Fanny & Jane Buzz!

Our Mini Choco Buttercream Sammies have been getting some lovin’!

via blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com

The sweet ladies of the Blondie & Brownie blog enjoyed our bite-sized cookie sandwiches last week after discovering them at a coffee shop!   Several Fanny & Jane products are now being offered at the wonderful little coffee shop, Cup on Norman in Williamsburg.  The owners are lovely, and the coffee is delicious–stop in for a coffee and a bite!

Click here to read the full Fanny & Jane review!  And check out the Blondie & Brownie blog to follow “Two girls’ adventures in food”.  Glad you enjoyed the sammies!  Thanks for the review, girls!

And if you aren’t in the neighborhood to grab one of our treats at Cup, as always, all of our sweets are available to order on our website, Fanny and Jane dot com.  Check back often for new treats and sweet deals!

Something’s Going Around

‘Tis the season to get sick.  Thankfully, Jen is the baker extraordinaire and I stay out of the Fanny & Jane kitchen these days.

But I tell ya, one of our bakery’s Peanut Butter Buckeyes could really cure my sick-day blues…I wonder how feasible it is to create a Chicken Noodle Soup Truffle?  Or a Matzoh Ball Bite dipped in dark chocolate!  The idle mind is the chocoholic’s playground.  Or something like that.

our Salted Peanut Butter Buckeyes

Hamentaschen Overload

It seems that you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Jewish holiday.  The year is filled with ’em!  Some are more popular than others.  i.e. gifts for 8 nights during Hanukkah is more favorable than an all-day fast to repent for your sins during Yom Kippur.  The holiday of Purim is definitely a high-ranking Jewish holiday for me — it involves costumes, getting drunk, special cookies, and “boo”ing the bad guy (see: Haman).  So my gang of Monday Night Supper Clubbers decided to host an intimate gathering last night in honor of Purim.  Jews and Goys came together at my apartment, and we all made traditional Purim cookies: hamentaschen!  Turned out that one particular goy gave us a run for our money and consistently made the best-looking hamentaschen all night long.  He really earned his Honorary Jew badge.  Mazel tov, Clayton!

Most hamentaschens are filled with: apricot, raspberry, cherry, chocolate, prune, or poppy-seed.  But after some failed attempts at obtaining poppy-seed filling (Prospect Heights super markets really let us down), we decided we gotta just work with what we got.  And so…the CHICKEN HAMENTASCHEN was born!!

I must admit that I had some serious initial skepticism about these savory hamentaschen.  It was truly an unprecedented ‘taschen flavor…and to be honest, they looked kinda gnarly.  But boy, did I come around!  They were amazing!  Sweet dough and savory chicken?  It’s groundbreaking.  We gotta put a patent on these little guys.  The Chickentaschen!

Over the course of the night, we realized that hamentaschen can come in many different shapes and sizes.  If you don’t pinch the corners of the cookie tight enough, they can come out kinda blobby looking.  It’s all about the pinch.

Nevertheless, the blobs were still deelish.

We noshed on our raspberry and chocolate hamentaschen, played some Taboo, and with our collective Jewish day school knowledge, we put our heads together and pieced together the story of Purim.  I actually forgot what a good story it is!  The reason hamentaschen are shaped like triangles, is to represent Haman’s (bad guy) three-cornered hat he would wear.  Pretty weird and cool, huh?

Supper Club Turns Breakfast Club

There’s something I find especially comforting about clubs.  Especially clubs that revolve around food.  Extra especially clubs that revolve around food and some of my childhood friends.  Three of my oldest friends (one of whom I’ve known since 2nd grade–holla!) have all made the big move from LA to NY within the past few years.  And so we decided that we should celebrate.  With a Monday Night Supper Club!  That said, we certainly try our best to uphold our weekly Monday night tradition.  But between the demands of law school, sketch comedy rehearsals, and occasional late nights at the office, it can be difficult to get all of us together every single Monday night.

