food

Day Three: Summary
Breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien
Photo Op at Grand Central Station
Lunch at Mobay in Harlem
Photo Op at Guggenheim
Picasso exhibition at The Met
Pre-theater cocktail at The Glass Tavern
RACE, a Mamet play at the Barrymore Theater
Dinner at Room Service in Hell’s Kitchen 

Day Three: Long Version

View of the archway and ceiling above the entrance of Grand Central Station

We started day three with breakfast at a french farmhouse style bakery called Le Pain Quotidien. It’s actually a chain but you wouldn’t know it by the surrounds.  The food was very fresh and very french. With full bellies we were off!  First stop, Grand Central Station for a photo op.  It’s a beautiful space and there are a lot of great shops including Pylones a very bright and colorful gift store.

From the station we hopped in a cab and headed for Harlem to see John’s apartment. He has a cute space that he’s in the process of redecorating.  I loved the beautiful exposed brick and there’s a nice little bar area attached to the kitchenette.  From there, John gave us a tour of Harlem which included a stop at The Apollo Theater.  We ate lunch at Mobay which had the best Jerk Chicken sandwich and I indulged in a mid-day Mojito. After all, I was on vacation! We left John to enjoy his Saturday afternoon while E and I headed to a couple of museums.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1956

Since we didn’t have a lot of time we stopped at the Guggenheim for a photo-op. The structure itself was more impressive than the current collection so we moved onto The Met which was within walking distance.  Due to the massive crowds we quickly browsed through the Picasso exhibit before hitting the roof top deck for the very fun Big Bambu exhibit.  Other than being an exhibit, it also provided some much needed shade on a sweltering hot afternoon.

E among the Big Bambu

By late Saturday afternoon our brains were fried.  That always seems to be the case when visiting a big city.  There’s so much to see and do but our minds can only process so much before it shuts down.  So, before we started babbling and drooling out of shear exhaustion we headed back to the hotel.

Our evening began with a pre-theater cocktail at the Glass House Tavern then we popped across the street to the Barrymore Theater to see RACE, a David Mamet play.  If you’re not familiar with the name he also wrote Wag the Dog, The Verdict & Glengarry, Glen Ross. As the title simply states its about race relations among the characters and within our judicial system.  It has received mixed reviews and even among the three of us, it was clear that we each reacted to it very differently.  Although it may seem like a dated subject matter I think its important to recognize that it at least got everyone talking. The brand new cast seemed a little wet behind the ears but seeing Eddie Izzard  perform in a very serious role was an interesting departure from his cross-dressing stand-up gig. 

After the intense play and discussion we enjoyed a late dinner at a really fun Thai restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen called Room Service.  Unfortunately, the lights were so dim that is was impossible to take any good pics of the interior.  Just imagine a very hip and cool space with vintage mirrors and frames all painted black and smokey blue walls. To top it off there was a massive encased crystal chandelier in the middle of the room.  The drinks however cost more than the entrees. Buyer beware! 

That’s all from day three. Our final day, day four was really only a 1/2 day so it will be a short final trip entree.  I’m sure that will be of some relief!  Then it will be back to crafty stuff, I swear!

Day Two: Summary
New York Athletic Club
Clinton Street Baking Co. for brunch
Tenament Museum
Purl Soho fabric store
Drinks in Chinatown
A walk across Manhattan bridge
John’s Pizzeria for dinner
Junior’s for cheesecake dessert

Day Two: Long Version

Clinton Steet Baking Co.  The wait was worth it!

Day two in New York City started with a few laps in the NYAC pool which was located inside our hotel.  Once we were dressed and ready-to-go John took us out for a fantastic brunch at Clinton Street Baking Co. on the Lower East Side.  It’s a very popular place that is well-known for their fresh Maine blueberry pancakes.  I went with the Brioche French Toast and we shared a side of sugar cured bacon.  I mean really…bacon drenched in sugar, how can you go wrong! 

