Muffin Madness

I've gone muffin crazy! I got muffin #2 at Ann Clairs today... APPLE CRUMB MUFFIN!

Ok I think this is the most visually appealing muffin to me because of the overflow of crumb muffin top! The crumb top was pretty good, it had some chunks of walnuts! And there were some crunchy parts mushed into muffin top madness!

(LOOK AT THE CRUMB TOP! IT'S FALLING OFFFFF!!!)

The actual muffin was really very good too! The texture of the cake part reminded me of a steamed cake that is very popular and common in Japanese baking. It's soft, light, and bouncy... not gummy, but like fluffy with some bounce. It was not too sweet, although it was much closer to yellow cake than the banana one obviously, but it was a great flavor for a muffin! My biggest issue is that I wish the apple chunks were bigger... it's kinda like, as you eat the muffin, you get a little sample of the apple chunk and expect a bigger chunk in the next bite. But it never comes. Anti-climactic! Only in the apple chunk department :-)


Will go back soon for Muffin #3! I think it will be Carrot Raisin...

Ann Clairs
1130 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx, New York 10461
Phone: (718)-409-1171

Stud Muffin

Besides the fact that I am infatuated with my new stud muffin, Tiny, I have developed a new obsession for muffins! I've always loved muffins, but I am on a mission now to find the best muffins!

I was at school today for a whole 12 hours, so I broke up my day (as usual) by taking a nice walk to CVS and then to Ann Clairs, the local deli here in Morris Park. Or Salumeria... whatevs...

So every time I go in there to get coffee, I notice their display of homemade-looking muffins and cookies. They look really good. But I had never gotten one. This morning, I went to Charlie's Truck, the food truck guy that is there EVERYDAY until 2 PM, and asked what kinda muffins he had.... Blueberry, Chocolate, Bran, but NO BANANA!!! This is the second time this week that I was denied a Banana Nut Muffin! So, fast forward a few hours, at Ann Clairs I asked the girl what kinda muffins they had...

"Apple Crumb, Carrot Raisin, Chocolate Chip, Bran, and Banana Walnut"
I said, "Can you go over that again?"
"Uhhh... yeah... Apple Crumb, Carrot Raisin, Chocolate Chip, Bran, and Banana Walnut"
I said, "Holy crap, ok are they homemade? Because they look really homemade."
Another woman working there says, "Yep!"
I ask, "Are they good?" (I know I'm so silly... I always ask people who work there if things are good!)
The woman says, "YES!"
So I said, "Ok! Can I please have the Banana Walnut?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"
I was so freakin excited.... I brought it back to my car to eat later for dessert, but before leaving the muff in the car, I took a whif... I had a feeling it was gonna be a good night.



So I just ate it. And I am going to say that this is a damn good Banana Walnut Muffin!!!!!



It's light, yet moist, but not dense... It's more banana moist... the muffin top was incred! Glazey but still had a little bit of crunch in some areas! And the huge-mongous walnuts were exciting! The muffin itself was the flavor of ripe bananas-it was sweet but not sugary sweet, and thank god for NO ARTIFICIAL BANANA FLAVOR! Artificial banana flavored things should die.


Oh and another plus of this muffin was the size/shape. It was more on the flat side with large Muffin Top surface area!!!!

So I am now officially on a mission to try all of Ann Clairs' muffins. I think the next one is going to have to be the Apple Crumb. Yum.


Ann Clairs
1130 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx, New York 10461
Phone: (718)-409-1171

GA GA OH LALA!

So, I am slowly coming to terms with my obsession with Lady Gaga. I think she's great! She's so fun, and she's just freaky deaky! Oh... and I really like names that have a repetitivenes to it, i.e. GAGA, Mimi, Lulu.....


Lulu's!

Blood Orange Cake


Victor was a little harsh about this cake! It was really good! I love Lulu's tropical-sweet-tangy combos! i.e.- Passionfruit cake, Mango cake, and now this Blood Orange cake!

And my mom was so cute... I walked into her room, and she was walking out with a plate with orangey-salmony-pink stuff on the plate and I said, "Oh what is that?" And she says, "I stole some of your cake...." And she just sounded so like ashamed, as if I caught her doing something bad... and I said to her, "Mom! You can eat whatever is in the fridge/cookie stash!" She loves Lulu's too <3

Oh and sometimes, when I'm really indecisive and don't know what I want to have for dessert, I'll do an insane sampler of things....

Strawberries with Condensed Milk, Slice of Lulu's Devil Dog, and Chocolate Cheerios! (I have an obsession with chocolate cereals. I love that they turn the milk into chocolate milk!)

