Yummy Truffles!

I made these as my christmas day break which is a really bad idea when trying to cut back on the cals since I'm going to have a ginormous dinner tonight. But so far i've only eaten one...let's see how long that lasts.

I have to say i am pretty proud of myself they were a pain in the ass to make. They came out super delicious and melt on the tongue. So tempting!

i should be studying for the mcat....

but i found some new places to go to after Jan 28.....
~ma peche
~madam geneva
~the best chocolate cake in the world (with a name like that!)

Long Overdue

With the coming and going of finals season much of my days are spent in the comforts of the 3rd floor study lounge at Palladium. Although there are the occasional Insomnia cookie and Dunkin Donut Coffee breaks, Starbucks Americanos with triple shots of mocha (thanks for the AMAZING concoction Lana!), or a trip to the holiday market to get apple cider donut and hot cider my life otherwise sucked and I forgot to take picture of all of this : ( I have a bad habit of eating and then remembering I should have taken the picture..it's my "fatassness" that prevents me from thinking before I dive right into the plate. But I do vow to change this over Christmas. I want to make chocolate truffles (I need to find a good recipe) and make a gingerbread house...but i want to take some building and try to replicate it (this will be highly unsuccessful but i'll give it a go) and I will take pictures!

I wanted to make a few additions to my list of places to go (thanks to seriouseats)

Kin Shop (thai rest now under the management of TopChef winner Harold)
Torrisi
Vandaag (Scandinavian food--should give it a try)
or anything on the list: http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2010/12/the-best-restaurants-we-reviewed-in-2010-slideshow.html#show-129784

Rockin' the mic Svetty Style

Happy Birthday Sveta!



Once in awhile, the residents of 1215 (maybe even the boys across the hall), Alex, Jimmy, and a few lucky others get to experience a truly phenomenal event. Something truly explosive-- a la Katy Perry in "Fireworks". These one of a kind moments are the courtesy of Lana's harmonious, euphoric, and heavenly voice( to say the least).

She thought it was about time to let others enjoy her beautiful voice, so she planned her Bday festivities at a karoke bar.

Okay, maybe it's not that dramatic but you get the point. 

So off to K'Town we went. It was nice to get everyone together, esp. my dearest Jimmy. We were dropping beats like "Survivor", "Party in the USA", and Lana's classic "Do You Believe". We ended the night with a serenade of "I will love you forever"or w/e that Whitney Housten song is called.

 

But I had such an awesome time with everyone (Lana, Deena, Alyssa, Alex, Jimmy, Rajchi, Mansi, and Rachel) and something I will always remember : )

   

Karoke Time: 11/20
PLace: Maru

Cupcake Cuties

Cupcakes, macaroons, bread pudding, cookies....kill me now and I would be happy. Welcome to Dessert Club Chikalicious! The land of happiness, sweets, and thousands of calories (yum).

This one has been on my list for a while because they are one of the few places selling macaroons near Palladium. Deena and I went on a glorious Sunday afternoon and got macaroons and cookies. I got the strawberry macaroon and she got the salted caramel; we also shared "the situation". The cookie was one of the most banging cookies I have ever eaten (but still not the Pennsbury kind). Quite frankly, it puts Momfuku's compost cookie to shame. The macaroons were good, the flavors were there but the texture was off. I would go back for the cookie but not macaroons. God I miss Almondine : (

deena marveling at their bread pudding concoctions

A trip to Eataly!

In true New York fashion, Deena and I decided to spend our Sunday afternoon stuffing our faces with food. Instead of going to brunch we decided to check out Eataly by Madison Sq. Park. 

Mario Batali I give you major props for this market; it was freakin' amazing! The selection of fresh, genuine, tasty products is absolutely astounding but kind of overwhelming. The market deserves a few trips in order to gain a true appreciation. Although the place was PACKED, it wouldn't have been the same experience w/o the crowd. 

But anyways I bought: Pizza margherita, Venchi Unico Dark Chocolate with Cocoa cream, a soft vanilla cream cookie with fondant, and rustic fig bread.

The chocolate bar was intense with flavor; the bread had whole pieces of fig (i will try that for b'fast tomorrow); the cookie was okay--I think it requires more of an acquired taste bc of the spongy-ness; but the pizza holy shit! The Pizza maybe one of the best I have ever had. Maybe even better than pizza in Italy. I think because Eataly is so busy their products have to be fresh and the pizza tasted as hough it was made from the finest and freshest ingredients.

This place is def worth another trip...once I have more $ in my wallet and an empty stomach.

