movin' on up - UPDATE

as "movin' on up" from september 30th noted, our apartment was near complete.... and after much anticipation, my dream shower curtain and laundry bags have arrived. hooray!

milk please.

aaaaahh! january. amid the detox smoothies, green tea diets, and new gym memberships, i decide to bake. desperate for something chocolate, sweet and warm, however lacking chocolate chips or chunks i flipped through my "martha stewart's cookies" book until i found a page that looked to suit my craving.

old fashion chocolate drop cookies - an altered version of martha's grammy cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour (the recipe called for 2 additional tbsp, but as i omitted 1 of the 2 eggs and 2 tbsp butter i felt it would need less flour)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter (less than called for)
1 large egg
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract (i always like to add a little splash more than called for)
sanding sugar


sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl... i never have the patience to sift, so i simply stir really well. i used ghirardelli natural cocoa powder, although the recipe called for dutch pressed version. it's just silly to have more than one kind of unsweetened cocoa in any new york city sized kitchen cabinet.



in mixer (of which i have my fantastic martha blue kitchen aid - the pride of my kitchen), beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. my mixture rarely looks pretty & fluffy because i fail to have room temperature butter and heat it first on the stove on low, cool and then add to sugar. this typically adds a slight caramel taste. add eggs and vanilla. martha's cookies called for 2 eggs, but since reading 'the perfect chocolate chip cookie' and how they improved the nestle recipe by using 1 less egg for better texture i have been reducing eggs in almost all my recipes and having stellar omelets with the surplus. beat to combine. reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture. beat to combine.

place dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and flatten. chill until firm. recipe calls for at least 1 hour, but i have little patience for high maintenance baking so mine chilled for only 23 minutes.


preheat oven to 350 degrees. form the dough into mini disks. coat one side of disk with sanding sugar and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet, sugar side up. recipe called for rolling 1 1/4 inch balls and rolling in sanding sugar, however i find that the sugar burns off on the bottoms making them almost burnt. what's the point of chocolate cookies and sugar if it tastes burnt?!?


bake 10-12 minutes rotating halfway through.

i baked one batch with larger sized disks only 8 minutes and they were nice & chewy but needed to be separated with knife after baking as they fused together. my second batch were the requested 1 1/4 inch disks and baked the full 10+ minutes; these came out crisp and more aesthetically pleasing, hence using them as my key image.


the 1st batch...                                  

transfer to cooling rack. pour yourself a tall glass of milk and enjoy.

the aftermath of my sweet craving

26.2

running. i enjoy it. it is my therapy. although i don't do it as much as i should i love the feeling afterwards - rewarding, clean, healthy and nice rosy cheeks as an added bonus. however, until june 2009 the most i ever ran was 10 miles (and this only happened four times in college) as i usually peaked between 4 and 6 miles.

i decided to train for, and therefor do, the ultimate run - a full marathon on november 1st 2009.

...skipping over the grueling training, dampering effect this had on my social life, joy of eating everything & anything i wanted (including a steady diet of nutella for breakfast) for months - and therefor gaining 7lbs - and various slight injuries...

the morning of was wonderful. i was full of nerves, emotion, excitement and thankfully, felt full of energy. surrounded by thousands of different shapes, sizes and ages, running enthusiasts, athletes and (i hoped) other first timers, all huddled together on staten island. at the starting line and first mile was entertaining; sneak peak of peoples silly rituals, a sea of abandoned clothing covering every inch of pavement and smiling, knowing this was the start.

brooklyn was so - pardon for the cheesiness - inspiring. music bursting out of nearby windows and flooding into the street. strangers cheering you on. high fives, feeling fast and the guy named sugar a few steps behind me kept me smiling. greenpoint was perfectly delightful. i already created a list of places i passed i want to visit on a free weekend. pleasantly surprised that i made it to the halfway point without feeling tired or strained was wonderful and i sighed a sigh of relief.

over the queensborough bride and breaking through mile 15, i felt like a cheat, that i had been training on that bridge for months.

