Memorable NYC Moments

Six years ago, I visited "The City" for the first time. 

Everything seemed magical when we arrived. The taxi ride, Times Square, Starbucks, the policemen, even all the trash (which I hadn't anticipated). Really, just everything we saw. We were super excited. Rheem had been before on a high school trip, but we were in college now and excited to be in New York. Jamie flew separately from us and met us in the city, but the airline lost his bag so he was pretty cold until his bag arrived (the weather in Austin and NYC are drastically different in October). We gave him a scarf to borrow...

Side note -- this was the night I learned that you must demand things from airlines to get what you want/need. They happily sent Jamie's bag to our hotel front desk after I told them we would NOT be spending hours of our first trip to NYC going back and forth to the airport. (It was completely their fault that they lost the bag. Weather related issues would be a different story). 

I have to explain that I was immensely excited for this trip. I planned out everything we were going to do by creating color coded note cards for restaurants, activities, museums, stores, etc., that I wanted to visit. It was a little crazy but extremely effective. We always knew where we were going and what subway stop it was closest to. 

Our first stop was, well, Winnie the Pooh!! I'm such a little kid sometimes. I really wanted to see him, so we did! 

Then we checked out 5th avenue... 

We had to get photos in front of Tiffany's and FAO Schwarz!

We had a blast!

We discovered the Noho Star,

did some ever so shady shopping on Canal St., 

and just enjoyed New York. 

We were all so happy at the end of our trip, and I was content -- I had seen New York! Little did I know what the future had in store... 

Fast forward 3 years to 2009. Jamie and I got MARRIED, moved to BOSTON, and were only 4 hours from the big city. Two of our good friends from college were living in Queens and Brooklyn at the time (Now they both live in Brooklyn), so we paid them many visits and learned to drive in the city. If you can drive in NYC, you can drive anywhere! 

Then, in the summer of 2009, we MOVED to New York. Well, sorta. We lived in an Extended Stay America in Elmsford, NY for two months while Jamie interned at IBM. We payed NY state taxes, though, so it counts. That summer was a blast. 

My little sister came to visit, and I had so much fun showing her my favorite spots in the big city. We took the above pic for our parents who are die-hard Seinfeld fans. 

I took her to see my beloved friend Winnie, and he had moved! They put him up on a higher pedestal and even gave him his own room -- this time in the main building of the NYC library. 

Rheem came to visit, too, with Alex, and we enjoyed restaurants, shopping, and 

cupcakes!!

In the fall of 2010, I showed my wonderful mother around the big city, and we enjoyed the Bethesda fountain, Serendipity, and Phantom of the Opera. 

We went back to visit Winnie the Pooh again, and this time, he had his own mural of the Hundred Acre Wood. So cool! 

Then, a month later I was back with friends just for fun. 

We enjoyed The Creperie (thanks Ilya), 

and discovered Petite Abeille (my new FAVORITE place in the city).

Later in 2010, we went back to visit our friend Katherine and at a restaurant in Brooklyn, our menu was handed to us in an old book sleeve about MIT... so cool! 

We brought Flat Stanley along to see the Christmas Tree! 

In February, we were back again! This time I was with my mom and aunt Sally to see my sister play in her band at Carnegie Hall. 

By this point we were in love with Shake Shack, so it was our first stop. 

And we enjoyed the live music at Smith's Bar near Times Square. 

Later in the year we witnessed a proposal in Central Park.

In 2011, Rheem and Alex came back to celebrate Alex's birthday. 

We celebrated at Pipa followed by FuerzaBruta!

The next day we went back to Petite Abeille, and enjoyed seeing Katherine and Ilya! 

To wrap up our trip, we brunched at Cafe Lola, 

shopped at Bloomingdales, 

and slurped up our Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity. 

All in all, I have way too many wonderful memories from the big city, but I feel very blessed to have been able to have them all. I love to visit New York! (and at the end of my trips I always love to come home!!) 

