NYR #42: Start a day with churros from San Gines

This is another one from WAY back in March (but it gets repeated with just about every visitor that I have had, so it counts that I haven't written about it until now).

So when I was a child, Saturday mornings, my dad and I would go get donuts at Winchell's. I always had a very specific donut request: strawberry with strawberry icing, or plain with sprinkles.

Winchell's has long since gone out of business, and frankly, the thought of eating donuts kind of makes my stomach turn a bit (they're just TOO sweet). But churros in Spain...those never go out of style.

Pure awesomeness

Let me introduce you. The churro: straight-up fried dough that you can coat in powdered sugar and dip in chocolate. Or just dip into chocolate. Or dip into coffee, if you're into that sort of thing.

The first time I ate at San Gines, with Aubs, I wasn't able to finish the chocolate. The second time, I finished my chocolate. The third time (with Vica) I finished mine and maybe had a little of hers. The fourth time, with Max and Ashley, I definitely finished my chocolate and about half of Ashley's.

Basically, it's delicious. And I want to go back right about now. 

London I

I was in London for Thanksgiving. It was awesome. Actually, it was more like I was in London for Black Friday, but same dif.

I got there Thursday night, and after a little bit of a hassle with the express train (note: an express train to Victoria Station does NOT stop at Clapham Junction), joined up with K, M and friends for a delightful dinner at The Stonehouse Restaurant (I think it was more of a gastropub).

Friday, we wandered around the city, which is my favorite thing to do in Europe. And we wandered into a lot of dessert shops, which is my favorite thing to do in life.

First up, Notting Hill, and The Hummingbird Bakery. They had whoopie pies (both chocolate AND pumpkin!)! And they had a delicious red velvet cupcake (unfortunately not as delicious as Bent Spoon, but still delicious). This was at 11 AM. Who says you shouldn't eat dessert for breakfast?

Next, we headed on over to the delightful Christmas Market in Hyde Park. It reminded me of a mixture between a State Fair, a Renaissance Fair, and Santa's playground in the mall. It had all of these cute little wooden huts all decked out with garland and holly, selling spiced cider, mulled wine, hot chocolate, fudge, candy, and bratwurst. There was a lot of bratwurst. I guess Christmas Markets were imported from Germany.

At the Christmas Market, we ducked into a little restaurant that was selling Roast Turkey with all the Trimmings in an attempt to make up for the delicious T-day meal that we had missed the day before. It failed kind of miserably, but at least it gave us a chance to sit down someplace warm and chat for a while before going back out in the cold!

A poem:

I wrote this one a while ago.  I was trying to (devilishly) tempt my parents to cheat on their diet (we were competing on how well we can stick to the plan, not on weight lost. It was a competitive diet, what can I say? I wanted to win!)

An Ode to Cocoa:  because I like poetry. 

            The dark and sugary fragrance wafted gently through the air

            As I sat in sweet surrender thinking deeply of a pair

            Of Lindt dark chocolate truffles, the best kind on which to munch

            You can bet on my day off, I’m sure to have a bunch.  

            “Don’t feed me Hershey’s chocolate! It’s far too sweet!” I say,

            As I head out to the store in preparation for the day

            Of tasty, delicious goodness—I won’t eat a Snicker’s Bar,

            Nor a York Peppermint Patty nor a chocolate cigar.

            No Milky Ways, no Musketeers, no nutty Almond Joys,

            No Butterfingers, Baby Ruths, nor anything with toys.

            I don’t want Reese’s nor its Pieces.  No M&Ms for me.

            I just want Lindt dark chocolate in my decadent fantasy.

If this makes you want to eat a Lindt dark chocolate truffle, then you should go buy some. And then say a little prayer for my Lindt-dark-chocolate-truffle-less self while you're at it. Please.


If it makes you interested in competitive dieting, check out The Game On! Diet. It's pretty intense, and you just might find yourself writing poetry to chocolate. 

Speaking of Spanish food

Check out the delicious chocolate mousse cake that my host mom made me for my birthday!

It was so rich and creamy and delightful!