As we all get ready for our elegant New Year's Eve dinner parties (ours is at an undisclosed location) we are thinking about the friends, food, fun, places and events we enjoyed this year. 2009 was great. We reached more readers than I ever anticipated with some really exciting and interesting stories, our sarcastic and satirical comments (which some don't always get) and food, lots of food. We hope that all of you enjoy a Happy, Healthy 2010! We can't do it for as long as we have without the help and assistance of so many. Here is a small list of the people we owe a huge amount of gratitude to this year: Aidan Brooks, Anderson Cooper (yes, that Anderson Cooper) Blair Baldwin, Chris Lyons, Lillian DeVane, Elizabeth Lascaze, Ashley Horton, Lisa Orgler, Ranveer Brar, Renee and Julie, all of our loyal readers and, of course, the gang at Foodbuzz and 451 Marketing, who opened our eyes. I hope you enjoy our photo album featuring some of the best pics of 2009. Get your bibs on, some are really mouth-watering.
As a columnist for Anglotopia I follow all the news in London and elsewhere in the U.K. Recently we began to wonder just where in the U.K. we have readers. So, we added a new widget which allows one to see all of the places in the world where people are reading TBF. Lahaina, Athens, Annapolis, even China! Just click the red bar on the left to see.
For an Anglophile, The Queen's Christmas Greeting is an annual tradition. We thought we'd share it with our TBF readers this year. In 2009 the message has been jazzed up a bit and edited with other images. In the past it has been strictly Queen Elizabeth reading the message. So, we highly approve of the new look.
I am off to a long weekend at the country house and plenty of family time. We'll be fighting the cold with our buttery chocolate caramel turtle cookies, a little something we invented for Christmas this year. It goes well with warmed milk topped with Callebaut chocolate shavings. We'll have the recipe for you in the New Year. Happy, relaxing, fun holidays to all. In the meantime, we leave you with some of our favorite seasonal images taken over the past few weeks. See you on December 31st.
Our Christmas morning breakfasts are every bit as lavish as the dinners. They always feature some delicious, homemade, fresh pastry or baked goods. This year it's Blueberry Muffins With Streusel Topping. They are not that difficult to make and will fill the home with an aroma that will even make the kids abandon their toys for something good to eat.
Ingredients For Cakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg 1/3 cup milk 1 cup blueberries
Ingredients For Streusel
1/2 cup white sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup butter, cubed 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin tins or line with muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup, add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with the flour mixture. Fold in the blueberries gently. (If canned or frozen, drain and rinse). Fill the muffin tins or cups to the top and sprinkle with the streusel mixture.
Streusel Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with a fork and sprinkle over the muffins before baking.
The group gathers for the tour and meets David Goldstein, Founder of Boston Chocolate Tours, and tour guides.
We spent part of our weekend walking about the city as part of The Back Bay Chocolate Tour organized by Boston Chocolate Tours. While we won't give away all of the surprises, we will give you some highlights on what to expect. The tour begins at Tealuxe on Newbury Street and begins with a cup of hot cocoa which was nice to have in this weather. The groups are limited to no more than 15. You do get samples and experiences at every stop along the way and a bottle of water to clear your palate. Everyone is provided with sample bags in case you reach chocolate overload and want to take your treats home to savor later. Great idea!
We were ushered into the tasting room at Hotel Chocolat, the only one of its kind in the City.
Our first stop was Hotel Chocolat, the most informative visit along the route. Here we learned about chocolate production, had a formal tasting and learned about their many exotic flavors.
The very informative tasting at Hotel Chocolat.
We begin our chocolate tasting experience at Hotel Chocolat.
It wasn't just food. We experienced lots of other cocoa based products including this chocolate soap.
Teuscher Chocolatier on Newbury Street, Boston.
Teuscher Chocolates was founded in a village on the Swiss mountainside over 70 years ago. They have resisted the urge to expand to large scale manufacturing and still produce their signature product, the Champagne Truffle, employing the original method. Fresh shipments are then flown into this Boston location weekly. For TBF, this was the premium taste we experienced on the tour. The creamy Dom Perignon Champagne core is an incredible taste experience.
The jewel in the crown: Champagne Truffles by Teuscher.
Bacon and chocolate! Just one of the many samples at Gourmet Boutique.
Gourmet Boutique in Copley, a real hidden gem for gourmet shopping.
We also visited Gourmet Boutique, tucked in a little corner inside the Westin-Copley Shopping Mall. This was new to virtually everyone on the tour but has been providing gourmet delights to sophisticated Bostonians for years now. They are also the premier source for caviar in Boston. Drop in and visit Anya Zelfond, whose official title is Gourmet Princess, for those hard-to-find euro candies and treats you've found on faraway travels but can't locate a source for here at home. If they don't have it they will find it for you. Their chocolate bacon bar was the biggest seller on the tour.
Some of the many hard-to-find items at Gourmet Boutique.
We leave you with this little video of the tour experience provided to us by Eric Leist, a friend and fan of TBF.
