Sunday Eats at PeteZaaz!

31 Jan

One of the other blogs I follow from time to time is called Nona Brooklyn.  The other day, I checked out Nona and read a great post about this new pizza joint in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn called PeteZaaz.  Chef/Owner Peter Nentner comes from No. 7 – a delicious restaurant in my neighborhood of Fort Greene and the other Chef/Owner and “Dough Man”, Glen Hudson comes from Pulino’s – a popular Keith McNally pizza spot on the Lower East Side.

PeteZaaz was written about for their inventive and playful approach to pizza.  The featured pizza that totally grabbed my attention was the Chili Con Carne pie… described in Nona Brooklyn here:

PeteZAAZ Chili-Con-Carne Pizza - Photo from http://nonabrooklyn.com

It’s got an ancho-based sauce. We use dehydrated ancho chilis and we rehydrate them with Sprite. We add garlic, onions, some lime zest, and we puree all that to make a nice little chili sauce. We braise some pork shoulder in the sauce, then we incorporate the rest of the sauce with a tomato sauce for the base for the pizza. We top it with the chopped braised pork shoulder, and I make a cream cheese burrata to top it as well.

We make our own fresh mozzarella in-house, at least twice a day. To make the burrata, I stretch some of the mozz and heat up some cream cheese, then stuff the warm cream cheese into a balloon of stretched mozzarella, and seal it up like a burrata. It’s like a mozzarella and cream cheese water balloon. After cooking it on the pizza, the cream cheese just oozes out.

When we pull the pizza out, we sprinkle it with cold pickled corn kernels, to give you a little acidic burst. Have you ever had Gushers candy? When you bite into a Gusher the juice comes shooting out, and I like that effect. With the cold pickled corn kernels, when you take a bite of the slice you get this burst of acidic flavor.

For crunch on that one we do a Cheez-It gremolata. I love Cheez-Its. I’ve been eating them forever. I mix crumbled Cheez-Its with lime zest, garlic, cilantro, parsley and Thai basil, and sprinkle that over the top for a little crunch.

I like to have an acidic component, a crunchy component and a sweet component as a base for all the pizzas. That’s the rule of thumb when we’re coming up with a pie.

 ~ Excerpt from NonaBrooklyn.com
Chilis rehydrated with Sprite?  braised pork shoulder, a house-made mozzarella and cream cheese water balloon that oozes over the pie?  I was so there.  I immediately contacted some friends (Kelly & Val, who live around the block) and Amie and Rob and we made a date for this past Sunday.
Upon walking into PeteZaaz, we realized it wasn’t the best atmosphere for seating a table of six.  It’s a long narrow entrance, where you can watch them making pies and grinding their own house-made sausage, which is cool, but the back seating area is pretty tight.  We decided to order a bunch of pizzas (thankfully, we were six people, so we could order a lot and try most things on the menu!) and bring them home to Kelly & Val’s apartment.

Making Sausage

Meanwhile, I was a little heartbroken when I found out that the chili-con-carne pie was just a special and was not available.  BUMMER!  But we managed to do alright with the other menu choices.
Here are Adam, Kelly & Rob waiting out front for our food…
So here’s the breakdown of our order:
One Baked Potato Pie (please forgive… the photo does not do this pie justice):
Baked Potato Pie – purple potatoes, applewood smoked bacon lardons, white cheddar and green onion covered with heavenly creme fraiche.
This pizza seriously rocked our worlds.  It was definitely the favorite of all of us.  It was basically like the best potato skin you’ve ever had (with the most amazing ingredients) served on top of this fresh, slightly crispy, slightly chewy amazing dough.  It was to die for.  I’m still craving more.
One Pie – Half Brooklyn (Tomato, House-Made Mozzarella and Marjoram), Half topped with House-Made Sweet Sausage 
The house-made sausage on this baby was pretty amazing.  That was my second-favorite item we ordered (after that life-changing baked potato pizza).  Side note… I never ate sausage growing up.  Like never.  I thought it was gross.  Since moving to New York, I have found a total love for sausage.  It is now one of my favorite pizza toppings.  And this sausage was outstanding.
One Pie – Half Pepperoni, Half Cold-Fried Chicken
Cold-Fried Chicken Pie – Curried Yellow Squash, Fontina, Stewed Collard Greens, Pickled Thai Chilis
I enjoyed the pepperoni pizza – they sliced up their pepperoni in thin strands and scattered them pretty uniformly throughout, which I liked… you got a little bit of pep in each bite!  The cold-fried chicken pie was not my thing.  The collards were hard to bite through and I just wasn’t crazy about the overall flavor in this pizza.  But the rest were winners!
Valerie ordered a Kimchi Roll – House-made Mozzarella, Kimchi Bruschetta, Thai Basil Pesto and Fried Shallots
I’m not a huge kimchi fan, but I had a bite and thought this sandwich was pretty good.  The fresh mozzarella was milky and delicious and the fried shallots were super tasty.
And Rob (our poor lactose-intolerant friend) ordered The Reuben Stromboli – Minus the Mozz - Pastrami, Sauerkraut, Chinese Mustard
I also took a bite of this one (it’s for the blog… I need to sample EVERYTHING!!).  The pastrami was super yummy – of course, I would have liked it better with the cheese – I mean, look who you’re dealing with here.  But another yummy dish – full of flavor for sure!
So – that was our PeteZaaz experience.  I would definitely hit this place up again.  Kelly and Val are lucky to live so close.  And they deliver!!  Next time I would have to get the Baked Potato pie again – only because it’s just divinely delicious.  But I’m hoping they get rid of the Cold-Fried Chicken pie and add the Chili-Con-Carne pie instead as a regular menu item… there has been some rumor of that according to Nona Brooklyn.  Fingers crossed… I have to try that chili pie!!
Meanwhile, even Lola the pup was digging this pizza:
Thanks for a delicious Sunday afternoon meal PeteZaaz.  I will definitely be back for more!

