Christopher Norman Chocolates

After much gazing and drooling... Over the Flickr chocolate photos of Princess_of_llyr of Christopher Norman Chocolates

I hopped on the 5 and made it downtown to see for myself...

Well, really I was looking for painting material/ "reasearch"as usual /comme habitude...

A pretty well-lite shop at 60 New Street in the Financial District.

With an enticing counter you could spend hours contemplating...

"Australian Baby Ginger"!

Whatever that is sounds good to me :)

Their specialty are unique hand painted "mosaic" chocolates in many flavors - lemon thyme, orange caramel, Green Tea, Framboise, Pomegranate etc.

There are lots of Valentine hearts bien sur - petit fours...

Hand painted hearts in all sizes - big and bite size..

And their special "Tiger Heart Box"- "a passionate collection of hand made chocolates and truffles" with white chocolate, caramel, cherries, espresso, cinnamon caradmom, passion fruit, gianduja - all melt in your mouth on contact!

The Christopher Norman chocolate factory is right behind the shop, so every thing is "fresh off the presses"..

The only way to get better at painting chocolate (not exactly a piece of cake as I've mentioned in the past) is to keep on painting chocolate. This entails some hazards and Little Bear is here to help out. He may even get a chance to come to Paris for further required chocolate research.
THANKS Little Bear! And THANKS princess_of_llyr

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE!!!

BonBon Breakfast

I went to Soho (not to chocolate rehab...but I should have)
To check out the Valentines offerings...
Here a heart hat for your head!
Valentines chocolates suit me better...
Dean & Deluca has a plethora of heart cookies...
And heart chocolates...
And heart-shaped cakes up the whazoo...

More D&D cakes.

A few blocks away on Spring Street, red-doored Balthazar Bakery has lovely Valentine cakes.

Inside pink petit fours (I ate one).

And in the windows heart-shaped cookies...

Berry tarts...

And a red-ribboned chocolate cake!

Don't miss today's NYTimes article on why you should eat more milk chocolate. Plus tasting notes by Julia Moskin

Little bear has been found!
Found reposing on a rose petal, contemplating a Michel Cluizel chocolate heart.

Little bear has expensive tastes.

Hmmm...wonder who he has been hanging out with..

? ? ?

Paris Cupcakes

While I'm very busy here painting mini cupcakes...
Might I remind you these cupcakes are just 1/2" high...
Paris Breakfast reader in Paris, Stephanie Rigg was kind enough to send me photos...
Of GIANT cupcakes she spotted in BCBG's Paris windows...
These may be the only cupcakes to have hit Paris as far as I know...
I've seen way too many muffins...
Too many brownies and too many bagels in Paris.
But cupcakes? pas encore! Hmm....are those pancakes in the background or black and white cookies?!
What is the world coming to?
Still these are GREAT shots Stephanie!
BIG MERCI for keeping us au courrant of what's hot in Paris!

Mean while back in New York, I've misplaced my 1" little bear.

I better call Missing Persons...

BONNE JOURNEE!

Cookie Nonsense

It was really, really slow on Saturday at the store...
So I started looking at the 2,134 photos on Flickr...
And 57 of those photos are mine!
You can even view them as a slide show if you're having a really slow day...
As sometimes happens, my computer went on strike on Sunday...
So I was having another really slow day and I decided to make some mini shopping bags...
To put all my mini boxes into.Here is a comparative analysis of a real small-sized macaron box with my hand mades...

I know you're really more interested

In what's inside...

Those boxes and bags...

Never mind all you non-mini lovers :(

I'm going to go have a mini lunch.

Boulangerie Breakfast

Finally in time for breakfast!

Hmmm...I didn't get today's painting done :(

This was my boulangerie in the Marais.

Boulangerie Sylvie et David Béatrix at 149, rue St Martin

Nothing spectacular.

Just my boulangerie.

Everyone has their own boulangerie in France.
Usually it's the one closest to their house...I tried the Kouign Aman that David Lebovitz is always raving about...
But I think you have to go to Brittany for the real thing, carmelized up the whazoo.These are those little puffy chouquettes, crispy on the outside and moist inside. In France they're the everyday afternoon snack Tartelette loves to make with "pâte à choux" pastry, pronounced (shoo-kett).Linzer Tartes probably aren't Viennese, though the French insist on calling all their breakfast pastries viennoisserie instead of Danish pastries, but they make me think of Merisi's obsession with pastry...And Janice can never stop painting these creamy religieuses.My obsession is anything lemony - Tarte Citron Méringué or Lemon Meringue Tart. I'll take them all!
Dorie Greenspan did an homage to a gateau basque and The Gateau Basque Museum I have yet to try this...

Not a baguette but all boulangeries remind me of a story told in the Patrice Leconte movie, Man on the Train (L'Homme du Train) about a man who goes into the same boulangerie for years and years and only orders 1 baguette...
Damn, I forgot the bread. Would you mind going for a baguette?

Sure.

I hate to ask but I don't like going.

Why?
The salesgirl.

What about her?
It's an old story...

Let's hear it.

Each time I went in there, she'd say, "Anything else? Anything else?" (avec ceci)

One day, I was so fed up and told her that was enough, that if I needed anything else, I'd ask for it.

And?
When I went in the next day, I took my one baguette, paid for it and guess what she said. "Will that be all?"

You didn't murder her?

No, but I buy supermarket crisp bread now.

Boulangerie Beatrix always had nice sandwiches in the window. One day I went in and when it was my turn I asked for the sandwiche de chevre.

You mean the sandwiche FROMAGE DE chevre the salesperson corrected me!

Hmmm...yes. I definitely don't want goat sandwich..uh oh

Bonne petit dejeuner!