Gourmet in Dirty Conditions

So this is from a while back, but I feel obligated to post this (for my own ego-boost) because the pictures are pretty! As my mom and I were living in non-OCD-acceptable kitchen conditions, we rarely cooked because everything (I mean everything) was completely covered in ceiling crap/dust.

On one snowy day, we decided we deserved better than take-out Chinese food for dinner, and we trekked out to Daido to get sashimi!

We planned to have Temaki Zushi which is like a DIY (do-it-yourself), RIY (roll-it-yourself) sushi roll. What we usually do it get a bunch of different sashimi, some shiso leaves, cucumbers, avocados, and make thin strips of scrambled egg and put it on a big platter. Everyone gets a bowl of sushi rice, and there is a stack of fresh nori (seaweed). And everyone goes to town with their own creative combinations!

This is the best meal for someone who is indecisive like me, because you just get to eat all of everything you want!

Our selections were limited on this night as there was only two of us but looooooooooooook!


Nori, Rice, Shiso, Ume Paste


Ika (squid) and Chu-toro (medium fatty tuna)



Kyuri (Japanese cucumbers... hella crunchier than regular cukes!) and Shiso



Nori, Rice, Ika, Kyuri

Fun Games!

Ok I know i don't have any fun food posts, But try this....


Where is this pizza from?



Here's the crust...


Please participate so I think that people are actually reading this!

Stop Work Order

...has been issued by the Town Of Eastchester... Oh Oscar, why did you have to do it illegally?


But at least my room is done. Bright and Beautiful!

Mirror Closet Dooor... im ballllinnnnn'! And check out my new floors! I don't have to worry about getting splinters in my feet anymore!

Little Closet

Big Closet

Big Closet inside... It is now completely full with clothes/shoes/bags :-)


Too bad they never started on the kitchen.... this is like month 8 with NO OVEN!!
The kitchen is still a mess from all the work they did on the ceilings but my mother is being trooper and cooking delish things for me (i.e: tonight's Piman (japanese peppers) stuffed with pork, and Sweet Kabocha with Ground pork)... I've gained like 10 pounds since she moved in.... but it's so worth it!

BROOKLLLYYYYNNNN!!!

As much as I like to claim how "gangsta" I am, I rarely ever go to Brooklyn. And I only relate Brooklyn to being "gangsta" because of like Biggie and Jay-Z. I was surprised when Tiny took me to Prospect Heights to the Brooklyn Museum to see the "Who Shot Rock & Roll" exhbit. (Note: If you are into photography/music/history of music go check this out! It ends January 31st!)... Prospect Heights was a very green (trees!), pretty neighborhood, with those cute little brownstone apartments.

The exhibit was really cool. It was totally me, and I thank Tiny for taking me because it was very thoughtful of him. It was a photography exhibit of both famous and unknown photographers who took beautiful/meaningful pictures of musicians. The musicians ranged from the legendary Beatles to the more recent Amy Winehouse. I was really impressed with all the photography, and it was so interesting to read about the context in which the photograph was taken.

After being culturally enlightened, Tiny took me to a little Mexican spot that he had been to called Chavella's. The outside of the restaurant is super cute.... just by appearance, it was totally somewhere I would randomly walk in to. The inside also was so my style. It's a tiny little place, very dimly lit, with about 8-10 tables. There was one waitress. The walls were painted bright red, and the tables were just decorated with paper napkins, paper take-out menus, and a little pot of Spanish gum ( I think ??).


We ordered from the lunch specials which are QUITE the deal! I got 1/2 Soup and 1/2 Salad. Tiny got a soup and the 1/2 Chicken with Rice and Beans.

Our soups came first.

To the left is Tiny's Sopa De Tortilla, and mine is the Sopa Di Frijoles. My soup was da bommmbbbbb.... the queso fresco was kinda like goat cheese. There was also a pico de gallo topping. Tiny's tortilla soup was delish as well. It was more refreshing and spicy. Mine was creamy and rich... perfect for the disgustingly cold weather that we've been experiencing here in New York.

Next was the Pollo al Horno with Rice and Beans.

DANNNGGGG that's a mad generous portion for $5.95!


And my Ensalada De La Casa.

With a tomato vinaigrette on the side. YUMMM!!! The dressing was definitely the best part. It was super vinegary but you could still taste the sweetness of the tomatoes.

Finally, dessert. Of course I had to get dessert. At the suggestion of the waitress who "doesn't like cold rice pudding" we went with the flan.

I like all varieties of custards and puddings. This one had a really nice firm texture and was sprinkled with my fav spice ever... CINNAMON!

Tiny is really on the right track by introducing me to these new places. What's next... Staten Island?!


Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway (between Classon Ave & Washington Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Phone: (718)-638-5000

Chavella's
732 Classon Ave (between Park and Prospect Place)
Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 11238
Phone: (718)-622-3100