Trader Joe's top 10 finds

Easily my favorite grocery store; land of $0.99 birthday cards, superior almond milk, prettiest AND cheapest orchids (that make for a perfect hostess gift) and much cheaper but equally delicious to (snap, crackle + pop) crisped rice cereal.

While I love so many foods from there, here is my completely biased, top ten, go-to favorites...

this is an INSANELY delicious 

dairy meets puff pastry gem. I would not recommend looking at the nutritional facts. we are big fans of most of their puff pasty greek-influenced frozen items, but this one steals the show

these are so tasty! they are a little thicker than your average pita chip, so they don't flake apart, but still light and airy. we have these with sweet goat cheese + fig jam or savory guacamole. 

no brainer. already made. enjoy!

these just might be my all-time favorite cookie. I'm maple-obsessed and everything  about this cookie is maple; cookies, frosting center and obvi the cute little maple leaf shape. they are big, hearty cookies. two, with a cup of tea in autumn is such a dreamy pairing. 

super decadent + rich. all 5 of us are fans of this one. super rich, very chocolatey, and never lasts long. 

while i try to make my own, this is cheap and obviously cant be easier. i fry it up with eggs for breakfast, make a crust for pizza, or my favorite thing to do is whip up a healthy fried rice. soooooo good!

ok, to be honest, these aren't my favorite. but my kids and husband love them so much, i thought they deserved a spot on here. having a true british husband who grew up on proper crumpets, he makes a good judge. in fact, he declared these to be better than ones from the mother country. 

have you ever tried mochi? sooooo good. it's like a little edible mystery parcel with ice cream hidden inside. they carry so many flavors. kids love them. just a really cool dessert experience. 

this is pretty on trader joe's shelves, but becoming a quick cult favorite. i put it in fried rice, on eggs, on avocado toast pr toss with sautéed greens. experiment away!

creamy, sweet (but not too sweet) and vegan! i was vegan for about a hot 5 minutes and this, along with copious amounts of guacamole, was what i lived on. pro-tip: use it as a creamer for iced coffee. aaaahhhhmazing!

* image is of NYC Trader Joe's. I can hardly believe my now suburbia self used to wait in those lines every week just to get in there! 

perfect winter chili (with orange zest!)

i love chili! i obviously love a good classic beef version, but in trying to incorporate healthier recipes in the everyday i made a super healthy ground turkey version that was mild, hearty and beyond delicious. the orange zest is what really makes the recipe - it's a perfect addition.

ingredients
1 onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 carrots, chopped

2 tsp. olive oil
1 lb. fat free ground turkey
14 oz can of black beans
14 oz can dark kidney beans
14 oz can pink beans
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup red wine
3 Tbsp cumin
3 Tbsp chili powder (use more if you like it spicy)
salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp. orange zest 
1 avocado, chopped, for garnish
1 cup cheddar cheese, for garnish
sour cream, for garnish

steps
heat oil in large saucepan and saute onion, garlic and carrots. approx. 3 minutes. 

add ground turkey and saute until cooked through. 

rinse beans from can. always!

add beans, tomatoes, wine and spices. (also, if you have one of those chili packets of spices, you can just use that instead of the cumin & chili powder)

cook for 30+ minutes. serve hot and garnish with avocado, sour cream and cheddar cheese. enjoy!

* if it looks like it's too dry you can add more wine, fresh tomatoes or a small can of tomato sauce

suburbia update

happy new year!

i'll start from this week and go backwards...

still recovering from a weird chest cough/cold that seemed to come out of nowhere and thankfully has not spread to stuart or nia. stuart went back to work for the first time in weeks today leaving us ladies home. we've been in fancy dresses and ballerina costumes all day whipping up fruit smoothies and watching sesame street

NYE was super boring. we huddled up on the couch, the 3 of us watching "mulan", only intensifying nia's princess obsession and then i passed out at 9:30PM, completely bored by jenny mccarthy and ryan seacrest. 

christmas was awesome! we had to cancel our planned trip back to Wales for christmas due to ridiculous ticket prices. it's like the tickets knew how much, almost to the penny, we had in our savings account and wanted to play a joke. but we had a stellar time at home, just the 3 of us. nia's favorite presents: a tie between minnie light up high heel shoes and princess chapstick. 

i had a week of freelancing back at martha stewart. it was awesome!!!! i didn't realize how much i missed working. and an added bonus of seeing a bunch of sweet, familiar faces. thankfully, the subway map was still in tact in the back of my brain along with old favorite lunch spots on my old stomping ground. best lunch of the week: friedman's pulled pork sandwich with pickled red onion on a perfect brioche bun. 

