cider surprise

there's nothing like picking out a fancy beverage and settling down with it at home after work. unless that fancy beverage is doc's hard pear cider:



as soon as i took a sip of this seemingly delicious drink, i realized that it tasted familiar. it did not taste like cider... nor did it taste particularly like pear... no, it tasted exactly like a mcdonald's cheeseburger:



i'm not crazy. casey agreed with me. are the taste profiles of pear cider and cheeseburgers supposed to be at all similar? something tells me no. do yourself a favor and spring for the chimay like i wish i had.

Taco Truck Tuesday Remix

So, after my Epic Friend Fail last week (in which I told Eric I would meet him for lunch and then got stuck in a meeting), Eric and I set up a remix of what would have been Taco Truck Tuesday if I had my act together.

Central Park + Taco Truck on 60th and Third = Delicious lunch

I had chicken enchiladas and Eric got a chicken burrito, which is unfortunately not pictured. As usual, I swore to everyone in the vicinity that I was too full to ever eat again, but obviously that truth became a lie come dinnertime. Mmmm, street food!

A new Anella

Anella is a recent addition to my nabe, on whereelsebut Franklin Street in g'point. As Kendall and I were lucky enough to have a very special houseguest this past weekend, we were treated to delicious dinner at the new italianish restaurant. THANK YOU MRS. HOLLAND!

The space is divided into two narrow dining areas, one of which houses the bar (which does indeed have its liquor license now). It is dark and rustic in that italian restaurant sort of way, but with a cleaner, fresher feel to it. Unfortunately, I am unable to comment upon Anella's garden at this time, but I'm sure it's fantastic.

We sat at a window seat, where we were able to gauge a considerable amount of interest from passersby in the menu taped behind us. And we don't blame them. After receiving some white bean dip action courtesy of the chef, we all thoroughly enjoyed our eggplant bruschetta appetizer. Mrs. H ordered a pesto pasta dish of some sort, which was probably my favorite thing consumed at Anella. Kendall's arugula & pear salad looked good, but she didn't share. I got a beet salad, because I can never resist such a thing. I really liked it, but couldn't finish the disproportionate amount of beets involved, and lamented the lack of cheese.

All in all, dinner at Anella was wonderful; however we still have some unfinished business. Called Brunch.

You'd think they'd never been to a pig roast before

There isn't much to say about 3rd Ward's second annual pig roast that hasn't already been said, photographed, and probably betamaxed somewhere. But watching Marlow & Sons' Tom Mylan hack up a 200 pound pig is always a nice way to spend a summer Sunday afternoon, even if the line for pork tacos turns out to be far too long and then it starts raining and you give up and go to Fette Sau.

Sweet and cheap in SoHo

It's been a while guys. Thanks for holding the fort down.

Let's cut straight to the chase: This place is awesome! I mean it. I have been there twice in the past week. Well, Z works near there, so it hasn't been without cause.

Atmosphere:
So you walk in and there's some gelato on your right. Then you look around and are like, man this is some fancy-ass chocolate. I'll bet if Tim Burton had been reading a lot of Fitzgerald and were less insane this store would have been has adaptation. After the initial awe-struck confusion (which, to be honest doesn't last too long since they're mostly truffle's with picture on the outside and there are other truffle places in this city) you notice there's a back room with tables, which gives you some direction as you meander and look at all of the confectionery delights. The back room is cute enough, with some tiny tables. In the corner furthest from the entrance there's a mini chaise for a chair and that's cool. There's also a really silly chandelier with fake flames in the candles. I didn't do an adequate job explaining what's going on, but I'm rusty and don't feel like revising so it'll have to remain as it is.

So the first time Z and I went after a lunch and the waiter asked if it was our first time there. He then suggested we get the aztec, which he claimed all the Europeans visit to get, and that we get it European style (which means with water rather than milk) so that we would have a better taste of the chocolate. Z immediatly went with his recommendation and, after looking over the menu for a few moments I did the same. We both got mediums which was a huge delicious mistake. They were basically an entire mug of melted rich fudge. It was amazing. I had so much will power afterward it would blow your mind (that's a joke that no one will get, sorry).

We went back after eating dinner at this place which is also amazing, and I decided to get gelato. Z got the spicy hot chocolate--this time a small which she said was about the right size--which was tasty, but not quite as good (we both agreed). They were almost out of everything, so I got the plumb sorbet and holy eff was it good. Lots of plumb-skin action to make it de-lish.

