More Weekend Food

Friday after work I stopped by Target to pick up some essentials, and as I was perusing the food pantry section, I saw JIFFY corn muffin mix for 52 cents. What a steal-y deal!I decided to improve on the recipe found on the back of the 1930s designed JIFFY box and added in corn, jalapeños, cheddar and a tablespoon of honey. Here are the results from the Sunday afternoon simple baking project:L-R: Baked corn muffins; corn, cheddar and jalapeños;...

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Green Matcha Re-Match!

My initial attempt at baking green tea cupcakes was far from a success mostly because I used the wrong matcha.  Finding matcha powder in itself was a hard enough task; at first the only matcha I found came in tea bags from Whole Foods.  Bad idea!  The cupcakes werent terrible, but they also didnt have the matcha flavor I wanted to emphasize.Feeling a bit unsatisfied with the first batch (made in Boston last wknd), I decided a re-try...

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Friday Freedom

Happy Friday!One of my favorite quotes from this week is: "today I like excel, numbers don't talk back" - that came from a gchat conversation, and I of course jotted it down on a post-it knowing I would integrate it into my update.This week hasnt been exceptionally busy at work and I have no real plans for the weekend. Sometimes that's for the best (especially given how busy my last wknd was), because it means I get to do whatever I want!CBTF Bowling...

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Long Weekend Update (Memorial Day)

Friday: A Pizza Party On Monday I asked the crew if they were interested in a pizza making party, and on Friday it happened. Our regular group expanded to include Sarah's sis and JP's two friends from out of town. JP is a fan of Del Fina in the Mission in San Francisco, and I know that he has tried to make pizza on his own a few times - his from scratch pizza dough seems so wholesome bc he tosses in barley and wheat flour. What I didnt appreciate...

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Quotes from 5/18 - 5/22

Scribbling My To Bring and To Do List for Sunday on a Yellow Post-It My life clearly revolves around food, and moreso lately, but there are other parts to it I must have failed to jot down. Here's a random sampling of the memorable quotes to summarize a few conversations and events from the week:- "u end up with lots of wedding guests and not many bridemaids"in reference to having millions of friends and few close buds - "then why didnt you come...

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I Keep Thinking About Food - Ahh

Parmesan Risotto with Chopped White Mushrooms, Sugar Snaps and Salami Sweet Corn on Cob (I can still eat this even after Omnivore's Dilemma)I got off work early tonight and decided to make one of my favorite Italian dishes - risotto! I had all the ingredients I needed at home and it seemed to be a good idea. When I lived in San Francisco and would order dinner from North Beach I almost always would order risotto for dinner and panna cotta for dessert....

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Stream of Events on Ordinary Wednesday

Black and White Trio from Crumbs After last night’s hour of happiness at Sweet Revenge in the Village (Crimson Red Velvet, Spiced Carrot Cake, Carafe of White Sangria), I almost wanted to sleep in this morning. But because I'm not lazy / dont require that much sleep, I started the day early. A stream of events from a not-very-eventful, ordinary Wednesday follows: 5:05AM: Awake, respond to msgs on bb, look out window where it's already...

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More on Moving and More on Baking

Seems like everywhere I turn people are moving … be it exercise friends, buddies, officemates. Of the many movers I know, some are upgrading apartments, some are leaving the city, while others are looking to move back into the city. As for me, thus far I’ve only scanned Craigslist for potential apartments and the work is still in the preliminary/early stage. And since I’ve been trained to think like Ben Franklin (a rational thinker), here are some...

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A Dinner on a Weeknight

(L-R, Top to Bottom): Lightly Pan-Frying Pancakes; Feta, Zucchini & Mint Pancakes Lain on Napkins; Finally Garnished With Tart Sour Grannies; Sweet Potato Mash; Yellow and Red Beets with Clover Honey and Salt; Garlic Baked AsparagusHad dinner with friends at JP's apartment tonight. He has a nice and spacious apartment in the Lower East Side; his apartment is suprisingly stocked with lots of kitchen supplies and is suitably located right above...

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Cupcake Comparables v1

(Please Click to Enlarge)I'm in comps mode ... I need to pull together a comprehensive set of apartment comps to present to my building in effort to renegotiate my lease. But this afternoon, I thought about a few things:- I joined Twitter and now owe Marissa some cupcakes - can we do this via cupcake culinary tour part 2, city TBD?- I dont really have much to post about today, and was not planning to post until someone very bored asked if I had...

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Stay at Southpark? A Rant About Rent

My South Park Character Wearing an Original Red BeretI was going to post about my new ideas for photo projects but instead I'll rant about rent because it's on my mind.After hassling the Brodsky managers, I finally got a lease renewal - with a rent reduction of 12.5%. To me, that figure doesn't seem substantial at all because there are some great deals (one month free off of cheaper rent etc.) going on right now throughout the city and not even...

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Picnic in the Park

As part of the Sarah Sendoff Series, I thought it would be fun to have a picnic in Central Park on a Sunny Spring Sunday. A group of us met promptly at 1pm with food and blankets at 86th and Central Park West. The weather was almost picnic perfect with sun, a slight breeze and a hint of coolness. We people-watched kids on scooters, park runners and roller bladers and parents and kids throwing around footballs and soccerballs. And while I've...

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Some Mother's Day Love

Happy Mother's Day!Through the years, we've grown together and apart, but nevertheless, I'll always love my mom very much.  Here are three old photos and some words to describe our relationship -Mom and Dad in Ann Arbor, Late 1970s.Resemblance.  I love this photo, and it was one of the first images I scanned when we first got a decent scanner.  Bud thinks he looks just like Dad and I like Mom.  Whenever we're together there is...

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Vacay Ideas: A Pic-less, but not Priceless Post

Travelling is fun - it expands my world and it allows me to photograph and observe. Reflecting back to last summer when I went to London and Paris, which generated a good amount of stories, I cant wait to go places this summer. Most have heard the funny stories from last summer, so not sure it's blogworthy or worth mentioning here - I do have them written down on a napkin somewhere. And because we're in recessionary times, I think travelling domestically is not a bad budget idea. This summer (and beyond) there are a few places I have in mind:(1)...

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A Sunday Brunch

(L-R, Top to Bottom): jalapeño/habañero hummus; basil hummus; cilantro hummus; bottled mixed hummus; fried something, small baby habanero; fried and fresh cheese side by side At Gobo, pre-Sorcerer play, Sarah and I were chatting about how easy/cheap it is to make hummus and how hummus can be a good source of protein. With that, we decided to make multiple varieties of hummus at Sunday brunch. We picked up some fresh goodies at Whole Foods and...

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Quick Recap From First Weekend in May

(L-R, Top to Bottom): A House in Aquebogue; A Dirt Path, Windows Vista-Like; More Muddy Paths, Roanoke Winery, Red Barn, a Red Plated Californian 4x4, More Red, Backyard of Winery With Fluffy Clouds I spent much of Saturday on Long Island, volunteering at an organic farm, Garden of Eve. The task of the day was to plant strawberries, and my friends and I collectively carried that out for a few hours (even implemented assembly line production...

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