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Handmade Awesomeness

26 Jan

Before I start talking about handmade awesomeness, I want to share my teabag wisdom of the day with you:

From my Yogi Tea Woman’s Mother To Be teabag:

Inspiring others towards happiness brings you happiness

Yes, Yogi Teabag… that is so true.  That is why I’ve thought of becoming a life coach, or a matchmaker, a mother – a BLOGGER!!  That is why I volunteer at the nursing home.  That is why I love taking care of my husband and encouraging him and his amazing film career!  That is why I wanted to be a waitress and a cheerleader when I was a little girl.  I love helping others find their happiness and when I do that, I feel most personally rewarded in my own life.  I’m hanging on to this teabag bit of wisdom – it’s going on my inspiration board (when I actually get around to making one) and I’m going to keep that as a focus as I continue to work towards becoming my truest self and eventually finding a career that matters to me.

Now… onto handmade awesomeness.  This post is a dedication to people who make cool stuff.  Lately, I have been so impressed by friends and strangers who have an incredible talent for making things!  I’ll start with my baby shower – because I got a few handmade gifts that really blew me away.

Emily’s Handmade Quilt:

Emily's Handmade Quilt

Emily's Handmade Quilt (showing reverse)

Emily is one of the “Stockers”.  When she and Brett (her husband) came to Brooklyn for our “Laughing Stock” celebration, she brought along this beautiful quilt she made by hand for our baby-to-be.  Emily amazes me.  She is a doctor and has traveled around the world, working for the World Health Organization speaking about and researching reproductive health.  Then – in her spare time, she sews her own clothes (as well as clothes for us), knits and does all sorts of other crafty things.  I thought this quilt was AMAZING!  She searched flea markets in LA to find cool vintage sheets to make the design.  Then she finished the quilt on the plane ride over.  Awesome.

Next Up…

Marlene’s Hand-Knit Sweater & Blanket for Baby:

Marlene's Hand-Knit Hooded Sweater

Marlene's Hand-Knit Baby Blanket

Marlene is one of the “Brooklyn Boys” crew – a wife of a Brooklyn Boy – thus a long-time family friend.  She surprised me at my shower with this gorgeous hand-knit sweater and blanket that she made for our future little man.  First – they feel like heaven.  They are soft and luxurious and will be kind to the baby’s sweet sensitive baby skin.  But besides that… I mean – that sweater?  It’s so adorable.  I totally want one in my size.  Adam was jealous.  I love the hood and the pom pom!  So amazing.  Marlene does such beautiful work and how special… we will have these things forever.  Oh – and they ‘re safe for the washer and dryer.  Does it get any better than that?

