My summer vacation is nearly over. I arrived back in the Big Apple from the Big Orange, otherwise known as Florida. It was a great month filled with swimming pools, fishing, suntans, lots of nieces and most importantly key lime pie and Dairy Queen. We ate enough of the royal family for my kids to realize that Blizzards aren’t nearly as good as plain old cones with sprinkles. Plus, my hubby and his iron stomach joined me in the noble quest to find the best key lime pie around. It came down to two top contenders. The pie at the Ritz Carlton Naples took the number one spot in taste. It was truly a masterful pie, deliciously limey, with the perfect consistency and without the fake green color.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a practical solution for a pie craving and a girl needs her go-to pie. Surprisingly, number two went to Costco. The pie was fresh, delicious and gigantic (which is a plus in my book) and topped with that most delicious of substances, stabilized whipped cream. I have to say, it tastes nothing like real whipped cream but I have a special place in my heart for the firmly fluffy stuff. So my hearty kudos goes out to Costco for their pie (and the pork chops were pretty good as well). I was hoping to share with you an inside view of Honeydukes, the magical candy shop from Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando. Unfortunately, it poured rain. We persevered through Disney, but just didn’t have the heart to suffer through Universal Studios in the bad weather. I will note however that Disney does make some excellent fudge at the giant candy shop on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom.
Back to New York. I finally made it to a place that had been on my list for at least a year, right before I left the city. Gullugoglu is a small Turkish Bakery on the east side. They have a branch in Brooklyn and Queens as well. My family has a special love for Turkish food. My youngest gets excited when Grandma and Grandpa come in to visit, as he knows it means we will order dinner in from his favorite Turkish restaurant. Gullugoglu has a big selection of traditional Turkish pastries.
You can sit in their café and enjoy them with coffee or you can take a selection of mini pieces, by the pound, home. I got a little bit of everything from the basic pistachio or walnut baklava, to sour cherry and chestnut and my personal favorite, the Sobiyet, which has a pistachio and cream filling. They probably had about 15 different types to choose from as well as some cakes, rice pudding and kazandibi, a baked milk pudding. Everything was beautifully presented and delicious. If you like baklava this is definitely a must try. They also serve breakfast and lunch in their café. I was disappointed, as I was also hoping to grab a box of savory pastries to go but they only offered them in meal-sized portions. If you stop by one of the other locations they may offer the savory pastries by the pound. So back to the daily grind… although I heard an all Tiramisu shop has just opened. The magic of the city, it’s always full of surprises.