Fresh Pasta

Dessert Counter

Deena enjoying her pizza

Sweet Treats!

Where: Butterlane (East Village --7th St bw 1st and A)


When: Nov. 11, 2010

Why: Post-exam sweet treat with my Bubala : )

After our BioChem exam last week Lana and I wanted to indulge ourselves. Since I consider myself a cupcake connoisseur, I thought it was time to treat my taste buds to their highly acclaimed cupcakes. In the city of cupcake wars, it's difficult to distinguish one cupcake from the rest. Butterlane does succeed in seperating themselves from the competition by allowing their customers to customize their cupcake by choosing the cake and icing of their choice. I picked the strawberry icing with vanilla cupcake and Lana choose the caramel icing with their chocolate cupcake. While we were waiting, one of the employees was turned on by Lana's biochem book and offered us a strawberry cheesecake cupcake to sample. It was so flavorful and captured the cheesecake taste within a light cupcake.

We made a small pit-stop at Luke's and then we went home to devour the cupcakes. After eating one bite we were really disappointed by the actual cake because it was dry but their icing is banging! The really know how to infuse their icings with flavor but their cakes are a disaster.

My vote is still for Magnolia's and Lana is in some sort of weird relationship with Rajshi and Mansi's red velvet cupcakes. Oh and I forgot, Cake & Shake had the best carrot cake I have ever had, in cupcake form! I might just have to make a stop at the Wash Sq Park location to bring an end to the battle...

"The List"

It's not very visible but here's what's on it:

Momofuku
Luciene
Balthazar (have to go again; only went to the bakery next door)
Balade (complete--not the best Lebanese I've had)
Milk Bar (I wanted the Red Velvet but I don't think it's available anymore. But their Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream was so rich and creamy yumm-o!)
Meskerem
Caracas (ummm that's a story...)
SweetiPie (i have to check if this closed)
Grimaldi's (check!)
Almondine (I have to go back)
Dessert Club Chickalicious
Buddhakan (this is back on the list Lana lol)
Park (MPD)
Butterlane Cupcakes (check! holy shit their frosting is AMAZ-ing)
Lombardi's
Donut Plant (check!)
Baked (Brooklyn)
Cafe Habanera
La Paella
Tsampa


Other Places:

Raney's Law Room or Please Don't Tell
The Bourgeois Pig
Ice Skating in Bryant Park
Chaos and Classism Exhibit at the Guggenheim
Billy Elliot

What come before part b? PART-a-Y

I thought this invitation from Lana for her Bday festivites was utterly hilarious. I had to post this!


Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Several glorious events occurred on November 7th--The Russian Revolution, Women in the U.S. state of Colorado were granted the right to vote, Elizabeth of Scotland and England was crowned Queen of Bohemia, as well as many other lesser known historical events.

However, the most glorious thing happened on the early morning of November 7, 1988 at 10:11 a.m. in the frigid winter of the old USSR. I, Lana was welcomed into this wonderful world!!!!!!

So I figure what better way to celebrate my 22nd than my gracing you all with the angelic sound of my voice beautifully belting out some Cher and Lady GaGa. (I have attached a picture of myself performing at Madison Square Garden in case you're curious) 

Location: MARU- NYC Karaoke Restaurant and Lounge (in K-town)

               11 W 32nd St. 3rd Floor

               (Between 5th and Broadway)

               New York, NY 10001

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

When: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2010 (THIS Saturday)

Time: 9:00 pm-11:00 p.m. 

         Please don't be tardy for the party. 

         If you are unsure what this means, exhibit A: http://www.hulu.com/watch/107368/the-real-housewives-of-atlanta-for-the-first-time-performing-on-stage

Afterwards we can frolic through NYC (unless you all keep yelling encore for me to perform more )

P.S.  I have vodka in my freezer if you are the shy-type.

On Assignment

Location: Little Egypt in Astoria, Queens. Restaurant: Kabab Cafe

When: 9/17/2010

Why: For one of Deena's classes she is reporting on the Egyptian community in Queens. She wanted to scope out the scene and eat somewhere there. I never say no to food, so Alyssa and I joined her.

Let's say it was an experience....Little Egypt is not for the faint of heart. You better roll up there with sky high self esteem otherwise you feel like you have toilet paper stuck on your shoes, food in your teeth, and your zipper down cuz EVERYONE will stare at you and make comments in Arabic. But I am kind of used to it since Indians have the same issues, but def. not to that extent. Or maybe since they are my people I am more understanding.

