Latest Obsessions

*The Clock Without a Face by Gus Twintig

*Sea Salted Brownies. (these got rave reviews)

*Totoro Lunch Box

*The Daytrip Society

*This crab dish on etsy

*Quarts of fresh strawberries from the market

*The Barbera d'Asti and Cannonau that we have by the glass at work.

Mother's Day Ideas.

I've been trying, for about 3 weeks,
to find Mother's Day gifts for my mom
and godmother. No store seems to have
anything that I can really get excited about
so I'm thinking that, once again, I'll
make them something.

(Last year it was a lemon/olive oil scrub-
which they both loved so much that they also
received it for Christmas!)

So here are some excellent DIY
Mother's Day Presents. I'm thinking
that I might try the teacup candles.

The ever popular Hand Scrub

Rhubarb Strawberry Chutney This can be used on toast, pancakes, yogurt. (I only used about a half teaspoon of ginger in this-I'm not a huge ginger fan and too much of it can be overpowering.)

Found Terrariums

Monkey Bread (and mimosas!)

Herbed Pickled Asparagus or Pickled Beets -I've made the beets before and they are fantastic and surprisingly easy.

Infused Sugars

Teacup Candles

Latest Obsessions

*visiting the unknown places in Designsponge's Philly Guide

*Dragonfruit Juice/ finding an actual dragonfruit

*Art by William Kentridge (been a fan for awhile but
after the exhibit at the MoMA I've become infatuated
with it all over again)

*Rhubarb Upside Down Cake Recipe from this months Living.

*Luke's Lobster Rolls. They are just so delicious.

*Salty Sea Dress from Anthropologie

Hidden City

I've lived in NY for about 5 years now,
and after that amount of time you get
pretty familiar with your surroundings.

I could basically find my way blind through
the East Village, I know the ins and outs of
Sunnyside, and I even have a handle on parts
of Brooklyn. Yesterday however, I discovered
a new part of NY.

If you asked me to name my least favorite areas
of the city I'd have to say Times Square and Chinatown.
I dislike them for the same reasons, they are crowded
tourist traps. But a friend told me that I should check out
the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, saying that they had
delicious Black Sesame ice cream. Since we were at the
Hester St fair we decided to meander over and see
about this ice cream situation.
( but first! the delicious Luke's lobster roll we had at
Hester St, jealous?)
















Who knew that this part of Chinatown was actually
pretty cool!? A big beautiful park, cute little eateries,
asian grocery stores, (I love foreign food products.)
and fun little shops. (Oh and these.
Stuffed(?) hot orange squid.
Doesn't suit my palate but found them fascinating.)















Lets talk about the deliciousness that is
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I did try,
and very much enjoy the black sesame flavor.
The bf opted for a flavor called Zen Butter,
I think that this was a combo of peanut butter,
vanilla, and another zen ingredient-it was quite
good as well.
















From there we found a lush park where
musicians played instruments that you
don't see everyday, and a lady sang in a voice
that was, well, interesting. But if they had
a cd for sale, I would have bought it. They
were great, and so was the vibe at this park.































Don't get me wrong, I still loath Canal St, but
I do have a fondness for the hidden part of
Chinatown.

Happy May!

The first day of May has been a lovely one.
I spent the bulk of the day meandering around
the Brooklyn Flea. I had planned on buying
necessary presents for Mother's Day and various
upcoming b-days but no...instead I managed to
stuff my face with delicious food.
Not productive but definitely awesome.

Check out my Asia Dog. A hot dog done in
the style of a banh mi sammy.
















I also had a pretzel, some lemonade, and
I couldn't resist another bag of Liddabit
salted caramels or their new rhubarb gummies.


I came home and finally made the Rhubarb Upside
Down Cake that I've been talking about all week.
Unlike my Cranberry version, this turned out lovely!















The whole cake managed to come out of the pan this time!















After that I made a quick asparagus risotto, opened
a bottle of Corvina and caught up on my tv shows
for the week.

I love Saturdays like this.
Have a good weekend!