California, Day Five & Six: Monterey-Big Sur-Los Angeles!

Most of Day Five was spend hiking the Vicente Trail in Big Sur..... GORGEOUS. It was quite a hike and the views were incredible. It was like being on an airplane and seeing all the amazing landscapes from far above! Our 7 hour hike was rewarded generously with Italian food at Caruso's Corner. It was like straight up, nothing fancy, Italian food and it totally hit the spot! I got a Calamari Steak and Tiny got Meatball and Spaghetti Parm... omg literally. Hahaha. It was really just, yeah.

So Day Six, we headed to Los Angeles, where a couple of his friends live. It was Easter Sunday and we were welcomed with the most adorable Ham dinner!

Here were the apps:

Triscuit Pizza, Crackers with Brie, Caprese Salad


The Pile o' Ham



The Whole Plate: Ham, Salad, Green Beans with Bread Crumbs, Mashed Taters
(All homemade!)

Tiny and I brought a fruit tart from Whole Foods:



The excellent hosts!
Not to mention their apartment was sooooooooooo nice! We slept on the most comfy couch!
Thanks!


Caruso's Corner
2101 Fremont St
Monterey, CA 93940
Phone: (831)-375-5014

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!

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

Harvesting Your Twenties

So. My brother is turning 27 on October 20th. He's in his late twenties. That's so weird! Not that 27 is old, but because he's my brother, and if he's going into his late twenties, I'm only 4 years behind him!

Since my whole family seems to never be able to get together during the week because our schedules are all kinds of messed up, we celebrated his birthday tonight. We went to Harvest-On-Hudson.Harvest was one of those restaurants that my mom has wanted to take me to for a realllllly long time, but every time we think of going, it gets overruled by a newer, trendier restaurant. So, I'm really glad that my brother requested to go here!

First of all, Hastings-On-Hudson is like the cutest town! I had never been there... I just always wondered what was on the other side of that area of the Saw Mill River Parkway. Anyways, the restaurant is right on the water, right by the train station (just like every other river town restaurant). It's bigger than what I had expected! And the interior was like chic, kinda mysterious, and sexy.... I think the sexy part came from the kind-of-hip people chillen at the bar. I was upset because I wished it was summer. Imagine sitting outside, right by the water... Damn this Nor'easter business!

REMINDER: Eating out with my family is the best ever because we order everything on the menu!

So, basically, we got to try a bunch of stuff!

1. The Harvest Tower- Iced Shrimp, East & West Coast Oysters, Little Neck Clams, Alaskan King Crab Legs

2. Grilled Octopus with Charred Country Bread- Cracked Black Pepper, Thyme, Olive Oil and Lemon

3. Bacon, Onion, Tomato & Jalapeno Pizza


4. Harvest Baby Field Lettuce Salad with Grape Tomatoes, Onion and Cucumber

5. “Brodetto” Traditional Italian Zuppa di Pesce-Shrimp, Clams, Calamari, Mussels and Monkfish in Tomato, Garlic and White Wine Broth with Grilled Country Bread

6. 1 1/2 lb. Lobster Special with Corn on the Cob, Asparagus, and Baked Potato

7. 42 oz. Dry Rubbed Porterhouse Steak (for two)- Potato Gratin


Everything was absolutely delicious. I must mention that one of the oysters that I had was nasty-ass rotten. It was really bad. It was really awful. The taste that it left in my mouth was utterly disgusting. Fortunately, I had the nice crusty bread and the extremely flavorful and delicious grilled octopus to dilute the taste. But we told the waiter, and unfortunately, they couldn't pump my stomach of the bad oyster but they did give us free desserts :-)

Seriously, everything was really good. BUT! The standouts were definitely the pizza and the grilled octopus. And the bread. OMG the bread was super crusty, and the inside was so soft. The octopus was really something. It was such a simple flavor but the super lemony-ness was perfect. And OMFG... the "charred country bread" soaked in the lemony sauce was the most amazing first-bites I've had in a while. It was the same crust bread that they served in the bread basket. Actually, my Brodetto had the same bread, grilled. The pizza.... holy crap, it was really spicy! But the bacon and onion combo were perfect! And surprisingly, the crust was really good! Thin and crispy with a bit of chewiness.

Now onto dessert...
Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulée with Spiced Nut Biscotti


Mixed Wild Berry Tart with Vanilla Custard

and since the berries in the tart were so delicious we added on another order...
Seasonal Fruit Plate- which we jumped into before capturing the beautiful presentation! But here are the remains :-)


We were very happy with our dessert selections! They were just super simple classics. The creme brulée had an extra crunchy, burnt-more-than-usual top which I appreciated. The berry tart was really just a tart shell filled with fresh berries and just a bit of custard with whipped cream. It was really so good! And the fruit plate was made up of berried and these melon ribbons. There was a melon "cone" filled with lemon sorbet. It was so pretty!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYUTA!

Oh, and just an F.Y.I on my outfit... I wore the crazy person tights...


