The Dooryard

Hot Chocolate

I love hot chocolate. Heck, I love chocolate; But hot chocolate brings with it so many wonderful feelings and memories of sledding on a snow day and getting out from the cold at my parents' cabin in Maine. As a kid, we always had pretty crappy hot chocolate made from a powdery sugary mix from Swiss Miss. In the last year, however, I have discovered hot chocolate made in a way that has renewed my love affair with it.

It came last winter when I was watching Martha Stewart make hot chocolate with real chocolate (recipe). I tried it out on our trip to Aspen last January and it was divine. I haven't made it yet this year, but I rediscovered The City Bakery's hot chocolate (above) that, at $5 (with an extra marshmallow), is the best I've ever had from a store. And I just discovered that in February of last year, The City Bakery had a hot chocolate festival, with a different flavor every day (pray it returns this year!).

A side note: Avoid Starbucks' hot chocolate. While their coffee is strong in flavor, their hot chocolate is little more than a chocolate syrup warmed up with hot milk.

New York magazine did a review of the city's best hot chocolate, which you can find here.

Love me some soul food

I love soul food. I was introduced to it in Los Angeles when I worked at Disney. My boss in the movie department at Disney - a rather large stereotypical New Yorker named Carol - loved Angel Lena's Sould Food Kitchen, and she got me hooked. We'd go there or to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in Hollywood for lunch; and when we got back to the office we'd sit in her car for a half hour with the A/C blasting and our feet up on the dash board, trying to digest the food.

Well, I've found a soul food place in Manhattan that would do Carol proud - Maroon's. I went there about a year ago and just went back tonight with Dan. I had the stuffed and smothered pork chop - unbelievable. Plus, I just feel so completely comfortable there; I always feel more comfortable around black people than I do white people. I don't know why.

If you go, check your diet at the door. There's tons of butter and cream in everything I've ever had there, but you can probably avoid some of that by ordering the fried food. Boy is it worth it.

Mandoo

There's a great little Korean restaurant in the neighborhood where I work called Mandoo Bar. Their specialty is little dumplings they call "Mandoo." I know they're not very good for my waistline, but I can't help but get them once or twice a week for lunch. I've teased the host that they must put some secret addictive ingredient in there; she smiles but doesn't deny it! Mool mandoo - boiled pork dumplings - are my favorite.

Some great Cape food

One of the best parts of our last trip to Cape Cod was the food. It seems like every time I opened my mouth, something wonderful was going into it.

We made a return trip to Chillingsworth in Brewster. For my money, it's the best restaurant on the Cape. With alcohol, it comes in around $90/person. For a delicious seven-course meal, exceptional service, in a beautiful 300-year-old house, you can't beat it. Having worked there for three summers, the owners, Pat and Nitzi, along with a couple staff members who are still there, are all incredibly warm and generous. It's a permanent part of our summers, and I love it.

We made a wonderful discovery in Provincetown Monday night: Martin House (above). Again, an incredible meal. We both settled on the lobster in orange butter on a slice of polenta and baby white asparagus. One of the best meals I've ever had! Again, tucked in a little corner of Commercial Street, it's in a house of 250+ years. The service was incredible, as was the atmosphere.

Of course, no trip to Provincetown would be complete for me without some ice cream from Lewis Brothers. It's the most popular ice cream stop in Provincetown, but I've heard more and more people complain about it in recent years. Still, their black raspberry with chocolate jimmies is a fave.

My trip also wouldn't be complete without a sausage or meatball sub from George's Pizza. I've been going to George's for as long as I can remember. There's one in Harwichport, and for my father's taste, it's the best pizza around. I'm not a big fan of the pizza, but the subs - to die for! I do love the pizza at Spiritus, though - which we dove into post-bar on Saturday and Sunday nights. The scene there is a bit much - but, it was also where I first told Dan, five years ago yesterday, that I had a strange, wonderful feeling about him. More on that later.

For brunch, Dan's favorite spot is Cafe Heaven, right on Commercial Street. It's a quaint spot with some pretty good food. Though, the Portuguese Sweet Breat french toast I tasted there this time around wasn't so hot.

