Donna, Cookie Contessa

Donna Phelps is a Cookie Contessa. It's on her business card. She just opened a store, a little cookie haven called Donna's Gourmet Cookies, on Montgomery road near 275. I drive by every day on my way to work, and this might turn into a serious addiction.

Did you know there are two Donnas that bake in our big-ish city? Donna Ziv bakes muffins, cookies, and other treats under the label Donna's Delights. Awakenings in Hyde Park carries her line of goodies. I like knowing that if I'm ever in need of a homemade pastry, it's never far away. The Donnas have it covered.

Twelve and Under

I asked for a kid's sized quesadilla at Moe's today, with extra veggies please, and somehow I was signed up for the whole kids meal deal. They didn't even card me.

Alright, I doubt that age was an issue. It's some sort of unspoken rule in chain restaurants that if you're weird enough to order from the kids menu, and you ask nicely, it doesn't matter that you miss the "twelve and under" mark by at least ten years. They give you the kid's quesadilla.

My kid's quesadilla came with:
-a basket of tortilla chips
-salsa and sour cream
-an 18 oz. soda
-an oatmeal raisin cookie (my choice)

This all cost less than five dollars. In an economic crisis, I'm not going to turn my nose up at a deal like that.

I sat at a booth, ate my lunch among real grown-ups eating real quesadillas, glancing between bites at a tv screen airing episodes of Spongebob Squarepants. As long as I can get away with it, I'll take my cartoons and cookies at lunch.

Food Science of Sleep

True Story: Last night I dreamed I was at the Waffle House and they had introduced a dim sum menu. I thought, "hey, that's pretty neat!" but then I just ordered a waffle.

Do you dream about food?

All Things Pumpkin

We are currently tuned in to my favorite segment of fall, one of the pleasantest times of year, that pre-fall fall where it is cool in the morning and evening but hot and summery in the day. This is before the avalanche of the impending holiday season crashes over us. This is the start of pumpkin season.

When I talk about pumpkins I mean pumpkin flavored things, not actual pumpkins. Those are good for displaying on your porch or table setting, or if you are of a craftier persuasion, hewing menacing faces into and illuminating with candles. This gets messy. I prefer pumpkins in their most concentrated and pure form.

Here is a list of pumpkin flavored products I have sought out, tasted, and approved for general consumption:

Kennebunkport Pumpkin Ale
-Available at Trader Joe's. First, it tastes like beer. Then pumpkin pie. And the two are lovely together.

Pumpkin Scone
-Starbucks. Good for a quick pumpkin fix.

Pumpkin Latte
-Starbucks and caribou coffee stores. Starbucks' is better.

Edy's Double Churn Lite Pumpkin Ice Cream
-Tastes exactly like pumpkin pie. I can only assume the full fat version is twice as deadly.

Pumpkin Walnut Cookies
-Iced in White Chocolate. Found at World Market.

I'm just getting started here. We have at least a few weeks before the Christmas season starts. Where can I find more pumpkin goods? Pumpkin soups, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin pastries? All suggestions are welcome.

[picture of pumpkin festival in Keene, NH, a place I treasure, courtesy Atlant via wikimedia commons]