peppermintbark

Lunch at Grimaldi’s!  This is us waiting in line for the place to open.  The wait was totally worth it!  The pizza comes out steaming hot and it’s so good!  Crispy thin crust

brookly bridgeIt started to get pretty hot towards the end of our trip.  It was in the 90′s with humidity!  There are ice cream trucks everywhere in NY.

Breakfast at Cafe Mogador.  They have delicious hummus.  

morracan eggsspinach omelette

halumi eggs

Rowing boats in central park in 93 degree weather.  Sweating like a pig…so lovely Central Park is very beautiful but I must say the water looks pretty damn gross.

getting delirious from the heat

I look naked :/

me with the hostess with the mostess

We paid for an hour flat rate and any extra time after that they charge you $2.50 every 15 min.  We were racing to get back to make it within the hour!  Thanks to S’s great guidance we made it!  After the ridiculous heat we went to colombus circle to cool down and inside was bouchon bakery!! woohoo!

lemon cassis.  Almost as good as laduree.  Almost.

giant nutter butter cookie

Had to check out chelsea market!

Us in front of J’s apt!  Thanks for everything!  Can’t wait to be back in NY!

I don’t think I can ever get tired of the Met.  There was a special exhibit on the rooftop at the met featuring Doug and Mike Starn on the Roof:  Big Bambu.  It was uber cool!  They built a structure using all bambu and tied them together using rock climbing ropes.  Doug and Mike are identical twins who originally studied photography and took on this project using professional rock climbers to build the strucutre.  This is definitely a must go see if you’re in NYC.  Unfortunately no camera’s were allowed onto the structure.  If you’re scared of heights, this might not be for you.  It’s pretty high….has a great view of the city.

Our next stop:  Venezuelan food!  We went to a small little place called Caracas Arepa Bar.  This place is very popular and has limited seating so best to go for an early dinner.  This was our favorite meal of the entire trip.  OMG.  It was SO good!!!!!  I’ve never had venezuelan food so I was curious but I was also a bit skeptical when I saw that they use a lot of plantians in their food, which I don’t care for.  BUT plantains from this restaurant or Venezuelan cuisine are different from plantains from other cuisines (costa rica, cuban).  It doesn’t taste as tart and the texture was smoother.  Since we had no idea what to order, we asked our waiter to recommend a few dishes.  We got their version of guacamole and chips which were basically thinly sliced fried plantains and guacamole.  I couldn’t stop eating them!  We also ordered an appetizer called tostones mochimeros which are fried plantains with mojito mayo, lemon and cheese.  Also very good….the waiter was so confident we would like them that he offered to pay for it if we didn’t.  Lastly we had arepas.  Arepas are corn cakes and they are made to be stuffed…kinda like a pita bread.  There are several different kinds.  Some of them have cheese, meat, beans and/or plantains.  I ordered Shredded beef with beans, cheese and plantains and my friend ordered cheese.  If I could, I would fly to NY just to eat here!

The next day we headed out to chinatown to meet some friends!  

vegetarian dimsum

chinatown ice cream factory

Muscial La Cage!

I went on vacay!  I decided to go to NYC since my friend was already going, I tagged along.  I was lucky enough to have a place to stay.  A cool place I might add…a very cute apartment in the east village.  So this trip was all eating and shopping….some museum and sightseeing but mainly indulging into foods whatever our heart’s desire!  We took a red-eye and after sleeping on the plane and a quick morning nap, we were on our way to clinton st. baking company for some yummy breakfast!  We got their famous blueberry pancakes (best i’ve had) and spinach and cheese omelette with potatoes. So delicious!

us waiting in the rain…the place was packed on a weekday!

Our next stop was for some japanese ramen!  We headed over to rai rai ken.  I had the cold noodle which was called Hiyashi Chu-Ka.  It was really good…slightly vinegary.  The other ramen was warm, the traditional kind, also pretty good.  Their noodles are chewy and perfectly cooked.  For dessert we headed to momofuku milk bar.  I had very high hopes for this place.  I had heard so much about it and was so excited to go.  I had heard so much about the crack pie.  So we ordered a few things to try….the cereal milk soft serve which is supposed to taste like the milk after you eat cereal and it REALLY does.  It’s AMAZING.  I went back for a second visit!  We also got the cornflake cookie and the crack pie.  The cookie was ok…but let me tell you about the crack pie.  It was an utter disappointment!  I took one bite and was shocked/grossed out/overwhelmed.  It was extremely sweet and overwhelming for me I couldn’t eat it.  I’ve realized my taste buds are on the sensitive side because mostly everybody else seems to love it.  It’s not my cup of tea.  But if you have a sweet tooth and love rich things, then you might get hooked

Day two we headed to the MoMA to check out some paintings by Henri Matisse (no pics allowed) and my favorite….monet!

j got into trouble by the security guard….we saw some kids doing it and thought it was legit.  we were wrong and the look on her face when the security guard came running towards us was priceless!

The only Trader Joe’s in the city!  

For lunch we headed over to northern spy.  Cute little place.  We had the heirloom tomato salad, polenta with creme fraiche and baked eggs and their kale salad.  Solid good food.