The right cosmo

With that said, I have a beef. So many people - including professional bartenders - have NO idea how to make a cosmopolitan. It is my drink of choice - in part because it tastes good and in part because it makes some people cock an eyebrow when they see Cyd the Jock walking around the bar carefully holding a pink drink in a martini glass by the stem.

PINK. I said PINK. A cosmo should not be red; the cranberry juice is used to simply give the drink a LITTLE color. But, so many bartenders drown the alcohol with cranberry juice, which simply ruins the flavor. Note the recipe calls for a "splash" of cranberry, not a jar of it. If I wanted a Cape Codder, I'd order a Cape Codder (not a "Cape Cod" as some people call it).

On the Wagon

On July 2, standing on the deck of the Crown & Anchor to get some fresh air after dancing for almost an hour, I realized that I had had alcohol for at least 21 straight days. I think the number is closer to 30, but it was at least three straight weeks. I decided then that it was enough.

It is so easy to drink alcohol every night in New York City. There are so many places and events that offer free alcohol; when you have dinner with most friends, they're drinking alcohol; when you want to get together with someone in the evening, they always want to meet "for drinks" at a bar. I'd never seen so much alcohol consumed as I've seen here; and I've probably tripled my alcohol consumption from two years ago.

For five straight days last week, I had no alcohol. It was the longest break from it since I moved here. In the last 10 days, I've had two drinks. I was going to go "cold turkey" the way I did with caffeine four years ago; instead, I've simply made myself very conscious of my alcohol consumption, and I've consciously cut it way down.

Brain Freeze

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Slurpee - that day-glo-colored drink served at 7-11s. I've had plenty of them in my day, and plenty of DQ's Mr. Misty and other slushy drinks. We were at the DQ in Harwichport last weekend. Dan ordered a purple (I think they come by color now, not flavor) super-frozen-slushy-thing and, after a few sips, got "brain freeze." He was even tearing up, it hurt him so bad. I've never had a brain freeze from a drink or food - while I could see he was in a lot of pain, I couldn't really understand it.

Of course, he kept drinking away until it happened a second time (more tears, more putting his head in his hands). And then he finally threw the thing away.

Chillingsworth on Cape Cod

I spent three summers bussing and waiting tables at Chillingsworth in Brewster, Mass., one town north of my hometown. I guess that makes me a little biased, but it is the best restaurant I've ever eaten at. Dan and I went last summer and had an incredible meal. Dan is a big fan of red meat, and he had what he called "the best steak I've ever eaten."

Run by Pat and Nitzi Rabin, the restaurant resides in a sprawling 300-year-old fisherman's house on a six-acre wooded plot. In the main dining room (and if you go for the first time, you HAVE to dine in the main dining room) you are served a seven-course meal with offerings like Creole Lobster Cream Soup, Jumbo Lump Crab with Curried Cauliflower, incredible Saffron Risotto, the best in fresh seafood, wild game and beef, and desserts that will completely satisfy.

The Good Earth

One of my treats while I was in LA last weekend was going with my friend Chris Fife to The Good Earth on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City. Fife says it's the hippest strip in the Valley now - and given how packed TGE was Saturday morning, I believe it.

The trip reintroduced me to the best decaf tea you can get in a box. The tea is an incredible blend of Masai, Rose Hips, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Lemon Grass, Peppermint, Papaya, Anise, Orange Peel and Ginger. Plus, no caffeine to screw with my migraines. If you're a tea drinker, order yourself a couple boxes of this elixir - you'll be glad you did.

Support Cynthia's

One of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles has always been Cynthia's. It's a restaurant of about 15 tables on Third Street. The spot is famous for three things: great fried chicken, even greater blackberry cobbler and a grating owner whom many have wanted to punch.

People go there for all three reasons. The first two are easy; Cynthia herself - that's another story. She can be the nicest person in the world, coming to the table, chatting, making sure everything is OK; but, if you're not nice to her, she just won't take it and then devilspawn can come out of her.

It's the latter part that has gotten her a lot of attention in the last three weeks, when the friend of an assistant from Paramount sent an e-mail to everyone she knew, in hopes of ruining Cynthia after Cynthia "ruined" the girl's birthday party.