Fabric stack and Liberty of London Fabric purchased at Purl

After brunch, Elizabeth and John head to the Tenament Museum while I wandered off to do some shopping in Soho.  I was in search of a store that also has a fantastic blog.  It’s simply called Purl and they carry beautiful contemporary fabrics, yarn and crafty supplies. Their blog, The Purl Bee, often provides free patterns and I really wanted to check it out in person. 

E and I sucking down some tasty coconut water!

From Soho we walked through Chinatown stopping for some refreshing coconut water from one of the many street vendors.  We were stopped several times by people wanting to know, “what is that and where did you get it?”  Looking at the photo above I’m sure they thought it was some kind of alcoholic beverage but alas it was just naturally flavored water. It was fun to walk around and see all the fresh fish markets and tacky souvenir shops which Chinatown is known for but we were only window shopping.

 View of Manhattan Bridge from the pedestrian walkway

Chinatown is close to the Manhattan Bridge which some may say is the ugly step-sister of the Brooklyn Bridge but dispite some decay and neglect its quite a beautiful structure.  It’s a long walk across the bridge and it was a very hot day with little shade so we walked 1/2 way across the bridge before turning around and hailing a cab back to the hotel.  We were beat!

We rested for a couple of hours before dinner and since we had been to a fun musical the previous night we opted for a low-key dinner at John’s Pizzeria.  Located inside a former church in Times Square, John’s had a great atmosphere and was popular with both locals and tourists.  Their house wine wasn’t bad either.  A carafe later and enough pizza to induce narcolepsy we make matters worse by heading to Junior’s for some classic New York Style Cheesecake! Oy vey, was that a bad idea.  Don’t get me wrong the cheesecake was great but my slice was a meal in and of itself. Thanks for daring me into it John!

Tomorrow I will post day 3 and 4 of our trip.  More fun pics to come! 

It’s hard to believe that Turkey Day is upon us once again!  I hope you will be enjoying time off with family and friends.  Here are a few great recipes that will be part of our family dinner this year. A couple I’ve made before with great results & a new appetizer. 

1. Roasted Turkey recipe. We’ve been using this recipe for the last 3 years and it never disappoints! Forget the whole turkey and just use fresh turkey breast. This option is quick, easy and very juicy. Carving a whole turkey is so over-rated!

2. Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bourbon Pecan Caramel Sauce. I made this dessert for a dinner party back in February and it was a big hit.  It’s so easy and the best part is, it can be made a day ahead of time.  I’m always up for a time saver!

3. Sausage stuffed mushrooms. A new recipe for this year. I saw it being made on an episode of The Barefoot Contessa and it looks really good.  I haven’t made a turkey day app so this will be a nice change.

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving recipes?

Most nights after working a long day its a challenge to think of something to make for dinner that I haven’t already made a million times!  It’s not that hard when you pre-plan meals but as a good friend says “after work its all about ATC (ass to couch) time.”  So, this week I made an effort and hit the grocery store before heading home. Aha, pre-planning…see! Anyway, I came across this recipe on the Real Simple website and since it’s semi-homemade I thought I would give it a try.

Smoky Chicken Corn Cakes.  Image via Real Simple

All it requires is a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, some fresh produce and batter for the corn cakes.  Hell, I can do that!  It’s the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce that give the chicken a nice smoky flavor.  Granted, my version didn’t look nearly as pretty at theirs but they never do!  That maybe because they don’t always use actual food.  Like that sour cream in the first photo that could in fact be Elmers glue you never know.

Anyway, it took me about 35 minutes or so to make and I highly reccomend it!  The best part is there are plenty of leftovers so nothing will get in the way of ATC to watch the Top Chef premiere and Top Chef Masters tonight. 

I’m starting to wonder if the Top Chef Masters final, final round is really tonight!  For the past two weeks I thought the same thing.  Maybe its just me but they’ve been dragging it along.  Producers, please, give out the $100,000 grand prize already! Gaw!

This week I was on a mission to make ice cream. It all started when I bought a ridiculous amount of bing cherries at Whole Foods.  I usually don’t buy produce from them because it can be expensive but they had a special on these tasty looking numbers!