Afterwards we headed to nolita to do some shopping and also locate this truck that was giving out free ice cream courtesy of gilt city! Van Leeuwen.  Thanks to twitter, I received a $10 gift card for gilt city for checking in! 

Two happy girls with free ice cream! Our picture was even featured on their tweet!  After some shopping, I had to stop and get some cuban corn from cafe habana!  I <3 corn!

More eating….Pomme Frites!  I love french fries….these were belgian fries which are thicker and fried twice! oh my!  We got two dipping sauces….sweet mango chutney and wasabi mayo.  (i preferred them with no sauce)

For dinner we got a late dinner reservations (10:45 pm) to Babbo Ristorante which is Mario Batali’s restaurant.  I was excited to try this place because he is quite the guru for italian cooking.  For starters, we shared a caprese salad  and I ordered the black spaghetti with rock shrimp and salami.  S had the garganelli pasta with funghi and for dessert we shared a pistachio and chocolate semifredo. Everything was very tasty.  Service was great and I loved the ambiance/decor.

Intelligentsia opened in Pasadena.  I have become quite the addict to coffee….strong coffee.  My liking of espresso transformed to love after having one in France but then again..I fell in love with everything I ate in France.  I was glad to hear they were opening an Intelligentsia in Pasadena.  My friend and I went to check it out…I had heard they have good banana chocolate bread pudding.  So upon ordering, there was some confusion/miscommunication. Because we ordered a dessert, they gave a us a number and told us they would bring our order to the table.  So we got a table and sat down.  However, we were supposed to wait for our drinks at the bar and then sit down with our number and wait for the dessert.  Since we didn’t know that, the whole time we were sitting and talking and only the dessert came out.  We checked on our drinks back at the counter and they said it will be right out.  I ordered an espresso and my friend ordered an americano.  The barista brought over 2 latte’s.  So we go back to tell them they brought out the wrong drinks and then they realized our drinks had been sitting at the bar and somebody else claimed them since we didn’t.  They apologized and made our drinks right away.  They were pretty nice about the situation and offered us complimentary drinks on our next visit!  Pretty good customer service I would say.  This is my favorite place to get coffee.  If you love coffe, you gotta try it!!  Just make sure you wait for your drinks at the bar

Intelligentsia

This little boy melts my heart…..

I love going to the farmer’s market and I love organic foods.  I feel like we really don’t know what food is truly supposed to taste like due to all the pesticides and junk that is put into the crops to make ‘em grow super fast and super huge in size.  I remember growing up we had a tomato plant and I remember the first time I ate it…I thought….wow…it tastes so much better!  Since I don’t have my own garden, the closest thing I have is none other than ordering it online!  I ordered organic, farm grown vegetables and fruits online and it comes in a box (small or large) and you can order it as often as you like.  They come to different locations and you go there and pick it up.  You can’t choose what goes in your box since you get whatever is in season or whatever the farmers pick.  I ordered a small box (enough for 2-3 ppl)  I used this company, there are other ones but not all are usda organic.  I tried it for the first time today and this is what was in my box:  different types of squash, white corn, cherry tomatoes, mini bell peppers, egg plant, watermelon, kale and an herb which I’m gonna guess and say it’s basil.

I have tried making brownies from scratch many times and have yet to find a recipe that is as good as ghiradelli’s. I know, it’s from a box and how can I compare a brownie made from scratch to a brownie made from a box?  BUT I swear to you this is so good!  I was surprised myself at how good it was considering it came from a box.  So simple to make.  All you need is water, oil and egg.

note: I prefer brownies that are more on the cakey side rather than fudgy.

Celebrated G’s birthday at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills.  I had afternoon tea with 4 other beautiful ladies  We always have a great time when we get together.  Aren’t girlfriends the best?  I had the english breakfast tea and along with the tea came scones, a dessert platter and a sandwich tower.  There were also preserves, butter and lemon curd to go with the scones.  The food and service were great.  Probably one of my favorite tea places.  Afterwards we headed over to Tart for dinner.  I’ve been terrible at getting pictures of my outings but I just got a new camera so hopefully that won’t be an issue anymore!  Happy Birthday my lovely G!

Went to St. Regis in Dana Point last weekend to celebrate a dear friend’s birthday. We had brunch, sat outside on the patio which is a must . I don’t know if the food was all worth the 70 buckaroos but definitely a gorgeous location. I would say it’s more for the ambiance rather than the food.  They do have a crazy pancake bar….it’s build your own pancake with tons of candy toppings.  No pictures of food because I was too busy eating and honestly, quite embarrassed about how much I ate….

More baby blogging!  Sarah and Joey’s baby girl.  Who knew a 1 year old could have so much power? She has us wrapped around her little pinky…luckily she’s so stinking cute you can’t hate on her……well maybe one person might …she’s not shy about showing who she likes to hate on.

colors were pink and yellow

flowers helped arranged my yours truly

Awesome dessert table done by edible delights

my favorite

R’s nemesis

guests at the party

making her grand entrance

some of her many autnies

family photo

is she going to be the next celine dion?

one of R’s buddy enjoying the cupcake

R revealing her true feelings