Harvest on Hudson
1 River St
Hastings On Hudson, NY 10706
Phone: (914)-478-2800

In The Co. of New Friends!

Ok wow, that title was so bad. I'll cut to the chase. I ate at COMPANY (Co.) last night so I wanted to incorporate it into the title! Plus, I got to hang out with some new friends, so I thought the title was appropriate :-)

Well, last night was the most fun I've had in a really long time! The whole night was just something new, exciting, and refreshing! I had made plans to hang out with these pretty faces....

If you have been to Lulu's, you know her. It's Sara! And that's her boyfriend... they are so freaken cute! Sara is 5'3" and Jeff is 6"3". F.Y.I...

Anyways, we went down to the city to meet up with their friend Pat (who I apparently am connected through my friend Meredith from Ferkauf, as explained by Facebook) to go to Blood Manor. Blood Manor is a haunted house. It's in like a warehouse-y area on the 4th floor. But your have to wait outside on this long line. Apparently, our wait wasn't that bad (1 hour) compared to last year, when they waited about 2 hours IN THE RAIN! The wait was made more entertaining by the actors outside scaring people.

There was this Creepy Girl who yelled really loud into people's ears...


And this Monster Thing (Sara thought it was the Lion from The Wizard of Oz)


This Doctor


And this Crazy Fat Clown!

I had to warn everyone in my group that the last time I went to a haunted house (it was the one in New Rochelle, back in like 2002), I punched my friend because of like a jerk reaction... for defensive purposes. I thought I was being attacked by a ghost-monster-dead thing. Also, I was really nervous that I was going to pee in my pants. They should really have a bathroom before going into the place!

Long story short, we formed a human train where everyone was holding onto each other's hand. Every time I got scared by someone (which was the whole walk through) I would pull my arms down and try to curl myself into a ball. I was like crouched for most of the time! Me and Sara were screaming the entire way through.... it was SOOOOOOO scary! But me and Sara were so proud of ourselves that we got through. And just another F.Y.I., if you pee in your pants, you get a free T-Shirt!

To celebrate our victory, we walked a few blocks to Co. , the newish pizza place opened by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery. I've read reviews for the place, and it wasn't as great as people had expected it to be. But of course I wanted to try for myself :-)



We shared three pies:

Margherita-tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil



Boscaiola-tomato, mushroom, buffalo mozzarella, pork sausage, onion, chili



Ham and Cheese-pecorino, gruyère, buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, caraway



My verdict: The toppings are delicious and combined in a way that all the flavors work really well together in each pie. However, the crust. It was fluff. Not much crunch, except for the burnt boobie-bumps. There was no chew. It was really just puff. So... I said to Sara, "This is no All' Antica" :-) Which reminds me. I really need to get over there soon. I haven't been there in forever!

Ok and just one last picture from Blood Manor: WARNING! IT'S GROSS!


Blood Manor‎
542 West 27th Street
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212)-290-2825

Co.
230 Ninth Ave
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212)-243-1105

Pizza Pizza!

Homemade Pizza Trial #2:

Thinner crust! Half turkey pepperoni, half tomatoes and olives. YUM!

Made on our new Pizza Stone :-)

And whose got it better than me? I have a boyfriend who prepares me a salad just the way I like it. Plus he writes me messages with the ingredients:

"I LOVE YOU"
I love you too, babe!

A Slice Of Life

The thing I like most about pizza is the versatility. You can top it with so many different things. You can adjust the thickness of the crust. You can make different shapes. It's like whatever you want, you can have, especially if you make it yourself!

Now, I have never "made" pizza. I have now constructed my own pizza, but I still have never "made" pizza dough. Thank god for Trader Joe's and other markets for selling ready made pizza dough (because I don't have patience for yeast)!

I must say that this pizza creation night with Ed was one of the most fun times I've had cooking with him. It was so like, D.I.Y. and anything goes.

Ed <3 Plain, Chicken Parm, Extra Cheese, Floppy
Miki <3 Thin Crust, Vegetables, White, Salad, Anything from All' Antica

Me and Ed always compromise. I attempted at making half the pie thick and half the pie thin... it kinda worked out haha. Compromising on the toppings was easy. He wanted grilled chicken, and I wanted balsamic roasted eggplant. So we first prepared our toppings.


Then, I wanted to be THE pizza man and throw the dough all up in the air.

(I think I was trying to sing some Italian song yelling "AMORÉ!")

Then, I calmed down and just spread with my fingers.


Plopped the toppings on.


And BAM!

Gorrrrrrgeous :-)

Taste? The pizza dough tasted wayyyyy to Whole Wheat-y. The toppings were amazing! The dough was still too thick for me. So for next time, (because me and Ed are now obsessed with making pizza), we got a pizza stone! Hopefully my pizza dough stretching out skills will improve with time, and I'll also try some of my other favorite toppings! ANCHOVIIIIESSSSSSS.... yes....