Boy, have I got a lot to say today! Clear your schedules, cancel all your meetings, put down the General Hospital, cause it’s cookie time!

This week’s (and by this week, I really mean last week) drop spot was Pachanga Patterson. Have you been there? I’m sure most have, because I’m generally behind the eight ball with most things, but if you haven’t, stop reading this and go right now.

Are you back? Ok, good, let’s continue.

Do you remember last week how I mentioned a very generous guy named Joe came into Fatty’s and gave me a whole bunch of Ghiradelli chips to bake with? Well, holy crap, I will say without a doubt these were the best Heitmann cookies I have ever tasted. Ever. And for those of you that know me, know that’s a pretty big claim to make. They were larger than the ones I usually use so I thought it would be good if I chopped them up into smaller chunks. Brilliant idea on my part, that meant there were little flecks of chocolate floating around the rest of the dough making for an extra decadent and savory cookie.

Tell me that’s not the most beautiful cookie you’ve ever seen. I dare you.

I dropped them off at Pachanga Patterson, who was not actually open when I swung by (lesson #83762 – make sure the establishment you’re going to is actually open) but luckily they were having a meeting and I was able to speak with Leo, the owner. I started to explain who/what I was and he stopped me and said he already knew what it was all about – YES! Elation! I told him I’d be back to pick up my plate in a few days and sit down and have a meal when I do.

Because these cookies were so amazing, I wanted to spread ore cookie love around town and stopped by Singlecut after rehearsal that night. I had decided to spend my St. Patty’s Day there on Sunday, they were having a bluegrass band, good beer, that’s my kind of low key celebration. We got to talking and I said I’d take requests for goodies on Sunday, what do you want? Andrew had a genius (but glaringly obvious – how did I not think of this??) idea to bake something with their beer. David already had this genius idea already that night:

I was sent home with a growler of Eric “More Cowbell” Milk Stout and a promise of Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes for Sunday.

I could tell you the story of what happened on Saturday when Rulpsen, Singlecut’s good friend and mascot (he’s a fermenter, this is an interspecies relationship) came over to help me bake, or I could show you.

What you’re looking at is a chocolate cake with milk stout, a whiskey chocolate ganache filling and a Bailey’s Irish Cream buttercream frosting. If you want more details you’ll have to ask Rulpsen (twitter @Rulpsen). A true lady never reveals her secrets.

Sunday Funday was St. Patrick’s Day! Don’t you remember? If you can’t, that’s ok, I’m sure you’re not the only one. I headed to Pachanga Patterson to have some lunch, pick up my plate and drop off a few cupcakes before heading up to Singlecut.

I ordered a pretty standard pulled beef taco that was out of this world delicious and a not so standard Jameson margarita, also surprisingly yummy! I chatted with Leo for a bit and connected the dots that Vesta is a sister restaurant – I’ll have to head there right away as well. I also got a chance to speak with Michelle, the chef at PP, and to tell her just how many more tacos I think I could put away. Both Leo and Michelle were so complimentary and generous then in offering me the use of their kitchen if I needed in the future. We also talked about an exciting new venture for them, Van Alst, a catering company and some possibilities of a collaboration. Lots of good things coming out of Pachanga people! Leo also gave me the official word for who gets a visit tomorrow, William Hallet up on 30th Ave. Yet another place I’ve never really been but am really looking forward to visiting.

I headed up to Singlecut with my cupcakes where I learned the lesson of how small the world really is. Not only were the cupcakes a hit, but I had someone approach me and ask if I was Single Girl Cookies. If that weren’t awesome enough, it turns out I had given a cupcake to the husband of Judith from We Heart Astoria and she was putting the pieces together! How nice to put real people and faces to the avatars and personas of the cyber world we all live in. She’s lovely in person and I’m excited to announce that I will be a guest blogger on weheartastoria.com! We Heart Astoria is one of my fav go-to sites for what’s happening in the neighborhood from real people that really live here. They’re going to syndicate my posts and help spread the word about my kindness revolution! If that isn’t the best news I’ve heard in a long time, I don’t know what is 🙂

I feel like I’m probably leaving out so many things that happened in the Single Girl world this weekend, but I know this is already pretty long and if I remember anything big, I’ll let you know. For now, let me leave you with a small word of thanks. Many of you know my deep, deep love of Mumford and Sons and recognize the heading as modified lyrics to their song Below My Feet. That song keeps coming up in my Pandora, ITunes and Spotify radio and is one of my favorites from their newest album. It speaks to staying grounded and rooted in your purpose with faith and trust. To me, it relates to what I’m trying to do with Single Girl Cookies, learning about others, serving a higher purpose of kindness and charity with my gifts, and trusting that I’m on the right road. Thanks to all of you who believe in this as much as I do and especially to those who have lent their own gifts to the project, Shaun, Lisa at http://www.thrive-style.com, Mackenzi, Judith and Meg at weheartastoria.com, Jeanmarie Evelly @DNAinfo, Ryan at ryancmiller.com, Jeremy at jeremybales.com, @astoriahaiku, the team at Singlecut, my mom and dad, the team at Pachanga Patterson, @teamGREASE, @j-la. This whole thing is just proof of positive attracts positive. When you bring goodness to others, goodness will come back to you. Wishing you only good things until we meet again 🙂

 

Copyright 2013, Renee Heitmann