The bag weighed in at 4 lbs!  That’s when I thought to myself “What the hell am I going to do with 4 lbs of cherries!” Maybe I could make jam or even a pie but with the ninety degree weather outside ice cream seem more appropriate.

Off I went to Target for an ice cream maker and cherry pitter.  So, this bag of cherries that was such a deal turned into a $40 project!  Ha, classic!

Rival Gel Canister Ice Cream Maker - 1 qt.

The process was pretty simple but pitting the cherries was a little messy, well a lot messy.  By the time I had pitted 12 oz of them it looked like a small massacre had occurred in the kitchen.  I somehow managed to get cherry juice all over the counter, the kitchen wall, and even the framed artwork.  Oops!

The ice cream maker requires that the cylinder base by placed in the freezer overnight so after 24 hours I made a simple custard (1 pint of cream, 5 eggs yolks and 5 oz of sugar) cooked on low to 185 degrees, added the puréed cherries and chilled.  I fired up the machine, pouring in the custard and let it churn away for around thirty minutes.  Once it thickened up I added some chocolate chips at the end and VIOLA!

Straight from the machine it had the consistency of soft-serve so I stuck it in the freezer to harden.  All in all a very tasty treat!  Next up, coffee gelato!  Yum!

Lately, after a long week I like to get up on Saturday morning and make waffles.  Jason isn’t a big breakfast person mainly because he doesn’t like eggs but if I put a big plate of steamed batter, butter and syrup in front of him it will be gone in seconds!

He’s been working a lot of overtime lately so I knew this would be a nice treat.  I don’t want to even think of the calories on this plate but it does bring new meaning to “pile it on!”

So far this week I’ve been busy testing out different recipes as we’re having a small dinner party on Saturday night. We’ve had friends over before but I found myself in the kitchen most of the time. That’s no fun!  So, this time I’m decided to test out a few recipes that are simple, tasty but that can be done in advance.

Monday night I tested the Tuscan Beef Stew with Polenta

for the main course.  I would say it was a nice meal for the two of us.  It did take about 2 and 1/2 hours to simmer which made the beef nice and tender but in the end…it’s just beef stew…boring!  I’m still working on the main course.

In the meantime, I tried a recipe for Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bourbon-Pecan Caramel sauce.  I know this looks like one hot mess but it was really tasty!  I ended up using rum instead of bourbon based on the many reviews online and it tasted delicious.  It’s really easy to make and big enough to serve a large group or party.  It can be served warm or at room temperature which means I can make it ahead of time.  Bingo!  This one’s a keeper!  I hope it goes over well.

What are your favorite wintertime dishes?

Oh no they didn’t!

I’ve never cooked tomatillos until yesterday.  I really like these little green gems and especially since they’re naturally gift-wrapped! Well, the technical term is husk but whatever I think they look cool!

The Roasted Tomatillo Salsa recipe is from the Mexican Everyday cookbook which I picked up in Dec. ‘07 after Claire and I spotted the creator and PBS celebrity chef, Rick Bayless, at his Frontera Grill in Chicago. I didn’t immediately recognize him but I just knew that the well-dressed gentleman with the perfectly groomed goatee in the Macy’s food court taste-testing salsa wasn’t the manager.

What I love about this book is that the recipes are simple yet spicy. So, if you’re on a budget but still want to try some of his creations head to FronteraKitchens.com for free recipes.  You won’t be disappointed!

Last Saturday my good friend Elizabeth arranged “Tea Service for Two” at the London Tea Room. It was an ideal place to relax and exchange gifts after a stroll down Washington Ave. We had our choice of tea, traditional cucumber sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam with a cupcake to finish it all off. It was a real treat! Thanks E!

There were a few cute stores but for the most part Washington Ave. has become a ghost town.  It was fun to see some of the old buildings that still remain having been turned into lofts. One building that caught my attention was the old Bee Hat Company.  It dates back to 1899. Back in the day this was a busy factory in the garment district and one very cool feature are these terra cotta lion heads that, according to Architectural Ruminations, “originally connected to the building’s rooftop drainage gutter system”  but have since been hooked up to the steam lines.  It’s an interesting sight to see on a cold December day.