The Northeast's best breakfast?

The only bad thing about Bill's Bread and Breakfast in Putnam is that I have to choose between real, homemade corned beef hash and a tempting selection of fresh baked muffins grilled in butter.

Eating at Bill's is a special treat.  The service is real, warm and attentive.  The coffee is good, hot, and frequently refilled.  The over-easy eggs are just  right, and the fresh-baked wheat toast is perfect for sopping up the runny yolks.  The home fires are great, and the hot chocolate (a favorite of my kids) comes with the free option of a heap of real whipped cream on top.  But the best feature, to me, is the homemade corned beef hash.  Maybe it's because I have lived in other parts of the country where they've never heard of corned beef hash, but I know the value of the stuff.  And this is darn good.

And their muffins!  It is hard to beat their fresh baked muffins.  You have to walk by a selection of them as you walk in--chocolate chip, lemon poppy, cranberry nut, blueberry, any and every delectable variety.  And as if that were not enough, when you order them you are asked, "Would you like that grilled?"  Wow.  It doesn't get much better than a fresh, sweet muffin grilled to a buttery crisp along one side.  How could anyone resist?  There is only one way, I think.  It can only happen if you know how good their hash and eggs are.

All of this is served up by friendly staff at a very affordable price.   I need to get up there more often.

The recession is over? Not in Connecticut.

Connecticut lawmakers began reviewing ideas Thursday to repay $500 million the state borrowed from the federal government to help pay unemployment benefits for jobless workers.

The state's unemployment trust fund has been depleted by the deep, persistent recession as unemployment nearly doubled, to 9 percent, and the number of jobless workers seeking compensation jumped from 40,000 in 2007 to 130,000. Total borrowing could rise to about $1 billion in the coming two or three years, the state Labor Department said.

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Copyright 2011 Associated Press.

Joan Gordon: Brooklyn’s Cozy Corner Restaurant is a popular spot — for good reason

By Joan Gordon

Let’s get this out of the way at the beginning: Going to the Cozy Corner Restaurant for brunch on a Saturday or Sunday morning will probably involve a wait. Unless you decide to eat either before or after the hordes, that means waiting in a line that snakes out into the parking lot. Other times and other days the place may be busy, but you should get right in.

The very popular Cozy Corner sits in a freestanding building near the Quinnebaug River, just over the Brooklyn town line from Plainfield. Five days a week it serves only breakfast and lunch, but on Fridays and Saturdays dinner is available as well.

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