So Many Bakeries...

These baked goodies are from Madeleine Patisserie, 132 West 23rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenue, an adorable, little bakery with a cozy seating area in the back.  The selection of macaroons is stunning: on their website they list 56 flavors including Red Wine Black Pepper, Banana Guava Orange, Pink Champagne, Lavender Nougat, Caramel Fleur de Sel.....

I'm thinking about bakeries today and how I used to love to bake and decorate all the time: I made a rubber ducky cake for my friend Sarah's baby shower, a pink "hardcover" book for my boss's birthday when I worked at a publishing company, an egg with a bow for Easter, muffins every weekend...  And even though I haven't turned my attention to baking in quite a while, I still love sampling and visiting pretty, little shops.  Speaking of which...

Today is opening day at my friend Tully Lewis's Tully's Gluten-Free Bakery at 338 East 11th Street betwen 1st and 2nd Avenue.  Now people who cannot eat gluten have beautiful and tasty options for cookies, brownies, paninis, rotating daily cupcake flavors! and more in this lovely, pink space.

I also had the privilege today of attending the launch party for the new cookbook from the folks behind Amy's Bakery with locations in Chelsea Market, the Village and Hell's Kitchen.  The new book is: Amy's Bread, Revised and Updated: Artisan-style breads, sandwiches, pizzas, and more from New York City's favorite bakery and has already been named one of 2010's Most Exciting Food Books by Publisher's Weekly.

I couldn't take any pics at the party because my hands were full of the fantastic carb-y treats like chocolate cherry rolls, rosemary foccacia, black olive twists and many more shown with their "starter" doughs so you could see the beginning and finished products.  There were also many sweets from Amy's first book: The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread: cakes, cookies, bars and pastries and more from New York City's favorite bakery, yummm...

They even gave out breakfast goody bags for tomorrow and lots of free bread to take home.  And then to end the night we came home and watched Cake Boss on TLC, the show about Carlo's Bakeshop in Hoboken, New Jersey.  The first time I went there about 6 years ago I wanted to learn how to make his stacked suitcase and purse cake and it's funny seeing it become so popular that there's a line around the block on the weekends.