Pittsburgh museums offer rich culture and the opportunity to get lost for hours soaking in a tremendous amount of historical and innovative artwork. But without even entering the exhibits, museums can also offer guests the opportunity to divulge in holiday shopping and treats without the cost of admission.
At The Andy Warhol Museum on the North Side, you can purchase coffee, tea, small bites, and pastries in The Warhol Cafe (off to the right after walking through the front entrance). After shopping in the museum's store — which houses a delightful, larger-than-expected assortment of one-of-a-kind items worth its own post — I stopped to grab a cappuccino in the cafe, when I spotted a cute stack of sugar cookies by the register.
Individually-wrapped hexagon-shaped cookies, covered in white icing and decorated with red Christmas designs, sat next to bright yellow, banana-shaped cookies, in homage to Andy Warhol's famous artwork of a banana, originally created for The Velvet Underground's iconic album cover.
I, of course, had to purchase both. (Each cost slightly over $1.)
The cookies were harder than I'd normally like from a sugar cookie, with a solid crunch and a texture that felt like they had been sitting on a cold counter for a day too long. But as I visited on a Sunday afternoon, a few hours before close, I can't fault them for not tasting as if they were just pulled from the oven. The flavor, though, was quite nice — a subtle hint of sugar, and a thin layer of icing that didn't overwhelm the cookie beneath it.
These cookies are a nice gift for yourself after spending the day checking out the artwork in the museum. Just skip the temptation to purchase them as gifts for others and head to the museum's store to take care of those needs instead, as the shelf life of these cookies seems pretty short.
And while not exactly a traditional holiday treat, the banana cookie was far superior only because it was more fun to grip onto as you took a bite — a cookie with its own handle. I'm sure Lou Reed would have eaten the shit out of these things.
