Notes From The Road

Hey friends!  I’ve been on the road for the past month to celebrate, sign, and coax people to buy my second cookbook Homemade Decadence.  Literally… on the road, in the road, get-out-of-the-road-trying-to-take-a-picture-of-that-bridge-or-you’re-going-to-get-hit-by-a-car.

I’ve been in cities east and west, made countless pies, and written awkward paragraphs in many many books.  Here are a few images from the road.  Lots of coffee.  Lots of life.

These are the days!  Thank you for being part of them with me.

Note:  The booties above are Seychelles (since so many of you were curious).

New York City… you’re such a mondo, mega, ridiculous, and exciting place.  The veins.  The pulse.  The thumps and thuds.  You’re everything, terrifying, and tremendously exciting.

I started my book tour with a celebration at MacKenzie Childs‘ Flagship store at 20 West 57th in NYC.  The morning was full of whimsy and decadence and we shared brunch with new friends.

Imagine Alice In Wonderland, all grown up, in the middle of Manhattan.  Also… I covet Mini Courtly Check Enamel Pedestal Platter.  I’m going through a black and white phase, obviously.

I wanted to visit the NYC Public Library because… well, you reconstruct the dramatic scene from Sex and the City.  Instead I found Maleficent and her minions.

Totally normal.

I was in stunning New York City with one of my best friends Whitney.

It’s good to have a friend in New York.  You can get into trouble and then play it off like it ain’t no thing.  Whitney also knows ALL of the best restaurants to try.  I basically just follow her wherever she goes.

The back patio at Maison Premiere reminds me of New Orleans, and really cool people, and waiting for table for hours, and fancy cocktails, and servers with attitude.  Oh… wait.

All of the oysters and all of the cocktails.  Thank you.

Art at a house in Soho.  AKA I know this feeling.

Too much?

These are the days, aren’t they.  They really are.  They really are.

2am streetlight glow.  Just trying to find my way home.

My book signing at  The Brooklyn Kitchen was tremendous.  We made pies, drank beer, took mega pictures together.  It was supreme indeed.  Brooklyn Kitchen has some really stellar events, a butcher shop like WHOA, and aaallll of the kitchen things you want.  It’s awesome.

KitchenAid has been lovely enough to join me on this book tour.  I’ve been making pie crust in their 11-cup food processor AND giving away food processors at the signings.  I mean… pretty rad.

The flower stand and book store at Club Monacco in New York is so lovely.  I would like to stay for a good long while.

Tiki bar meets ultra lounge with the finest of cocktails… the very finest.  Have you been to ZZ’s Clam Bar?  Get the Pistachio.  Don’t fight with me on this one.

Windows look into other windows in NYC.  It’s a mirror game.

Penn Station makes me anxious.  Wait and wait and wait and wait and RUNNN!  There’s got to be a better way.  No?

October vibes train view on my way to Philadelphia.

All of the lines at the Philadelphia train station.  Structure.

They let me into the library to make pies in front of people and write in books.

They did a lot of hard work to build America in Philadelphia.  Bells and halls and history.

Also… ALL of the donuts at Federal Donuts.  

Lunch with Art in the Age at High Street on Market. The grilled cheese and soup are perfect for rainy cold Philadelphia days.  

This lunch was also the inspiration for my Apple Snap Cocktails!

I drove from Philadelphia to Vermont to teach pie baking at the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center.  The air felt crisp and clean and I listened to Emeli Sande like it was going out of style… which it’s NOT.

Waiting for class to start, marveling at the fact that I have two cookbooks and travel around talking about them.  That’s just crazy.

All the people making all the pies.  I love King Arthur Flour + Vermont.

Can we talk about San Francisco from the sky?  It’s beautiful.  But who is the person that thought that Alcatraz prison was a good idea?! That seems just crazy… totally crazy.

A sticky bun with my MAJ.

You can have everything in this store if you have 18 billion trillion dollars.  No joke.  It’s pretty and perfect and speckled and you’re not supposed to take pictures… so there.  March, San Francisco.

Burma Superstar where the best Burmese salads are made.  1,000 ingredients.  1 million times awesome!

Library and blue skies in the Presidio.

Tracy is showing me ALL of the Vine videos before I go make pie in front of people and sign cookbooks.  That’s what friends are for.

Late night Nopa.  I love the line.  That’s where all the romance is.  All of it.

Seattle.  Known for its coffee, its needle, and my sister.

Right?

Maple Buttermilk at Top Pot.  

Two sisters.  One Seattle.

Cinnamon Works at the market.

Can we take a moment to talk about Seattle coffee?  It’s INCREDIBLE.  It’s so cared for.  It’s a ritual.  I drank WAY TOO MUCH and tried to balance it out by drinking all of the wine.  Success?  No.

This:  Milstead & Co.

We should also talk about the beards, and the coffee served in wine glasses, and the self-righteous customers at Slate Coffee.  The beards tho.  The beards.

Years ago I lived in Seattle and worked at a crappy restaurant, worked really hard in school, and didn’t have a ton of friends.  I took to straight up asking people if they wanted to be my friend.  It worked.  My old friend Jakeee used to live in this building in Seattle and all the memories of his giant pet tortoise Morla and his many copies of Hunter S Thompson books came flooding back.

Now there’s a bandaid car out front and no Jakee inside because time goes on and does what it does.

COOL STORY.

Thank you to each and ever one of you who has joined me to make pie, allowed me to write in your book, and smiled as I awkwardly wrote an entire paragraph.  Your support and excitement is exactly everything to me.  Also thank you for allowing me to discuss important issues such as butter and drunk texts.  I mean… let’s just be real people.  Right?

This: Book Larder