Our usual restaurant of choice is the 24 hour polish diner, Veselka, an East village mainstay.  It’s tough to beat a good borscht and challah.  But sometimes when the mood strikes us, we’re willing to venture out.  Because of some scheduling snafus, we were unable to meet on Monday night last week.  So we opted for an unprecedented pre-workday Monday Morning Breakfast Club!

Lucky for us, Clinton Street Baking Co. was declaring February as “Pancake Month”.  We win.  (On a side note, New York is big on this whole “x-food” month thing.  Isn’t February also “Hot Chocolate Month” at City Bakery?  Not that I’m complaining…but what’s with that?)  So, waking up at 6am did not rule.  But waking up to fresh blackberries, pecan streusel and warm maple butter pancakes did very much rule:

Hello.  What a way to start the day.

Looking forward to our Monday night rendezvous tomorrow: in honor of Purim, we’re makin’ homemade hamentaschens at my place!  (If ya don’t know, now. ya. know.)

Holidazed

This past week, Jen and I appeared as “Fanny & Jane” (our fabulous baking alter-egos) for the first time in months!  Since launching our new website and opening up shop on www.fannyandjane.com, the orders have been steadily pouring in — Jen has been shipping tons of orders and baking her butt off, and we’ve simply had less time to appear at events.   The inherent shmoozer in me always loves the opportunity to set up a table, bring our cake bites, and meet our sweet-toothed fans.  So this was a lovely way to spend a Wednesday night.  

Not to mention, it was our first holiday party of the season!!  Which was incredibly thrilling for both of us.  Even though I come from the menorah side of things, I sing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” at the top of my lungs…and two years ago, I even had my own stocking!  I mean, sure we’ve got hanukkah gelt for dreidle gambling, but it’s hard to beat an advent calendar with a piece of chocolate for EVERY DAY OF THE MONTH.  

Jen, on the other hand, is Legit Christmas.  She’s been celebrating since she was born, and I’m totally dazzled by her stories of being a child and waking up to her grandparents and parents and cousins revealing a huge decorated christmas tree in the living room with tons of presents on christmas morning, when the just the day before, the room was empty.  Like magic!  Oh, goys.  I friggin love it.  

Thanks to our friends at Cake Productions for inviting us to be a part of their fun event!

A Very Voorheesville Thanksgiving

The friends and good times…

And then there was food…

Well, that just about sums it up.  A 3-day vacation with some of my besties was just what the doctor ordered.  New York City is a funny place – I love it dearly, but every few months I just need to get the hell out.  And the crisp air of upstate New York, amazing comfort food, and some serious 3 on 3 basketball games were a the perfect little rejuvenators.  It was nice to have all the space in the world to run around, and also to have the option of staying in pajamas till 5pm.

With December practically here (holy cow, what!?), I’m hoping to take some more time off, and go visit my family in California during the holidays.  But procrastination really got the best of me this time, and airline tickets are already in the $600-$700 range!  Eeep.  Not an option.  I’m praying for a miracle, or some mercy from Virgin America.  Otherwise, I might have to get creative and plan a train-able/zip car-able/hitchhike-able East coast adventure for myself!  Any ideas?

And now I’m back in the city.  Back to the daily grind.  Everyone at work today was moving just a bit slower than usual.  It seems I’m not the only one who wasn’t quite ready to return from vaycay.  Or the lethargy could also be attributed to everyone’s happy little lingering buddha bellies filled with mashed potatoes and pie.

And a Happy Thanksgiving To You!

I want everything to be pumpkin flavored these days.  Look at that mound of home made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!  Made on a whim!  Not to be sold through Fanny & Jane, but to be consumed by moi…and whoever else happened to be around in time to snag a cookie before the plate was empty.  My roomies were happy campers that night.

