I know it has been a couple of weeks since I have caught up with you, and I have to say I really missed blogging! I’ve wanted to focus on The ‘Insatiable’ Cookie Chase, the FREE online food adventure that Gael Greene, Insatiable Critic, and myself are sponsoring and give you plenty of opportunities to win free gourmet gifts.  There is still time to win gourmet gifts for the holiday; Dozens of ACD cookies and  personalized autographed copies of Gael Greene’s book, Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess! The contest ends Wednesday December 10th, winner selected December 11th. Click here to start playing now!

Before I head home to NYC for my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving, I wanted to quickly update you on all the exciting news at Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams:

Chocolate Holiday Wonderland: New limited edition holiday cookie! When people ask me which is my favorite flavor of ACD cookie, I hate to play favorites, like a school teacher, I always say I love them all for different reasons. This is the truth, it just depends on my mood at that moment.  Well right now I am obsessed with the Chocolate Holiday Wonderland, and if you ask me why, it’s because I am feeling quite festive right now! The Chocolate Holiday Wonderland has chunks of creamy Ghiradelli white chocolate nestled in a fudgy, cripy Ghiradelli cocoa cookie, topped with chunks of cool peppermint bark. This cookie flavor is available in any of our holiday packages on “Our Shop” and on our Corporate/Large Order Forms, which you can download on our NEW Holiday Page.

15% Discount On All Cookie Packages: The ACD Cookie Scoop Subscribers next week will be receiving another 15% Off all* packages at ACD, so you can Pre-Order all your holiday gifts and save 15%. This week so many of you enjoyed this discount that we wanted to spread the holiday cheer and extend the discount an extra week. I wanted to let all of our ACD readers and eaters know about this! To receive the promotion code for your 15% simply sign up for The ACD Cookie Scoop on the upper right side of this page and on Monday November 24th, you will receive our latest edition of The Scoop with  your discount ’Promo Code’. What a better way to spend your Thanksgiving Break than actually relaxing. Rather than running around on the busiest holiday shopping day of the year, sit at home, cozied up, and order all your holiday gifts right here. *Please note: this discount is not valid on our Taste The Holiday Dream 6 ($20 gift package). 

Toffee Apple Cookie Crumble:

If you need a last minute ridiculously delicious and simple idea for your Thanksgiving dessert, try this! (Of course you can substitute the ACD Toffee Doodle Dream with a plain vanilla cookie )

Toffee Apple Cookie Crumble:

Serving Size 4: Individual Ramekins (4′ round)

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees

Ingredients:

4 Macintosh Apples or Brae Burn Apples

6 Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams Toffee Doodle Dream Cookies

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1/3 stick butter (slightly softened)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

2. Peel and cut apples into thin slices, and gently coat them in cinnamon sugar mixture (just a light coating, you will have extra cinnamon sugar to use later) 

3. Crumble 1/2 Toffee Doodle Dream Cookie in the base of each ramekin, press firmly down.

4 Start layering the apples slices from the outer edge of the ramekin inward. In between layers sprinkle cinnamon sugar, pecans and a little dab of butter, continue until to reach top of ramikin (press apples down firmly).

5. Crumble 3/4 of a Toffee Doodle Dream cookie on top of each raminkin, and press down firmly. Leave the remaining 1/4 of the cookie to eat with finished Toffee Apple Cookie Crumble.

6. Place ramikins on cookie sheet and bake for approximately 35 min, until apples are softened. Let cook for 45 min, and Enjoy! 

 I wish you all a very sweet Thanksgiving Holiday!
Alexandra

The Insatiable Cookie Chase FREE Contest Begins Here: Sponsored by Gael Greene of Insatiable-Critic.Com and Alexandra Bruskoff of Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams.  For complete instructions and decription of gourmet prizes click here or scroll down to the next blog entry. Contests ends Wednesday December 10th 2008, winner will be selected on Thursday December 11th 2008.

Feast Your Eyes On This Life:

I want to absorb life in all her sweet glory, I want to eat the best food, created by Michelin chefs from around the world, be schooled in the art of cooking, travel the world and stay in 5 star hotels and I want engaging conversations peppered with debate, humor and lust. Don’t you? 

I think most women (and men) fantasize about a life filled with adventure, occasional decadence and a pen to keep a journal if life pauses long enough. While some of us will experience a fragment of this fantasy: perhaps on a vacation titled, “Eating trip to Paris”, or a private cooking class from the chef of our favorite restaurant, few of us will live this life. To clarify, I am not saying this lifestyle defines a person; in a bolder gesture I am suggesting a person defines this style of life.