           

we had nia's 2nd birthday bash the first weekend in december. she was thrilled at the idea of being 2 and loves a good party. plus, her birthday party was the first real event we've had at our new house. we'd be lying if we said we didn't love giving all of our guests tours.

we've had a bunch of fun events sprinkled in between too; our annual friends faux thanksgiving, which was down right delicious and so much fun hosting in our new house, a traditional pre-christmas date with our best buds that was chock full of cuteness, christmas cookie baking date with nia that resulted in 4+ dozen pink sprinkle clad tree and snowflakes cookies, and impromptu shopping trip to bryant park + columbus circle christmas markets to soak in the season. 

updates on the house...

1) we ordered a grown up couch. our very first grown up couch. EVER. big upgrade from our black velvet (horrendous is an understatenent) hand-me-down settes from wales, quintessential NYC apt IKEA futon, and the current pink tootsie roll couches. we're pretty excited. it was delivered yesterday and we are super happy with it!!!!

2) majority of our gutters and drain pipes are full of leaves and debris and are now almost all broken and about to burst due to expanding ice. lovely. stuart was hard at work yesterday tending to them with the help of A LOT of tools, a rickety old ladder that looked totally unsafe, hot water buckets and positive thinking. 

3) while stuarts been home for a bit he has done a zillion little projects around the house. awesome! includes but not limited to: creating shelves in old coat closet to convert to a linen closet, building shelves in bedroom closet to covert to a filing closet, painted the office (a kick ass chartreuse color - martha stewart "mimosa") and patched giant hole in the kitchen wall.  in short, things are really moving along! (pictures to follow soon!)

as a tease, it's pretty much these awesome shelves from the container store meets martha stewart mimosa paint color

  +   

4) we bought not one, not two, but three (amazing) dressers we found at consignment shops and on craigslist. one is gorgeous, refinished wood with pretty little carved handles. it's perfect and needs no updating. it feels so amazing to finally have the last box in our bedroom unpacked. the other two dressers just need a little tlc so i have a growing painting section in the basement that needs tending to this winter. one of the other two dressers is a tall, white french provincial dresser that just needs some serious de-stickering and a fresh coast of white. and the other i have a whole dresser design file to filter through of ideas. i'm thinking pink outside with light pink drawers and natural wood bead strand pulls? or maybe all lilac or mint? or covered head to toe in zigzags? (again, pictures to follow soon)

5) we had/have bat in the attic. well, i heard it one night when stuart was away at work and then the next night it had a repeat performance. we stayed up in bed for over an hour on our phones; stuart googling home remedies for bat repellant and me for bat noises on youtube to confirm our suspicions. suspicions confirmed, however,  UPDATE: we haven't heard it since. do bats hibernate?

6) we picked out a paint color for the wood paneled guest room and once the office is done (this week!!!) that is next on our project list. although, the painted wood paneling is really just a way to put a serious, more in-depth update on this room on hold for a few years. 

love and 58 degrees, 

L

(paint color source)

fresh raspberry jam

we've been trying to jam-pack (pun intended!) our autumn full of little adventures. yesterday was the first weekend together we've had as a little family in a long time, so we decided to spend the gorgeous day outside raspberry picking.

we filled a little quart container full of ripe red ones, some surprisingly delicious white ones and a bunch of not-quite-ripe pink ones that were the perfect amount of tartness.

this morning i decided to make a yummy + super simple raspberry jam. YUM!

quick + easy jam recipe (from martha stewart)

2 cups hulled raspberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

puree or blend raspberries to desired consistency in food processor.

mix all ingredients and bring to a boil in a small non-stick saucepan.

boil on medium-high for 10 minutes or so (mine took about 12-14 to thicken)

remove from heat and put in container. let cool to room temp and refrigerate. it will last up to 14 days.


