After a craving one evening for some blueberry muffins, I awoke in the morning with very little time to spare, but with a decision to deliver on the muffin front. I found and adapted a recipe online, and luckily, we had everything in the house for the preparation. If you are in a real pinch [...]

Today, in Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries, my go-to cookbook for “what’s left in fridge/seasonal cooking,” he calls for a spicy, clear soup of mussels. I couldn’t agree more with his assessment of what I would like to be eating this afternoon. The recipe is simple and refreshing. Pick up a loaf of bread, prepare the [...]

Park Avenue Winter, that restaurant that keeps changing with each turn of the weather, has a delicious selection of ice creams and sorbets for this season. Sure, winter may not be the time that one starts to crave these frozen desserts, but the Park Ave selection will have you licking the bowl. Chili-Chocolate is a [...]

A few nights ago, hungry and tired late on a raining evening, my boyfriend and I tumbled out of a birthday party. Too late to sit down to a meal and too famished to wait for take-out, we racked our brain for what was left in the refrigerator at home. Some white button mushrooms, an [...]

A few weeks ago, I was helping a friend with a few things near Union Square. When we’d completed our chores, we were left with empty stomachs and a craving for Mexican food. Luckily, I remembered that a branch of Rosa Mexicana was nearby. Unluckily, I realized that getting a table would be almost as [...]

Lodge opened as a gimmicky hipster spot in Williamsburg about a year and a half ago. The corner spot is split into bar and dining area and features glossy white antler lights and other mod-taxidermy-themed touches. I’d always been curious about checking it out but never had such a specific reason to mingle amongst the [...]

The rice cakes at Geronimo led me to develop my own! Ingredients Vegetable oil, for deep-frying 2 large eggs, beaten to blend 2 c jasmine rice ½ c toasted, sliced almonds ¼ c soy sauce ¼ c baby capers Panko crumbs Salt 1. Make the jasmine rice as the package directs. Toast the almonds on [...]

While in Sante Fe a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of dining at Geronimo, an upscale eatery located on the ever-popular Canyon Road in the midst of some of the countries best art galleries. Walking into the restaurant, a space that consisted of many cozy rooms housing small groups of tables or the [...]

My first taste of CocoaVino Chocolate was a Drunken Fig: a decadent trifecta of dried figs, California port, and fair-trade dark chocolate. Alisha Lumea and Avril Pendergast-Fischer, patissiere and sommelier, respectively, are the masterminds behind such a luscious confection. They are also responsible for tempting millions of Manhattan women with their Olive Oil Bonbons. The [...]

It recently occurred to me that every time I make a family brunch, I ALWAYS use a tattered, ripped-from-a-magazine recipe for banana stuffed French toast. Last week, I realized that the recipe comes from Zoe Restaurant in Soho. I got the restaurant recipe from a decade-old Bon Appétit Magazine. And over the years, I’ve made [...]