A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza, Comedy on the Side

The classic Neapolitan pie at Grimaldi's

As a Brooklynite for most of my life, I know a fair amount about my native borough, (yes, I was born here - and have lived my entire adult life here, too) yet I had never been to two renowned Brooklyn pizza restaurants, Grimaldi's and L &;B Spumoni Gardens.

This all changed last week, when I was a guest of A Slice of Brooklyn Bus Tours, a four hour eating and entertainment extravaganza. The tour, led by the hilarious and energetic Marc, also a Brooklynite started in Manhattan and took us all around Brooklyn, with stops at these iconic pizza places.

Rolling - or not - on the bus

The interior of Grimaldi's

We didn't get off to an auspicious start. The brand new bus broke down and Marc shepherded our group of 20 or so through the streets (the tour meets outside and it was quite cold) so we could sit in the heat while a replacement bus was sent. By the time we got to the bus, it was running and we were off. [Despite the short break down, the bus was quite comfortable, with USB charging ports at every seat, a clean bathroom and a good sound system]

Where the magic happens: the coal ovens at Grimaldi's

Best pizza in Brooklyn?

There are other famous pizza parlors in Brooklyn and I've been to most of those, but these legendary establishments have been stuffing pie holes (mouths) for generations and offer competing variations on pizza. And they both usually have long lines; with the pizza tour, you waltz right in and get seated right away.

Vegetarian friendly

To taste the pure essence of pizza, the slices you get on the tour have no extra toppings, so vegetarians are at ease. If you are gluten free or vegan, well, this tour is not for you.

Starting out in DUMBO

Great views in DUMBO

Grimaldi's coal-fired Neopolitan pizza has a thin crust, fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes and a bit of fresh basil. This is the classic margarita pie, and we had two fresh-out-of-the-oven slices. Marc claimed the pizza had some health benefits, since bits of ash are on the crust, and charco caps settle the stomach. I doubt that anyone has eaten pizza to cure a stomach ache, but the delicious pizza had the perfect crust to cheese to tomato ratio and I showed my out-of-town tablemates how to properly fold and eat a slice.

Unusual Brooklyn house in Bay Ridge

As we drove from DUMBO to Bensonhurst, March regaled us with stories about Brooklyn and pointed out interesting houses movie locations. Even better, screens in the bus played a movie scene  - and then we would see the exact location. I've seen dozens, maybe even hundreds, of movies, TVs shows and ads filmed around the city, but I've never seen so many exact spots that made it onto film.

Movies filmed in Brooklyn

My favorite clip had to be form Annie Hall, my top movie of all time; as we drove by the Verrazano Bridge, March played the scene where Diane Keaton drives Woody Allen on the same road, in her tiny VW Beetle.

We took a circuitous route from DUMBO to Bensonhurst, wending our way through Red Hook, Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights so could see more movie locations. Here was where John Travolta ('before he was creepy,' March said) strutting under the elevated tracks in Saturday Night Fever, there was the housing project where someone was shot in the French Connection.

 Inside L & B Spumoni Gardens

On to Sicilian pizza

After about an hour, we arrived at L & B Spumoni Gardens. This is a combination sit down restaurant and ice ream (spumoni) parlor, and those who had room after two slices of Sicilian pizza could buy an ice cream (beer and wine were also extra; we got soda or water included with our pizzas).

Sicilian pizza is like deep dish; a thick crust, square slices and a cooked tomato sauce. At Spumoni, the sauce is ladled on after the cheese, to keep the cheese in place. This is knife and fork pizza, and totally different from what we had at Grimaldi's. It is also quite tasty.

Sicilian pizza at L & B; cheese under the sauce 

Brooklyn history lesson

I learned that Bay Ridge was formerly known as Yellow Hook, until a yellow fever epidemic made the name unpalatable, blue street signs means the street was renamed for someone famous, and that Marc considered Coney Island the alcoholic grandfather of Disney World. Although my grandfather was a teetotaler, I can never go to Coney Island again without thinking of this.

Closed for winter in Coney Island - but there's plenty of parking!

Most of Coney Island's rides and attractions are closed in winter (though there is another well-know pizza place here, too) but Marc led the group for a brisk 15 minute walk along the boardwalk. At this point, stuffed with sauce, cheese and bread, I waddled to the subway for a quick ride home. 

