See ya, 2014!

Hello everyone! I'm sure you're all surprised to hear that I've temporarily come back from the dead to wish you all a wonderful New Years!

My excuse for my inactivity this time are college applications. Welp, there goes my 3 posts a month streak. It was a fun 4 months, and my new years resolution will probably be to keep another streak up, maybe even cutting it down to 2 posts.

Anyway, what to do for the last post of 2014? Reflect on the year? Why not.

Let's take a trip down memory lane.

(This is basically gonna be a recap post, so if you've read all my posts, then you probably won't find this very interesting.)

In the beginning of the year, I was a good friend and visited my pal at the dessert shop she worked at.



It was around this time when the Samsung Galaxy Studio was still buzzing and trending (in my mind, at least).



Skip forward to the summer; I celebrate my birthday with some comforting Southern food.



In the fall, that cute tea shop in Brooklyn opened up.



Remember when I had ice-cream during the colder season?



I miss these Cuban sandwiches so much.



What a year! Did anyone else find 2014 more pleasant than last year? Was it the same as always? Are you still stuck in 2012 like most people I know are? Looking forward to 2015? Okay, I'll stop pestering you, but here's to the new year!

Happy Eating in 2015!!!

Happy Half Birthday to Me!

Well, my half birthday was yesterday. This post would have been out on time if the Blogger app wasn't so shitty. Ugh. STOP DELETING MY DRAFTS!!!

Anyway, while yesterday was a regular Friday for most of us (myself included, actually), I enjoyed pretending as though it were a special day (it wasn't).

For starters, I went to do some Christmas shopping by myself (my wallet weeped), and later I met up with my sister so she could pick up some foundation at the e.l.f. studio. Speaking of which...

Macarons!!! Randomly just chilling there on the table under the mirror. Hope no one got powder on them. Blech.

After some more purchases, my partner in crime and I grew famished and we headed to a vegetarian Thai restaurant for some dinner.

Thanksgiving Weekend Update

Stolen from my Instagram Page

Hey! How was everyone's Thanksgiving? I hope you all had moist delicious turkey at your dinner table this past Thursday since my family opted out the roasted bird for... hot pot. (/sadface) No worries though, as I saved our traditional non-traditional family gathering with pumpkin pie, recipe stolen straight from the pumpkin puree can.

Not only did I cheat with the recipe, but yeah, if you couldn't tell by the impeccably perfect crimping of the pie crust, I cheated on that too. I guess I deserve that giant crack in the middle of my pie.

Why is there a picture of a ramen burger on a Thanksgiving post, you might ask? Well the day before, on Wednesday, my friends and I decided to have a Friendsgiving event, which is basically a regular Thanksgiving family gathering except done with your friends instead. And for us, instead of Thanksgiving foods, we had ramen burgers. Classy.

Post-food consisted of an hour long game of Monopoly and the discovery of this at my friends house:

AN ACTUAL N64 CARTRIDGE OF THE INFAMOUS SUPERMAN 64. This is probably no big deal to most you, but I find joy in having the ability to say I've physically touched an ancient relic.

Speaking of games, (segue)

SMASH!!! It had arrived to my humble home on Wednesday and I got to spend most of my Thanksgiving playing, instead of frantically preparing food (since that is not job yet). I had the entire weekend to play, too. YAS. Here's to hoping I get better with using Villager and Megaman since I was excited for those two the most.

Anyway, this is kinda the end of this post! I haven't really had many posts for November except for those two I got out in the beginning of the month. Shit has been crazy (at least crazy by my standards. I live a boring life) for me this month. I must have had a lot of energy to write this post - blogging was on the bottom of my priorities recently but it feels good to be doing this right now.

Alright, hopefully my next post won't be in the year 2016! Again, I hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving weekend and are ready to welcome December (and justified 24/7 holiday music)!!!

Happy eating!

Cibao

Happy late Halloween, everyone!

