Marshmallows

Does anything taste as good as toasted marshmallows?

So much for trying to eat healthy this week. I mean, seriously, who expects me to be able to not eat sweets, etc. Especially with vendors who drive you nuts enough to have to drown your stresses in a carb-filled bagel. I had visions of healthy eating after walking out of Starbucks with only a nonfat latte. Yippee! I had made it out of the clutches of the "reduced fat" banana chocolate chip cake. (Reduced being 8g of fat, 4.5g of SAFA and 390 calories, according to starbucks.com) Then came said bagel.

I was actually Ok for much of the day, including lunch, when I dined on cottage cheese and fruit...could be worse. Portion wasn't ideal, but hey, it was a meal. I didn't even snack much all day. Dinner was really delish sushi...except for the spicy sauce and tempura shrimp, it was probably downright healthy.

Then came the marshmallows. Came at me from all angles. Not only did I have some at home as a 'special treat', but one of my agencies put together a s'mores making kit for me for the holidays...and now I have a back up bag. So me, my bamboo skewer and my unscented tea light set up shop with the rest of my "treat" bag of jet puffed and off we toasted. And toasted. And ate some untoasted. And toasted some more. So what are we looking at...40+ marshmallows? It's amazing I'm not the jet-puffed man. Or am I? It might expect quite a bit.

Where did those latkes go!?

So more than a year after I last posted in this space, I'm back, looking to chronicle my efforts to get healthy. Maybe not lose weight, but certainly feel better and have my clothes fit better.

I've just finished my first night of Hanukkah "treat" dinner of latkes, reduced fat sour cream and unsweetened apple sauce, with an arugula/fennel salad. So could be worse, except I had seven. Oops. And that was after baking cookies today, a batch from which I ate every one that broke...hey, they were little! But they weren't even that good!!

I'm 31 years old (32 in April) and overweight. Not "fat" by the colloquial definition, but definitely so by the clinical one. I know I'm not healthy right now, but somehow the idea of going back to sacrificing foods or heading back to group meetings with Weight Watchers just sounds so unappealing to me. There's a treadmill sitting across from me that would be collecting dust if it weren't for my bi-weekly cleaning lady.

Last week, I finished Jen Lancaster's "Such a Pretty Fat", in which she chronicles her efforts to lose weight after her doctor gives her what amounts to a death sentence. I get it. Perhaps too much. My mom is diabetic, my dad is inevitably going to have a heart attack, and I'm a beautiful combination of the two of them.

So here goes. I'm going to use this place to try to log my eating, attempt to figure out why I don't want to exercise despite having the time and equipment, and hopefully celebrate when I succeed.

And maybe entertain myself and anyone who trips over this in the meantime.

Thanks for the support!

Adventures in Apples

Wow. I suck. Totally haven't written anything in a while...and I knew this was going to happen when I started a blog. Oh well.

The reality is that I joined Weight Watchers, totally necessary once I took a look in the mirror after eating out so much of the summer. Moo. Anyway, I haven't been eating out as often as I had been, and have gone to the same ol' favorites for the most part. I do solemnly swear to get better and maybe even talk about some of the WW-friendly things I've picked up!

My latest figure friendly find is the best sushi in Hoboken - Illuzion. It's even comparable to what I had in LA, which is certainly saying a lot. Their spicy scallop handroll might be the best since Hide Sushi, and I find the nigiri pieces to be super fresh and tasty. Delivery was right on time last night in the midst of the Red Sox game!!!

An old favorite also just resurfaced in the form of Emack and Bolio's, my favorite ice cream from Boston (save for Crescent Ridge). Just a block up from Ben & Jerry's, I think E&B gives the venerable B&J a run for its money, particularly in the sorta-healthy area. This week I tried the key lime pie frozen yogurt, which tasted like I has just downed a slice of pie. Fresh and non-fat, it's DELISH. And I'm 99% sure it's somewhere in the 100-125 calorie range, which makes it totally reasonable.