But once we passed every street hooka bar we found Kabab Cafe and had some amazing food.

I wish I could remember everything we ate but since it was 2 months ago, all that memory was erased so that I could fit info about the DNA polymerase into my brain. But I remember the warm hibiscus tea which was so different yet really refreshing, Deena said people usually drink it cold (its the red drink in the photos). I also remember really good falafel, hummus, pita, lamb with beef, chicken kebab with rice and yogurt. It was really good but we were more than surprised when we got that bill. But it's all about the experience and boy was it! Ali the chef got into a very heated argument with one of the patrons but w/e the food was good and the eclectic decor made up for it. I also love how he used fresh ingredients and prepared everything in front of us. The dessert must have been a failure since I have no recollection of it, maybe it was the food coma, but I think it was baklava and some weird honey cake.

Later we walked down the street, I learned the word Habibti and Deena bought us some konafa and baklava. We ate the konafa the next morning heated up and with some honey it was heavy but still really textural and yummy....i want some now : (

Ali the chef

Somewhere in Brooklyn

I was watching project runway while under to drowsy spell of Percocet (I just got my wisdom teeth out yesterday). The designers on the show were taking inspiration from NYC and 2 of them chose the Brooklyn Bridge. This got me thinking that I should post some of the places I have already explored this school year like my trek from Palladium all the way to DUMBO via the Brooklyn Bridge with my Russian Bubala, Lana!

Our 3.5 mile walk probably took us 3 hrs since we had to make a stop at DASH on Spring Street. We have an unhealthy obsession with the Kardashians, more so Lana is crazy obsessed with Kim while I just like their outfits. But anyways we made a stop at a street vendor where Lana bought a wishbone leather bracelet and I bought a winter hat from TopShop.

We finally made our way down to the bridge. It was great to see the piers of the bridge up close and observe their architectural beauty. The chaotic criss-cross of the cable wire was utterly stunning.

Once we were off the Bridge we walked over the Grimaldi's. We probably waited in line for 1 hr and we were STARVING. I knew Almondine was close by so I got 3 macaroons for us to snack on while we stood in line. THey prob lasted for 1 minute because we devoured them. Lana had never had a macaroon before and the look on her face said it all. Words cannot describe their amazingness. It's more of a euphoric, out of body experience.

So once inside Grimaldi's we had to wait another 20 minutes but we ate an entire LARGE pie between the 2 of us; 2 petitie girls killing the pizza. I would love to know what the British couple next to us thought but they were probably just as into the pizza as we were. I was so full at 3 slices but i just had to shove the 4th slice down, it just had to be done!

Even though we were sickly full we had to go back to Almondine so that we could stock up on French macaroons. They had giant chocolate ones that were insanely delicious...which reminds me I gotta go back to Brooklyn!


   

Walking 3 miles for a donut. Now that's pathetic

Donut Plant 

Location: Lower East Side near Williamsburg Bridge

When: 11/6/2010

Why: Major sweet tooth, addiction to Pumpkin flavored things, and the need for a distraction from Biochemistry (all that chymotrypsin discussion--I had to test first hand if those zymogens were being activated)

Alyssa and I walked from Palladium all the way to Donut Plant, thinking it would be a short trip over to the East Village but wound up all the way near Chinatown. So we were both pissed when we got there and there was a 20 minute line and I had to wait outside in the freezing cold.

I got the Pumpkin Spice Cake Donut, Alyssa got the Apple Cinnamon Cake Donut, and we got the Yeast Glazed for Lana. Mine was a major disappointment maybe because I had developed hypothermia at that point and my taste bunds we frozen. I didn't get to try Alyssa's but Lana's was AMAzing! So I have to go back and get a yeast donut. So maybe once their Chelsea Hotel Location open I'll make a trip back but at that point who knows, the donut will be probably be $25!


    

Laying the Groundwork

I officially only have 188 days left before I must renounce my title as a New Yorker. Although it's been short, it has been more than just sweet!...nights filled with walks over to Bleecker for Magnolia's with Deena and Alyssa, 12am Insomnia deliveries with Jimmy, and post-exam treats at Butter Lane with Lana.

Yesterday, I realized that almost 99.9% of the searches on my maps app on my iPhone have been places to eat. Eating in NYC has been my navigator, a tool that has allowed me to discover the great culinary jewels and architectural treasures in the city.

I have a list of places I want to eat at or visit that continues to grow. Each time I cross something off my list I probably add 5 more. So I don't know how successful I will be at the end of the 188 days.

Lets see if I can do this (w/o gaining 25 lbs).....