Next Up…

Beck’s “Nell’s Kitchen” sign:

Beck's Handmade "Nell's Kitchen" Sign

So back in November, I wrote a blog post titled “Nell’s Kitchen” and I ended that post dreaming of one day, having a “Nell’s Kitchen” sign hanging in my kitchen.  Well – skip ahead to a few weeks ago, when my friend Beck presented me with this amazing handmade gift.  I instantly started crying (typical for emotional pregnant me these days).  But really – how thoughtful.  I couldn’t believe she picked up on that in my post and then took the time to actually make me this adorable sign to hang up in our apartment.  I was overcome.  Beck is a total artist – she is the one who does the amazing stop motion work I have featured previously on the blog.  To her, everything is a potential art project!  It’s funny… the other day I told her I had to stop and buy wrapping paper… of course, she was like, “Buy wrapping paper?!  We should make some!!”  That is so her.

Finally…

Director’s Coasters from Retro Whale on Etsy:

So, I think around two years ago for Adam’s birthday, our friend Beth gifted Adam with these amazing handmade Directors coasters she found on Etsy.

 

Directors Coasters from Retro Whale on Etsy

I thought it was the most adorable gift, so I ended up buying him another set.  Then, this year, for Adam’s birthday, my father approached me with an idea for Adam.  He wanted to contact this girl on Etsy and ask her to make a director coaster of Adam!  I thought it was brilliant (and just about the sweetest most thoughtful thing ever).  So I reached out to Kelly of the Retro Whale shop on Etsy and asked her if she does custom coasters.  And voila!  She does!  And after we sent her a few pictures of Adam, she had a coaster drawn up within a day or two and the coaster mailed out to me within another couple days.  Adam was blown away by this personalized amazing gift… and dad – I love you more than ever before for thinking of it.

Here’s the “Adam” Coaster:

The "Adam" Director Coaster

And here’s the photo she worked from:

Pretty awesome right??  So… if anyone’s interested in ordering a custom-made “Adam” coaster, it just might become a collector’s item someday when he becomes a famous director (wink wink – fingers and toes crossed).

Anyway, cheers to all you amazingly talented people out there who make awesome stuff by hand!  Now – I’m off to a prenatal massage because I’m currently waddling around like a gimpy old grandma with a terrible pain in my right BUTT cheek!!  Welcome to month eight of pregnancy!!

Have a great day everyone!

xo

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Some Blogs I’m Loving…

24 Jan

For someone who blogs, I’m really not so good at finding and following other blogs.  I don’t know why it is exactly.  Maybe it’s because I find it difficult searching through all that’s out there to find things I’m interested in.  Maybe it’s because if I’m going to be spending time on the computer, I’d rather be blogging myself, or checking out what my friends are up to on Facebook.  Maybe it’s because I am just old-fashioned and am still attached to reading magazines in print.  But because I love to blog and I know there are so many super talented bloggers out there, I’m making it a goal of mine to try to find and follow more blogs this year.

In the meantime, here are a few I thought I’d spotlight today:

Pregnant Chicken - Keeping Pregnancy Sunny Side Up

My friend John introduced me to this blog and I immediately loved it!  The author (Amy Morrison) has a great personality and she’s very blunt and honest about pregnancy and motherhood.  I appreciate that going in… although some things definitely scare me!  Here are a couple of my favorites:

“When I have kids I will never-  _____ “

“New Dad Survival Guide”

The Un-Lost

This is a blog I discovered when I was obsessed with finding my purpose and the career I wanted to pursue in life.  Now, I’m happily distracted with becoming a mother and that feels like purpose enough for the time being.  However, I still enjoy reading this blog and find the author Therese Shwenkler‘s point of view on the topic to be both candid and entertaining.  In catching up this morning with the Un-Lost, I’ve discovered that Therese is leaving her job and her home to do this blog thing full time – good luck to her!  I always get inspired when I hear of people making bold moves like this one.

Here are a couple of my favorites from Therese:

“Why I’m Getting Naked for 3,737 People”

“It’s Ridiculously Simple:  How to Find Your Life’s Freaking Purpose in One Minute or Less”

"The gastrognomes" - from the editors of Good Food Jobs

When I used to work in ad sales, I’d spent one or two nights a month volunteering at Murray’s Cheese Shop in their classroom.  I would help set up before the classes and clean up after the classes and then I’d be able to take the classes for free!  It was a great arrangement for a cheese-obsessed corporate girl like myself.  In the Murrays classroom is where I met the classroom director at that time… Taylor.  Taylor became one of my favorite parts of my evenings at Murray’s.  She was passionate about food and cheese.  She has a great energy and a “can do” attitude and I just felt happy being in her presence.  After a few years at Murray’s, Taylor told me she was leaving to start her own business – GoodFoodJobs.com with her friend Dorothy, their goal being to connect passionate foodies around the country with valuable work opportunities in the food world.  I thought it was brilliant!  And to this day (over a year later), it is a great success!