*needless to say, i've been eating toast all day.

cinnamon buttermilk cake

don't you hate when you buy ingredients for a recipe and only end up using the tiniest bit and having loads left over? that said, we had a bunch of buttermilk in the fridge that was almost two weeks old, so i knew it would be on its way out soon.

instead of reverting to my classic buttermilk scone recipe, i decided to bake a buttermilk cake, lacing it with plenty of cinnamon.

cinnamon buttermilk cake a la evans

2 C. all purpose flour (i've used self rising before and came out just as great)
1 TBSP (heaping) cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick salted butter
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 C. buttermilk

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. beat butter and sugar on medium/high until fluffy. beat in eggs, one at a time. add buttermilk. gradually add dry mixture to create batter until well blended.

pour into greased + floured pan. (i used 9" round)

bake for 35-40 minutes. ENJOY!

recipe: banana upside down cake

it was a perfect storm; i was in the mood to bake, craving something sweet, looking for a fun activity to do with nia and we had super soft/need-to-use-soon bananas.

whenever i'm feeling adventurous i always go to my trusty epicurious app and type in whatever ingredients we have lying around. a few years ago i (humbly) mastered a pineapple upside down cake, so a banana twist seemed like the best  choice.

banana upside down cake

for bottom:
1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
6 TBSP unsalted butter (room temp)
2 ripe bananas, sliced (although i used super soft/past ripe ones, ripe, firm ones would definitely yield better results)
(although the recipe doesn't call for it, i generously sprinkled the bananas with cinnamon)

for cake:
1 1/2 c. cake flour ( if you don't have cake flour, use 1 1/4 c. all purpose mixed with 1/4 c. corn flour)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. mashed bananas
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. vegetable shortening (i used equal amount of butter instead)
2 eggs (i only used one)
(again, although it doesn't call for it, i added about 2 TBSP of cinnamon to the batter)

preparation:

Position rack in lowest third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Using electric mixer, cream brown sugar and butter in medium bowl until well mixed. Spread brown sugar mixture over bottom of 9-inch square baking dish with 2-inch high sides. Arrange banana slices atop brown sugar mixture, covering completely. Set cake pan aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Mix mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla in another small bowl. Using electric mixer, cream 1 1/4 cups sugar and shortening until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients alternatively with buttermilk mixture, mixing until just combined. Pour batter over bananas in pan. Bake until cake pulls away from sides of pan and tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool slightly. Turn cake out onto plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

a few things to note:
you could definitely use less sugar, as this was a super sweet cake. also, i think i could have used a bit less butter and sugar for the topping (bottom when you bake) as it was too thick and you really just need enough to cover the sliced bananas for them to caramelize. the top/bottom didn't come out as great as i had hoped, but the actual cake was delicious!

LOVE! proposal @ cafe mogador

we were out in manhattan yesterday, wandering about, escaping the heat and meeting up with friends in the afternoon. we went out for a beyond delicious dinner at one of my top 3 favorite places in all of NY, cafe mogador. YUM!

as we're sipping our cucumber martinis (also beyond delicious) and reminiscing over our old 5th floor walk-ups with no A/C, the man of a cute couple a table over from us suddenly got down on one knee, the old fashioned way, and proposed. his declaration of love was very quiet, to keep some sort of intimacy of the crowd-filled moment and within seconds the entire restaurant was cheering + clapping. i had goosebumps! it was just so sweet. the girl (said "yes!") was completely taken by surprise and seemed overjoyed.

the couple stayed a bit longer. when they left the restaurant, the entire place filled up with clapping again. they continued along, moseying across east 8th street both with giant smiles.

i couldn't help thinking about the freshly engaged couple; was he stressed before (stuart definitely was) + felt a little wave of relief that she said yes, who would she call first to share the news, where would they think about get married, would they get a bottle of champagne on their way home or go out somewhere after to celebrate some more?

don't you just love hearing about romantic moments? and witnessing it was really wonderful and felt almost magical.

oatmeal

having never really been too into oatmeal (with the exception of senior year of college when i basically survived on instant oatmeal + microwave popcorn) i was pleasantly surprised when my mom created this slow-cooked oatmeal that i ate a giant bowl full of. nia devoured it within minutes. it was a warm, cinnamony breakfast treat. yum.

my mom got the recipe from my aunt, who said it was 'company' oatmeal recipe. i've obvi tried to find it to give the 'compamy' proper credit, but no such luck.

