Brklyn Larder

Yesterday my husband and I were out in Brooklyn celebrating (my birthday and our anniversary, both of which are today) with lunch at the fantastic Al Di La. (If you're not in New York but maybe will visit and have a chance to go to Brooklyn and eat there, do.) In fact, I was going to write just about lunch for which I had a raw Tuscan kale salad (shared) followed by polenta with mushrooms and some kind of green (thinking about it makes my knees a little weak--it was so rich I couldn't finish it) and coffee/caramel custard with chocolate cookies. (Also shared and kind of heavenly in its smoothness and flavor sensations; we had to stop ourselves from licking the little pot it came in.)

But I'm not blogging about polenta and pudding because on our way to the subway we stopped at Brklyn Larder, the store whose granola inspired this recipe that's now a staple in our house (I'm going to make some now in fact), but whose Almond Butter is the best ever. It's smooth, it's nutty, it's somehow, I don't know, better than any other almond butter I've had -- and it doesn't get clumpy! It's so special and lasts so long and tastes so good with orange marmalade I don't even mind paying an amount that makes me cough. Really, a jar of the stuff was the perfect present at the end of a lovely lunching afternoon.