a pleasuresome peek into collingswood's pop shop

Nothing screams "summertime" more than a spontaneous field trip to an quasi-new place to tantalize my always grumbling tum'. My oldest brother, once a resident of Collingswood, NJ (the destination of my brief road trip), never once mentioned visiting The Pop Shop. Yes, he is a fan of the overcommercialized Cherry Hill, but come on, his sister is a food-obsessed fiend!

So, on a tip from myself, and also, a reminder that a few months back I had enviously viewed my food editor Drew Lazor chowing down on the shop's specialty, a mighty grilled cheese, while participating in Bobby Flay's Throwdown, we put the pedal to the metal.

Without a doubt or a single second of hesitation, a journey across the Ben Franklin became immediately in order for B and I. Located on downtown Haddon Avenue, a street flooded with cutesy small-town boutiques, sits the retro-styled and adorably-decorated Pop Shop.

Splashed in my utmost favorite color, turquoise, the soda shop is quaint and cozy, and supplies it's guests, at seating, with a newspaper-styled menu that's pounded with an overwhelming choice of options. Do you want the served-all-day breakfast, lunch, snacks, a vegan option, one of almost 30 grilled cheeses, ice cream, just sodas, etc.?

Being that Bobby Flay beat the shop at their own grilling game, and then, in exchange, the eatery created a similar 'wich in the episode's honor, I opted for just that, the 5B's -- a crunchy and toasted country white smeared deliciously with brie and goat cheeses, applewood-smoked bacon, watercress and tomato.

For B, he was giddy in anticipation on building his own burger (can choose between an old-school Black Angus beef burger to a salmon, veggie and chicken patty), without an exchange for an extra add-on charge for his obsessive-layering addiction. From caramelized onions, Granny Smith apples, Swiss cheese, applewood-smoked bacon -- all on sliced sourdough --his build-your-own reached an impressive top-notch slot as one of his top five favored burgers.

Other necessary notables do include anything from the fountain (I'd be a jerk not mentioning the soda at this shop!). Opting for swirls of vanilla and chocolate in my creamy and bubbly coke was definitely one of the better decisions I've made in the prime of my chowdowning. For B, he kept his build-your-own theme alive by sweetly stirring together seltzer with chocolate and raspberry.

The Pop Shop, excellent in its attempts to replicate a 50's diner without being too smack-in-the-face showy, will be seeing this girl again 'cept next time, I promise to save room for the ice cream!

caffeination cue: coffee-rubbed all-beef burgers

There's something comforting 'bout sharing your food-obsessed life with food-obsessed people. Not that I don't value introducing my inexperienced comrades to a surprising platter of balut or tender heap of veal cheeks, but I do love how some people just get it.

My best friend called a few weeks back while paging through the July issue of Bon Appetit to tell me that we must make the coffee-rubbed burgers. Simple, yet hopping with my daily go-to staple, there was no doubt that this transformed barbecued patty would now be my idea of all-beef perfection.

Coffee-Rubbed Cheeseburgers
Makes 8

Ingredients:
8 slices applewood-smoked bacon
1 pound ground chuck
8 slices smoked provolone
8 potato-bread hamburger

Begin by frying your slaps of applewood bacon. Being health-conscious girls, after preparing the crispy bacon and allowing the grease to soak into paper towels, we removed a large majority of the fat pieces (sorry, we're terrible).

Prepare the coffee rub and sprinkle 1 teaspoon on each patty. (We sprinkled a teaspoon on each side for a more accented java flavor.)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon freshly ground coffee
2 teaspoons (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Preheat stove top or preferably, a grill, at medium heat and begin barbecuing the bold beef. Each burger will take about four minutes, each side, to show the charring affect. Add two slices of bacon per round; coat each with one slice of smoked provolone. Remove once gooey and gorgeous, and place on a toasted potato bun. Pair with your favorite complementing condiments, including a dollop of a decent barbecue sauce. (BA suggests their Texas Barbecue Sauce.)

Now, in perfect company and caffeination, chowdown.

maple-sugar bacon cakes topped with candied bacon

Consider me jumping on the bandwagon.