Click for a glittery pumpkin.

What better alternative to Halloween than sandwiches? Candy is nice, but these were better. In place of trick-or-treating, I headed to Cibao to spend my chilly Friday evening..

Cibao

172 Smith St

Brooklyn, NY 11201

b/t Wyckoff St & Warren St in Cobble Hill

Upon entering should you notice an old school western atmosphere - uneven brick walls, tin can lights and wooden chairs and tables pulled the look together.

My group and I first received a dish of salty warm buttered bread (a perfect way to start any meal).

Cream Cheese Crescent Triangles

Originally titled: Cream Cheese Croissant Squares

I think my title is more accurate.

These geometric pastries have been a big hit among my sisters and friends.

They smell delicious when reheated, and its gooey cream cheese interior with its cinnamon-y chewy dough will make you cry tears of joy.

I'd like to thank yoyomax12 for introducing this to my life.

Okay, let's begin!

First things first: ingredients.

Ample Hills Creamery

Although I never listed it here, I've been wanting to try this ice-cream shop for 2 or 3 years, and I'm so glad I finally did.

Ample Hills Creamery
623 Vanderbilt Ave
Prospect Heights

Oh Happy Day!!!

For those who haven't heard yet...

!!!!!

Quick Mention: Umami Burger

Umami Burger

432 6th Ave

New York, NY 10011

Greenwich Village

This visit was from so long ago that I can hardly remember anything about this place. So essentially, this post will be a photo-dump, not like it matters because 95% of my two readers don't bother reading the text anyway.

I do remember feeling out of place, being a tiny 16 year old (at that time) in a restaurant with a bar.

Sadly, I can't even remember what burger I got :( According to the menu, I got The Original, which has a parmesan crisp, shiitake mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions and house ketchup.  

I do remember there being a parmesan crisp, which you can clearly see chilling on top of the beef patty. I, easily amused by many things, was excited to see a cheese crisp.

Here were the tempura onion rings. They were super oily but hot and fresh, not to mention huge (thus it only came with four rings). It came with 3 different sauces too - a spicy one (that I couldn't handle), a garlicky one (my fave) and a green colored one - probably pesto. This photo doesn't do the pesto one any justice - the lighting must have been weird that day (it was rainy and cloudy).

Cross section views of any food item will always be my favorite.

Overall thoughts: I'd go back when I have money, because I can't justify spending $12 on a burger (since I'm broke as heck.) It's a nice way of treating yourself to nice fancy food.

Adam's Breakfast Cart

DO YOU LOVE MUFFINS??!?!??!

Ahem. Sorry, I got a little too excited there. But do you? I most certainly do. As I was about to say, I stand by the firm belief that muffins are NOT the ugly cousins of cupcakes; in my mind, they are a completely different species.

Pictured: The side of the cart. Sorry about the weird orange thing on the bottom; that was my phone case being dumb.

I can't give a real address for this since it's a cart and not a store, but I suppose I could give a description of its whereabouts. It's located right outside one of the Atlantic Avenue Barclay's Center stations on the D, N and R lines and it's on the side with the creepy looking church, across the street from the station with the elevator. Welp, good luck trying to find it. I tried.

Anyway, this cart doesn't sell just muffins. However, just like Blue Sky Bakery, I believe that their muffins outshine everything else available.

Pictured: Banana Walnut Muffin feat. amNY

I basically only get the muffins, and I usually ask what flavor muffins are available. Of course, I've tried a lot more than the lonely two muffins you see on this post and they were all satisfactory. They're pretty oily (duh), judging by the bag's grease stains, but they're moist yet crumbly. I bet they'd be a perfect breakfast with a plate, a cup of coffee, and a newspaper.

By the afternoon, the cart disappears, most likely because they've sold out. Also, apparently no one wants breakfast foods in the afternoon (except me). I've seen the cart stay as late as 10AM, so I'm gonna guess that's around the time it leaves.

