Happy 2011!

As I always say on the first day of a new year, I can't believe it's already been another year. Where did 2010 go?! All I can say is that it was a great year regardless of all the tears that I cried. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?

Let's start off the new year with gratitude. Let's focus on what I do have...
-Family
-Amazingly awesome boyfriend with whom I have a strong relationship
-Confidence in being more independent
-A new life in a new apartment!
-Feeling OK with the changes that I am going through

The last one is my favorite. There's nothing better than feeling like everything is going to be OK.

So it's a Japanese tradition to do a big New Year's Day meal. And my French/Irish boyfriend came and was brave enough to try all different kinds of traditional Japanese cuisine! So proud :-) He even had sashimi!

My mom is amazing. Usually, she buys all the New Years Day foods, but this year she spent all week preparing for the day's meal. It was soooooooooo good! Mom's cooking is definitely still the best :-)
Osechi Ryori


Sashimi

Nimono (Stewed Vegetables)

Tamagoyaki and (I forgot the name of the pink and white things!)

Roasted and then Steamed Pork

Ozoni (Soup with Mochi)


Last year, we did New Years Day at Kyo Ya. I enjoyed today more just because it was Mommy's cooking and it was made with l-o-v-e ...

Happy Birthday Kyuta!

My brother is 28 years old! Happy Birthday! It was actually October 20th. I'm late.

Awww!

The time has come. I'm officially poor and super cheap.
I'm sorry Kyuta, but this is your birthday present. A blog post dedicated to you for making it through 27 years of your life. Good luck on the 28th year!

It's the thought that counts right?!

Anyways, my mom made a fantabulous dinner, of course.
The appetizers were a bunch of interesting dishes that she probably saw on her Japanese cooking channel...

Mushroom with "Escargot" Butter


Korean Style Hirame Sashimi and Octopus [spicy and sesame oil-y]


Seaweed & Seafood Salad [Crabstick and Jellyfish!]


Honey and Vinegar Pickled Daikon, Radish, and Cucumbers


Curried Okra


And look at my super OCD plate!


And onto the main course: Teppanyaki!
Meat: Beef, Pork, Cheek, Tongue


Seafood: Scallops and Squid


And veggies... like this sweet potato:

My mom is so cute. She made that smiley face on the left potato!


So all the meats and veggies and seafood were cooked on the griddle type thing called a teppanyaki. And you dip the stuff in yummy sauce. And you eat to much!


But there's ALWAYS room for a Lulu's cake!

A Strawberry Shortcake. So pretty!


OMG..... why do I get so excited looking at food?!


So that's the end of the birthday. And Kyuta, I apologize for making you wait for this "amazing" birthday present. Yeah, maybe I got your hopes up too high?

Lulu Cake Boutique
40 Garth Road
Scarsdale, NY 10583
Phone: [914]-722-8300

My First Time

Look at this beautiful kitchen!!! My mom really hooked it up when we got the kitchen redone. The kitchen got done maybe like in May? I dunno... it was a realllllly long time ago. But I had never baked anything until now! What a shame.

Of course, I gotta take away this oven's virginity with Chocolate Chip Cookies! I was nice enough though to use another virgin recipe.... Baked.

I bought this book right before we started all the work in our apartment so I never got a chance to bake anything out of this book!


The smell of butter and sugar... OMG I remember why I love baking so much!


Balled and placed on a cookie sheet...


And out of the oven....

So... I'm just gonna say that the directions were not followed precisely. I didn't have 6 hours to refrigerate the dough, so I baked the cookies right after mixing all the ingredients.... which of course made FLAT COOKIES!


They were delicious none the less. Thin, crispy, and super delicate!

Sleep Studies are Delicious

Food makes everything fun! Even sleep studies at NY Presbyterian Hospital on a Friday night when no one else, except for the sleep study technician, is on the whole floor. Creepy, but also a great way to lock yourself in a room and eat leftover Mofongo!

I did a sleep study a few weeks ago because some of my doctors suspected some signs of narcolepsy... hehehehehehehe I still think it's so funny. But not really because now I don't have a car.

So Tiny drove me to Wash Heights early so that we could eat. Earlier that day, he ran 15 miles :training for the NYC Marathon: and I biked along with him, so we figured we deserved to eat whatever the eff we wanted.

