What I made...

Brunch: I re-invented my favorite Mushroom and Truffle flat bread from Trader Joes. If you've never had this flat bread you need to do yourself a favor and go buy it already. It's cheesy and earthy and the texture doesn't gross you out. It will make you a believer of the fungus! I made mine more "brunchy" by putting an over easy egg on top with a simple spinach salad. Yummy!

I think I made the best shrimp I've ever made the other night for dinner. Best part, it was super easy! Here's how: Take a bag of large precooked frozen shrimp and let them defrost in a strainer under running cool water. When they're ready take some bacon. Yup. Bacon! (About 2 to 3 pieces) And chop that bacon up and start frying it in a pan. Mmm...it gets better. Once bacon is cooked - don't drain the grease but ADD sweet chili sauce to your pan. Mix well then toss in your shrimp. Stir until they are all coated in deliciousness. You will smack your momma, they are that good. I served them with garlic mashed potatoes (I know - boring) and roasted veggies (asparagus, sugar snap peas and brussel sprouts). Um...you're welcome. :)

What Marge made...

I got my camera back! Marge and Tom brought my camera back from Newfoundland and with it came all the photos of food from our trip! This was a homemade turtle pie that we had for dessert one night!

I forgot what this was called too, but it had some crazy name. It was a crazy fluffy texture but also firm too. It was like a cream cheese and whipped cream cake with cherries and sauce. Really yummy! Oy! So much dessert!

Stuffing made with savory. (I have some in my kitchen for Thanksgiving this year!)

Turkey.

Pastry for the Moose stew...

A parfait made with cloudberries - the official berries of Newfoundland! (Also called bakeapples)

This was this insane cheesy potato thing - oh man, was it good!!! I could have eaten this and nothing else!

Uncle Tom caught this delicious salmon! I've never had salmon that wasn't farm raised before. It was soooo good! And how privileged too - you can only catch 4 a year! Newfie law!

Roasted potatoes, Aunt Marge style.

I forgot what this dessert is called but it's like a marshmallow chocolate coconut concoction. It's crazy sweet and yet crazy good!

Marge's lasagna. So delish I almost forgot to take a photo! We nearly devoured it!

A delightful salad of orange, almond and cranberry. Served with our heaping pile of lasagna. :)

Ben's Chili Bowl

I was in DC this past weekend running the Marine Corp Marathon. On the way back to NYC we had to make one stop - to Ben's Chili Bowl. Curtis has been DYING to go here forever. We sat at the table in front of the table that Obama sat in. :)

We split 2 chili dogs (one each) with a side of chili cheese fries (which we hardly made a dent in). Justin ordered the famous "Half Smoke" (made famous by Bill Cosby). It was really good. We should've ordered that instead. Oh well - we can just order one online and have it delivered! Yes, they do that!

Clinton Street Bakery

My cousin was in town last weekend and we hit up the Clinton Street Bakery for breakfast on Monday. We got there at 8 am and there was a small crowd. By 8:40 the place was crowded with a line! On a MONDAY! I had blueberry pancakes and maple butter. They were the jam. Curtis had the same thing. We both had a side of bacon: I had the double smoked bacon and he had the sugar cured bacon. It was a lot of bacon! Heather had the banana walnut pancakes. We all left happy and full! :)

Todd and Robin Engagement Dinner

Todd and Robin got engaged in NYC this past weekend and we hung out with them all day. We had brunch at Alias (sorry - I forgot to take photos) and then that night we hung out and I cooked them dinner. I rubbed pork chops in an apple-wood smoked spice and seared them on both sides of a frying pan for a few minutes. Then I finished them off in the oven. They came out perfect! On the side: a yummy arugula salad with cherry tomatoes and Parmesan.

Fette Sau, BBQ

We ventured out to Brooklyn the other night to finally try out Fette Sau. We got there about 8 o'clock or so - which was perfect timing. When we were sitting down to eat, we noticed the line was out the door.

The secret to Fette Sau is the smoking process. They smoke their meats with a blend of red and white oak, Maple, Beech and Cherry wood. (All locally supplied). The BBQ is dry rubbed and optional sauce is served on the side.

The eating arrangements are definitely different - you stand in a line and order your food by weight. I got a 1/4 pound of pork belly and 1/2 pound of beef ribs and two sides: potato salad and coleslaw. (Rolls are included) They serve it on a sheet of wax paper on a silver tray - then you go find a spot to eat at a huge picnic table. (Seating is family style, so if you hate strangers - you won't like this)

We sat outside in a little area next to some firewood (which is why my tray is on my lap).

This is the area that we sat in. Cute and rustic right? It's like someone's back yard...

I took this off the website, but this is what the counter looks like when you order your food...such a display of yummy meats!

Ribs!

30th Birthday Dinner

My wonderful brother from another mother, Eric, made me and my friends the most amazing birthday dinner. It was an amazing night - everything was homemade. We began with a fish cake appetizer. Above were the dipping sauces for the fish cake. The red sauce was a sweet chili sauce (homemade from scratch!) and a cucumber relish...

These are fish cakes made of flounder with green beans, Thai basil, chili, red curry paste (with smoked whiting, shrimp, onion, garlic, glangal root, and a bunch of other stuff). They were amazing! I ate 3 of them! They were also spicy and super flavorful - there was no holding back on flavor in tonight's meal.

The table was set and ready to go with the salad course. So pretty! :)

Smoked Whiting Salad with cucumber, tomato, crushed peanut, mint, cilantro leaves, green onion, Thai chili. The dressing was made of rice vinegar, pickled ginger, sugar and cilantro roots, along with lime juice, soy sauce and a few other secret ingredients.

Here it is again on a black plate. The table had alternating black and white plates. :)

We had three entrees and two side dishes. One side dish was jasmine rice and the other was Chinese vegetables (shown above): cabbage, bell pepper, bock choy and Chinese celery in a cola and soy marinade.

All the entrees were served family style. This was chicken breast with Thai basil, green beans, bell pepper, garlic, Thai chili, and krachai. The sauce was chicken stock, oyster and fish sauce and sugar.

This gem was the pork shoulder. It was cooked with fermented bean curd, yellow bean paste, low sodium soy sauce, thick sweet soy sauce, sugar and hoisin sauce. It was my favorite.

This was the monk fish. (It had a texture like lobster - so soft and yummy!)It was cooked with cilantro root, black Chinese vinegar, pickled ginger, soy sauce, birds eye chili, garlic, ginger, and sugar. This was my second most favorite thing.

We drank a lot of champagne...it was fabulous....

And my lovely bestie Alicia made me a chocolate pound cake from scratch. She even made the icing. It was so delicious! In closing, I would just like to add that I have the most amazing friends ever and I'm so lucky. Turning 30 with them will always be etched in my mind as one of my favorite moments. :) Love you guys...