If you made it this far through my life story of New York, you may be interested in more information about my favorite NYC places: 

Restaurants/Cafes

Serendipity

225 E. 60th St. b/t 2nd and 3rd 

212-838-3531

You really must make reservations. 

http://www.serendipity3.com/

Creperie Cafe

112 MacDougal St. 3rd and Bleeker

http://www.creperienyc.com/

Shake Shack

multiple locations

http://shakeshack.com/

Grimaldi's Pizza

Under the Brooklyn Bridge

http://www.grimaldis.com/

Often has a long line. 

La Petit Abeille

multiple locations

http://www.petiteabeille.com/

Pipa 

38 East 19th Street b/t Park and 5th

http://www.pipa-nyc.com/

Shows 

FuerzaBruta: http://fuerzabrutanyc.com/

Usually you can find discount tickets to FuerzaBruta. 

Broadway:http://www.broadwaybox.com/

Note: everyone has different budgets and also opinions on theater seats, but I have always found Broadway Box to be the best place to get Broadway tickets. In my opinion, the lines at TKTS are just too long while the deals are just not good enough.  

UCB Comedy: http://www.ucbcomedy.com/

Attractions

NBC Tour

Top of the Rock

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum of Natural History

The Guggenheim

The Statue of Liberty

The Empire State Building

Beautiful Buildings, Parks, and Views

The Brooklyn Bridge

Grand Central Station

Washington Square Park

Central Park

The Highline

The View from Cambridge... 4 Ways

 

Why I Love Texas

After a two month (or more?) break from blogging, I'm hoping to get back in the groove of things! Getting a master's degree, applying for jobs, and working/researching/taking care of a husband/keeping up with an insanely busy social life (all things that I love to do!!!) all at the same time can make things crazy! 

But, I recently got to spend a weekend traveling to my favorite state, when I remembered just why I love Texas so much. And it involves food. Two items, in particular, that I have not been able to enjoy quite the same while in any other place other than Texas: 

1. Queso

Queso, in its true Texas form, really just for some reason doesn't exist anwhere else. I don't understand why this is -- how hard can it be to make melted cheese? But it is... trust me, I've tried. 

2. Margaritas 

A Texas margarita ROCKS! On the rocks, frozen, however you like it, it will be delicious. Oh, and unlike in some crazy other places, you can enjoy a margarita at something called happy hour :) 

These are by far not the only reasons I love Texas... there are many, many more, which I will share later. But for now, this is it. 

Cheers! 

Easy Chocolate Cake

I love my grandma's chocolate cake, but sometimes I want a just as delicious, smaller, one bowl chocolate cake to satisfy my craving. 

This recipe, also from my grandma, does just the trick! 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. cocoa
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 c. buttermilk or sour milk (you can sour your own with lemon juice)
• 1/2 c. oil 
• 1 egg
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/2 c. boiling water

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, soda. (Grandma says sifting is not necessary, so just combine!)

Add milk, oil, egg, vanilla, and beat until blended. Then add hot water.

Pour in cake pan  and  bake at 350. The time depends on the pan size. I did it in a 9 X 12 and checked after 20 minutes. Grandma says a 9" square pan takes 30 minutes.

For the icing, melt 1/2 stick butter in saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 2 T milk, 2 T cocoa, and 1/2 t. vanilla. Add powdered sugar a little bit at a time until icing thickens. I would guess you probably add about 2 c. powdered sugar, but don't measure. Just add until you get a thick consistency. Taste and add more milk or powdered sugar if necessary.  

Enjoy! 

Simple Shrimp

Hot and Sour Shrimp... just like your favorite Chinese restaurant would make!

The recipe is inspired by the lovely folks at America's Test Kitchen. I have come to love their recipes, although sometimes they can be quite complicated. This one was very simple though and I was extremely happy with the results! Healthy, quick, perfectly cooked and flavored shrimp at home... what more could you ask for?