Would I eat at these places again? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Note: I received a free and a fully belly tour for the purposes of this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

Off the Beaten track: Freek's Mill, Gowanus

BBQ kohlrabi over grits

Not long ago, the only reason to go to Gowanus was to strip a car. In fact, when my car was stolen years ago, someone tracked me down and told me where it was - in the Gowanus neighborhood, which at that time was mostly a wasteland between Park Slope and Cobble Hill (Boerum Hill hadn't been 'invented' yet either).

Cocktails

Times change, and the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club, Ample Hills Creamery and Whole Foods have brought attention to this formerly desolate, industrial part of Brooklyn.

Another bright spot is Freek's Mill, around the corner from Ample Hills, but isolated enough that I felt like the late great Madeline Kahn in What's Up Doc, sent to a dilapidated building. But Freek's Mill, named for a mill that was built in the 1700s, is warm and inviting inside, with soft lights, exposed brick walls and candles.

High table in the front of Freek's Mill

The menu, of small plates, changes almost daily; some items stay, or are tweaked, but seasonal produce rules the day. Our waitress recommended 2-3 plates per person; with 5 plates split between 2 people, we were stuffed.

There was kale salad, of course, with Beecher's cheese, but we had had a lot of kale for lunch, so we skipped it. We were able to find more than enough vegetarian choices, though the Brussels sprouts sadly had bacon.

Roasted cauliflower with ricotta

Our favorite dishes were the roasted carrots with thick yogurt and crushed peanuts, and roasted cauliflower with ricotta. Both dishes were served cool and would have been better fresh from the fire. Then there was the BBQ kohlrabi, over decadently rich grits. I could have eaten a bucket of this.

Oysters roasted in the wood fire were also tasty but not hot, and it was a bit off putting that for a place where dishes are meant to be shared, the plate had 3 oysters. How many people go out to dinner in groups of 3? Every table was ether a pair or a foursome, so suggesting we pay for an extra oyster (which we did) seems like a bit of up-selling. Dishes range from $11-$23, but it gets pretty pricey if you eat 3 a person.

Carrots with yogurt and peanuts

The most expensive dish, scallops, was quite lovely, served with baby Brussels sprouts, (again, there were only 3) but it too was cool. And it came just minutes after we'd gotten 2 other dishes, so the pacing was a bit off. Maybe the staff needs more training; when Freek's Mill first opened, it had a no tipping policy, with the extra price built in. That model has changed, but it seems the high prices have remained. We asked our waitress to keep the scallops warm while we ate the other dishes, but she refused.  She also poured some wine on my husband but didn't seem to notice.

Scallops with baby Brussels

Cocktails are fantastic. We had the film noir, a take on a Manhattan with rye and homemade brandied cherries.  A bourbon drink with cranberry was every so slightly sweet but lovely. They were served up and properly icy cold.

The Intersection of Lincoln, Luxury & Hipsterdom: Mast Brothers Chocolate

The actual Mast Brothers, complete with hipster beards

You might not think that artisan chocolate made in Brooklyn would have much to do with Lincoln Motor Company, but last week, I saw how they fit together over a 24 hour period.

First, I went to the Loft Opera's production of Macbeth, at the new Mast Brothers factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The unheated warehouse was the setting for a faithful rendition of the tragedy, and most of the young audience sat on backless benches for the three hour performance, fueled only by the Brooklyn Brewery beer for sale, along with fine chocolate.

Lincoln's swag: bars of Mast Brothers chocolate

The gray and no hairs - i.e., people in my demographic, were mostly the VIP members, who got folding chairs with actual backs. Because theatergoers who can afford more than a $30 ticket require a few more luxuries.

The setting for Lincoln's holiday party

For much the same reason, luxury cars appeal to this demographic. But Lincoln knows its long term success depends on appealing to a younger audience as well, so it has the essence of cool, Matthew McConaughey, starring in its commercials.

And as it happened, the night after the Macbeth show, Lincoln invited me to its swanky holiday soiree, in a penthouse at Lincoln Center. You wouldn't think that this had much in common with the barebones Loft Opera. Yet, along with the canapes and top shelf open bar, heat (something I will now never take for granted) and comfortable seats, there were parting gifts: bars of Mast Brothers chocolate.

You couldn't ask for a better pairing.

A Day in the Country: Thanks Lexus Performance!

The 2017 Lexus RC F fits in with fall foliage

Traffic around New York City can be so bad that many New Yorkers are tempted to stay put. Why venture below 14th St if you are happily ensconced on the Upper East Side, or explore Queens when you live in Brooklyn?