once stepping foot onto manhattan i felt a rush of emotion. the sea of people was astounding. goosebumps. a fellow, yet seasoned marathoner friend told me it was the best feeling in the world and be such a rush. even having those words in mind, it was indescribable.

crowd @ mile 24

another 2 miles i saw my cheerleaders. ate an orange and took advantage to talk for the first time in hours. i still looked fresh and felt good. just hungry.

mile 19 my blister exploded - gross, i know - my feet started to throb and my legs were exhausted. the next 7 were not pretty. i was slow, sloppy and had to bite my lip from crying. the last half mile felt like 2.    crossing the finish line was overwhelming. you get promptly rewarded with an apple, almonds, water, bagel, a 40th annual ING marathon medal and wrapped in a giant foil cape.

by far, the best new york moment day to date.

since, i've probably only have run a cumulative 20+ miles. and have banned nutella from my kitchen.

how to eat your way through bleecker street

for my birthday this year i wanted to be surrounded by my favorite things; close friends, vintage clothes, my sweetheart, sushi combined with byob, and delicious food.

for the latter of the bunch, true foodies go to bleecker street. a few close girlfriends and my favorite sexy british import (as i'm sure people magazine would dub) did a best of food tour along the cute little street that cuts through the village.

w. aforementioned close girlfriends

first stop was rocco's for killer pastries, 3 layer chocolate cake and cafe lattes. clearly delicious. we ate too much here to buy anything to take home.

next up was amy's bread. we needed yummy, fresh baked bread for our upcoming cheese stop. we ended up gathering all sorts of bread sticks; rosemary, olive, prosciutto, walnut, and 5 grain. most of these got devoured later in the afternoon on the highline. sans cheese. rosemary won first place for best infused "stick".

@ amy's

we had 'fish' on our list to stop for some fresh fish but ended up stopping in 'the lobster place seafood market' and fancied fresh, succulent, sea scallops. 1lb please. coat in flour and pan fry with lemon juice. perfection.

last and favorite stop was murray's. the varieties of artisan cheeses can be overwhelming. thank goodness they let you try samples of any cheese you fancy. after tastes of a few triple creme's (why not, it's my birthday) rose petal preserve and roasted red pepper spread, we left with fromage d'affinois (trumps previously mentioned st.andre in 'love triangle'), cachel blue (most delicate species of blue cheeses, sweet, mild and ultra creamy) and selection of olives.

ordering d'affinois

all has since been consumed with love, passion and appreciation. cheers to my 27th year.

from ME to NY - the best of maine on the LES

a good lobster roll is not too hard to come across in nyc. however, a good lobster roll for under $35 is. but, alas, it has been found. for only $14. and consumed. and consumed 3 more times.

where: luke's lobster 93 E. 7th street

when: best to go before 8pm to avoid the line out the door. which soon will be wrapped around the block.

why: perfect lobster roll, delicious root beer and all for under $16

i met my girlfriends, heather & nora at luke's to test out the lobster roll. the menu is small and simple. the staff are all original mainers. the tiny, quaint shop plucks you out of nyc and drops you in a little maine go-to that only locals know about. fortunately, only a few new yorkers know about luke's too as it just opened october 1st.

i started out with the staple lobster roll. amazing. super fresh lobster and lots of it stuffed into a mini bun that has been lightly buttered and toasted golden brown. a touch of mayo and a sprinkling of some secret seasoning (luke swears its only celery salt). this roll is best combined with salt & vinegar chips and a cold, sweet root beer.

H & N devouring lobster rolls

we were so impressed with luke's lobster roll classic, we decided to step it up a notch and get a taste of maine; lobster roll, shrimp roll and crab roll all in the mini form, pickles, 2 empress claws, chips (i nixed mine for an extra pickle) and yet another root beer.

in line for round 2

'a taste of maine'

needless to say we left full. and happy. and enough money left in my wallet to get a cab home.

p.s. luke is pretty cute.