Maureen Kelly is a brilliant friend and makes one of my high school pals, Luca, very happy – every day. More importantly she works in women’s health for Planned Parenthood in Ithaca, NY. Maureen is an avid baker, an adventurous eater and fun drinking partner. I asked her to share her Guilty Pleasures and she graciously agreed to do so. Enjoy!
So, LeAnne is one of those Forces of Nature. You know, the kind of person who you know of, before you actually meet and you hear about before you’re ever lucky enough to share a drink or a meal with them. That’s LeAnne and exactly how I got to know her and I’m so fortunate to call her a friend. I am delighted (and profoundly honored and humbled) to be invited into the Good for Spooning blog-world to share my own little riff on guilty pleasures.
So here’s the thing. I’m not one for a lot of withholding or putting off or not doing because of guilt. I’m not sure if that’s just my over-reaction to the more rigid religious upbringing my folks lived through or perhaps a core element of my being. I’m thinking it might be the latter. I’m a pretty pleasure focused gal. I see too much shame, fear, secrecy, worry and denial in the world and am pretty well acquainted with the fleeting nature of life (and careers, and relationships, and friendships) that my own brand of pseudo-Buddhism leads to a pretty here-and-now kind of life. And that approach is rather evident in my love of good food, good drink, and a deep love of cooking.
The one challenge this presents is picking but one guilty pleasure to share. So, I’m not going to. I’m going to go with two of the top guilty pleasures swirling around in my life right now.
One.
Okay. I’m rather fond of nice steak. Really, quite fond. I’ll be honest; I’m a bit of steak-seeker. And I’m pleased to report I’m taking a break from my seeking because I’m pretty set. I found something really special in Manhattan.
You may well know of it, if not, and you’re a carnivore, you really must. (Don’t be fooled by the pull of Peter Luger to Brooklyn, stick with this.) Keen’s Steakhouse at 72 West 36th Street (between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue) was founded in 1885 by Albert Keen. (You’re going to want to read more bout the storied history of this this place. Click the link above).
Yes, the mutton chops are certainly a thing, but please, walk with me to the Chateaubriand Steak for Two, with Three Sauces. This piece of meat exists wholly as a Guilty Pleasure. And my, does it deliver. It’s price is steep, the mass of perfect top end meat is outrageous how it melts, you will be full, you will be more than sated, and you will need to go back. Oh, and if you’re also a drinker, be sure to try the New York Sour as well. It completes the meal.
Two.
About that New York Sour. I am a committed whisky girl. I go so far as to gift myself a Whisky Advent Calendar every Christmas from the fine folks at Master of Malt. Did you do advent calendars as a kid? They were these excellent thin cardboard calendars that you opened a door for each day leading up to Christmas and it revealed a delightfully small, waxy, tasteless, ill-formed chocolate that when you’re 8 is an utter thrill.
As a Big Girl, the whisky calendar operates on the exact same principal but the door you open reveals a dram-a-day of the finest whiskies around. This year yielded an Isle of Jura 16 Year Old (Diurschs’ Own), a Macallen Amber 1824 Series, and a fine dram of Timorous Beastie. But my newest whisky Guilty Pleasure is right out of Japan. Hibiki Suntory Whisky. Yes. A Japanese whisky that really must be tried. The company started producing whisky in 1923 and has really done something special. It’s blended with malt whisky from Yamazaki and Hakushu and grain whisky from Chita and it matures in plum liqueur barrels. Don’t know if I need to say anything more about it. It’s some smooth sipping, excellent with a stir, and a fine Guilty Pleasure I hope to keep around for a bit.
Life’s pretty short to not do it right.
Cheers.
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
-Virginia Woolfe