I love cake. I love bacon. I love people combining both for the love of cupcakes. And now, I am one of those people. The satisfaction of merging some of best options from your breakfast platter into a mouthwatering sweet treat is quite possibly, one of the best dessert options currently on the market. Or, maybe one of the most creative to enter the baking world in the last decade.

Either way, be sure to sink your grubbing, grease-loving snaggles into these spongy bites.

Maple Sugar Bacon Cupcakes

4 1/2 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
6 strips of bacon (later minced into 1/4 cup), plus 1/2 tablespoon of bacon drippings
1 egg
5 tablespoons of brown sugar
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/4 cup of self rising flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
tiny tiny pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup of milk


Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Cook about 6 strips of bacon, reserving the drippings to be later used. Place in the fridge to solidify. Dice the cooked bacon into tiny bacon bits, about a 1/4 cup. Beat the butter and solidified bacon fat until fluffy. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and beat until combined. Add egg, continue beating. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients, alternating between some of the milk, and ending with the dry. Combine thoroughly. Fold in the bacon bits. Splash in more maple syrup if needed for taste. Fill cupcake papers 2/3's full and bake for 18-22 minutes.

Maple Sugar Frosting

4 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 cup of powdered sugar

Combine the syrup and butter until fluffy. Slowly add sugar until light and well-combined.

Candied Bacon Topping

2 tablespoons of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of brown sugar

Take two strips of cooked bacon. Coat slices with maple sugar and then, rub brown sugar over the entire surface. Bake for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees until bacon is shiny, crunchy and resembles hard candy. Remove from oven and wait until pieces are cool. Break into small slices for some adorable cake decor!

cream-filled cocoa mini-cakes

To be honest, I have no love for the store-bought Oreo.

Sorry, shoot me.

It's just that the cardboard crunch does nothing to please my everlasting aches for satisfying sugary substances. And, it's even more horrible that recently Mr. B shamelessly consumes multiple packages of Oreo Cakesters. I'm a baker for Christ's sake!

He says it's a guilty pleasure; I say it's in bad taste.

But, in all fairness and for just this once, I will allow my dessert elitism to be pushed aside and admit that Cakesters aren't so bad. However, I know I could make them better and uhem, slightly healthier.

So, to mostly prove a point and feel better 'bout not eating those packaged mini-devils, I whipped up this simple cakey sandwich cookie recipe that I *hope* (pretty please, with mounds of sugar on top) replaces those grocery shop wonders.

Cream-Filled Cocoa Mini-Cakes

Makes 24 cookies

cake

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 cup brown sugar
• 3 cup flour (1/3 flaxseed meal, 1/3 whole wheat, 1/3 all-purpose)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 tbsp. cocoa powder

cream-filling

• 1 cup veggie shortening
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• 2-2 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Sift & mix together cocoa, salt, baking soda and flour. Add remaining ingredients. Plop chocolate circles onto a greased cooking sheet and flatten the tops with a fork. Bake for 7 minutes and immediately remove from baking sheet. Let cookies completely cool before transforming them into sandwiches.

a doughy day of Dutchy fastnachts

Although I am not the type to give up one thing or another for Lent (not a celebrator here, sorry), I am guilty of jumping at any opportunity that will allow me to guiltily fulfill my closeted sweet tooth, or furthermore, my need to scandalously scarf anything that's remotely bad for me.

Enter: Fat Tuesday!

Born in the common land of apple butter barrels, pickled chow-chow jars and hogmaw feasts, such a fattening day only means one thing: an incredible chowdown of the Pennsylvania Deitsch's finest potato doughnut, the fastnacht.


Like any other individual within my sacred ancestry, the recipe for the favored fried dough comes passed from generation-to-generation, each adding a little more sugar or spice to make it just a tad bit more nice. Last from my grandmother, Naomi Strauss, who was keen in teaching me the precise measures in the art of doughnut shaping and hole-punching -- all with a promise to enjoy as many sugary pieces as I'd like.

Now, with a wish to carry on her hardy baking task that's in serious need of continuing, I tackled the six-dozen, two-day recipe that overall, left me covered from head-to-toe in floury dough. But more importantly, showcased that I may be able to someday slip into her tiny shoes.

