Weekly Update!

Brunches & Baking!

Before I start talking about this week, I have to mention where I went last weekend, as I didn't do a weekly view post due to being in Croatia for the majority of the week. On Saturday I went to an event being held for ten weeks called 'Up In Your Grill'. It is a pop up bar/ food joint in Brownsfield Mill, a disused warehouse in Ancoats, where each week three food outlets have stalls to sell their wares, as well as a bar selling cocktails and local ales, and a DJ playing on the decks.I had a Mumma Schnitzel burger that was a chicken schnitzel with bacon, cheese, barbecue sauce and homemade slaw, so good!

This week has been good as I had a few days off after Croatia before being back in work. On Monday I met up with my friend Rick and his little boy, and we went to McDonalds for lunch. It was the first time I'd met Kieran, which was nice as Rick talks about him all the time. In the evening I did a great yoga class, and then Mo came round for the evening.

On Tuesday I had my speed awareness course, which took four hours! It actually wasn't too bad though, it was interesting and I was with a good group of people so it could have been much worse. On Wednesday Mo had the day off work so we went for lunch in Manchester at a place called Moose. It is an American style diner, so I had French toast with bacon and maple syrup - not quite as good as New York, but still mega tasty! I accompanied it with a caramel macchiato, and Mo had a beef patty with eggs and bacon in a brioche bun with homefries.

Thursday was my first day back at work, but it wasn't too bad as we started with a walk into Hale and breakfast in Cafe Gourmand. I had scrambled eggs and bacon with a croissant, two great brunches in a row! The rest of the day we just chilled out as Aum was a bit jet lagged. Today has been much the same, although we went to my flat to bake some blondies (white brownies) in the afternoon with Mo and this evening I had tea at my parents before coming home and catching up with this seasons Geordie Shore. This weekend is a Bank Holiday and we are at a wedding (see next week's post) so I'll sign off now to get some beauty sleep!

Travellers' Tales...

NYC - Part 3 (Thurs & Fri)

Thursday was the day Anjali was leaving for her course in Miami, so we had breakfast in the diner as a send off - I had nutella stuffed french toast! After we'd dropped Aum off I hung around the hotel for her to leave her bag with me and dop Aum's stuff off. I went to the gym for a bit and then chilled out in my room until it was time for pickup.

After I'd collected Aum we went straight into Manhattan to the Dominique Ansel Bakery; home of the famous croissant/donut or cronut as it's known. Unfortunately they had sold out, so we got some of their mini madeleines and a pastry called a Paris-New York that was two puff pastry circles stuck together with chocolate and caramel cream. We sat outside in the garden area for a while and then walked onto the main street (casually passing Lana Del Rey on a date in a restaurant along the way!).

We jumped in a cab to Gansevoort Street, where the High Line starts, but Aum was a bit tired so we went for dinner instead. As we were in the Meatpacking District, it seemed only right to have American food, so we went to a diner called The Sugar Factory that was amazing! When you walked in there was a wall of sweets, and a cocktail menu encorporating them - gummy bears in vodka, marshmallows in Caipirinhas, smoking Margaritas - I wish some of the girls had been there so we could sample some!

 I had a turkey burger with cheese and Aum had a chicken burger, both served with skin-on fries. I also had a grape soda cocktail which was really good - although mine didn't come with a sweet! We headed straight home afterwards as it was getting late and we had one more day of summer school before the weekend!

This morning after the school run I went straight into Manhattan back to the DA Bakery. I queued for an hour for a cronut, and then they ran out when I was just four people from the front - devastated! I read my new book in the queue though and it was sunny, so it wasn't too bad.

From there I walked into Mid-Town and went shopping, buying lots of presents for people! I had a bite to eat from Breads Bakery at the outdoor food market in Greeley Square and then caught the PATH back to do the school pickup.

We had a bit of a break back at the hotel before going across the river to the Metropolitan Museum. It is huge! Aum loved it and there were loads of interesting exhibits, including one by Charles James on dresses which was great to look around - Aum didn't seem to mind!

There wasn't a great deal of restaurants around the museum area (the rooftop bar only did drinks, although we went up for a peek at the view whilst the sun set) so we walked for a while until we came to EAT Cafe & Deli. I had crab cakes and Aum had tomato and basil pasta, which were both lovely, although it was quite expensive, probably as it was in the 5th Avenue surroundings (where all the high-end designer shops are).

We got a taxi back to the station and caught the PATH home, I can't believe it is so late already; at least it's the weekend tomorrow!