Pandemic adjustments for serving La Prima Espresso customers delicious coffee.
I had my first cup since the beginning of 2020. You can’t go inside now but they’ve found a way to offer safe service.
The coffee as wonderful as ever!
Carrie, you would LOVE it!
My friend R came for coffee on my front porch Saturday morning. She brought lovely French pastries. And a box of……
Cannelés from Gaby et Jules French bakery In Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh.
(Click here for a recipe if you don’t have a French bakery nearby)
(pronounced “can-eh-lay”), also spelled canelés. They come from the Bordeaux region of France..” from Chef Iso website “ basic ingredients–milk, flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and vanilla. But baking them at high heat in ridged fluted molds transforms them from a liquid batter to deep golden brown treasures. The outer shell is crunchy and crisp while the inside is delicious custard.”
Early in the Pandemic my friend Debbie shipped scone mix and an unusual kitchen tool. A “brodpisker”in Danish or a Dough Whisk.
Here’s an Epicurious article all about this wonderful tool.
(Of course, you don’t want to overwork you’re scone dough!)
Thanks, Deb.
A friend sent three boxes of Scones mix.
When the surprise arrived, I didn’t have one of the essential ingredients- a stick of butter.
Today I followed the directions and baked them.
Mmmmm Thanks Deb.
They were delicious.
One week to go in the NaKniSweMo challenge. Sponsored by McWalker Yarns of Millvale PA.
At least 50,000 stitches total in your completed sweater- Bound off, blocked, all ends woven in. Cast on was November first to be finished by midnight November 30th. The sweater party will be held at McWalker Yarns Saturday December 7th at 2PM.
You can check out last year’s sweater fashion show here
I’m a little behind this year. A lot behind.
An inch of ribbing and two sleeves. My arms are pretty long. I’d better stop blogging and knit.
With houseguests, touring the city and travel to Ohio I didn’t knit the past five days. Uh-oh.
Rhubarb colorway of Winterburn Yarn by Baa Ram Ewe spun and dyed in Yorkshire. The pattern is Purl Code Sweater by favorite knitwear designer Isabell Kraemer.
I’ve knit lots of words into my sweater using Morse Code alphabet.
No names of aristocrats for the guillotine, as the memorable character Madame DeFarge knits in Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities. We had to read it in high school but fifty years later I still remember.
The knitted messages I knit into the sweater are the people I love, place names, favorite lyrics and favorite books from childhood.
All you need is love.
At noon, I met my former teaching colleague and friend Jennifer for lunch. Her suggestion. My first visit to Geppetto Café – Butler Street in Lawrenceville neighborhood ofPittsburgh. Open for breakfast or lunch. It is a delightful place to eat and the service was excellent.
Coffee,latte, espresso, teas, milkshakes (a Nutella milkshake was on the menu) and ice cream. too.
Savory crepes, sweet crepes, eggs, fruit, waffles, paninis and salads. Mmmm. I had the Challah French Toast. Jen ordered The Bonjour pictured below- scrambled eggs and Brie in a crepe with fresh fruit on the side and Applewood Smoked bacon on top. A leaf shaped dish of maple syrup.
Patrons have contributed much of the decor. I didn’t count all the wooden Pinocchio figures but the owner graciously showed all the items that people have brought in- the books, paintings,wooden Pinocchio puppets and marionettes.
Margaret Welsh wrote a wonderful review in City Paper calling Geppetto Café a “European-style breakfast nook.”
How about all these books suspended in net from the ceiling?
A snowboard bench in the front.
P.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio_(1940_film) “PInocchio is a 1940 American animate musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions based on the Italian children’s novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It was the second animated feature film produced by Disney, made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)” Geppetto was the wood carver/carpenter who created the wooden puppet Pinocchio who can” become a real boy”
The three kings made it to the manger at my friends’ home. The Christmas/Epiphany spirit was still in full celebration this morning. What a lovely spread. I had coffee and cookies with milk poured from a cute cow pitcher. We caught up on our latest family adventures and remarked how quickly the grandchildren are growing.
It’s always good to enter a place where you are loved. Take time to connect with positive and kind friends.
Looks like I’m having coffee all by myself and now realize I should have made sure another cup was in view. This pic doesn’t tell the whole story.
Last Friday I was invited to Grandparents’ Day at Michael’s school. I had such a wonderful time seeing his classrooms and meeting his teachers- but before that –
Coffee and doughnuts were served.
I had to look twice at the bottom left doughnut and yes, I pulled out my phone to document what I saw. The man behind me was laughing. I said, “I’m a blogger. I’ve never seen one before.”
Yes, it’s a Bacon Maple Doughnut! I didn’t sample it, just photographed it.
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