Daniel's a big kid now and I'm... eating cookies!

Yesterday was Daniel's first day of school work at Deloitte. Some of you are familiar with this picture:

Daniel's first and last days of school.

Well, we decided to continue the tradition and take a first day of work picture:

I suppose we'll have to wait a few decades for the next picture in the series! 

I've missed Daniel terribly, especially as I am still unemployed. This leaves me with little to do until I find a job or volunteer opportunity. I can't play the doting housewife without my beloved baking supplies, and anyway the apartment only takes about five minutes to tidy! So, other than working on job applications, I explore the city alone. Yesterday I relaxed at Bryant Park and read, then visited the beautiful, marble public library. There, I enjoyed the an exhibit on the history of New York's favorite lunch foods, Then, I visited their exhibit on Charles Dickens which included an intricate gown inspired by the ethereal character of Mrs. Havisham, designed by a student at Parsons. 

Bryant Park may become my favorite place in the city. There are free classes and events going on all the time. Business men are often seen on their lunch break playing ping pong in their suits. It is surrounded by particularly beautiful skyscrapers. 

The view from my table in Bryant Park

Today I woke up without much of a plan, except to visit Dorie Greenspan's cookie shop, Beurre & Sel, which opened this morning in the Essex Market. It broke my heart that I could not come to the opening of my dearest Heidi's North Lime Coffee & Doughnuts, but cookies are a perfect cure for heartbreak, especially when baked by Dorie!

Like the awkward kid who shows up early to the birthday party, I arrived fifteen minutes prior to opening time. Though I still feel a bit sheepish, I can hardly regret it. This afforded me the opportunity of speaking to my favorite cookbook author and her son, Josh, and being the first customer earned me a free cookie! It was a jammer-- melt-in-your-mouth shortbread dolloped with the perfect amount of blueberry preserves. Cookies are my favorite dessert-- more than ice-cream, more than cake, more than pie-- and these cookies are the very best. I ordered a blondie and a World Peace cookie to share with Daniel, but was accidentally given another jammer instead of the WPC. No worries, Greenspan family! This only ensures my imminent return, and I am actually glad of the mistake because I've made WPC's for Daniel before, so now he can try something new. If he gets home from work before I've eaten it. 

Dorie is as perfectly lovely in person as she is in her cookbooks. A couple of years ago, I heard about Around My French Table on NPR, was enchanted by her description of hachis parmentier, and asked for the book for Christmas. This five pound volume changed my cooking and baking life, and brings a little bit of France back into my life every time I use it. I especially love her anecdotes about cooking in France, because I can relate!  

Here's a link to the picture her son took of us. 

I'll be back soon, Beurre & Sel! 

Well, I have found this fantastic list of Free Things to Do in NYC and am off to plan the rest of my week!