Month: April 2013

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My London trip in a nutshell

But really, how cute are these?

But really, how cute are these?

::sigh::

Guys, I love London. I really, really do. I had such an amazing few days there last week. Went to awesome museums, ate great food, caught up with old friends, made fun new friends, and had an all around smashing time. London, thank you, you’re awesome.

There’s lots to gush about— in the way of food naturally, for the purpose of this blog— and I’ll get to that as the week goes on, but for now this picture of funny little gingerbread men sums up my whole stay in London: tasty, fun and hot ginger men. These are from The Free From Bakehouse stand at the Southbank Centre Square food market.  Cookies, pies, cakes and all sorts of baked goods, many carrying either gluten free, wheat free, dairy free or sugar free labels, all while still being delicious?? YES, please.

Lots more to come soon, but for now, enjoy some hot ginger boys. God knows I do.

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A hop across the pond

London town

London town, it’s been a while! Can’t wait to catch up!

I’m off to London, folks!

And can I just say I’m absurdly, ridiculously excited? Cause I am! I really, really am. London is possibly my favorite city ever and if I had it my way I’d move there right away. Alas, a short jaunt will have to do for now. (sigh)

I plan on squeezing in as much sightseeing, face stuffing and all around London awesomeness into my few days there as I can, and hopefully will have lots of fun/tasty stories to share next week.

In the meantime, everyone keep their fingers crossed that I have an Eddie Redmayne run-in, cause that. Would. Be. SUPER.

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Five For Friday

It’s been a busy, all-over-the place, crazy kind of week, so thank God it’s done… even if I am working straight through the weekend and all the way until Wednesday afternoon when I’ll finally be a free bird. (Someone cue Lynyrd Skynyrd!) Either way, it’s Friday and everything just feels better when it’s the weekend. So here’s some light reading to get your weekend started off on a tasty note:

  • Also included in the care package I received from my sister: Nutella and Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme. You know what that means? These sandwiches are happening in the very near future, and I’m all kinds of excited.
  • I’m officially going to London next week! On my must-do list is eating at Bumpkin, which came recommended from one of my favorite bloggers, Rosie from TheLondoner.me
  • I’m all for the food truck craze, especially now that I’ve heard about Neapolitan Express. Mobile, organic Neapolitan pizzas? Yes, please.
  • Summer is starting to creep up on us, I can just feel it, and when it finally gets here, I think I’ll be ready as long as I have one of these strawberry gin smashes in my hand.
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Lay’s, why don’t you do ME a Flavor??

Back in October, when I heard about candy corn Oreos, I first of all, almost lost my damn mind, and second, proceeded to run all over Manhattan in search of them, only to find that not a single supermarket, bodega, or food vendor of any kind had them. Sadness and pouting ensued.

Recently, just as my frail heart was healing, it almost broke all over again when I heard about Lay’s new “Do Us A Flavor” contest, which asked America to name a winner from three flavor finalists, chicken and waffles, Sriracha and cheesy garlic bread flavored potato chips. Apparently, New York City was left out the voting, because like the Oreos, were nowhere to be found.

boom

Soooo, yea. THIS happened.

But then news came from Florida: my sister had tried the coveted chips! They were hard to find down there too, and supermarkets that carried them were only able to keep them on the shelves for a short time before they were all scooped up, but at least they were there! I, needless to say, trapped in New York, was jealous as all hell and confused beyond belief at why in this crazy city where you can find all manner of rare and odd items, I wasn’t able to get my hands on some damn Lay’s potato chips. Continue reading →

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Breakfast for dinner

I miss my little West Village apartment, I do, but man oh maaaaan, do I love my big new Brooklyn kitchen! I mean, I like the whole apartment obviously, but the kitchen, that was the selling point for me. I have three times the counter space, a sink big enough to sit in (well, maybe if I was a four-year-old but STILL) and my favorite and most treasured feature, a full sized fridge WITH a freezer.

Only three ingredients? Sign. Me. UP.

Only three ingredients? Sign. Me. UP.

You guys, it’s been great.

Last night, for example, I was inspired by my new kitchen to make something I’d been talking to a coworker about last week: breakfast burritos. We love ordering greasy chorizo and egg breakfast burritos from a mexican place near work but while they’re delicious, they’re not even a little healthy. They’re pretty much just terrible for you, which is why I set out to make a healthy version.