For that matter, why leave the city at all?

Well, when you handed the keys to a $100,000 Lexus performance car, you need to get on the open road. The speed limit on New York City streets is 25 mph, and on highways, it tops out at 50.  If you can even go that fast.

But on a recent drive to Beacon, only an hour or so outside the city, we were able to go 60 miles per hour! Woo hoo.

The 2017 Lexus GS F also looks great

I drove up in the 2017 Lexus GS F and back in the orange hued Lexus RC F sports coupe, which is a relative bargain. It's starting price is only $64,165.

I was excited about our lunch spot, the newly reopened Roundhouse in Beacon. In fact, the restaurant hadn't even officially opened when we went there, so we had a preview menu that offered great vegetarian choices.

The appetizer: make this for Thanksgiving!

The soup was brought to the table with just the dry ingredients; the rest was poured in table side 

The heirloom pumpkin bisque was a must; we got a bowl with some pomegranate seeds, bits of wild mushroom "marmalade," granola and a dried swiss chard leaf. Then the rich soup was poured in table side. A dramatic flourish for a delicious soup.

I made pumpkin soup for Thanksgiving, and some years, I have scattered the top with a swirl of pomegranate molasses, chopped chives and mascarpone. Then I wipe the sides of the bowl with a dish towel and give everyone a perfect Instagram-ready serving. Other times I dump a ladle full of soup in each bowl and call it day.

This year we have 28 for Thanksgiving. Guess which option I'll choose?

Second course

Roasted and raw cauliflower over a rich puree of...cauliflower

Cauliflower has become one of my most versatile vegetables. I roast it, make a rice of it that is great for a gluten free pizza crust, puree it in soups. I've also roasted it whole, which makes a great vegetarian main course.

At The Roundhouse, we had 'cauliflower variations" - it was roasted, pureed, and carpaccio, (aka raw) with parmesan, lemon and pistachio.

My kids favorite was is when I break the cauliflower into florets, dump on some olive oil and salt, and roast it till it's caramelized and soft.  Broccoli also takes to this treatment well.

I would love to spend a little more time in one of the Lexus sports cars to see the art at Dia: Beacon and try more of the local produce featured at the Roundhouse.

Note: I was a guest of Lexus, which paid for my lunch. I was not otherwise compensated; opinions and calories were all my own.

How to Eat Well and b.good

Spicy avocado quinoa bowl at b.good

Like many New Yorkers, I have a bias against chain restaurants. I prefer to frequent a local coffee shop than a national chain, and I almost never choose to eat in a chain restaurant.

I have to rethink that bias with the Brooklyn opening of b.good. This Boston-based chain, about a dozen years old but new to me (despite frequent trips to Boston) quiet landed in Brooklyn Heights last month and is expanding to Jersey City, New Jersey and Park Slope, my Brooklyn neighborhood, soon.

This is a chain with a huge difference: each store highlights local purveyors and farms. In the Brooklyn store, this means using the excellent breads from Tom Cat Bakery, whose artisan breads also grace the tables of Le Bernardin, Jean Georges and Bobby Flay restaurants. Pretty rarefied company.

Some of the local farms used at b.good and the West Side veggie burger

Eight New York farms provide the produce and meat used at the b.good in Brooklyn, so the food is fresh.

And a family foundation provides micro grants to local community organizations; in Brooklyn, the community partner is P.S. 8, a local public school.  On the b.good app, where you can order food in advance (to go in compostable containers, natch) you can donate the the school; when the store rewards you with free meals or sides, you can donate those to the community partner as well.

b.good's seasonal watermelon and feta salad

The tagline is "real food fast" and the fast casual place- meaning you order at a counter and carry your own food to a table - includes kale and grain bowls, burgers (veggie or meat) and salads. It is ideal for a vegetarian or vegan, and has many gluten free options to boot.

I sampled a wide variety of the b.good offerings and was impressed with how tasty and fresh everything was. The spicy avocado and lime bowl stood out: served on a bed of organic quinoa (or a super-grains mix  or short grain brown rice, kamut wheat, hard red wheat berries, millet and lentils) the salad also included kale, black beans, corn, grape tomatoes, cilantro, queso fresco and chipotle. Equally delicious was the power bowl, with kale lentils, carrots, brussels sprouts, crunchy chickpeas and pepitas, over either grain and topped with a local egg over easy.

Hungry yet? The power bowl has easy over eggs

The seasonal salads now include watermelon and feta with arugula, baby spinach  and sundried tomatoes.

