Dessert for breakfast…it’s fine.

I used to never order the same thing twice from restaurants (in some kind of effort to conquer a menu, I guess). But lately, I’ve been sticking to signature stand-bys.

Saturday morning I went to Sabrina’s Café on Callowhill for breakfast.  It was the first time for my two friends’, but number four for me.  On my first visit, I had a nice egg white and veggie breakfast wrap…tasty, as is everything at Sabrina’s, but the reason I keep returning and insist on bringing all friends, is the stuffed challah bread French toast.  My sister ordered it last summer and after my first bite, I never looked back.

Stuffed French toast is normally a thick slice of bread with a pocket cut to hold a filling such as a fruit or cheese spreads.  But Sabrina’s makes a cinnamon-y cream cheese sandwich with two slices of sweet challah bread, topped with sliced bananas and maple syrup.  The epitome of a sweet breakfast.

In the fall, I branched out to their stuffed French toast special, which at the time was challah stuffed with cream cheese and chocolate chips and covered in strawberry syrup, and I also tried the pumpkin pancakes, garnished with white chocolate chips.  And for visit number four, I went with the French toast that stole my heart last summer.

Now I enjoy my savory foods, don’t get me wrong. But knowing how delicious Sabrina’s does dessert for breakfast, I have a difficult time ordering anything not covered in sugar and such decisions are not taken lightly.  This past Saturday, my friends and I had to turn the waitress away three times because we just could not make up our minds. I was having a serious internal struggle with whether or not to go with my sweet French toast standby, or to try some eggs benedict with tomato and avocado.  But when a waitress tells you to “just commit,” you know you have to act fast. Snap decisions were made, but no regrets in sight.

Up the Poconos

If you are not spending MDW DTS, may I recommend going UTP (up the Poconos) and visiting some of these fine eateries in between your hiking and canoeing excursions…

Marita’s Cantina for half-price fajita Mondays:  The busiest Monday night on Main Street, Stroudsburg.  Sizzling plates swing out of the kitchen doors starting at 5pm and portions are never an issue.  Not only are the fajita dinners half price (regularly $14 – $19), but the plates can be shared between at least two people. Consider that twice the discount!   

Pie at the SnyDi:  The Snydersville Diner is where the waitresses wear nurses’ scrubs, your English teacher grows the rhubarb for the strawberry rhubarb pie, and home to the artery clogging vegetable platter (French fries, onion rings, fried broccoli).  But the pie is what brings me to my village diner. They keep your standard apple, berries, and chocolate cream seven days a week while sprinkling in seasonal pumpkins, crumbs, Mr. Steen’s rhubarb and peanut butter specialties throughout the week and seasons, making for a consistently large selection.

Breakfast at Mollie’s.  I think I have tried almost everything on their breakfast menu, and as if they are all my children, I just can’t name a favorite.  Whether you want a pancake of the day, a veggie filled frittata, granola, or a bagel with lox, Mollie’s is a nice alternative to our standard, but not to be downplayed diners.

Just like there is a token diner in every nook and cranny of Monroe County, there is also the necessary ice cream stand within a ten mile radius from any one point in the Poconos.  Jane’s would be nearest to my parents’ house, always good for a soft serve twist with sprinkles, but I can’t not mention Big Star Drive-in.  In high school, our favorite line was, “can I have two scoops of your grandma?” (it never caught on as we had hoped) aka two scoops of Grandma’s Apple Pie Ice Cream – vanilla ice cream with bits of apples, pie crust and swirls of cinnamon.   Where’s a blue ribbon? Because when someone can take the best of diner menus and turn it into a frozen novelty, that’s what I like to call a WINNER.

 

Productivity measured in bagels

Is there a correlation between food and productivity?  Probably not, but I tell myself there is as an excuse to buy breakfast and hang out at local coffee shops on weekends.  Bagels have been my incentive to finish my grad school application during the last few months, and although I don’t think I can prove a positive ratio between cream cheese and pages written, I have become quite the connoisseur of organic brunch menus.

This weekend I went to Mugshots Brewerytown to finish my personal statement which called for a chai tea latte and cinnamon raisin bagel with organic peanut butter.  I decided to go with the sweeter of my two usual orders from this baby sister café of Mugshots Fairmount and Mugshots Manayunk.  This company has yet to disappoint me, from breakfast empanadas to oversized cupcakes, and my occasional local produce order.  

My essay is now in the hands of my brother who will determine if it was the bagel talking when I closed my laptop and said, “DONE!”  Until then, I leave you with my list of occasions to visit your corner coffeeshop:

1. I’M HUNGRY

2. My grad school application is due this Tuesday (I don’t know who would procrastinate something like this…)

3. I have to be at work early (and now wake up earlier to buy breakfast)

4.  No more milk to make my own coffee

5.  Do you really need an excuse?  Food is always better when someone else makes it.