Let's see...what else. I've been cooking a lot, so the whole dining out thing may be a bit bare. This weekend's culinary adventures included making a series of things with the apples I picked at Dr. Davies Farm in Congers, NY. (Sidebar: Go there. It's quick and easy from NY, just up the Palisades Pkwy to Rt 303. Less than an hour. Great fun!) My newest discovery is Cinnamon Apple Crisps, a recipe I picked up from the Weight Watchers site. Unbelieveable! You take apples and slice them crosswise, core, skin and all, super thin, using a mandolin or an ultra sharp knife. Put them on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon and a little granulated sugar. I've been using the coffee packets of sugar, incidentally, since they are easier to sprinkle than a spoonful of the white stuff. You stick them in the oven at 200 degrees for 1-2 hours, depending on how thin they are and how crisp you like them. 1 hour works for me to have a little bit of chew, but they will be Pringles-crisp if you leave them in for two. DELISH. Seriously, try this with all those apples that are out right now. It's like a little treat.

OK, that's it from my adventures in apples. I'm going to head to the mall. This whole WW thing paid off so far to the tune of 11 lbs (not this week though!), so I need some new clothes!!

Happy Sunday. GO RED SOX. GO PATRIOTS.

In Vino Veritas: Truly Good Italian

OK, let's make up for lost time with a review of one of the best holes in the wall that I've eaten at in NY.

For those who know me, I don't eat a ton of Italian food. It just always leaves me feeling like I ate enough food for 6 days, and the heaviness of it isn't particularly appealing. But this past Saturday night, it sounded good. My friend Carolyne and I had done a river cruise for three hours and were ravenous upon getting off the boat, so we made our way back down to Alphabet City, checking menus along the way. We ultimately ended up at a small Italian restaurant with a Zagat's rated wine list - In Vino (E4th between A & B, East Village).

Unreal. (I feel like I say that a lot on this blog, incidentally, but it's mostly because I can't be bothered to write up the non-descript meals. This is where I cover about the extremes, both good and bad.)

Aside from the rather loud table of guys and girls sitting next to us, the meal couldn't have been better. To start, Carolyne and I decided to order a glass of wine each. When both of us couldn't decide, our adorable waiter made some recommendations and brought us a couple of tastes each so we would ultimately choose the best one. I had a terrific verdicchio with a great bite. Apparently the place is known for a terrific wine list, and a post-dinner crowd was there long after we left at 11, savoring the namesake beverage.

For food, I selected the special "salad", which was like a meal in it's own right. The plate was half covered in fresh lettuce with a savory balsamic vinaigrette. The other half was a roll-up of fried eggplant wrapped around fresh, mild ricotta cheese, covered in a fresh, chunky marinara. The sauce could have been a main course with the richness of its flavor. Carolyne had a beet and aged goat cheese salad, that she said was great. I don't eat beets, so can't judge!

We shared two main courses, due to a lack of decisiveness and a desire to try as much as possible. First was the cremini mushroom risotto that was hands down the best risotto I have ever eaten. Rich and creamy, it required no salt or pepper and was just music to my mouth. The giant pieces of mushroom gave it a meaty, beefy flavor, and the rice was done perfectly. Even the bit that I reheated the next day was delicious.

Second was another eggplant concoction. Fried eggplant layered in a parmigiana format with slices of prosciutto and fresh, sweet mozzarella cheese and coated in that same sauce. It was served in a mini casserole set into a piece of wood to make handling easier, which was charming and practical. The food was delicious - dense enough to hold up to cutting and sharing, and soft enough to have a great melty flavor.

Believe it or not, we couldn't deal with dessert. Too full. As it was we each brought home enough for lunch the next day!!!

HIGHLY recommend In Vino. Go now!!

Small Plate Mania

This is gonna be a super quick update on two restaurants that I ate at during Restaurant Week. One (Fig & Olive) I've been to before and had made RW reservations at under the impression I'd try some of the entrees they had. The other (Tia Pol) I returned to with a friend from out of town because it's just that good.