Her name is Gael Greene, synonymous with champagne and oysters, foie gras and Chateau Margaux, intrepid cuisinary travels, amorous leaps with seemingly no regrets lovers and restaurant reviews that make us hungry. (Photo by Dan Wynn)

Ms. Greene’s first restaurant review was published in New York Magazine in 1968. Since then she has been covering the chic and happening spots  as well as  neighborhood  bistros and delis, mostly in New York but with detours to France and Italy, and South East Asia. In their opening weeks, two of my favorite restaurants in New York City, Bond St and Fresco, were lucky to have Ms. Greene sneak in anonymously using another name and credit card, to eat and critique. Reading her vivid detail of ambiance, crowd, service and flavors gave readers a sense of being there, foodie or not. You can read these vintage reviews on her website, Insatiable-Critic.com, look  “Holy Mackerel,” 1998 and “Penne From Heaven”, 1993.  

Born in the 1970’s, I was too young to indulge that raucous decade, so I relish Ms. Greene’s “Vintage” write-ups that document those early days of the dining revolution in New York with her observations of fashion and sociology.

 It was an era framed by establishments’ like Elaine’s and Regine’s, filled with individuals quietly screaming look at me, long before every hot young girl would decide she was something special because she had a “Facebook” page and a cool pair of Louboutins. It was long before everyone decided they were a food-critic (me included) because they had a blog, a subscription to Gourmet Magazine and a budget for $14 cocktails and small plates.

 When you read, INSATIABLE: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess, Gael Greene’s latest book and personal memoir, and BITE: My Journal on her website www.InsatiableCritic.com, I know you will agree that woman today can learn a lot from Ms. Greene about seizing your life and living it every moment.

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Greene and here’s what she “dished”.

1. If you were 28, what advice would you give yourself?

 Ask yourself what do I really want? And go for it. Spend more money on shoes.

 2. Would you rather indulge in the most decadent meal of your life, with an excruciatingly boring and unappealing male dinner companion or be forced to eat the most revolting food followed by the best sex of your life?

 I’d endure the boring guy for the greatest food and meet the great lover for a drink later.

 3. This question is from my friend, Chef Lauren Braun Costello of Gotham Caterers, who has two books coming out, one is in the spirit of her eponymous food column. “The Competent Cook”, “What are some of the worst food trends you’ve reviewed?”

The excesses of nouvelle cuisine after the first lessons had been forgotten. Desserts with herbs in them…or lawn cuttings as I have written. Ridiculous combinations of ingredients in food just to be different. Laboratory cookies when it’s the science not the taste that counts.

 What are some of the best old ideas in cooking that have stood the test of time?

Fresh ingredients.  Lighter sauces.  Less sauce. The importance of a great dessert.  Regional cooking. Cooking most fish and sea creatures less.  Acid balance in a dish.  Attractive presentation.

4. My biggest pet peeve is when I am dining and a waiter clears my plate before my dinner companion is finished eating. Can you comment how manners and dining elegance has changed since you started reviewing restaurants in the 1960’s? 

I do not let them clear any plates till everyone at the table has finished. If you want to know more about service today, do a search on my website for peeves. My main peeve is that waiters are too obtrusive, restaurants are too dark or badly lit and the noise is unbearable.

 5. Any tips on how a young lady can score an awesome table without having your connections?

Reserve under the name: Principessa Brandolini. Come with Brad Pitt or a local celebrity or someone who always eats in that restaurant. At the end of the meal, ask the Mâitre De for his card, give him yours…ask for him next time when you call. Look beautiful, even sexy, but not like a streetwalker.

 6.  Favorite type of dessert? (I had to ask this one!)

To find the answer to question #6 and enter The ‘Insatiable’ Cookie Chase FREE Contest with one of three chances to win a personalized, autographed copy of Ms. Greene’s memoir, Insatiable: Tales from a Life a Life of Delicious Excess  and dozens of Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams gourmet cookies, please go to www.Insatiable-Critic.com to continue your foodie adventure.   Find the answer and then email me your response and your contact information (name, email and/or other contact info) at Alexandra@AlexandrasCookieDreams.com.

Good luck and have fun!

Sweetly,

Alexandra 

     
The ‘Insatiable’ Cookie Chase

What: A FREE online foodie adventure with delicious prizes! Skill and luck are the tools needed to win. Designed for everyone who seeks, lives and savors the good life of taste.

Who: This contest is sponsored and administered by Gael Greene, Insatiable Critic and Alexandra Bruskoff of Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams.

How: This Monday at 12 PM CST on the Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams blog, Talk Is Sweet will be posted, “Feast Your Eyes On This Life!” an exclusive and amusing interview with Gael Greene, the legendary novelist and restaurant critic, about her life in food. One answer will be missing on the blog posting. For clues leading to the missing answer, participants will be directed to Ms. Greene’s BITE: My Journal on her web site. Participants will then email the response they find to Alexandra@AlexandrasCookieDreams.com

Prizes:All the correct responses will be placed in e a lottery and three winners will be selected. Each winner will receive a personalized, autographed copy of INSATIABLE: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess, and one of three gourmet cookie prizes. Grand Prize: three-dozen cookies, 2^nd Place: two-dozen cookies and 3^rd Place: one-dozen cookies. The prizes can go to the winner or be sent as a gift to someone else.