2 2/3 c. old fashioned oats
4c. milk (i prefer whole)
1/2 c. raisins
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 TBSP butter, melted
1 TBSP cinnamon (i also tend to add a bit on the top too)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 apples, finely chopped
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (the recipe calls for them, but i have yet to try it with them)

heat oven to 350 degrees. mix ingredients in casserole + bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. serve hot with extra milk.

and with a little extra milk, it is pretty darn tasty the next morning after 45 seconds in the microwave. 

mast brothers

if you haven't tried a mast brothers chocolate, you need to. it's one of the most delicious experiences i have had. ever.

i received my first mast brothers chocolate bar, it it's beautifully wrapped paper, for my baby shower and was won over in an instant. it was a deep, dark chocolate with almond + sea salt. the almonds are broken up into such big pieces scattered on every inch and the sea salt is so subtle but the perfect touch.

one of our favorite brooklyn couples brought us to the MB shop yesterday. it was so wonderful + beautiful inside my heart skipped a beat.

not only is it amazing chocolate but the thick paper used to wrap each flavor is so gorgeous. i'm always tempted to by a thousand bars just to use the paper to line my dresser drawers or even wallpaper a room. really, i mean, look at that anchor print!

we left with three bars; obvi the almond + sea salt (i got a second one as i'm always raving about it to my mom and thought it would be a perfectly sweet valentines gift) and the pecan + maple was practically screaming my name, and 3 almond + sea salt truffles for us all to share.

oh and i especially love this caption. so perfect!

                      (all images courtesy of mast brothers)

it's 9:12pm...

i've just dashed out in pj's and sweatshirt for malbec wine + gelato. pathetic or genius?

hello summertime

(photo via cup of jo)

(photos via ny mag)

*these stella sunglasses are on my 'wish list'

gentleman farmer

mr. s and i recently trekked out to the lower east side on the look out for a delicious dinner and someplace to give us that warm + cozy feeling to embrace the perfectly cool autumn evening. luckily, rivington is jam-packed with options. the gentleman farmer beckoned us in.

the menu was small and simple yet so enticing. reflective of the name, everything on the menu was locally grown, organic and absolutely mouth-watering.

we started with the venison sausage in a blueberry reduction. amazing. and shared the braised rabbit dish made with carrots, asparagus, small + sweet onions, served in a big stew bowl. we needed 2 baskets of bread to be sure to get every last drop of the white wine reduction remains in the bottom of our bowl. it was beyond delicious.

breakfast date

brunch/breakfast is one of my favorite things. i love deciding on menus. preparing + cooking. setting the table and using my sweet fantastic flea market find dishes (trying to channel rachel ashwell). and of course eating.



this weekend i decided to have my friend gillian over for breakfast. we had mini ( how much do i love tweaking recipes into mini versions?!?!) broccoli + ricotta + cheddar frittatas, freshly baked croissants (courtesy of my fav local bakery rose + joe's) with jam, not so freshly squeezed tropicana oj and fresh blueberries + strawberries for an added kick of antioxidants. it was delicious.

the frittatas were the highlight. i made them using fresh eggs straight from the farm of martha stewart - the difference in cooking using these fresh eggs is incredible! i created my own recipe to suit my own taste, as you do, by merging it from a few other frittata recipes that sounded tasty + easy enough.

 * gorgeous right!?!

1 head broccoli

8-10 eggs - i use the whole egg, but you can bulk up fluffiness with substituting a few eggs for egg whites

1/4 cup milk - the higher the fat content, the fluffier the egg mixture gets

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

salt + pepper to taste

spray standard cupcake tin with cooking spray, or you can lightly grease with butter

preheat oven to 375 degrees

beat eggs and milk together in mixer on high for at least 5 minutes or until increases in volume and is light and fluffy. add salt + pepper.

scatter broccoli + cheddar cheese evenly into cups. add dollop of ricotta to each cup. 

fill cups with beaten egg mixture.

bake for 15 minutes or until golden and puffy. makes 12 mini frittatas

so easy. so delicious. 

*sometimes i add a few drops of hot sauce or sprinkle in chives into the egg mixture for a different flavour. i also usually chopped onion but forgot about it this time. and you can also add any other veggie or breakfast meat you wish. ham is pretty yummy...but gillian is a vegetarian so i left that ingredient out as well. 