Dressings and pickles are made in house; the mustard and ketchup are from Sir Kensington, a wonderful NYC based maker of artisan condiments.

We tried a couple of veggie burgers (also made in house) including the vegan West Side with avocado and fresh salsa, and the Elizel with asparagus and sharp cheddar. You can get any burger with a beef patty, turkey or vegetarian.

b.good also has breakfast bowls, kid's meals and cold pressed juices and smoothies.

Warning: this could be habit forming.


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Forget Farm to Table: Buick Goes Road to Table

On a miserable story day, a bright spot emerged: a shiny new Buick Encore showed up at my door to chauffeur me and a friend to a Road to Table event. A group of about 15 met up on the rooftop of Brooklyn Grange for a yoga class.

The colorful chickens at Brooklyn Grange

But the tropical storm had other ideas. With gusting winds, sheets of rain and no sun to salute, we did a few stretches (under a canopy) and called it a day. For the yoga portion.

The even more colorful bee enclosures at Brooklyn Grange

We still walked around this incredible rooftop farm, where heirloom and organic vegetables supply chefs, a CSA, and a Saturday market. There are bees and chickens, and a greenhouse filled with micro greens.

Look at the rich leather used in the Enclave's interior. Heated seats in the second row!

Though the rain put a damper on our exercise, we were jazzed for our next stop, The Brooklyn Kitchen. For this short journey, we hopped into a Buick Enclave; we wanted to check out the smart slide second row for third row access and we marveled over the double sun roof (alas, it was still pouring, so we couldn't open them, or spend any time examining the exterior).

The point of having these Buicks ferry us around, we learned at Brooklyn Kitchen, is that designers at   Buick use food as their color inspiration.

We used the eggplant, tomato paste, onion and lemon in one dish

Think plum, eggplant and fig; these rich colors inform the exterior color choices chosen by the Buick design team. In fact, we used eggplants to create one of the vegetarian dishes we made for lunch.

First we had to take a knife skills. Turns out, not all of know the proper way to use a knife!

I went a little Sweeney Todd here, but our meal was vegetarian 

We made this gorgeous, very flavorful and healthy dish, but preparing the artichokes took a long time.

Thanks, Buick, for a fun day and inspiration: a new way to prepare eggplant. Plus, now on my bucket list - rooftop yoga when the sun is shining.

Caramelized eggplant, which we added to fresh pasta

Note: My friend and I were guest of Buick for the day. I was not compensated for this post and opinions expressed are my own.

Free Movies in NYC

See Frozen tonight at South Street Seaport - free!

One of the pleasures of summer in NYC is seeing free movies around the city. And as days get shorter in August (I know - end of summer already?) movies can start a little earlier, making them perfect for taking little kids.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has an exclusive event, for members only, where you can picnic and watch a movie  - tonight. This is a rare occurrence - usually, you can't picnic on the lush lawns here, but a couple of times a year, they allow it.

Tonight's movie is the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and there is even a pop-up chocolate shop.

Another venue, open to all, has Frozen tonight. The South Street Seaport sets up chairs for its al fresco movies, saving the backs of aging parents.

The screening, part of the See/Change 2014 series, includes dressing up as your favorite Frozen character.

Seeing all that snow and ice will really make you cherish the last of summer!

French Kitchen Teaches a Thing or Two to Brooklyn D-I-Y-er

The Brooklyn D-I-Y craze has been my ethos long before porkpie hats and soul patches were required to live here (sometimes, yes, on the women, too).

I have a sourdough starter, I always make cakes and pie crusts from scratch and I infuse my cocktails with herbs from my garden.

But one thing long eluded me: puff pastry.

In a classic go-around, I just avoided recipes that called for it. Store bought dough in my homemade creations? Forget it.

Then I got The French Kitchen Cookbook, by Patricia Wells. There Is a recipe for a ‘blitz puff pastry’ that takes 2 hours to make, but most of that time is letting the dough rest in the refrigerator. While the dough recuperates, you can pickle a few artisanal carrots, or master the foam design on your milk froth-er.

Or, of course, you can explore the other hundreds of pages of recipes, including some that don’t seem particularly French – mixed nuts with kaffir lime dust (am incredibly simple stunner, once you find the kaffir leaves). Or the sautéed dates with fennel.

There are a number of vegetarian dishes, including a pear endive salad, eggplant with mint and fish sauce and some lovely fish dishes.