When: Contest starts this Monday November 10^th,2008 and ends Saturday December 10^th2008, winner to be announced December 11^th,2008.

Where: “Feast Your Eyes On This Life!” article on Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams blog and www.InsatiableCritic.com for the secret answer.

Why: Why not? Who doesn’t love an adventure, free cookie gifts and the delicious details of an adventurous woman’s life. All prizes must be delivered to recipients in the contiguous Unites States.

A Bit About Gael Greene: For more years than she likes to admit Gael Greene was the Insatiable Critic for New York Magazine where she helped change the way New Yorkers think about food. She continues to writes about restaurants for New York in her weekly column, Insatiable Critic on her website, www.InsatiableCritic.com. She is also the author of two best selling novels, Blue Skies, No Candy and Dr. Love. Her book Delicious Sex was a guide to having more fun in bed. Twenty-eight years ago Ms. Greene and the late James Beard co-founded Citymeals on Wheels which has delivered more than thirty eight million meals to New York City’s needy homebound elderly.(Photo by Steven Richter)

A Bit About Alexandra Bruskoff:
Alexandra Bruskoff is currently founder and owner of Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams, an online nationwide gourmet cookie gifting company. As a former New York City school teacher, Alexandra combined her love of baking and love of teaching by developing a curriculum that included weekly baking classes for her students, and that’s when she realized her dream – to create the ultimate cookie! Now Alexandra happily resides in Austin, Texas. While Alexandra is not presently teaching in a classroom, her love of education continues, by donating a portion of each cookie profit from Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams to Austin and New York City Public Schools through the incredible organization DonorsChoose.org.

 By Spreading the word about The ‘Insatiable’ Cookie Chase to your friends, family & colleagues you will be introducing an “icon”, of food and restaurant writing whose experiences will inspire and philosophically stimulate a new generation of food lovers. And as far as indulging palates, the opportunity for free gourmet cookies is always a welcomed treat! 

Thank You! We are grateful for your effort in spreading the word about this contest. If you know someone who may be interested in promoting The ‘Insatiable’ Cookie Chase to his/her readers,  please feel free to forward this information along and let us know so we can send her/him some sweet cookies of appreciation. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Alexandra at Alexandra@AlexandrasCookieDreams.com or call me at 512.482.8210.

Look At This Support! Below is a current list of outstanding award-winning international Food Writers, Authors, Editors and Bloggers who are graciously promoting The ‘Insatiable” Cookie Chase on their blogs. Check out their sites, and indulge in their gourmet journeys!

Sylvie Bigar: Food & travel writer, ”who’s many articles have appeared in a wide array of publications including the New York Times, Food Arts, Town & Country, Time Out New York, The Southampton Press, Gayot.com, and New York Resident of which she is Food Editor. She also writes in French for Le Temps, her hometown newspaper in Geneva.”  WWW.SBigar.com

Karen Page & Andrew Donenburg: Authors of “ground-breaking books chronicling and celebrating American’s Culinary Revolution” including, James Beard Award Winning Becoming A Chef, What To Drink With What You Eat, The New American Chef. WWW.BecomingAChef.com

Sweetly, 
Alexandra

As you all know by now the Phillies won the World Series! Rich is ecstatic, Philly was dangerously overjoyed and my chic flick movie watching run has therefore come to end. To celebrate the end of two weeks of intense sports/movie viewing, we decided to get out of the apartment and take a day trip from Austin to visit a Texas Hill Country Winery and Fredericksburg. I have to say, it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it for those who haven’t been there yet.

We got a late start and didn’t arrive to our first (any only) vineyard stop until 3:30. The trip took about 1 hour from downtown Austin, and the drive is pretty scenic. The northerner in me was hoping for much more fall foliage but honestly, seeing that its still 75 degrees here, I was satisfied with light shade of green leaf on the cusp of turning yellow.                               

Becker Vineyards:  The winery looks like  a cozy stone and wood cabin in the middle of nowhere. They sell tons of lavender bath products and some wine too. We did the six wine tasting, only reds. As I gotten older mixing red and white wine just gives me a headache, I guess sommelier isn’t in my future. Rich loved the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ‘06 and I enjoyed the Malbec ‘06, otherwise the highlight was beating Rich (as I usually do) in a few rounds of gin rummy. Napa Valley it isn’t but a fun activity it is, now onto Fredericksburg…

Fredericksburg:  Is a charming town, settled in 1864 by German immigrant families and the town retains the style of traditional Germany. To keep its authenticity the stores use the words “Haus” instead of “House” and “Garten” for “Garden”. Usually I find this sort of historic re-creation irritating, phony and slightly creepy (ala Williamsburg VA and Disney World Epcot Center) however, in Fredericksburg I really enjoyed it. I think it is because the shopkeepers and restaurant owners are all modern, awesome and normal, and not sporting German hats, clogs and beer mugs. Rich and I parked the car on “Main Street” (obviously) and wondered the few blocks of town. There are tons of boutiques, each carrying very specific merchandise, like the candle only store, the scrap booking store, and of course the five ice cream and fudge parlors. There also a handful trendy clothing shops and antique stores. 