Fig & Olive Downtown

This place is one of my favorites in NY for its delicious small plates and fresh ingredients. My friend and I had planned on doing the RW menu, but when we sat down, we were again lured by the Tasting Menu, an array of Mediterranean tapas style options, like roasted vegetables, crostinis and unique carpaccios.



The service to start was slightly slow and abrasive but got better as the dinner moved forward. The waiter flat out told me that my first wine selection was "disgusting" and wouldn't I like to try something else? Kind of surprising, but you gotta appreciate his honesty! My friend's white sangria was delicious and led to a happy buzz for her!



We share a mixed veggie plate which featured roasted eggplant and tomatoes, roasted sweet red pepers in light olive oil, artichokes and lightly cooked zucchini with fresh parmesan cheese that was utterly delicious. The vegetables were farm-stand fresh and cooked to their perfect state, melting in our mouths and delicious on the bread provided. I could eat that constantly.



Second was the array of 3 crostini, followed by two carpaccios, yellow fin tuna and prosciutto and fig. I'm not going to go into deep detail, but suffice to say that everything was outstanding. The freshness of the ingredients just makes everything at F&O that much better than other places. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in NY.


And quickly...Tia Pol

I've been totally remiss in finishing this post and catching up, so I am not going to spend too much time. Everyone who goes to Tia Pol loves it. The tapas is EXCELLENT. Seriously the best croquetas in town...both times I've been there I've ordered a second batch. Crispy, creamy little bits of culinary delight. Great sangria (red or white), great food, great service if you can find a seat at one of the very few tables or at one of the few seats at the bar. All in all, my favorite.

That's all for now...

Restaurant Week 1 - Artisinal - not recommended

I love cheese...I used to make pilgrimages to the Beverly Hill Cheese Store when I lived in Santa Monica just to pick up various cheese for the week. Artisinal seemed like a great fit for Restaurant Week, with this well-advertised cheese cave and incredible selection of cheese and wine parings. One problem:

THERE WAS NO CHEESE ON THE RESTAURANT WEEK MENU.

What? No cheese? OK, fine. So my friend and I decided to order off the regular menu, giving into the classic restaurant week dupe. Oh well. What ensued, however, was not worth the money we spent. Not in the least. The best thing was the bread basket.

The restaurant itself has a Parisian bistro feel, various sized tables on a tile floor. Fairly large but with a lot of people packed in. We were sat at a two top, where, when I sat on the booth, I was nearly chin-level with the table. Get a better cushion.

When our waiter came to take our order, I tried for a glass of Prosecco. No go. So he recommended the next one on the menu - a 'champagne' he said, that was listed from New Mexico. OK, so I'm not a wine connoisseur, but I would kind of expect that the name champagne would be highly reserved for French options in a French bistro!

For dinner we ordered the tuna carpaccio, salads (Mesculun greens for me, beet for my friend), and an array of four cheeses. When we ordered the cheeses, the waiter told us that they would substitute if any were out. OK, that's fine. I also asked for a bit of honey with the cheese - not the honey and walnut combo but just honey. If you have never had honey on sheep's milk cheese, btw, try it. So good. Anyway, on this Monday at 7 p.m., he was unsure they had it.

My salad was little more than some bagged greens coated in nondescript dressing plopped in a white Crate & Barrel like salad bowl. Literally, no cheese, no single unique touch, no nothing. For $9.50. I could have made better in my apartment for less than $1. The beet salad, I think, was better and included a chunk of creamy goat cheese, but still. Totally disappointed. The tuna carpaccio...eh. Not bad, not great. It lost some of the great flavor of the fish by being drowned in whatever marinade they used, which was a little on the oily side.

The cheese, in all truth, wasn't bad...it was more the confusion that I had over it that was frustrating. According to the waiter, they only substituted one, but when I was handed the guide to what we had on our tray, only one of them was the same name as what I had ordered. The only thing I can think of is that they have different variants of similar cheeses that are, in essence the same. We got a bowl of nuts with a drizzle of honey, after which we asked for more honey, thank goodness they had it.

