Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving! Despite my bitching and moaning about not being able to have our own little Thanksgiving dinner, I had one of the most amazing Thanksgivings ever!
First, I wasn't "in charge" of anything!
Second, it was nice being a guest rather than the hostess.
Third, the family that i spent it with was amazing!

Amanda, my brother's girlfriend's family had invited us because they knew we weren't going to be doing anything for Thanksgiving. That was so nice of them. There was plenty of (awesomely delicious) food, good people, and good laughs! Amanda's dad taught me many martial arts moves... he says its all in the look... the crazy eyes...

Anyways, the lunch/dinner started really caj with some veggie sticks and dips; a lobster dip and a roasted red pepper dip.


There was also some parmesan cheese and grapes.

Can I just say that Amanda's mom is a great cook! Everything she made was sooooo good! And props to her for Jewish-ing Thanksgiving by serving Matzo Ball Soup!

Along with a Butternut Squash, Bean, All-Kinds-Of-Veggies, and Kielbasa Soup!

This was also my first time having White Sweet Potatoes! They were amazing... they were exactly like the potatoes that the Japanese use for Yaki-Imo (which is just a roasted sweet potato, but the potato that they use is not the traditional American Sweet Potatoes... it's definitely this!)


And one of the highlights of the day... Amanda's stuffed onions!

Stuffed with bacon, onions, herbs, and bread crumbs, and topped with Grueyere Cheese!

Simple roasted tomatoes

Perfectly sweet and tart cranberry, grape, and pineapple sauce.

And the King Turkey!


With the best dish of the day... STUFFING! Stuffing is by far the best part of Thanksgiving :-) And this was some amazing stuffing! It was Amanda's fathers family recipe that her mother tweaked... Ground pork, veggies, apricots, grapes, and of course bread... it was such a perfect sweet and savory combo!


Whew! I ate too much! But wait, dessert came like 20 minutes later!
It was Ellen's birthday (Amanda's aunt) so we had a cake from Riviera
Bakehouse in Ardsley.

I brought a Lulu's Chocolate Pound Cake.

And an apple pie, also from Riviera Bakehouse... I must say I looooooovvveeee their apple pie! Warmed for a few minutes in the oven... omg :-)

Thanks to the Moses!

Riviera Bakehouse
660 Saw Mill River Road
Ardsley, NY 10502
Phone: 914- 693-9758

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

Sarah Bernhardt

Do you know what Sarah Bernhardt cookies are? I had never heard of them until someone on this post on Chowhound mentioned they had had one from LULU'S!!!!
I felt a little embarassed because:
A. I thought I had tried everything from Lulu's!
B. I had never even heard of Sarah Bernhardt cookies! And I love cookies! Where have I been?!

So this blog describes Sarah Bernhardt Cookies...

Basically they are shaped like little piles of doodie. The bottom is a light, crispy, chewy macaroon, and it's topped with a cone shaped dollop of chocolate ganache, and covered in chocolate. Sounds heavenly, right. Totes...

So pretty!

So delicious...

Now, I have never seen these anywhere so I suggest if you see them at Lulu's, get them! Follow them on Twitter and you'll know the exciting things that they have for the day!

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

Difficult to Give Thanks

I am feeling quite ungrateful. Im on the pity-pot. The holiday season just seems a little bit depressing without an oven.

Slumber Party Like It's 1993!

Yep. In 1996, I was 10. Which means I was in fifth grade. Which means I had many slumber parties... Late night chatting, gossip, CAKE, movies... wasn't that the best?

Well, the girls and I decided a slumber party comeback was completely necessary. Lindsay was kind enough to invite us to her lovely home! I was just the four of us but we had plentyyyyyyyyyyy of ridiculousness....

So the night started with some pizza (of course)... and then Lindsay, who works at Patisserie Salzburg in Rye, snuck home some leftover cupcakes. When I hear the word "cupcake" it's like the seratonin levels in my brain just spike up! Something about cupcakes, good moist ones, make me so happy :-)

So how were the one's from Patisserie Salzburg?? NOT BAD AT ALL! And let me tell you, when you've had Lulu's cupcakes, nothing really compares. Here was the selection:

(Plus Lauren's Sexy Pierced Tongue)
Starting from the bottom right...
1. Peanut Butter and Chocolate with Peanut Butter Frosting
2. Red Velvet with Chocolate Frosting
3. Vanilla with Strawberry Frosting filled with Custard
4. Carrot with Cream Cheese Frosting
5. Banana with Cream Cheese (??) Frosting

My favorite was definitely the strawberry. The cake was light and spongey, and it reminded me of a Japanese Strawberry Shortcake :-)
The carrot cake was also quite delish! It was studded with tons of walnuts :-)
I love nuts!