Below is my Best of Fredericksburg ‘08:

Rustlin’ Rob’s: This a gourmet food shop specializing in unique sauces, jellies, dips, rubs, glazes (you get picture). It is awesome! You walk in and all the products they sell are out and ready for you to taste. Rich and I basically had lunch there. They offer pretzels and crackers to dip into everything! We loved the Pumpkin Butter, Jalapeno Honey Mustard, and Sugar Free Pecan Honey Butter (well I loved it, Rich doesn’t do “sugar-free“.) Oh, and did I mention they have a whole room devoted to “hot sauce”- brilliant Texans! If you can’t make it to their store (and I think it is worth the trip to F-burg alone) you can order on line at www.rustlinrob.com. I’m thinking about experimenting with their Jalapeno Peanut Butter in Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams Peanut Buttery Bliss…

Lone Star Candy: A retro candy shop filled with all the expected kitch. Homemade-ice creams, fudge, soda fountain and of course an Elvis coin-operated musical gimmick. Lone Star Candy was exactly what I wanted it to be…

House. Wine.: I love this store! It is a combination of perfectly edited home furnishings paired with a sleek wine bar in the back. Best of two worlds on one spot, great time management! And I found something at House.Wine that thrilled me; The All Nighter! No, not the ACD cookie flavor, but a candle version by Aromatherapy Interventions. Of course I had to buy it and it smells delicious, unfortunately not like chocolate espresso with a cayenne punch but like citrus bergamia and cananga tree to “stimulate and energize the spirit.” I like to think that both All Nighters have that effect !

Lincoln St. Wine and Cigar Bar: We ended our Fredericksburg trip a new wine bar that is dimly lit and sleek on the inside, with a comforting patio featuring live Americana music outside. We got a couple glasses of delicious Mondavi Solaire Cabernet Sauvignon ‘06 and I continued to beat Rich at many hands of gin rummy. Perfect way to end the day! (phone 830.997.8463)

The ACD Cookie Scoop just got prettier!  Special cookie flavors, insider discounts and cookie news. Sign up and spread the word to your family and friends. Here’s an example of a previous ACD Cookie Scoop newsletter October 20th edition) so you can see what you’ve been missing. 

With Halloween behind us, the Holidays are closer than you think. Check out ACD Holiday Collection 2008 for decadent, memorable and easy holiday gifting.

Sweetly,

Alexandra

Fall Is Here When…

1. World Series is on.  Philly is in the World Series for the first time in 15 years. Rich, being from Philly, is ecstatic, as am I. Not because I’m a baseball fan, but because it guarantees me at least 20 hours of chick flick movie watching while Rich is in his Phillies T-shirt on the couch, clapping and cheering on his boys.

2. I  wore my thin leather jacket last night. The weather has finally cooled down in Austin! The temperature is actually hovering around the 50-degree mark at night. Next, I’ll take out my boots!

3. Halloween is around the corner. I love any holiday that involves sweet treats, children and a reason to have fun. Halloween falling on a Friday this year only exponentially increases its’ fun factor. Earlier this week, our ACD Cookie Scoop Subscribers received a new upgraded and prettier version of our enewletter, which included an exclusive Halloween Cookie and Packaging that is not sold on our website. If you would like to learn more about “Chocolate Fright Night” just sign up here for The ACD Cookie Scoop, and we will send you all the details.

Just hurry up because after Halloween this cookie will disappear.

Also November 2^nd is the last day to receive the Early Order Discount for Corporate and Large Order Holiday gifting. Check out ACD Holiday Collection 2008 for decadent, memorable and easy holiday gifting.

Austin Film Festival 2008
Last week was the Austin Film Festival, which is a fun time in Austin as the “Stars” of Hollywood come out (and I don’t mean Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock and Mathew McConaughey who get more mentions in Austin than Bush does in Washington). Last year I saw “Juno“, (before it was released in theaters) and I raved about it to anyone who would listen, I thought I had this clever eye for indie talent. Of course, ”Juno” when on to win an Oscar and I guess all of mainstream America shares my talent. This past Thursday we waited in line for two hours see “W.” at the Paramount Theater as part of opening Austin Film Festival festivities. This was a ‘red carpet’ event, ok more like red scrap of fabric event but it was guaranteeing attendance by Oliver Stone and several of the cast members. Rich and I were non-badge and non pass holders, basically lowest man on the festival totem poll, which meant we would get in after everyone else in the city who had a ticket to anything got in. Still always the optimist, Rich was convinced we’d make the cut. To make the line waiting tolerable, Rich bought a bottle of wine from the liquor store near the theater and poured into two paper coffee cups, stealth and class –that’s my man! Needless to say, as I predicted, when there were only two people left ahead of us, the festival usher  broke the news that we were boxed out of  “W.” In retrospect, after finally seeing “W.”  on Sunday night, I can honestly say I was annoyed that I spent two hours in line on Thursday and another 2 in the theater on Sunday. I waisted by $8.75 (yes, movie tickets are cheaper in Texas) and 4 hours of my life that I want back Mr. Stone- but again what do I know about movies?