So, you should check it out. And probably before you go you should eat at that mooncakes place I linked above. In addition to being cheap, innovative, and delicious, they played about 4 Pearl Jam songs when we walked in.

I had the buckwheat noodle salad with chicken and ginger cilantro-pesto. It struck a nice balance between greens, noodles, and sauce and was not too heavy. Also the noodles were not warm, and the chicken was, which was fun.

Z had a seared tuna with soy something vinaigrette dressing salad. It was darn tasty also. Both of them were 8.80 each! The chocolate cost almost that much! Insane value and nice staff! woo!

Okay, I'm out. Sorry the tone of this is so scattered.

Late-Night Zucchini Lovin'

Every so often, I get really obsessed with a particular fruit or vegetable. I then proceed to cook a bunch of things with that fruit or vegetable or order it in restaurants until I get sick of it. I've recently been through asparagus, arugula and sweet potatoes, although SPs are exempt because I NEVER GET SICK OF THEM. Currently, the vegetable of choice is zucchini.

Last time my friend L and I were at Westville, we ordered a zucchini appetizer. It was served with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella, and it was absolute heaven. I always say that Westville has the best vegetables in New York, and this zucchini dish validated my claims.

After this experience, I was consumed by anything zucchini-related. Several of you may remember my zucchini bread with chocolate chips from the potluck, and I gave it an encore later in the week by baking another loaf for euchre night.

Not surprisingly, I realized that the best way to satisfy my endless desire for zucchini was to recreate the Westville dish. I returned home at 11 p.m. after chugging down a milkshake this evening only to realize I'd never had dinner, so I set about some late-night cooking.

With a little help from a recipe I found online, which I modified a bit to fit my needs, I made a pretty delicious rendition. Basically, I just sauteed the zucchini in olive oil, then added garlic and the cherry tomatoes. I didn't have the fresh basil the recipe called for, so I just threw in some basil and garlic seasoning and a bit of salt and pepper. After I spooned a helping onto my plate, I added a few chunks of fresh mozzarella as well.



Mmm! Zucchini at midnight! Nothin' wrong with that.

Happiness is...

Because Nobody Likes Rotten Veggies.

Yep, the title pretty much sums it up. I'm not sure if I posted this before, but I still swear by it so there's no harm in throwing it up here again...thanks to T for this:

www.stilltasty.com

perch perfection

sometimes it's important to take a break from our fabulous new york city lifestyles and play some skip bo, drink some root beer, and eat some cinnamon buns.

Independence, from played-out holiday traditions

Oooo, it looks like good things are about to happen here!

Last night, I bought a bunch of beef, anticipating the desire to cook up burgers for the Fourth. I ended up making tacos, anticipating having plenty of meat leftover for burgers, and that tacos are delicious. I was right 2 out of 3 fronts. When today (the fourth of july) rolled around, all I could think about were those damn tacos! So yeah, I made more tacos in honor of fireworks day. Hope everyone is having a happy holiday weekend, even if you settled for lame ole burgers.

Cream cheese

So, I basically go to Bagelsmith (north 7th and bedford) every effing morning these days. Bagelsmith has great bagels, a friendly staff, and is right by the train - so it is a pretty logical thing to do i think. They also have some interesting cream cheese options that you just don't see everyday (today they were advertising a new "chocolate chip CC", which honestly sounds disgusting to me but I support innovation). For quite some time, my staple has been an everything bagel, toasted, with jalapeno cheddar cream cheese. The JCCC is phenomenal, and often featured at bagel brunch. But just when the bagelsmiths had started remembering me and my order, something enticing caught my eye. That's right: bacon scallion cream cheese. This is a really brilliant idea for a combo, and the ratio of bacon to scallion to cream cheese is just right. It almost makes going to work in the morning worthwhile!

Also, it is currently 9pm on a friday night. Will someone please hang out with me?

Found art

I am forever grateful to the artist who saw fit to photograph this delicate arrangement of fruit, nut, and flower, as well as to whomever left this piece on the street for the next foodart connoisseur to enjoy.I do love when art mimics life.

food fight

This is a fascinating story about street vendors that will make you look at those nice ladies you get coffee from every morning in a whole new light.