Pictured: Cranberry Muffin

I've seen this cart almost every day in the morning for almost four years, and I'm sure the cart has been there even longer. The guy who runs it is amiable and pleasant to be around; he definitely has regulars he talks to every morning. You also get a student discount if you're, well, a student. Yay cheaper muffins! They're regularly, $1.50, I believe.

Anyway, I love these muffins and I HIGHLY recommend you try them out. Happy eating!

Quick Mention: Teaus and Kuma

Teaus

86 5th Ave

Brooklyn, NY 11217

b/t Park Pl & Warren St in Park Slope

Even though this place opened almost a month ago (the first of September), I hadn't heard about this place until I spotted a familiar looking bear in the distance.

Pictured: Rilakkuma and his companion

At first, I thought they were just on their way somewhere to an event or something, but they were advertising this store by handing out flyers. Even though I believe they said it was a block up from where I was, it was a bit farther; I didn't mind the walk, though (I had to go to Target anyway). It wasn't too far from Blue Sky Bakery or Canteen (two great food places in that area).

Pictured: Menu/Flyer

Before I entered, I was pretty concerned with the pricing of the stuff there because 1. I had never been there before, 2. the prices on the card I received were crossed out and 3. all the money I had was supposed to be for my shoes that I decided not to buy.

The room was quite spacious and it was sorta empty for a Friday afternoon; I guess they still need to gain popularity. There were a few people having the store's lunch special, which I need to further investigate on my future visits. A big part that drew me in the store were the Rilakkumas and Korilakkumas chilling in random spots of the store - anyone who knows me knows I can't resist that iconic bear.

Pictured: Lemon Iced Black Tea in wonky lighting

I got a Lemon Iced Black Tea, which ended up being $3.54 ($3.25 on the menu). While waiting for my drink I could hear my wallet sobbing in agony, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the glass bottle - plus, I believe you can bring it back to get 50 cents discounted from your next drink. Seeing stores try to be more environmentally friendly always gets me in a better mood. It's got that modern look too, with the cork on top.

The drink was great too - pretty sweet, but not lacking in lemony tartness. Luckily, I've been on a tea kick so this place tickled my fancy. Now I just need to figure out how to get the lemon out!

I know I'm coming back next Tuesday, so maybe I'll update this post or write a review on Yelp. Have you come here yet? Let me know!

Happy Eating!!!!

Pumpkin Spice 2014

IT'S TIME TO UNLEASH THE PUMPKIN KRAKEN.

Well to be honest, it's been unleashed for quite a bit of time now. But now is the time where I actually start posting about it. First, I would like to talk about this.

Starbucks decided to have a cute puzzle/secret password for those who absolutely couldn't wait to have their pumpkin spice latte (even though it was still 80+ degrees out). The idea was that you crack the code and show this screen to someone (the cashier?) at your local Starbucks, thus unlocking the long-waited PSL for everyone to enjoy early. Cute idea, but I was one of those who could wait. I wanted to take in my Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade as much as possible. (Speaking of which, is this a permanent item now? I hope so.) The tumblr page, therealpsl, is super duper cute and really gets me into the fall mood. WOO.

Now, for actual products. The first thing I spotted was this tea at Bed Bath and Beyond, which I encountered in the middle of August. Smooth. I'm looking at this picture now wondering why I didn't pick a box up. I vaguely recall enjoying the apple spice flavor from the same line, but then I remembered how improbable that was because I DON'T LIKE CHAI. ...If the temptations are strong, I still might pick this up. I know, I'm weak and I never learn from my mistakes. I've failed as a human being. Forgive me, pumpkin gods.

(Left: Pumpkin Spice Frappucino and Right: Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte)

Obligatory Starbucks PSL. There needs no explanation.