Naomi's Fastnachts
Makes 6 dozen

• 2 yeast packets
• 1 cup mash potatoes
• 3 cup potato water
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• 5 lbs. flour
• 2 cup granulated sugar

The evening before, begin to prepare the dough, which must rise overnight. First, activate the yeast packets in a cup of warm water with a spoonful of sugar. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl omitting four pounds of the flour (using only 4 cups), which will be used later. Add the yeast water to the liquid mixture and let set for an hour. Slowly, add the remaining four pounds of flour to the mixture until the dough stiffens and is shaped into a large ball. Cover; allow dough to sit overnight.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough 3/4"-1" thick. Use a doughnut cutter to cut the dough or cut as typical Fastnachts (square-shaped). To allow the center of Fastnacht to fry completely, cut a small slit in the center of each piece, or use a thimble to punch holes. Allow shaped doughnuts to sit for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the dough pieces have raised to about double in size.
Heat oil to 300 degrees. Fry each doughnut for one to one-and-a-half minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Serve doughnuts plain or shaken in a nice coating of confectioner's sugar and a dash of cinnamon. But, from a fatherly perspective, my dad twists open the vault to reveal the proper way to down these fried Tuesday pleasures: slice crosswise, butter each slice and drizzle with some marvelous molasses.

smoked salmon in a saucy whole-grain penne blend

Well. I know it is February, which means that soon my terrible winter doldrums will be replaced with nice doses of sunny skys and comforting breezes. However, at this current time of year, I feel as though I am stuck in a cold-weather trance. Mother Nature continues to consistently play tricks on this naive lady by offering brief glimpses of the next season-to-come.

So, in such dull snowy moments, I have decided that the best way to spice my bittery blues is to whirl together (with my plus one taking the lead, of course) a satisfying supper that awakes my snowy slumbers for a tip-top tummy enticer.

Influenced by a recent purchase of a simple and satisfyingly-discounted sauce book, Mr. B invented a heavy liquid blend to drown my favorite delicate whole-grain pasta in the utmost perfect fashion. Simply, he married a large splash of heavy cream and a generous amount of butter (gasp!) with a decent-sized garlic clove and several dashes of black pepper to create a mega-calorie feast for us both. Selecting a smoked salmon to be paired amongst the noodles and the sauce -- a decision made only because he believed it deserved a second-chance after his first Philly Roll episode -- may have been one of his best decisions, and one extremely oogling to anyone who is a) starving (as I always am) and b) seafood-craved (yes, please!).

Together, the symphony of a sea creature and its wheat mate dipped in a succulent, yet simple sauce, crafts a comforting plate ideal for a cozy evening-in sans chilly toes and frost-bitten noses.

Henry's Cafe & marvelous mismatched pasta

A friend recently commented to me that it drives her bonkers when, being on a fixed income and wanted to eat some spaghetti, she has to combine different shaped half-empty pasta boxes together to achieve a perfect pot. Not a stickler for such, a visit to Henry’s Café off of Pottstown's High Street and a satisfying bowl of mismatched pasta caused this lady to want to endlessly rant and rave.

With attractive bar seating revealing the open kitchen and owner/chef Jamie preparing your meals to order, my plus one and I had overwhelmingly pleasing lunch experience. As he selected the cook’s highly-praised seafood pasta, shown above, served with a fantastic assortment of calamari, mussels and shrimp, I selected a full-sized pasta portion of mix-master’s grilled chicken plate, shown below.

Ideally seasoned and cooked to an impressive al dente, the tomato-y blends created before our own eyes absolutely peaked to the tippy-top of my most favorite foods.

And, without a doubt, I must briefly mention that the chef's wife/co-owner solely creates all the eatery's desserts in-house. They're delectable, old-fashioned and light, and a visit is incomplete without a few tastes. Below, are the two we sampled -- an apple bread pudding and a fresh blueberry cobbler.
Words of advice for future diners: Share everything with your dining companions. Also, when the chef suggests throwing some jalapenos into your dish because "that's how he'd eat it," follow his lead.