A quick trip to Trader Joe’s got me some egg whites, brown rice tortillas and one of my new obsessions, soy chorizo. Egg whites are fat-free and cholesterol free, the tortillas are wheat free and gluten free and the soy chorizo, which I promise is actually insanely delicious, is way less fattening and bad-for-you than real pork chorizo. All around awesomeness.

Breakfast burrito for dinner: WIN

Breakfast burrito for dinner: WIN

It took just a couple of minutes to heat up the tortilla, scramble up some egg whites and toss in some soy chorizo, with just another minute or so to pile everything up, roll it into a burrito and dig into it. It seemed to take just mere seconds for me to hoover the whole thing. And the best part, no guilt afterward or that dreaded anxiety of a ticking burrito time bomb going off in your stomach later!

If this is any indication of what will come out of my new kitchen, then I am very excited to see what else gets cooked up. I doubt it’ll always be healthy but that’s ok. I always have this breakfast burrito to fall back on.

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Muffin gamechanger

While it might appear to be a regular ol' muffin, this is anything but...

While it might appear to be a regular ol’ muffin, this is anything but…

When it comes to baked goods, muffins aren’t usually something I rave about. I mean, I’ve obviously had good muffins before (lemon poppyseed at Blue Hill Cafe, I’m looking at you) but I never really crave a muffin when I could have a cookie or a brownie or a buttery croissant. Muffins are always just… ok. They never go above and beyond for me.

That is, until now. Until Saturday morning to be exact, when my lips met the oh-so-sweet, ridiculously good peanut butter and jelly muffin at Ovenly in Greenpoint. There were all manner of cookies, brownies, scones and goodies but at the suggestion of the girl working behind the counter, I went with this particular muffin and boy, did it pay off.

Behold, peanut butter and jelly deliciousness... now in muffin form!

Behold, peanut butter and jelly deliciousness… now in muffin form!

Soft and moist like no other muffin I’ve ever bit into, this one had an almost sparkly dusting of what tasted like cinnamon and brown sugar on top, with thin slices of almond for a subtle nutty note. Inside though, is where the magic happened: a gooey core of sweet peanut butter and jammy, ruby colored jelly. De-freakin’-licious. But unlike certain jelly doughnuts where you beeline straight for the filling and the rest is just an afterthought, this muffin was delicious throughout, perfectly sweet and cinnamony.

I’ll be back to try some other sweets and snacks at Ovenly, and until then I’ll be doing something I never have before, daydreaming about a muffin, their perfect peanut butter and jelly muffin.

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Five for Friday

Reporting live from Brooklyn!

Reporting live from Brooklyn!

So this little weekly feature here is just a few weeks old and already I’ve slacked off and missed a week. Sorry about that. I’m sure you’re heartbroken and feel let down but let me just say that moving to Brooklyn has been an all-consuming pain in the bum and it feels like all I’ve done for the last two weeks is unpack, organize and fight a losing battle against my blackout shades and curtains. But I’m getting my act together and have a brand new set of links for you to check out this week. Enjoy! (Real blogging to resume soon.)

  • How happy am I that Time Out New York named Ovenly the best new bakery this year? Uhm, the answer is VERY happy because it’s in my new hood and that means their chocolate truffle cookies will soon be mine.
  • I was going through my friend Hilary’s blog and her post on beer-candied bacon made me wonder how many marriage proposals she’s received because really, beer candied freakin’ bacon, people! My stomach is doing a happy dance in my body.
  • Guacamole is one of my favorite eats ever so I’m dying over this recipe from Cup of Jo, which adds pomegranate and mango. It sounds so delicious and summery! All I need is a hammock and the beach.  And some chips, of course.
  • Anthony Bourdain’s new CNN show, Parts Unknown, (love the name, by the way) looks pretty cool. He gets some people all riled up but I like him, and really, traveling, writing and eating for a living? Uhm, hello dream job.
  • Apparently, it’s National Grilled Cheese Day, and this particular variation, featuring fontina, blackberry and basil, seriously makes me want to cry it’s so good looking. My heart just can’t handle it.