I am now sitting at the computer for the last few hours before I get in a van and drive to an undisclosed location for the holiday weekend.  No, it’s not as creepy as it sounds.  Truth is, my boyfriend and I are spending Thanksgiving in upstate New York, in a town called Voorheesville (who?), with some of our best buds.  Our friend, Adam (who’s family is graciously hosting us for the weekend), rented a van which we will all pile into in 5 hours, and then we are driving to his home which I have never been to.  And then we will, as the tradition goes, stuff our faces and nap.

It’s been a bustling season for Fanny & Jane, which is both happy making and exhausting.  And since Jen has been the queen of the kitchen these past few months, I know that she is very much looking forward to kicking up her feet and helping herself to some mashed potatoes.  All the orders are out the door, and now it’s time to sit and expertly relax.  Although, I hear a game of football on the lawn is part of the Voorheesville Thanksgiving tradition.  So, with the exception of that hour and a half, you can find me relaxing with a crossword or in the midst of a game of Catchphrase.

I just want to take this opportunity now to thank you (it is practically Thanksgiving after all) for following and reading my blog and for supporting Fanny & Jane.  If this is your first time reading, or you’ve been following for a while, or you’re my mom, thank you for “tuning in”.  I’m thankful this year for all the wonderful support I’ve received from friends and strangers.  I am so grateful to have such inspiring, creative, talented, and giving people in my life.

Have a happy and delicious Thanksgiving!

It’s Not A Birthday Without Sweets

Magnolia cupcakes!

First time at the Upper West Side location

YUM

Cupcakes caught him off guard!

Here they come...

Make a wish! George Costanza's watching.

The bday boy

The dust is finally starting to settle after the birthday craziness of October and November.  After a bunch of close friends’ birthdays that fall in those 2 months — including myself, my brother, and Jen — it seems that there is finally some birthday-free weekends on the horizon.  Friend, if I’m forgetting that your birthday is coming up, I’m sorry.  Are you on facebook?  I need those birthday reminders!

Last weekend we celebrated my little brother’s 21st birthday!  It was a surprisingly low key event.  A nice intimate dinner with close friends at one of my pizza faves, Motorino, and some Magnolia cupcakes at home.  Sounds mature.  I guess that’s the difference between 20 and 21.  You start to appreciate the finer things in life as you get older.  Meanwhile, I’m advertising jello shots and encouraging booty dancing at my 24th bday party a few weekends ago, so…

I haven’t had Magnolia cupcakes in a while.  I remember they were alll the rage when I first moved to New York and went to NYU.  They were pretty much the sweets staple at any birthday party/fundraiser/dorm floor event.  But then, as I began to expand my sweet tooth and venture off the cupcake beaten path, I started to discover a whole slew of other lesser known (and often better tasting!) cupcake options in the city and in Brooklyn.  Since the cupcake market in New York is already so saturated, Jen and I decided in the beginning stages of starting Fanny & Jane, that we would explore other comfort sweets options (our red velvet cake bites being the most popular), offering New Yorkers and friends and family an alternative to the usual cupcake fare.  We’ve dabbled in cupcakes before (remember our mini carrot cake cupcakes at the Susan Woo Fashion Week event?) and as the holiday season approaches, we are thinking of trying some special seasonal treats.  Peppermint cupcakes, perhaps?

But enjoying those Magnolia cupcakes for my brother’s birthday the other night, it was a nice reminder of the good ol’ days.  The Magnolia cupcakes that I bought for my roommates, or the time I took my mom to their bakery when she was visiting, or the delicious pick-me-up after finishing a final.  It’s funny how sense memory can do that.  How the taste of the Magnolia frosting can take me right back to Freshman year.  Look people, I eat sweets to help me remember.  And also, because they just taste so good.

p.s. these photos were taken with my NEW birthday gift CAMERA!  Sweet, huh?