A totally random little latin place called El Nuevo Caridad. God, I really hate my iPhone pics. I have the iPhone that came out in 2007.
Tiny got Mofongo with Pork

And I got the Chicken in Garlic Sauce

We got 2 ENORMOUS plates of rice, seriously bigger than Shaq's head, and beans!


I'm obsessed with Mofongo now. I had no idea what it was until this meal. Here's what the Wikimaster says:
"Mofongo is generally made from fried green plantains (although fried yuca or breadfruit are possible) which is mashed together with broth, garlic, olive oil, and pork cracklings or bits of bacon. It is often filled with vegetables, chicken, crab, shrimp, or beef and is often served with fried meat and chicken broth soup.[1] Mofongo relleno is mofongo stuffed with stewed beef, chicken or seafood, with stewed sauce poured over."-Wikipedia

So I went a little bit crazy during this sleep study, and I was pissed that I had glue on my scalp for like 3 days, and I was REALLLY upset that I couldn't have coffee during the sleep study, but I'm glad it's done and over with.


Now the big question is this:
Does Miki have Narcolepsy or not?

Stay tuned for the results!

El Nuevo Caridad
4073 Broadway Btwn 172nd & 173rd St
Washington Heights, New York
Phone: (212)-740-1616

Food For Fuel

I work out a lot. So I need fuel. That's my excuse as to why I eat so much.... but can I just say that I got to the best gym ever?

Westchester Fight Club!

I pump iron and eat the Chirico pasta special....

I get fed at the gym!!! No, not a protein shake. But real, delicious food!



Not to mention this gym dude makes SICK brownies. Baking competition to come.

Westchester Fight Club- MMA Academy and Ultimate Fitness Center
11 S. Division St
New Rochelle, NY
Phone: 914-355-2618

Where is the best Thai restaurant in NY?

I really am no judge of the "best Thai restaurant in NY" because, like, I LOVE Thai food, but I don't know what to base my judgements on. I like Garlic and Pepper in Tuckahoe, but it's because I think it's better than Siam Orchid.

Now I had been hearing about Sri Pra Phai for-ever. I really don't know why i waited so long to come here. I guess I think that anything outside of Westchester is like "too far". Meanwhile, this trip to Queens only took like 2 minutes.

And I went with Miss. Sarah! I just always picture her in like a cute fluffy apron, holding two ginormous Lulu cakes! Tonight she was ZESTY!

She started with this Thai Iced Tea. BIG-ASS-BUBBLES BRO!


We went with some suggestions that we had received before leaving for our big to-do.

Papaya Salad with dry shrimp and peanut


Massaman Curry with Beef


Sautéed Eggplant with pork, chili, garlic, and basil


DESSERT

#1. Coconut Pancakes


#2. Black Bean in Coconut Milk



Everything that we ordered was a winner! But I must say I really, really really loved the Massaman Curry! And the Coconut Pancake thingies were awesome.... they were like mochi patties with coconut in them, and yhen like pan fried. YUM.


SriPraPhai Thai Restaurant
64-13 39th Avenue
Woodside, NY 11377
Phone: 718-899-9599

Paletas!

I'd heard about Paleteria Fernandez in Port Chester for a few years now through Chowhound, but I always thought, OK I wouldn't drive all the way to Po-Cho for a popsicle. The other night, I was in Mamaroneck and I drove by a brightly lit, neon signed Paleteria Fernandex right on Mamaroneck Avenue!



I swear, it was a really nice summery night on Saturday, and there were tons of people walking down the ave. And about 78.9% had paletas from Paleteria Fernandez! I walked in and was overwhelmed by the selection of paletas!

They are all wrapped in a plastic "Paleteria Fernandez" wrapper. They also had regular scoopable ice cream. You also have the option of chocolate coating any of the paletas. They also have chocolate dipped bananas. Basically they have a lot of fun stuff!

They have everything fruity you could ever think of, both milk based and water based. They have American-y flavors like cookies and cream. They have interesting flavors like Pico de Gallo! I went with a good olf Strawberry Milk paletas. OMG. Japanese people love anything that is strawberry flavored and this just totally hit the spot! It was like a strawberry milkshake in a popsicle form. Super creamy and none of that icicle B.S.




Look at the chunks of strawberry! They actually weren't CHUNKS per se but like strawberry niblets.



It's a quite spacious place with about four big table and like three little tables.


Paleteria Fernandez
350 Mamaroneck Avenue
Mamaroneck, NY 10543