely devoted to peanut butter.


Friends, it is my pleasure to introduce you to The Peanut Butter Company.


I visited this lovely establishment with my friend Ryan, a fellow Peanut Butter Junkie, who flew to New York just to visit this restaurant (this statement may be slightly embellished.  But just slightly).

The Elvis.  I'm All Shook Up.

Ryan ordered The Elvis, a grilled peanut butter sandwich filled with bananas, honey and bacon.  Delightful.  A purist, he ordered just a peanut butter sandwich.  Silly.  I, on the other hand, got a bit out of control...

The Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Sandwich, which comes with
a little carrot and disappointingly, non-peanut butter covered
potato chips.  (You say "eww", I say "yes please").

I ordered the PB&J of the week, The Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Sandwich.  There were so many delectable choices (my second choice was Dark Chocolate Dreams--dark chocolate peanut butter with cherry jam, stuffed with shredded coconut...holy good idea), but the fact that I adore both Peanut Butter and Pumpkin-anything made this decision not as difficult as I thought.  I also ordered the Peanut Butter Smoothie, a wonderful frozen blend of peanut butter, bananas, honey and soy milk.  YUM.

More gratuitous peanut butter porn.
I bought many, many things. 

Then I bought some gifts.  Mostly for others.  Dark Chocolate Dreams and Old Fashioned Creamy for some fellow Peanut Butter Junkies, Peanut Butter Brownie mix (sorry Angelique, that was meant for you but didn't quite make it), a Peanut Butter cookie (pretty good but it could have used More Peanut Butter!), and a Peanut Butter button.  Yup, I bought a button.  Because I want everyone to know that I'm officially "Team Peanut Butter Co".  Also it had a picture of a cute little monkey on it.  Feel free to call me The Gift Shop Sucker.

Old Fashioned Smooth would be my favorite:
I like it pure and classy.

The Peanut Butter Company
240 Sullivan Street
NY, NY 10012
212-677-3995
www.ilovepeanutbutter.com