Happy New Year!

I have a good feeling about 2012.  It is so bright a shiny, like a penny, or a new candy thermometer i got for Christmas.  I couldn't wait to try it out! First, I used it to make this hot cocoa.

Looks good right? That's because its from the famous Max Brenner's Chocolates in New York.

Over the holidays, my family and I trekked through the snow-less highways all the way to the East coast.  We stopped in Pennsylvania for a night to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and then headed to Baltimore to celebrate Christmas with my newest baby cousin!  After the presents had been opened and our tummys full of crab cakes and delicious almond raspberry cake, we started our journey again, this time to the big apple. 

So anyway, once we finally got to the city, we didn't know where to start!! As much as I would like to go on and on about all of our adventures, I don't want to bore you, but the will be in future posts.  The second day we were there, we walked down the block from our hotel on 5th avenue to Bryant Park.

Isn't it lovely?  I loved this tree that they had set up near the temporary shops.  And they had an ice rink!  I really wanted to skate, but there was a humongous line and the wait was over 2 hours.  Not exactly worth it to stand in the cold just so you can skate in the cold.  So we opted to explore the little shops.  Lo and behold, we stumbled across one of the Max Brenner's Chocolate shops.

If you haven't heard of Max Brenner, you must live under a rock.  His chocolate is amazing!! He has an actual permanent store on Broadway, but this store was just enough for our family.  It was tiny inside, but the smell was heavenly!  I spotted this adorable Hug Mug and yummy European Hot coco and I thought to myself, why not? We are in New York!  And so I bought it.  And my parents bought us a box of chocolates to sample as well as one of the giant chocolate chip cookies showcased in the window.  They also had a very interesting way for you to taste the pure decadence of the chocolate; by placing it inside a syringe.  Weird, right? But surprisingly good!! It was warm and made it simple to add the yummy chocolate to the giant cookie we got, and it was no mess to eat!

The hot cocoa was fabulous as well!

The top picture is my brother, (he wouldn't share his syringe) and the bottom picture is of my dad who loves hot cocoa!  We had a really great time in New York and the food there was amazing!  Happy New Year everyone!