This Time Last Year...

I was taking an overnight train to Istanbul. (See previous posts here: http://roxtravelsforfood.blogspot.com/search/label/Istanbul)

This year, there hasn't been any plane travel since August, and the most exotic food I've eaten has been from street carts in NYC. Obviously, I'm hoping to change that soon...that travel bug is biting pretty ferociously, but in the interim, I'm taking advantage of living in close enough proximity to head into the city (a foodie capitol) for Saturday brunch and dinner.

For those of you with access to Food Network, you may have seen Bobby Flay's recent episode of Throwdown where he defeated NYC's best pancakes from Clinton Street Baking Company. I haven't tasted Bobby's pancakes, but I can't resist Clinton Street, even if it means trekking nearly 2 hours in cars and trains, walking through frigid temperatures, and then waiting nearly an hour for a table to pay $13 for a plate of 3 pancakes with no sides in an establishment that accepts only cash. Yup, they're that good. (It's all about the warm maple butter, which FYI, costs an additional $2 if you want a second ramekin, which I highly suggest for the banana walnut pancakes.)

wild Maine blueberry pancakes with warm maple butter

banana walnut pancakes with warm maple butter

post demolition pancakes

Not as impressive a display of gluttony as usual, but never fear, we brought the leftovers home for breakfast part 2 the next day.

Lower East Side Bingo

As crazy as it sounds, I'm even missing Bulgaria. But Bulgaria isn't the only place where one can capture photos of randomness. Just one of the many reasons I love NY! Walking back along Houston St. to the subway, freezing, we decided to occupy our minds by playing the NY version of Bulgarian Bingo. The star on our card was clearly the elephant rump:

Four weeks to the day after his accident, Greg is doing well. He still has a long recovery ahead, but he was discharged from the hospital and is resting at his parents' house with Swiss and the kitties, who, once again with Daddy home, think all is right in the world. That said, I know he'll take this photo in the spirit in which it is intended. This guy was another bingo star:

the bionic man - it's hard to see with the glare from the camera-phone pic, but he's got a fancy superhero band-aid on his face!

After some shopping at Lush, we made our way uptown for dinner at Pasha. I had to appease my travel bug somehow, and tonight it was all about satisfying that hankering for Turkish food. Dinner began with appetizers (you'll notice that as per usual, I forgot to take the photo till we were well into the eating):

Mucver: Oven baked zucchini and dill pancakes, served with homemade creamy yogurt.

Sigara Boregi: Pan fried crispy phyllo dough filled with feta cheese, parsley and dill.

Manti: Tender steamed dumplings filled with ground lamb and fresh mint, drizzled with a light garlic yogurt sauce.

(This is why we came here. You'd be surprised how many Turkish restaurants in NY don't serve manti!)

Yogurtlu kebab: Slices of grilled lamb, served on homemade pita and yogurt, and topped with tomato sauce.

YUM!
All in all, not as adventurous as accidentally getting lost in Asia with no money, but almost as tasty and with the added bonus of pancakes and NOT being woken up twice in the middle of the night having to stand outside in below freezing temps at border crossings. As semester break weekends go, NY is pretty great.

New Year's Resolutions

Marissa told me recently that most people give up their New Year's resolutions by January 20; therefore, I'm going to say that this post is right on time to show that we're still sticking with our resolutions (though we're on a minor hiatus from the first two as we do our share to help the injured.) This year, Danny and I decided to embark on three resolutions:

1. exercising
2. eating healthier
3. enjoying quality time with our family

Resolution #1

We didn't run out and join a gym (not because we're too cool for first of the year specials, simply because we're too poor); instead, we braved the cold NY winter and hit the pavement, starting with walks and working our way up to runs.

I know I'm incognito, but I swear, that really is me!

Nope, that's not the phone-quality photo, his glasses really are fogged up!

Resolution #2

Healthy eating - lots of fruits and veggies - yummy! (Have I mentioned how much I love having a roommate who cooks?)

Don't worry, we're still Danny and Rox, still the foodies you know and love. (We really are trying to figure out how to make a million bucks on that...between our photography, love for food and travel, and cuteness, we should have our own show on Food Network or the Travel Channel. Seriously.) But I digress, our inner-foodie gets to come out every weekend as "free Saturday" has morphed into "free Saturday night - Sunday afternoon" to allow us to enjoy

Resolution #3

,

We have resurrected the family tradition of Sunday dinners. We gather at 1pm for macaroni and meatballs and whatever else may be on the menu that week. Yum, yum, yum!

Thanksgiving, part deux

I want to go to Paris. Danny wants to go to Paris. Yeah, yeah, I know, everyone wants to go to Paris. I can't help it, when I think of food, I think of Paris. Don't get me wrong, I love to eat in Italy (pizza, pasta, gelati,) Czech Republic (Staroceske trdlo,) Austria (schnitzel and streudel,) Germany (flammkuchen,) Ireland (sausage,) to name a few and the list goes on and on (and on and on and on...,) but as great as all of those places are, nothing holds a candle to Paris. Every corner, every bakery, every restaurant offers something luscious, delicious, rich, and amazing from the pampelmousse (grapefruit) sorbet to the pain au chocolate from the steak to the foie gras, yum yum yum. But, alas, Paris is out of reach temporarily due to lack of time and money. Instead, I indulged the foodie by duplicating my favorite American meal. (You may recall that I was responsible only for dessert at our family gathering this year.) So, sans dessert this time, Danny and I had a second Thanksgiving feast.

candied yams

mashed potatoes and enough cranberry sauce for a large family

Tom

and the piece de resistance...stuffing (and courtesy of our new diet - more on that in a future post - there is still some left in the freezer for future food emergencies.)

Christmas 2009

Weeks after Christmas decorations have been put away, I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures of my festive flat. My obsession with lights peaks around Christmas, the one time of year that it is acceptable to have as many strings as possible draped throughout your home without causing a fire hazard. My electric bill can attest to the fact that I took full advantage of this!

Though Santa didn't fill the giant sock, he was generous. The loot ranged from DVDs to household items, from educational tools to luxurious indulgences, and of course, the traditional socks, candy, and chapstick.

The fat, old man wasn't so jolly after being gypped out of his cookies and milk (he left an angry note on the tree,) but we made sure our bellies stayed full, braving the snowstorms of Albany and Ithaca to visit friends and favorite eateries.

This time, I almost remembered to take the photos (with my phone, please excuse the quality) before we ate it all!

sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and collard greens

gumbo

jumbalaya (hold the shrimp)

mac-n-cheese

and of course, Hattie's Throwdown winning fried chicken

It was great visiting with you guys! Can't wait to see you again at Chowderfest!