After cake, we had some YouTube action... all I can say is that I love gay, black men, who like "what, what" in the butt...


We finished off the night with some of this....

Lauren got a little too crazy....

But yeah... we kept it classy :-)

Patisserie Salzburg
Rye, NY 10580
Phone: (914)-921-4458

Look Whose Back...

Hello, Rainbow Cookie... Welcome Back! Me and the Lulu Rainbow Cookie go way back. Sarah introduced me one day when I had mentioned that I had never had a rainbow cookie because they just look kinda gross... She changed my life. But after that one day, I had never seen them again. Until now :-)

And today? I decided on a Chocolate Chip Muffin. Actually Sarah decided for me...

Uhmmm... excuse me sir?

Oh! HELLO!
And what about you?

What are you all about?

Sparks are flying... this is my lover... Triple Chocolate Rugelach <3

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

My Favorite Hobby= Shopping at Trader Joe's

My favorite supermarket is Trader Joe's. Well, I love other supermarkets too but usually they are too expensive. Trader Joe has good stuff + it's surprisingly less expensive than other places!

I love just browsing through the aisles to see what new stuff they have. I have tried everything from Roasted Eggplant Spread to Frozen Shrimp to Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars. Usually, I'm happy (if not super happy) about the products that I purchase from Trader Joe's. Some other times, I think that a product has potential. Either way, I love trying their funky, out-of-the-ordinary stuff.

At my Halloween get together, Nia, who is the most fantastic Trader Joe's employee ever brought us a bunch of stuff (she knows how obsessed I am with Trader Joe's!).

Peach Salsa- Amazing! It really is smoky, and it's actually pretty spicy. You get the heat after being tricked by the sweet peaches!

I used the leftover salsa to put it on my Salmon. Deeeeeee-lish.

3 Pepper Salsa- Good, but nothing spectacular. I really enjoyed the roasted red peppery-ness.

And since I had even more salmon, I made the same dish but with this salsa instead. Peach was better with the salmon!

Peanuts, Berries, and Almonds- Their twist on PB&J... I was like SO excited to try these because I love PB&J. However, it was just one of those things that has so much potential and it just wasn't there yet. Work on it, TJ!

See the peanuts and almonds are kinda just coated in this dry berry jam type stuff. It's good, but it could be better :-P

Maple Cookies- Holy dumpsters! These were amazing! Maple cookies with this creamy maple filling. The creamy filling to cookie ratio was perfect! Since the cookies were thick and crunchy, the plentiful cream was peeerrrrrrrrrfeccction!

Now, I am grateful to have TWO TJ locations close by. The one in Hartsdale and the one in Eastchester, which is the one I go to every Friday! Why don't the Northern Westerchesterites get one?! Im just sayin'...

Trader Joe's
727 White Plains Rd.
Scarsdale, NY 10583
Phone: (914)-472-2988
Trading Hours: 9:00 am - 9:00 pm

Trader Joe's
215 N Central Ave
Hartsdale, NY 10530
Phone: (914)-833-9110
Trading Hours: 9:00 am - 9:00 pm

Trader Joe's (I never go to this one but it exists!)
1260 Boston Post Rd
Larchmont, NY 10538
Phone: (914)-833-9110
Trading Hours: 9:00 am - 9:00 pm

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was awesome... thanks to my awesome costume!

CHOLA! I looked so scary!
The requirements of looking like a Chola:
1. Thin, highly arched eyebrows drawn on super black.
2. THICK, thick, thick, winged eyeliner on top (wing must reach the tips of the eyebrows).
3. Eyeliner on the bottom.
4. Tons of mascara
5. Dark lipliner with no lipstick.

I learned this from my new idol:

Just watch her, she's amazing. She's so inspiring! She's taught me how to make people take me seriously :-)

Anyways, besides my costume, the party was fun as well! We had some food, a great mix (made by yours truly), some Yankees action, some Billy Blanks performances, and JENGA!!!!

I was of course ghetto and did not purchase any food haha. I made some things out of stuff I already had on had. It was delicious, nonetheless!

Peanut Butter and Honey Tea Sandwiches

Turkey and Mayo Sandwiches

Fusilli with Olive Oil, Broccoli, Garlic, Red Pepper Flakes, and Lemon Pepper

We also had chips and dip (courtesy of Nia... all from Trader Joes!) but we wanted more food. So we ordered sushi rolls from Sakura:

California Rolls and Spicy Tuna Rolls

Shrimp Tempura Rolls

Eel Avocado Rolls

Now here were my guests. Costumes were required!

Joanna, Barbra, Lauren, Me

Joe, Steve, Frank

Nia