But I was mainly drawn to things like a homemade curry paste, and a hoisin sauce that dances circles around the commercial varieties.

Free Fun: Working out at Lululemon

The only thing I like better than a great workout is a free great workout. Lululemon has various free classes and even though I’m pissed that they abandoned Park Slope, the new Smith St. store is a beauty.

I heard about a free boot camp, run by BCL Fitness – ironically, a boot camp that is regularly held in Park Slope. But Cobble Hill isn’t that far and on a drizzly Sunday morning I hopped on the F train to exercise.

The hopping was a theme; the BCL founder, Melissa, had us hopping over our partners while they held planks. This was interspersed with fun stuff like speed skaters, fast feet into burpees, squats and sprints.

We started out in the store, but then headed outside where our group of 8 attracted curious passers-by. They all looked like they were headed to brunch – Smith St. might be the foodie capital of Brooklyn –but we felt virtuous and empowered.

And just maybe a little forgiving.

Grilled Cheese Nirvana: Meltkraft

A grilled cheese seems like a simple matter, but it is possible, even easy, to screw up. My mother managed to ruin many a grilled cheese, either through neglect (too burned, er, toasted, for my tender palate) or too fancified, with plastic sliced tomatoes.

Meltkraft masters the genre. This artisanal grilled cheese restaurant, which opened right around the corner from me in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is a sibling of the Valley Shepherd Creamery, a gourmet food shop a few blocks away.

There is also an outlet in Philadelphia.

Valley Shepherd Creamery, a sheep farm in New Jersey, makes outstanding cheese, which is one key to amazing grilled cheese. Another is the bread. The outstanding bread is good enough on its own, and simply ethereal when smothered in melted cheese.

For the purist, the Shepherd classic is the way to go. There is just the right amount of crust and crunch, and oozing full fat cheese.  You can customize your sammy with truffle oil, bacon, duck fat or bacon fat for the non-vegetarians, or, if you must, tomato.

There is also a ‘melter skelter’ with pickled green tomatoes, jalapenos, BBQ potato chips and watercress, a messy nirvana that will leave you craving more.

For those who like their cheese cold, the Goat & Beets is a fantastic combo of goat cheese, fennel beets, arugula, honey and walnuts.

The café has a great selection of craft beers on tap, and you can take home a growler. For more kid-friendly fare, organic chocolate milk in a mason jar is the way to go.

But ymmy as the food is (there are also cookies, pastries and soups) the service is sorely lacking. We went on a Saturday just after the place opened, and our sandwiches took 45 minutes to get melted under the industrial toaster. But we gave the place another shot.

This time, one register wasn’t working and no one who placed orders there got their food started. Guess which line we were on? Then we were told that the salad or chip option that comes with the sandwich had turned into a $1 surcharge for the salad. We ordered salads, paid for the upcharge, got chips.

Brooklyn Heights Luxury Gym: Equinox

Many NYC gyms with Brooklyn branches treat their outer-borough siblings as poor relations. Not so Equinox, which has a luxury gym in Brooklyn Heights.

The 5 story fitness emporium includes a spa, a juice bar, coat check and kids' club.

The impeccably clean locker rooms have Kiehl's products, beautiful tile and large, soft towels.

There are also early morning, mid-day and evening classes, with a Pilates studio, spin room and yoga studio.

I was impressed with the number of weight benches, free wights and bosu balls scattered throughout, with trainers who actually returned equipment so you could easily find what you needed.

My only gripe with Equinox is that the cardio equiment only has a few overhead monitors, instead of individual screens. If you like to channel hop, you are limited by the choices, which on the day I exercised, were CNN, CNN and soaps. Doesn't anyone watch here E!?

But the gym also has great music pumping through, so you can remove your ear plugs and be more social.

Franny's: The Cookbook

I usually buy restaurant cookbooks to relive the glorious meals I’ve had at different places: The Greens, Chez Panisse, Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Café, to name a few.

But I have no love for Franny’s, the restaurant. Although some of the food is delicious, some is merely ordinary and I never get a warm, friendly vibe from the place. Since there are so many other worthy restaurants in my neighborhood, I’d rather give my money to another place.

But the cookbook, Franny's: Simple Seasonal Italian, is another story. This wonderful book, by owners Andrew Feinberg and Francine Stephens, along with NY Times food writer Melissa Clark, has so many wonderful – and yes, simple – recipes that I want to dive into it again and again.

