Nectar & Light

 

i have a special post for you today to make up for my sporadic posting.  a recipe - can you believe it?  how long has it been?  and this one is special for a variety of reasons - mostly because it is made with the bitter chocolate loaf from scratchbread here in brooklyn.  i have been shooting for scratchbread the last few weeks {pics coming soon!} and in turn, indulging in their insanely perfect baked goods.  i have also been a bit obsessed with the kraken and have been trying to do as much with it's divine deliciousness as possible - i am not surprised it found it's way into our breakfast.  and together they make... 

black rum bitter chocolate french toast:

{note:  while any bread will work for this recipe - if you can get your hands on scratch's bitter chocolate loaf - please do!}

~ 1 loaf of bitter chocolate bread cut into 1 inch slices

~ 5 eggs

~ 1/2 c. milk

~ 1/4 c. heavy cream

~ 1 T. vanilla

~ 2 T. black rum

~ 1 t. cinnamon

~ 2 t. orange zest

Put the bread aside and whisk the remaining ingredients together.  dunk one slice at a time into the mixture and cook in a lightly buttered pan until the surface of each side just begins to caramelize.   and because you can never have too much kraken at breakfast - make this too... just whisk everything together and warm slightly before serving.

~ 1/2 c. maple syrup

~ 1 T. orange juice

~ 1 T. black rum

back with more this week...

xoox~jla

 

a special, limited-time pop up shop - the favorites - featuring your favorites {and mine} from the last four collections... 

xoox~jla

 

another amazing week in new york.  my parents arrived mid-week and we have been having so much fun discovering new finds in the neighborhood and adding the final touches to the apartment.  the girls are making new friends quickly in the neighborhood park and we took a leisurely stroll through our beautiful community garden.  toby's public house {literally around the corner} and sidecar {just down the street} are our new favorites.  sidecar features some of the most amazing and original cocktails ever and adie downed her first plate of fried oysters - such a happy girl.  we found an amazing antique glass and brass bar cart this weekend and bought some delicious ginger syrup from morris kitchen while at the flea market.  dry dock is our new go-to and i am so happy to finally have been able to visit saipua - more gorgeous than i could have imagined.  

i will check in later this week - happy monday friends...

xoox~jla

p.s. a peek at the dining room.

 

we are wrapping up our first weekend in brooklyn - and it was a good one.  while we spent the majority of this last week putting together the apartment and exploring our own neighborhood {which i don't think i could love more - it makes me so happy to walk king ludwig in the evenings and feel the lovely, quiet charm of our streets - full of laughter and families}; we spent the weekend exploring brooklyn itself.  saturday morning we made our way over to the brooklyn flea and had an early lunch of red hook lobster pound lobster rolls, the good fork dumplings and people's pops.  we ate brownie's that brought tears to my eyes at scratch bread and stopped to pick up some goodies at whimsy & spice {whose jenna has been so wonderful to answer my questions about our move} and found a few little treasures for our new home.  as we sat on the steps having our lunch ayla announced "this is the best day of my life." 

today we met jen for brunch at bubby's and the girls ran around like crazy at the brooklyn bridge park before we took the ferry to governor's island for art-making and ice-pop eating.  it was a wonderful weekend and though we all look at each other with a glint in our eyes and a secret smile to say "we live in brooklyn!  can you believe it?" - den and i were just discussing how it feels as if we have always been here, how the shift has been nearly transparent.  den looked at me with a smile and said, "it means we are supposed to be here."

xoox~jla