ACD In 3D!

Onto a sweeter topic, Anne who is the head of The ACD Dream Team is also an incredible artist as well as cookie expert. Several weeks ago for my birthday, she built this dynamic “wonder box” that looks like what I envision the set of Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams, The Show would look like. I think she should sell them. Here is a photo, awesome right!

To see more of Anne’s work click here.

Be a Star!

Want to be part of Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams Comments page? You can! Last week we added “Comments” as an exciting way to share all the sweet words you have said about ACD. If you would like your thoughts to be added to this page just email us at customerservice@alexandrascookiedreams.com. If you have a website, please include it, so we can link your comments to your site. Thanks!
To share The ACD Cookie Scoop with your friends and family, have them sign up here.

Sweetly,
Alexandra

Today’s entry has a different tone then my usual blogging about my travels, dining experiences, and what’s new at Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams; I am personally making a request from you to help our soldiers in Iraq by sending a care package.

Earlier this week, my friend Anna Ginsberg of CookieMadness.com (author of an awesome baking blog!) enlightened me on this situation. Her friend and neighbor, Joanne, is a Lieutenant stationed in Baghdad, as well a wife and a mother. She is blessed to have a family that sends her letters and packages that make her happy and remind her of home. However, she explained to Anna how many of the soldiers in her unit are single and therefore, don’t have a wife, husband or children to send them mail and love from back home. This obviously is not good for morale as Joanne shared that receiving mail is the highlight of their day.

But here’s the good part…. we can help and it is so easy and inexpensive!

With the holidays around the corner, it is the perfect time to send a care package to soldiers- all you have to do is:

1. Email me that you are interested, and Anna will respond to you with a soldier’s name and address stationed at Joanne’s camp.

2. Create a care package: Here are some ideas of what Joanne suggested the soldiers would like to receive: notice how simple and inexpensive these items are…

1. Any home baked goodies, (they stay surprisingly fresh).
2. DVD’s of any recent movies or tape any current popular TV shows.
3. Cleaning wipes, swifter wet jet pads, deodorant, good razors.
4. Flavor ICE, specialty nuts, gourmet caramel corn/popcorn, salty snack foods.
5. They are REALLY into GUITAR HERO, it is pretty hilarious actually, they have a collection of cowboy hats that they put on when they form “the band”.
6. Folks are from OK, SC, TX so any kind of OU, UT, type stuff is awesome. 7.Therma care heating pads for the older 7. Any kind of holiday decorations small or big they love, it helps remind us what month it is!!
8. The young ones LOVE junk food the older LOVE CIGARS.
9. Girls love anything that reminds them they are a girl… soft fuzzy anything…. we get a lot of lotions but soaps are good, and room spray. We can’t burn candles unfortunately. Even Make-up samples are great.
10. I have seen plastic wall coverings with scenes in some rooms.
11. Magazines, music, we already have lots of books.

3. Send a package: Cheap Cheap Cheap! Since you will be mailing to an “APO” address, it only costs $10.92 no matter how much the package weighs. All you have to do is go to your local US Postal Office and they will even give you a box to mail the goodies in and an address form to fill out. It seems the approximate mailing time is 10 days to 2 weeks.

Rich and I will be sending out bunch of care packages in the next couple of weeks, and I urge you to do the same. Please feel free to email me with any questions, ideas, or thoughts, and let’s do something “sweet” that we can all feel good about! Please feel free to pass this blog entry along to anyone you think might be interested in helping. Thank you!

To share The ACD Cookie Scoop with your friends and family, have them sign up here.

Sweetly,

Alexandra

We are thrilled to launch Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams Holiday 2008!  Our festive holiday Cookie Packages and Packets are the ideal way to celebrate, indulge and have fun. Wrapped in our festive seasonal packaging they are the ultimate holiday cookie gift! We have made holiday gifting delicious, easy and worth celebrating. Check out our  Holiday Collection 2008 on Our Shop, and on our Corporate Orders/Large Orders page. We are also excited to offer our Cookie Holi-Day Break package (cookie trays) for customers in and around Austin. We are ready to get you in the holiday spirit!

Talk Is Sweet now has a live blog feed on Facebook. So check us out and become a fan! You’ll also receive a special discount offer only for Facebook users and viewers.

