Lunch with Carole at the CIA Part 1

Cool Chandelier at the CIA

Yes, I had lunch at the CIA. I'll bet you never knew they were known for their food. The first time I ever ate at the CIA was with my uncle who took my husband and me there as a thank you gesture...a VERY nice gesture that I have never forgotten and never will. I didn't know what to expect, thinking about eating at the CIA. I figured they must have Top Secret food. I soon found out that CIA stands for the Culinary Institute of America. That's where Bobby Flay and Chef Duff graduated from, in addition to many other famous and not so famous amazing chefs. It's a renown culinary school in Hyde Park, NY. It is absolutely beautiful, and it has several wonderful restaurants both upscale and casual.

As a matter of fact, I met my cousin Carole from Carole's Thoughtful Spot for lunch at the CIA yesterday. She wrote an absolutely wonderful blog entry all about the school and the restaurant where we had lunch with wonderful pictures. As I was carrying two bags and my daughter, I didn't take any pictures until we were inside, so please visit Carole's entry to see beautiful pictures of the CIA, stunning views of the frozen Hudson River, and pictures of the restaurant.

I was so thrilled to be meeting Carole for lunch because we have always had so much fun together, and also because I had been cooped up at home with sick children for weeks.

The last time we met for lunch, we were very health conscious and had Lean Cuisine frozen pizzas with Crystal Light and Weight Watchers ice cream bars for dessert. Yesterday, we did not think about one single calorie. It's a good thing too, because we probably would have needed a good accountant to figure out how many calories we consumed.

The goal of the day was to get out, relax, laugh, eat delicious food, enjoy ourselves, and revitalize. We chose the Apple Pie Bakery both because of the menu and because I could relax and not worry about my daughter making noise or a mess.

I'd been to the Apple Pie Bakery once before. Confronted with the delicacies, delights, and temptations, I ordered an egg white omelet and water. The Apple Pie Bakery really is the worst place to order an egg white omelet and water. There is a plethora of artisan breads, rich meals, and display cases full of artistically prepared desserts of every kind. You can see a slide show of the Apple Pie Bakery as well as the other items they offer here and the cafe menu is available here and the dessert menu is here. Take a look and see what you would order...you just might be taking a ride, sail, or flight over to Hyde Park within the next couple of minutes. Anyway, I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice and felt my arteries begin to harden just thinking about what to choose from the menus.

So as not to spoil Carole's surprise, I will end my post at this point as well and reveal what we had for lunch and dessert and how much fun we had in my next post. You will also get to see more relevant pictures, since the silly picture of the chandelier is the only picture I took (because I was laden with child and bags) that does not reveal what I am not yet ready to reveal.

To be continued...