A Few Bites From Vacation

Spring break has come and gone. I barely blinked!
I had a wonderful week - I headed to New York and New Jersey to see a dear friend and her adorable babies. The family recently moved from Seattle to New Jersey and I missed them so much.
It was a great escape from the gray and gloom of Portland. The East Coast was bright and cold. Perfect walking weather. We made the most of it! Hello Central Park!
After wandering through Central Park, we stopped for a bit. What is better for breakfast than a cupcake and cup of coffee from Magnolia Bakery! (Hey, it was vacation!)

One of my favorite days was a mini road-trip to upstate New York, where my grandma lives. Growing up my family flew back East to visit the rest of our family every few years. No trip was even complete without a visit to Cohen's Bakery. My dad has no self-control in the bakery. Daily trips would end with an armload of pumpernickle bread, poppyseed cake, ruggulah of all flavors, and of course, the black and white cookie.

Turns out the apple doesn't fall from the tree.

I won't go into detail, but we ended up returning to the bakery 3 times in the course of 4 hours. I loved introducing my friend and her son to the black and white cookies! (And raisin pumpernickle, ruggalah, sugar cookies, and poppyseed cake!)

We had a great sugar high going...

I have never found a black and white cookie in Oregon. (Any suggestions??) I have made Joy the Baker's cookie recipe. It was a close substitute, and will have to hold me until a go back to visit!