Magnolia Bakery

On a brisk Saturday afternoon, I stood on the block long line outside of the famous Magnolia bakery. It was long. I was cold. It was so worth it.

This is what I got (Sorry - don't have pics for these):

-Banana Pudding (12 oz - $4.50; 16 oz - $5.50; single bowl - $24; double bowl - $36) A heavenly concoction of vanilla wafers, fresh bananas and creamy vanilla pudding. I can't wait to get this again. I want to throw a party, just so I can buy the large bowl size and have everyone bring a spoon.

-Cookies (5o cents a pop) I got an assortment of chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookies.

Their cookies are amazing. I don't think I ever had such delicious cookies. It's soft, moist, chewy, and a little crisp (in a good way). I don't know if it's the oven, the recipe or perfect timing, but the cookie has perfect consistency in every bite. My favorite is the chocolate chip =)

-Cupcakes ($2.25 each) I got the vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing in pink, blue and green. I love cupcakes and was eager to get my fingers on these. I'm sad to say that I was disappointed. The icing was tooo sweet and kinda hard. The cake should be light and airy, but was heavy, dense and a little dry.

The bakery is small and is packed on Fridays and Saturdays. The cupcakes go fast, but are replenished quickly. There's a limit of one dozen cupcakes per customer. You can imagine why, since they did start the cupcake craZe.

Check out there menu http://www.magnoliabakery.com/MAG_webMenu3.pdf

Frozen Shrimp

My dad baked these babies and we ate them. It was a pretty straight foward procedure that went well. LOL!

Doesn't it look kinda cute. Too bad it looks tastier than cute.

Il Corallo Trattoria

If you are looking for a cozy authentic Italian restaurant and you are in the Soho area (176 Prince St, near Thompson St), look no further than Il Corallo Trattoria. I was taken here a couple weeks ago and I have been craving their hand made pasta ever since.

Here's a look at the dishes we got:

Gotta start off with delicious fresh bread

A little olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping

Looks like a good salad
I really want to have soup now.

Rigatoni Padani - pasta tubes in a tomato cream sauce w/ parmigiano, fresh smoked mozzarella and pecorina cheese. I am recalling what it tasted like. It truly was heaven. The pasta was perfect - al dente of course!

Tortellini Parmigiano - cheese filled pasta with fresh green peas and prosciutto in a light cream sauce with parmagiano cheese. No peas are in this one b/c a certain someone just doesn't eat it. I won't name names.

Fusilli Boscaiola - a spiral pasta with mushrooms and fresh green peas in a light cream of tomato sauce. Peas are present.

It's nice to end with a cappuccino

I don't know if I have convinced anyone to try this place, but I think I just re-convinced myself that I need to go back. =)