Dentist and Bagel???

I had a dentist appointment this Sunday afternoon in Mid-Town. In my mind, Mid-Town means "Ess-a-Bagel". Even thought it is not that close - like a good 10 minutes walk, I stopped by at Ess-a on the way back.

As usually (I know always I order this even though there are hundreds of filling they have), I ordered sun dried tomato Tofu with multi-grain bagel. If you have been following me on this blog, I have been eating "Bergen St. Bagel" these days since it is much closer and easy to go during the weekend and we have been satisfied with theirs, TILL I had Ess-a today. There is no comparison in my opinion. Ess-a's bagel is twice the size, which I believe retains the moisture/chewiness while it is VERY crispy outside, especially bottom half. I am not sure I can go back to Bergen St. anymore after realize there is a huge difference between these two... I ate it outside at the park since it was another warm weekend and the Manhattan skylines were so beautiful today.

Besides this sandwich, I bought FOUR extra cinnamon raisin bagels with raisin walnuts Tofu spread... They were SOOOOO good.

After Thanksgiving Day

It was a black Friday, but not for us.

Avoid all the shopping malls or stores, but had lunch at a restaurant owned (or managed) by one of Food Network next starts, whom we did not like that much...

I had their signature hamburger, which was chosen for the best burger on the show. It was really good - not a typical burger in the sense of the bun (sour dough bread toasted with a touch of garlic oil). No ketchup but mozzarella cheese. I would categorize this not a burger but a sandwich.

Another cooking night - debated between chicken soup and beef stew, and we ended up with cooking the stew. I did not brown the meat on the stove top, but in the hot oven - 500 degree for 20 minutes (I learned this method from Ina). Carrot, onion, celery, garlic, and potato along with diced tomato and chicken stock.

After 2 and a half hours in the 350 degree oven, it came out perfectly... Eating with brown rice is the way we usually serve and a bit healthier than with mashed potato or so.

We finished the day with sweet potato pumpkin pie from a whole foods warmed up in the oven... It was good but I did not want to know how many calories that one piece had...

Thanksgiving...

It is Thanksgiving day...

One of the best days in a year - you just need to keep eating without any guilt. Actually I did not cook today but we had an early Thanksgiving dinner last weekend with my fiend - Brendan.

Here is my menu - mastered honey grazed chicken wrapped in bacon, cornbread stuffing, sweet potato mushed potato, and green beans.

We started our dinner with Cosmopolitan (like Sex and the City)...

First time ever I used Italian sausage for stuffing and it came out GREAT. No turkey so obviously not in the bird, but I baked in the oven to have a crunch on the top (and at the bottom). Actually stuffing was the best, while Brendan liked green beans - I think the way I cooked (crunchy) and the dressing (shallot dressing) I made.

We bought the apple pie from the store right across the street, but I warmed up, so it was very crunchy at the top (crumble not a typical pie crust) and warm & juicy inside.

It was a great dinner and an evening.

Weekend in Brooklyn

A Warm weekend as November - less than one week before Thanksgiving.

We headed to the Prospect Park to enjoy a sunny day on Saturday. We decided to grab bagels at Bergen St. Bagel - Sun Dried Tomato Tofu and White Fish sandwiches. Not many leaves left on the trees but the contrast between green grasses and the trees was beautiful. We sat at the bench and had bagels like summer time picnic. Watching dogs (and the people with them) passing by were fun things to do too.

After enjoying sun enough (and starting feeling a bit too cool), we drove to Red Hook for sweets and coffee. As usual, stopped by at Baked for a break. Chocolate cake (no picture sorry) and a cup of coffee was perfect before heading to the grocery. They started selling cup cakes and theirs are very pretty (not huge like others). I have never tried them yet since there is always tempting cake to try.

Another Rainy Weekend in NYC

I thought it would be nicer weather here in NYC when I came back from Seattle where it was rainy season started, it has been another rainy weekend...

We started our weekend with Kosher dinner - again don't ask me why Kosher dinner on Friday. I had TRIPLE meats sandwich - pastrami, corned beef and turkey... Do you see THREE layers of meats? More meats than bread, that's a good thing.

We cooked chicken breaths with cauliflower and Brussels sprouts for Saturday dinner. Yes, it is Brussels sprouts season reminding me Thanksgiving. It is around the corner...

Sunday Cooking...

Enjoying the full weekend in NYC. The last time I had full weekend in NYC was in September - I needed to travel on Sunday or I was in Seattle over the weekend, so it was so nice to enjoy two full days.

We went for lunch and I got pulled pork sandwich side with French fries and coleslaw. They serve the food on the frying pan which I thought very interesting even thought it was not hot...

I found the remaining of fall on the ground where the glass was still very green.

We cooked Suki-Yaki for dinner by buying meat at one of Japanese grocery stores. As you can see my base is miso - not typical soy sauce. Our home used miso for Suki-Yaki so for me this is how it should be.

We started playing Wii - don't ask me why we got Wii... We don't play game usually but Wii is so much fun and I can feel the muscle ache on my right arm today...

We need to buy more games.

Back in NYC

Finally I am back in NYC and enjoying the weekend here.

I totally missed the fall season here but the trees still hold some colors - yellow and red.

We went to this originally New Heaven Connecticut native pizza place who just opened another outlet in Yonkers. As usual, we had a LARGE size half clam and half vegetables. This pizza place is famous for this clam pizza and it was sooo good. I know it sounds weird but it is like white (not tomato sauce) clam spaghetti with a lot of garlic in it. You would love this once you try it.

What should I eat next...

Another Weekend in Seattle

Not able to go home in Brooklyn Heights this weekend AGAIN, so I spent the weekend here in Seattle.

Almost same routine as last weekend -

Ice cream on Saturday - called Muddy River, chocolate base with caramel and walnut. It was REALLY good. There was dark chocolate with white chocolate tips, but I decided to go with caramel, which I like more over white chocolate.

Since it was a great sunny day Sunday, I stopped by at the market after having doughnuts as usual. Many tourists and everyone seemed enjoying the weather outside by munching foods... I could have had some seafood but I was not hungry at that time.

This should be the last weekend staying in Seattle, but I have feeling that I would come back sometime soon - on vacation or on business, who knows.