I opened it to a fall soup with tomatoes, fennel, pumpkin and escarole.  Amazingly, I happened to have all the ingredients on hand – even some fresh sage and rosemary still clinging to life in my garden.

The soup was rich and incredibly flavorful. Many of the recipes have ‘Andrew’s notes’ at the end, and this one gives a substitution for the Parmigiano rinds that are called for.

I just throw these into the freezer whenever I have them, figuring I’ll find some use later – what a great way to enrich the soup.

Of course, the pastas and pizzas really shine, like penne with spicy cauliflower and spaghetti with chickpeas, perfect for a pre-marathon carbo-load. The pizza recipes are accompanied by a fool-proof pictorial that provides the secret to perfect pies.

Although most of the cookbook centers on family-friendly fare, the adults-only cocktail section offered infusions and bitters that will improve any home bar. I am eagerly awaiting the Greenmarket return of ramps so I can make the pickled ramps for the Ramp Gibson.

Even my husband, who has vowed never to return to Franny’s, was seduced by the cookbook.

“Maybe we can give it one more chance,” he said.

I’m right behind you.

Hunting for Veggies in Brooklyn

Kale salad has become shorthand for a certain type of Brooklyn restaurant, with locally sourced ingredients, hand-crafted cocktails and Fedora-wearing patrons.

In fact, at Hunter’s, it was a woman wearing a Fedora. But I will happily accept a parody of hipster-dom – Brooklyn – landia? for another crack at Hunter’s grilled kale salad.

The salad included toasted chickpeas, toasted squash and hard-boiled egg for a hearty fall starter.  Our friends raved about the chicken liver and bacon mousse, a dish that is sure to make any Jewish grandmother plotz. We ate their delicious vegetarian-friendly pickles.

I first encountered Hunter’s at the Brooklyn Exposed cocktail bacchanalia, Brooklyn Shaken & Stirred, where the Hunter’s Paradise shined: Junipero gin, vermouth, Aperol, OJ and a hint of peach jelly. 

There were even better drinks at the restaurant: the Handsome Hound, a Manhattan-like cocktail with local whiskey & barrel-aged bitters and the Rusty Bulleit, with rye, lime and bitters.

We also happened to come on a Sunday, when bottles of wine are half price.  Score!

I will return again to try the farro risotto, with root vegetables and the beet salad with walnuts and feta.

We had the excellent butternut squash agnolotti, scattered with Brussels sprouts leaves and pumpkin seeds and the wild mushroom pot pie, which has a rich sauce and more root veggies.

Both the Nutella bread pudding and ricotta fritters are warm, sweet endings to a great meal.

Rolling with the Baby - through Brooklyn

When my kids were babies, I resorted to many bizarre tactics to get them to sleep through the night.

Luvs may have come up with one of the most innovative.

Luvs and the Double Duty Divas, who are sending me product for this post (but not for my opinion – that is my own) is offering sleep-deprived Brooklyn parents free taxi rides on October 10th and 11^th.

Since so many of us in Brooklyn are car-free, but baby-blessed, this is the perfect place to offer the nocturnal rides. They are available from 6pm-12am, and can be summoned by tweeting tweet @Luvs with the hashtag #LullabyLift.

Of course, the taxis have car seats and parents get a pack of the new Luvs with Nightlock, so once your baby falls asleep, she won’t wake up from a wet diaper.

I vacuumed with a baby strapped in a front carrier, walked the streets for an hour or more to lull my daughters to sleep and even held one in a car seat over my (running) washing machine.

In Luvs newest commercial parents try different and unusual ways to get their babies to sleep.  What did you try?

Brooklyn Bourbon: Widow Jane

For the most part, I take my bourbon neat. It seems a shame to muck up great bourbon with anything else.

Especially when that bourbon is Red Hook’s Widow Jane.

But the guys at Cacao Prieto have come up with an intriguing variation on the classic cocktail, Blood In The Sand.

This drink is usually equal parts Scotch, cherry brandy, sweet vermouth, and orange juice.

In the version to be served at Brooklyn Shaken & Stirred, the drink will be made with Punt e Mes vermouth, OJ, orange zest and an outlier, Gran Classico.

This Italian bitter, similar to Campari, (one of my favorite drinks) should add just the right bitter note to the cocktail.

Hey, we’re New Yorkers. We live in small homes and have rats in our playgrounds. We have the right to be bitter.

And if the drink overwhelms the bourbon, I think they are also offering unadorned tastes.