The Vegas…

I love Vegas. My husband and I go to Vegas about 4 times a year with different groups of friends, we even got married at A Little White Wedding Chapel, classy like Britney Spears. So it was really was not much of a surprise that we were going to Vegas for my “surprise birthday trip”, especially considering Rich’s non-misleading hints, “someplace warm, known for their nightlife.” When we arrived at the airport I feigned surprise and three hours later we happily arrived at The Wynn. For those of you who think Vegas is cheesy, over-rated, or been done, you can go enjoy Croatia, but I’m staying stateside until this recession ends. The Wynn is my favorite hotel in Vegas, an awesome mix of elegant and flash, think recessed mirrored ceilings encased in crown moldings. They have the most luxurious beds, decadent spa, mind awakening waterfall light show, and did I mention the topless Euro style pool with outdoor poker tables, simply brilliant! As it turns out, l have to change my “I -have -never -been -surprised- in -my- life” mantra because the first night my parents, sister Alana and her boyfriend Aaron (who live in NYC) surprised me at SW Steakhouse. I was overwhelmed, thoroughly shocked, and I couldn’t have been happier. We enjoyed 3 days of Vegas fun with a bit of an edited version for my parents, and it was the best b-day I ever had. Here are some of the highlights;

Tryst: The perpetually fun night club at The Wynn, a smallish lounge (for Vegas standards) with an indoor/outdoor space where the DJ plays snippets of all your favorite songs. The only thing I’d change is removing the stripper pole that seems to be a magnet for drunk bachelorette girls (and not in a good way).

Cirque Du Soleil: Love: In all my dozens of trips to Vegas, I have never seen a show. Truthfully, I always thought its timing would interfere with my disco nap or bore me to the point that I wouldn’t be able to go out after. Well, I guess I’m maturing now, I am a year older. The show was incredible (it’s set to the Beatles music ) and actually kept my attention. Healthy fun for the whole family. However earlier that evening we had an inedible and irritating dinner at Stack, the new restaurant at the Mirage. Music was ridiculously loud, even for the young folk, the service oddly rude and the food a mess. Here’s one many examples, chilean sea bass lettuce wraps ripped right off of Nobu’s menu, arrived tasting fishy and immersed in soy sauce, Nobu would cry!

Joe’s Stone Crab: Our Vegas Saturday lunch ritual was even more outstanding by the arrival of my third surprise, our dear LA friends Ashley & Adam. It made for the perfect celebration, as we feasted on stone crabs and Bloody Mary’s. I also suggest the fried chicken which is often overlooked but a welcome addition “for the table.”

Shopping: Vegas has the best shopping in the country (except for maybe Dallas) Every designer is represented, and each shop showcases their most outrageous, one of a kind creation. I had been hunting down these silver Louboutin heels since I saw them in a Look Book back in July. Every salesperson I stalked told me that I wasn’t going to find them anywhere…well, you see them, their mine. Persistence pays off!

Lavo: Saturday night we dined and partied at the new hot spot Lavo, from the owners of TAO. It touts itself as Mediterranean inspired, but besides the two naked girls sponge bathing each other in a bathtub in the middle of the dining room, I’m not sure I felt transported to an exotic land. However, the food was terrific. They smartly kept it simple; pizza, pasta, fish and knish (really!). Upstairs the club is intimate, sexy and fabulous. We spent the night in traditional Vegas revelry, dancing, sweating and celebrating. What a b-day!

In-N-Out Burger: You can’t leave Vegas with out a stop for a vanilla milk shake, fries and a burger. Keep your cab driver happy while he waits to take you to the airport by ordering him lunch too, and then happily head home and recover.

To share The ACD Cookie Scoop with your friends and family, have them sign up here,

Sweetly,

Alexandra

Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams just added one more shipping option to the mix, UPS 3 Day Select, so you can get your cookies delivered quickly and cheaply! Of course we continue to offer nationwide UPS Ground Shipping and UPS One and Two Day Air and Free Texas Shipping! In the next two weeks, we will be launching our Holiday Collection and Corporate/Large Order Holiday Packaging with special discounts for early holiday orders. We promise to make your holiday gifting simple and sweet! 

Thank you to all our Facebook “Fans” on Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams Facebook page! Please don’t forget to take advantage of your discount only  for Facebook viewers and users on our Facebook page. Also check out our Myspace page and enjoy a private discounts that is valid on all our cookie packages only for our myspace friends. So spread the love and sweet discounts, and send all your friends to our pages.