OK, so not great food experience, but compounding it was the fact that it was no less than 80 degrees in the restaurant. My friend and I were both sweating, and the waiters running around were all red-faced and dripping. Turn up the AC!! It was cooler after we stepped out of the restaurant than inside.

All in all, I felt that the food was overpriced for what it was. Not even sure it tasted that good. Go to a cheese shop (maybe even Artisinal's retail store?) and make a tray at home - you'll enjoy it more and save some dough.

Til next post....

Catching up on a few things....

So, it appears Sundays are turning into my food blog day, potentially because it's also the day when I look back at what I've spent this week and nearly pass out. I just love restaurants, though! I hope my two readers (shout outs to Vanessa and Max for the comments...you keep me going!) don't mind the frequent hiati...hiatuses....um...

A few things to catch up on from this week....

Ben & Jerry's Lemon Meringue Pie ice cream. Un-freaking-real, but you can only eat it in small doses, lest it become too much. I'm a kiddie-sized ice cream girl anyway, but this one is just really rich. Tart, creamy lemon ice cream with fluffy streams of meringue (I'm not sure I buy that it's actual meringue, but it's good) and pieces of pie crust. Mm Mm Mmmmm.

It's Greek to Me (Palisade Ave., Englewood, NJ) I went to this little place for lunch with a gaggle of colleagues this week for a birthday. The Greek salad with fresh grilled calamari on top was perfect for a work day lunch. I inhaled it. Guess I was hungry. I think there are a number of these places...including one in Hoboken...and I highly recommend trying. Super tasty, relatively inexpensive and very filling. Strikes me as one of those places that will be totally dependable.

Kin Khao (http://www.eatrice.com/kinKhao.html, Soho, NY) I first went here about...oh my...6 years ago, when I was traveling to NY on business and visiting my friend Melissa, and it was great at the time. I think it's only gotten better, save for some semi-rude service from a potentially new, or potentially cranky, waitress. When, after a day of shopping, I popped in here with two girlfriends on Saturday at 7, it was easy to get a table (granted, mid-summer in NY isn't hopping), and the food was just excellent. The Gung Gratiem, shrimp in red curry with bamboo shoots, was delicious with the coconut milk gravy poured over rice. Tangy and spicy with just enough kick to tantalize the senses. My friend ordered the Gai Yang, half a chicken, roasted and served with sweet chili sauce. But the best, and from what I remember what was best a few years ago, was the Pad Thai. I mean, this might be my favorite Pad Thai ever. Sweet, full of flavor, not at all gummy - this is what Pad Thai should be. I seriously love this sh**. Even better, I bumped into a classmate of mine there whom I haven't seen since graduation but who lives literally a block away. It will be good to see him again now that we've reconnected!

Taqueria (Grove & Grand, Jersey City, NJ). Last but not least, a tiny little garden level restaurant on an arbitrary corner in still-revitalizing JC, this might be my pick-o-the-week. As you probably know, I moved to the NY area from LA just six months ago, and one of the things that has been missing is a good fish taco. Yes, I said fish taco. This brightly colored space features a menu free of Chili's style tex mex...no fajitas, chips and salsa or nachos. Instead, the small menu is layered with fresh tasting, authentic food that might be the best I've had since I moved. The corn tortillas included a tender piece of grilled fish, served with a tomatillo and tomato salsa and traditional shredded cabbage. I seriously loved this. For $3.00, you can't get much better in the area. It's fast and tasty and gives me my fix without the 5+ hour flight.

Anyway, this could be a rough couple of weeks, as I'm sitting on about four NY Restaurant Week reservations. Yes, four. Moo. Not a good thing for the waistline or the pocketbook, but I'm looking forward to an array of new entries!!

Happy Restaurant Week (esp you Max and Vanessa)!!