...and the leftovers that i hope will cure mr.s' post-atlantic city hangover

the only thing missing from this breakfast was a solid bloody mary or sweet mimosa. oooh december will be a sweet month of cocktails!

i'm in love with the hester street fair

  


i recently ventured down + out to essex street to check out the oh-so-new hester street fair; a smaller, delightful, manhattan version of the beloved brooklyn flea. it was well worth the long trek from queens and was the perfect adventure to brighten up the otherwise gloomy weathered weekend.

i adore local street fairs and markets - a great way to be inspired to buy local & eat seasonal (cute lil catch phrase i borrowed from top hester vendor claudia pearson)

it got me right from the start with the grub. there was enough to please a true foodie with some of my favorites; lobster roll master luke's lobster (october 28 '09), meatball shop treats (may 22 '10), as well as brooklyns own mcclure's pickles, a selection of tasty bakeries and the much anticipated sigmund pretzel...which was everything i hoped it would be and more. i savored each bite of my classic salted, although it was a tough choice between classic and gruyere paprika, but for a first try i thought it best to try the building block for all the rest of the flavors.

food aside (not so much aside as nestling in my stomach as useful caloric energy bits i would need for the treasure hunting ahead of me) the vendors were stellar. i left with only 3 purchases, but was easily charmed by others and took extensive notes on multiple business cards.

aforementioned claudia pearson has bright and beautiful assortment of tea towels made from old flour sacks, totes, prints and more. she's a "must add" to your etsy favorite buyer list. i treated my kitchen to the spring tea towel. love it! and i have been hinting endlessly to mr.s that the other 3 seasons would be a perfect gift.

  

i have been sporting the cutest little earrings you ever did see from erica weiner and would be sure to go back to her for girlfriends birthday gifts. even the card that the earrings rest on have such detail and can perk up your day.

i couldn't pass up vintage t-shirts that were only $5 each and got one for mr.s and one for myself. we've both been out & about in them a few times since. what a bargain!

and i plan on going back soon for must-have baby attire from juli raja who had a gorgeous collection of block print men dress shirts, baby tops, dresses and scarves.

i plan on going again. perhaps today. i'm craving pickles and am still curious about the gruyere + paprika pretzel.

big apple bbq in mad.sq.park

nothin' says summer quite like bbq food. mmm! greasy meat, loads of bbq sauce and sweet, vinegary coleslaw.

queens cohort N came along with me for the lunch time feast at the annual big apple bbq festival at madison square park.

i must say the actual festival was very mild, strange sponsors, odd crowd of fellow bbq'ers, everything was very spread out and the food was on the outskirts of the park.

the food was tasty, although every stand was dishing out small portions for $8 plates and we somehow managed to miss out on a staple pulled pork sandwich smothered in bbq sauce. we tried 3 different plates...

ny's very own wildwood barbeque pork strip steak sandwich w. bourbon onions and housemade pickles (v. tangy) and hill country beef brisket with yummy, not quite pickled cucumbers

Raleigh's the pit whole hog sandwich w. classic coleslaw. *sweet vinegar sauce was crucial to this sandwich

and chowed down in the park waiting for the sun to make a debut. 

  

goodness, gracious, great meatballs of fire

a few girlfriends and i recently scored some pretty sweet and hard-to-come-by seats at the new and raved about meatball shop on stanton street (we would like to thank Lauren T for seriously playing the martha card) for a night of wine, amazing side dishes and a plethora of delicious meatballs. 

a great and impressive thing about the meatball shop is how they've managed to create such a wide clientele (there were babies, middle aged couples, brooklyn hipsters, west side poshies and everyone in between present...and may i add, anxiously waiting for a table, while we slid in) and surprisingly diverse menu while still keeping the focus solely on balls of meat. the possibilities and combinations of meal options seemed endless. 

we each got a different variety of meatball and sauce combo - we voted the best to be between the classic beef and the spicy pork in the classic tomato sauce. mmm!  - and a side dish to share. of sides, the simple salad of arugula & apples was perfection as was the market salad of the day, which was also an arugula based salad, but a good polenta always gets my vote for best. 

and although there wasn't much room left, we glutenously decided to get 3 ice cream sandwich creations of our own design. these went pretty fast so no telling which was a favorite combo. 

for our next visit we plan on expanding our horizons and trying the sliders, more meatball and sauce combos and remembering to savor dessert a bit more. 

* photo is straight from the meatball shops website. we were too busy eating to take our own photos of the deliciousness