This weekend is Austin City Limits, a three-day music festival in Zilker Park that brings together thousands of people all ready to chill out, drink and listen to a lot of music. This year’s lineup includes G Love and Special Sauce, of Your Baby Ain’t Sweet Like Mine fame and Gnarls Barkley, Erykah Badu, Vampire Weekend, Blues Traveler, Foo Fighters and Beck. As you can tell it is a real mixed bag and I only listed the most popular names. This was my first year at ACL, last year at this time I was still living in NYC, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect. My husband, a huge festival goer, spent many of high school days traveling to see Phish shows, I quite the opposite, did not. I think the closest I ever came to a music festival, not including Jazz Fest (because my sisters went to Tulane) was a wholesome concert at Madison Square Garden. With that being said, I was extremely surprised at how organized, clean, and orderly ACL is. People were walking around with giant trash bags cleaning up cups, they had open air misters to keep the crowd from getting too hot, and fun shopping section (I got an awesome pair of turquoise earrings.) They even have an “EAT” section where all the vendors are the best restaurants in Austin, Like Hudson On The Bend, Vespaio and El Chile.  I think Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams needs to represent next year. As for the crowd, all I can say is HOT HOT HOT! The girls and guys were extremely good looking, kind of preppy but dressed in the “I- want-to-be-a-hippie” style. Bandanas and scarves wrapped around their foreheads, jean shorts supported by awesomely tanned and toned legs and fringed bikini tops for the girls and no shirts for the well built guys. However, I did see an array of truly lame t-shirt slogans that I thought was a trend that ended in 2004. You know, slogans like “Vote For Pedro”, “Dunder Mifflin“,”Designated Drunk” and  ”Beastie Boys Varsity Team” (this was printed on a mesh sleeveless jersey which I guess made it ”authentic”.) Unfortunately our friend Ale recently had surgery (she’s recovering nicely) but fortunately she was given a handicap parking permit. We were able to park in the special parking lot and then we rolled (literally) to the entrance of ACL in a golf cart. I figure this must be how Beyonce feels when she enters 40/40 Club.  Although the festival is three days, I think I am a one-day festival type of girl, so enjoy the pictures and if you didn’t get to go to ACL this year, you can always check out the coverage on PBS.

To share The ACD Cookie Scoop with your friends and family, have them sign up here, and receive a private discount on our  “Back To School Kick Start” and “Fantasy Cookie League” cookie packages, reserved only for our Enewsletter subscribers.

Please email me your comments, feedback and questions. I love to chat with you.

Sweetly, Alexandra

Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams now offers Nation-Wide Ground Shipping!
You can get your cookies delivered via UPS ground shipping anywhere in the continental United States. We are thrilled to provide this option for you. When the weather is warm, we pack our cookies with frozen ice packs and heat reflective bubble wrap to ensure that your cookies will arrive, fresh and ridiculously delicious for a fraction of the cost of UPS 1 or 2 Day Air (which we continue to offer as well). For example, now to ship Share The Dream 36 (36 cookies) to New York City, NY (3 day ground guaranteed) it only costs approximately $9. Or to ship The Wildest Dream 18 (18 cookies) to Los Angeles, CA (4 Day ground guaranteed) it only costs approximately $8. Now that means you can send even more delicious cookies to loved ones all around the country! We are also continuing to offer Free Texas Shipping .

Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams is now on Myspace (www. myspace.com/alexandrascookiedreams.com) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandras-Cookie-Dreams/25141019762.) Check out our sites and right now you’ll receive private discounts that are valid on all our cookie packages for only  our Myspace and Facebook friends. So spread the love and sweet discounts, and send all your friends to our pages.

This past weekend, Rich and I were in Birmingham, Michigan to celebrate the wedding of two fellow Michigan alums, and we thankfully missed any reminants of Hurricane Ike, (although it did pour all weekend in Michigan, making us forgo our Saturday day trip to Ann Arbor so Rich could gorge on a  “Grand Slam” and cheese fries from Red Hot Lovers.) However one of our favorite delis, Steve’s Deli, is thankfully located near our hotel (there is also one in Chicago) so Rich and I got our fill on both Friday and Saturday for lunch. I love Austin, but I don’t love Austin deli, so Steve was our  man this weekend. We also brought extra food, not leftovers, but an additional order back to our hotel - “just in case.” I recommend the chicken soup, not greasy and not too salty, perfected with chunks of white meat chicken, carrots, noodles, and it comes with a welcomed parmesan bagel crisp. Steve’s turkey is lean, moist and when coupled with Russian dressing, coleslaw and rye bread, simply perfection. As for sides, I suggest their white fish salad, simply scooped on a piece of melba toast or thier egg white salad, whipped, light and smartly made with out onions. Sadly, Steve’s doesn’t deliver but if you ever need some awesome deli sent over state lines, I suggest Sarge’s Deli  & Restaurant (212-679-0442). I have been eating there since I was a little girl. You need to pre-order two days in advance and your food will arrive on ice.

This weekend I also learned that New York City is even more savvy, meticulous, and obnoxiously fabulous than I remember. My friend Miryha, who works in fashion, and shares my love of Louboutin shoes (known for their sexier than possible cut and bright red soles) told me that Leather Spa on 55th St between 5th and 6th Street, offers to put red colored protective rubber on the bottom of your Louboutin shoes instead of the standard black. Now, you won’t loose the status of “red “ while gaining ped comfort, and protection (even though Miryha confided that the red are not a direct color match but ”close enough.”) That’s almost as brilliant as champagne being bottled in individual travel size!  

To share The ACD Cookie Scoop with your friends and family, have them sign up here, and receive a private discount on our  “Back To School Kick Start” and “Fantasy Cookie League” cookie packages, reserved only for our Enewsletter subscribers.