Mini review.
Iced Pumpkin Coffee: Really sweet, but actually tastes like pumpkin! Surprisingly better than I thought it would be. Medium is way too big for me.
Pumpkin Donut: Orange on the inside. No noticeable pumpkin flavor. However, cake donuts never fail to please.
Can you tell by the border and the filter that I already put this on Instagram?

Just some of the many pumpkin spice stuff I spotted at Target. I WANT ALL OF THEM.

I got the Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Cheesecake cookies, which I'm 75% certain I had them last year too. Must not have been too memorable if I have to wonder if I've bought these before. They're definitely not bad, but don't remind me a lot of pumpkin. Or cheesecake.

My friend also got the Nestle Pumpkin Spice morsels to make cookies with. I contemplated getting then, but was at a loss of ideas for what to make with them. Luckily, I was able to sample a few chips off of her. They're really intense in flavor - the spices are evident and I am clearly reminded of a pumpkin. The texture isn't a smooth as a chocolate chip, differentiating it from a white chocolate chip with cinnamon. I can imagine these easily spicing up any cookie or blondie.

I swear they change the packaging dor these every year. Still the same mix though. And by "limited edition" they mean seasonal.

I want to say I was finally able to hunt them down at so-and-so supermarket, but I totally cheated because I got it at the Chobani store we have in SoHo (bless that store). I heard about these (and the other limited batch flavor) from Chobani's instagram.

I apologize for the severely subpar picture of the actual yogurt - it was the morning and I was tired. When I first licked some of it, it seemed to taste like plain greek yogurt, but eventually the cinnamon and other spices kick in and the following bites retain the flavors from the last bite (am i even making any sense?). Also, I had these with Cheerios for some crunch.

I finally found these Oreos!!! Surprisingly, I  spotted them at my local Pathmark, which rarely has new releases until months later. I thought these were decent, but not impeccable; my expectations for thesewere low as I predicted they'd just be a sugar rush. Upon first bite, the cookie tastes mildly like a pumpkin pie. As I chewed, the flavor dissolved and turned into a regular Golden Oreo. I'd say to try them if you're curious; otherwise, pass them.

Introducing, one of my favorite pumpkin spice food items of all: pumpkin spice cream cheese. I grabbed one the second I saw it, and I never regret it. Delicious with warm toast, this cream cheese is sweet and spice-y enough to keep the fall season real.

I saw these a few months ago, but I'm glad I waited for these to go on sale. That's not to say I don't like them - they're fine, just not mind-blowing. It feels like your standard Milano with an extra layer of chocolate, except that extra layer is where the pumpkin spice is. The orange-colored chocolate reminded me a lot of the pumpkin spice flavored Wilton candy melts.

Another thing I spotted but didn't pick up was this Pumpkin Spice Monster Trail Mix. It consists of pumpkin spice peanuts, pumpkin spice M&M's, and raisins. I haven't been feeling trail mix lately, so if you tried these, let me know!

Anyway, I'm missing some stuff that I didn't really care too much for (Keurig cups, air fresheners) and if you want to see all the products from last year that are back, you can find them on my post #thehuntforpumpkin

I'll try (no promises) to add the stuff that I missed from last year, and obviously add stuff to this year's post. You can also keep up to date on my Instagram or under the hashtag #thehuntforpumpkin, which is also on Instagram.

Happy Pumpkin Spice Season, Everybody!!

Pies and Thighs

Like many other food places, this has been on my "must-try" places FOREVER.

 Pies-n-Thighs

166 S 4th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211

b/t Bedford Ave & Driggs Ave 

Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South Side

www.piesnthighs.com/

 
First of all, fabulous name. Do they mean thighs as in chicken thighs? Or do they mean thighs as in the ones that are a part of your legs that will probably expand after having their pie? The world may never know.

Secondly, COMFORT FOOD. Who doesn't like feeling all warm (even though it was spring/summer when I went) and cozy from good food? Nobody. That's who.

Thankfully for my good friends, I got to drag them here upon request for my birthday lunch.

Pictured: Outside; sign pointing to entrance.