My new hero (and I'm not talking sandwich)

Well, folks, Steven here and I've gotta tell you all about KitchenNYC and Tricia Rago. She owns a really wonderfully designed and maintained commercial kitchen in New York (I've blogged about the space in the past), which she rents on a daily basis to people from all walks of life; from professional chefs who need extra space, to up-and-coming entreprenuers like Joey and I.

We had the great pleasure of getting to spend a day working with her this week, to prepare the orders we'd taken for Thanksgiving. It was such a joy to finally have some countertop space (!) and two perfectly calibrated ovens and large refrigerators to work with. We accomplished so much in one day - made quite a few cheesecakes, Joeltz! (espresso brownies), pumpkin/cream cheese muffins, and I finally had a chance to make my individual serving-sized Chocolate/Toffee bread pudding, (which I have to brag about a bit and say that it was heaven on a spoon).

We encourage anyone who is interested in following a culinary career path to check out Trica Rago, owner and operator of KitchenNYC. She is such a kind and giving person, with a great knowledge of chef wizardry that she's happy to share. She is a firm believer in spreading the wealth and encouraging anyone and everyone to follow their passions. Just talk to her for ten minutes and you'll know that I mean. We are truly blessed to have stumbled upon Tricia and her wonderful space, and we hope to work with her often in the future.

Enjoy your Holiday, folks, and remember to get those orders in for Christmas (not to mention birthdays, bar mitzvahs, retirement parties, graduations,... well, the list goes on and on). We look forward to hearing from you all, and to helping you satisfy your sweet cravings.

Thankfully yours,

Steven and Joey

What about Joey? Does HE have a favorite???

Joey, here... and, yes, actually I DO have a favorite... Two, actually... Seasonally, I love my Cinnamon Streusel-topped Pumpkin Pie... For all-year round taste, I love the Torta Baciata Sole, in all it's sweet, orange glory...

Today was a baking day... well yesterday, too, since i made a batch of Joey's Mutts, which are Chocolate Chocolate cookies with every kind of chip imaginable in them... Okay, there are only 6 different kinds, but really, how many more could I fit in them???

Okay, back to today, I started by attempting a Lemon cake, which will be different from the Lightly Lemon cake we currently have on our menu... This is a four layer cake, soaked in a sweet lemon syrup, filled with a whipped cream/lemon curd tanginess, and frosted with a Lemon Buttercream... It will be joining it's cousin on our menu in the next few weeks...

Also, hopefully added to our menu will be an Amaretto Chocolate Cheesecake, an amaretto-flavored filling swirled with chocolate on a chocolate crust... I haven't decided what I'd like the topping to be, but I am thinking a whipped chocolate might be nice...

We are going into production for our Thanksgiving holiday orders on Saturday November 17th, so if you haven't ordered, have a look here, and then e-mail us no later than Thursday, November 15th, at joeybiscotti@hotmail.com so we can add your choices to production!!!

Hope to hear from you soon!!!

More news as events warrant...

Do I have a personal favorite?

...I was wondering that this morning, as I contemplated all of our wonderful items to date. After a moment, I realized that, no, even though I've always loved peanut butter and chocolate (combined in our latest winning creation pictured in 5" size, which is enough for 4-6 slices, the PB&C cheesecake!)..I still seem to love whatever current recipe we happen to be working on. One day I'm reveling in lightly lemon cake with lemon curd filling, and then the next, I'm basking in the glow of our incredibly scrumptious Creme de Menthe cheesecake. I simply can't be forced to choose. And, fortunately, living with the creator, I can have whatever I want, whenever I want it! So can you - by ordering from our menu (with 48 hours' notice, of course.)

And folks, don't forget to keep checking back to vote on our polls. Knowing what you want helps us to give it to you!

Ciao for now -
Steven

Drunk with dessert

Steven, again - Joey's been so busy in the kitchen lately, fulfilling patron's desires, that he hasn't had a moment to post his thoughts, so you're stuck with me for today.

Sunday brought forth a lovely amaretto/almond cheesecake, with a thick chocolate topping, which had my co-workers simply intoxicated with sweetness yesterday. And can I just say, not to brag or anything, but my maple sandwich cookies were a huge success also (I was so surprised, because I felt I'd overbaked them, but everyone seemed to think they benefitted from being a bit brown and crunchy around the edges.). They are quite labor intensive, so I've got to practice getting them chilled and baked in a more timely fashion, so that we can price them reasonably and let the world in on the tasty maple-sugar goodness.

There's a new poll up this week (check out the information on the left-hand side of this page)..please take a moment to give us your opinion, so that we can tailor our specialties to your desires.

And don't forget to get those orders in for the holidays! We love you when you give us lots of advance notice (heck - we love you anyway!) because it gives us lots of time to make sure the quality is just the way you'd want it.

A brief, sweet interruption, if I may

Hey, its the redhead here, checking in to contemplate some changes to the recipe mentioned below (Taste of Paradise). The recipe calls for a strawberry topping of sorts, and when I mentioned this to my co-workers, Mark suggested pineapple instead...and then it hit me - why not add a layer of crushed pineapple between the crust and the actual cheesecake, and then top it with Strawberries and possibly kiwi? (Puhleeze comment on this - we love your feedback!) We will experiment with this and let you know the results as soon as we can. Today, Joey is making lemon, chocolate/raspberry, and anise almond biscotti, so that we can finally do a few trial runs on shipping them. Keep your fingers crossed (and those of you who know us, check those mailboxes frequently - you may be one of the randomly chosen human guinea pigs!). There will be a stamped, self-addressed post-card enclosed, with a brief survey of the taste and condition of the shipped goods, please PLEASE take a moment to fill these out and drop them in your mailbox. They provide the information we need to tweak the process and/or recipes. Thanks in advance, guinea pigs!

Last night, I (yes, me) made a White Chocolate/Strawberry cake with strawberry filling! We've yet to cut into it (thats for later this afternoon) but we will most surely inform you if we have another hit on our hands. I'm also trying my hand at some creme filled Maple sandwich cookies. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm...just the idea has my mouth watering.

Manhattanites (and surrounding boroughs) make sure you get your Thanksgiving cheesecake (among other) orders in ASAP...time is closing in, and we can only accomodate so many requests.

Ciao for today!