Please email me your comments, feedback and questions. I love to chat with you.

Sweetly,

Alexandra

Welcome to the “Unofficial” start of Fall! This week at ACD we will be debuting our new “Back-to-School” gift packages to give a “sweet” start to the school year and all your tailgating parties. Sign up for our Enewsletter, “The ACD Cookie Scoop”,  to receive a private code for a discount on the “Back-to-School” cookie package reserved only for our Enewsletter subscribers

This weekend Rich and I were in Remsenburg (a small enclave near Westhampton, NY) visiting my family at their country home. We are a food obsessed family and weekends spent in the Hamptons feeds directly into this obsession. We have a “country kitchen” big enough for the family to gather and two refrigerators and garage to stock supplies, all of which are a fantasy that fades like summer when they return to their NYC apartments. My family loves to discuss the “menu”, shop for food, cook, grill, entertain and EAT!  The combination of my dad (who is his teens owned his own luncheonette, named Irene’s in the Catskill Mountains and makes a mean Chigramy (email me for this recipe) and my younger sister Alana’s boyfriend Aaron, whose gourmand skills please both the foodie and non-foodie alike, made for an incredible food fest!   Let’s say Rich and I have taken a welcomed break from our standard Whole Foods salad bar dinner in Austin.

Some of my favorite dishes of the weekend: Daddy Alan’s BBQ chicken and beef with his secret sauce (of course before moving to Texas, I was a BBQ neophyte, I didn’t know the difference between this type of Hamptons BBQ and Kreitz Lockhardt. Now I know, it’s about 500 calories and Texas family heirloom coals.) August corn in the Hamptons, simply cooked or grilled, is one of nature’s greatest gifts, sweet, plump, a perfectly pale shade of yellow.  The farm stands out there (my favorite being Harbes Family Farm on the South Fork) roast the corn to perfection in the husk, then you can roll them in butter (or Molly McButter - which I’m not afraid to openly state that I love) and salt and pepper on a white plastic coated paper plate. You eat roadside and think, life is good! Of course, you can’t come out here without a stop at Briermere Farms on the North Fork for their Peach Cream Pie- light and fluffy, creamy seduction for $15 - amazing. My older sister Terri’s daughter Gigi (picture left), who’s almost three, is ridiculously cute, smart and fun! We played “Bakery” using Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams White Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Wish dough and Gigi’s  William Sonoma animal shaped cookie cutters; we went to “work”. When I was a teacher, we always said it’s “the process not the product”, and I think this is a key example. It’s probably better to use plain shortbread dough or sugar cookie dough, unless you want a giraffe with a cranberry for a head. Finally, there was Aaron’s, “ACD White Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Wish Midnight Shake-Down”, recipe below, to which I am partial.

When we go to Remsenburg we rarely like to leave our house unless it is for a trip to the beach or to go food shopping. However, there are some fabulous restaurants here and we ventured out to Bridgehampton to one of our favorites, Bobby Van’s Steakhouse, with our favorite newlywed friends Brett and Jake Smith (aka Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and Alana and Aaron.  The food, as predicted, was perfection. For appetizers, Alana and I shared the crab cake, and the smoked salmon and goat cheese tower (I’m not sure of the exact name of this dish but the title describes how it looks.) I was pleasantly surprised to discover that these two sensations can happily share a plate and their flavors were like an old couple, that quietly know how to make each other happy. For my second course I had the beef carpaccio, (also an appetizer.) I usually order two appetizers instead of one entree, then I use my “roving fork” to try everybody else’s dish. We of course happily shared fries for the table.  We were only disappointed by the Mac n’ Cheese, which lacked flavor, seasoning, and any sort of fulfillment that frozen Stouffer’s could have easily provided.

Recipe time…

ACD White Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Wish Midnight Shake-Down by, Aaron Feldman

2 Scoops Vanilla Ice Cream. We love Graeter’s from Ohio and they will ship to you on ice and of course Haagen Dazs vanilla bean is always awesome too.)

1 Cup milk (add more milk to achieve a thicker milkshake)

2 ACD White Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Wish cookies

Put all ingredients in a blender, pour into cups and drink (straw optional) makes approximately 16 ounces of frothy goodness

And now to the shopping…

Everybody should check out my favorite jewelry line Rich Rocks by my friend, Robin Rothfeld. This weekend Robin brought her new collection to our house and all the ladies were ecstatic. Her costume jewelry line looks extremely similar to the styles of Van Cleef & Arpels, and Ippolita, and her pieces average around $85 each. You can’t beat that, check out her new redesigned website at richrocksnyc.com , where you can shop online. You’ll be so thrilled you did!

Well as the un-official end of summer is here, Labor Day Food Fest ‘08 is done , and Rich and I return to Austin, I wish you all a “sweet” start of unofficial fall, football season, and back to school! 

Sweetly,

Alexandra