Ingredients

• 2 medium   garlic cloves, 1 pressed through garlic press, 1 thinly sliced
• 1 pound extra-large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• sprinkling of salt
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Asian chili-garlic sauce (looks similar to Sriracha sauce on the label)
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 large shallot, sliced thin
• 1/2 pound snow peas 
• 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced

Method

1. Combine pressed garlic with shrimp, ginger, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt in medium bowl. Let shrimp "marinate" at room temperature 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, chili-garlic sauce, sesame oil, ketchup, and cornstarch in small bowl. Combine sliced garlic with shallot in second small bowl.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add snow peas and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to brown, 1½ to 2 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a bowl.

4. Add remaining tablespoon oil to the empty skillet and heat until just smoking. Add garlic-shallot mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until just beginning to brown, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp are light pink on both sides, 1 to 1½ minutes. Whisk soy sauce mixture to recombine and add to skillet; return to high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and shrimp are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Return vegetables to skillet, toss to combine, and serve with a side of white rice.

Fresh Cranberry Relish

Yes, Thanksgiving has come and gone and I failed to post this in time for the festivities, but fresh cranberry relish is a great addition to a Christmas Turkey dinner too!

It is a super easy and simple addition to any turkey dinner!

All you need is:

1 bag of cranberries

2 oranges

2/3 c. sugar (I used 1/3 c. sugar and 1/3 c. Splenda)

Get the zest from the oranges! Then, peel them and chop them into 1-inch-ish pieces.

Place them and the cranberries (rinse them first and discard any bad ones) in your blender/food processor/whatever you have. I used my new Ninja food processor/blender.

Add the sugar/sweetener.

And pulse a few times until you get to your desired consistency. Taste to see if you need more sugar - depending on the tartness of the berries and your personal preferences, you may need to add more sugar. Enjoy with turkey and all the trimmings!

Pork Tostadas

Wow. I've been meaning to post the recipe for these tostadas for over a month. Lately, it's been so crazy that we've been eating Chipotle and pizza all the time...

These tostadas are great. They take a while to cook, but most of it is inactive cooking time so you can start them and then do other things while they are cooking. Also, I absolutely LOVE the freshly fried tortilla tostada shells... yum, yum, yum! The recipe is adapted from America's Test Kitchen... enjoy!

Pork Tinga adapted from ATK

2 or 3 pounds boneless pork butt, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium onions, 1 quartered and 1 chopped fine
5 medium garlic cloves, 3 peeled and smashed and 2 pressed through garlic press
1 T dried thyme
Salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon ground chipotle powder OR 1 to 2 chopped "Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce" (comes in a can)
2 bay leaves

Tostadas
3/4 cup vegetable oil
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas (see note)
Salt

Garnishes
Queso fresco or monterrey jack cheese
Fresh cilantro leaves
Sour cream
Diced avocado
Lime wedges

Another great garnish is roasted corn salsa - Click Here to see Mark Bittman's corn salsa recipe.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. FOR THE TINGA: Bring pork, quartered onion, smashed garlic cloves, thyme, about 1 teaspoon salt, and 6 cups water to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and cook until pork is tender, 75 to 90 minutes. Drain pork, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Discard onion, garlic, and thyme. Return pork to saucepan and, using potato masher, mash until shredded into rough ½-inch pieces, and set aside.

2. Heat olive oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add shredded pork, chopped onion, and oregano; cook, stirring often, until pork is well browned and crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Stir in tomato sauce, chipotle powder or chiles, reserved pork cooking liquid, and bay leaves; simmer until almost all liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves and season with salt to taste.

4. TO FRY TOSTADAS: Heat vegetable oil in 8-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat to 350 degrees. Using fork, poke center of each tortilla 3 or 4 times (to prevent puffing and allow for even cooking). Fry 1 at a time, holding metal potato masher in upright position on top of tortilla to keep it submerged until crisp and lightly browned, 45 to 60 seconds (no flipping is necessary if you use the masher). Drain on paper towel-lined plate and season with salt to taste. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

5. TO SERVE: Spoon small amount of shredded pork onto center of each tostada and serve, passing garnishes separately.