And Now…I’m 24

After a full weekend of birthday festivities (I’m talkin’ Girls Night Out For Drinks, a Notable Mention at our Harvard Sailing Team show, a Big House Party in honor of my birthdayoween, and brunch the next day), I am tuckered out.  But in a good way.  The kind of tuckered out that makes you smile and wanna eat ice cream.  Not cry and wanna eat ice cream.

I feel very lucky to have such generous, thoughtful, and party-hard friends in my life.  So generous and thoughtful in fact, that my best girl buds and my boyfriend pooled together to get me a BRAND NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!  I’m over the moon!  This is such great news, because I’ve been a little bummed (and limited to David’s iphone camera) that I haven’t been able to take quality pictures for the blog since my camera screen broke over the summer.  Now, as soon as I figure out how to upload photos to my computer, I can promise lots and lots of pretty photos on here.  Thanks NatalieDavidShawnaJessicaMacKenzie!  I am loving my present.

Not only have I been kept busy with birthday stuff (not to mention the fact that my little bro’s big bday was yesterday, and Jen‘s is on Saturday!), but there’s also been quite a lot of buzzing about Fanny & Jane lately.  Since I’ve been putting in the hours at my new full-time job, Jen has been working tirelessly to move things forward with Fanny & Jane, and I am so pleased to announce…

WE OPENED UP SHOP! 

Our online shop is now taking orders!  You can visit us and check out our new website at www.fannyandjane.com or you can go directly to our shop by clicking here.  Thank you everyone who has shown us love lately, and thanks to everyone who has placed orders!  Up until now, we have been filling orders just by word of mouth, and we have been happy to bring our sweet treats to family, friends, and friends of friends.  But now our sweets are reaching farther, to people we don’t even know, and we couldn’t be more elated to spread the sugar!

Right now I’m running off to a birthday dinner for my lil bro (YES!  More wine and dessert!), but I’ll be back soon with photos from my new camera and more exciting Fanny & Jane news and updates.

Big Girls Slumber Party

After filling several Fanny & Jane orders during our precious “free” time of the last few weekends, it sure is a nice little respite to have these next few days all to myself this weekend!  For instance, since I didn’t have any baking commitments this morning, last night I was able to say YES to an impromptu sleepover at my friends’, Danni and Jarrod’s, loverly apartment on the Upper West Side.  (Well, as evidenced by the above photo, I didn’t exactly realize that I was sleeping over until the next morning when I just sorta woke up in that position).

The night before, my friend Natalie and I, went over to Danni’s place for a much needed ladies catch-up session, and dinner-making event.  We got carried away with the chatting and pre-dinner cheese & wine, that we didn’t actually sit down to eat our meal until 10:45.  Lesson learned: alcohol + late night dinner = immovable on the couch.

But look at our colorful spread!

Aren’t the colors beautiful?  Our autumnal feast included: roasted six-spice butternut squash spears, garlicky kale, and beet-stained penne with a goat cheese crumble.  Maybe one of these days I’ll post recipes… 

Sorry for the crappy picture quality.  I didn’t have my broken camera with me, and my blackberry camera was my only resort!  Fortunately, in the morning I got wise to the fact that Danni had a digital camera I could borrow to photograph our delicious home-made brunch!

our sauteed mushroom, onion, spinach, fresh tomato, basil, and shredded gouda frittata

Danni & Jarrod in their kitchen

Nat!

 

Close frittata!

chow time

 

picture of a perfect saturday part I

picture of a perfect saturday part II

cafe au lait and pumpkin cranberry muffin appetizer

All of a sudden it’s 3:45 and I’ve only left their house once…and it was for a quick morning coffee run.  This has been quite the perfect Saturday.  And now, since I’m on the Upper West Side so infrequently, I’m going to stop by my favorite cookie bakery in the city to stock up on some serious chocolate chip goodies.  And then, I’ll be at the PIT tonight with Harvard Sailing Team for our weekly sketch comedy show.  We have a brand new show, so stop by if you’re around!