As part of Goodfoodjobs.com, Dorothy and Taylor started the gastrognomes blog, where they profile a different food professional each week.  I love reading about these food professionals and how they came to their current positions.  Many of them quit their unsatisfying corporate jobs just like myself.  Many of them have been in the food world since day one, but have navigated through less than stellar jobs until they found their happy place.  In any case… I always find it fascinating to learn about their journeys and I always leave inspired!  Enjoy.

And finally:

Bohemian Babies

My friend Amie just started this blog – like two weeks ago!  She is pregnant as well (five weeks behind me… which is so cool), so she is also navigating the world of baby stuff – bedding, furniture, nursery decor, strollers, blah blah blah.  Amie has a definite style and a total point of view when it comes to design.  In her search for baby stuff, she found the options at the big baby stores to be somewhat lackluster.  So, she began digging and digging to find unique, high-quality products and designs for her baby-to-be that more reflected her style.  Thus, Bohemian Babies was born.  She’s using this blog to highlight the coolest baby stuff she finds to make it easier for other mothers-to-be who don’t want to just buy everything from Babies R Us.  Check it out!

That’s all for now!  Happy Tuesday everyone – and please, if you have a favorite blog that you follow… share it with me!  Then I don’t have to do all that searching myself. :)

xoxo

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A Baby Shower to Remember…

19 Jan

This past Sunday my mom and sister threw me a beautiful baby shower.  Sometimes events like this make me a bit nervous, and I feel a little awkward being the center of attention.  However this shower was so thoughtful and I was surrounded by such wonderful people, delicious food and an all around fun and festive vibe.  I couldn’t have asked for a more lovely day.  True to form… I was totally emotional (typical me + pregnancy hormones = a lot of crying!!).

Me crying...

The shower was held at an awesome restaurant in the Columbia Waterfront District of Brooklyn called Alma.  Anthony, one of the owners of Alma, was a complete pleasure to work with and made sure the day was perfect!  I highly recommend this spot for a delicious bite to eat or to host a celebration.  They totally rocked it!

My friend Andrea Reese - fellow photographer (turning pro… she’s an inspiration) worked her butt of snapping shots of the day from beginning to end.  So, thanks to Andrea, I can share this day with the rest of you here on nellsdish.  All photos on this post were taken by Andrea of AndreaReesePhotography.com!!

It’s all in the details:

I am not one of those women who is typically into all the little details of party planning (no Martha Stewart here – though I did get rather into it while planning our wedding!).  I tend to be low maintenance, I shy away from party games and I never want to spend money needlessly.  That being said, my mom and sis came up with some adorable details and activities that really made the day extra special.  I’m so glad they didn’t listen to me and did things their way!

Here is the beautiful cake made by Betty Bakery on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn.  It was a red velvet cake (my favorite), with vanilla buttercream frosting and layers of chocolate inside.  To die for.  Really.  I’m still eating leftovers and loving every minute.  The bakery also perfectly recreated the cute Mama duck image from my shower invitation (I used Paperless Post – check it out!  Great way to send adorable invites via email) and thus – duckies became the theme of the shower!

Baby Shower Cake by Betty Bakery

My mom bought all these adorable little rubber duckies and wrote numbers on the bottom of each one.  Each guest got a rubber ducky with their slice of cake and the guest with the winning number (17 – my due date!!), won a prize.

Slice of Cake with Rubber Ducky

Valerie was the winner!

For centerpieces, there were bunches of yellow and white daisies – they matched the duck color scheme and provided a bright and cheery atmosphere at brunch!

Table Centerpieces

For favors, they gave our these adorable little mint tins personalized with the date of the shower!  What a cute surprise.

Favors - Little Mint Tins

Shower Activites:

So even though I said “no games”, my mom and sister thought they should organize a little something to provide entertainment for the shower.  I absolutely LOVED what they did.

They put together a multiple choice quiz about me and all the shenanegans I pulled growing up.  It was fun sharing these details about my life with my friends.  I think they learned a lot about me that they never knew before!  Here are a couple of Nell facts from the quiz:

  • At a young age, Nell shocked her Papa Arnold by eating an entire… (d. king-sized prime rib)
  • Nell and her friend, Jess, once devoured a whole bottle of… (a. Flintstone vitamins)
  • Nell’s first career goal was to be… (d. both a waitress and a cheerleader)
  • One of the few times Nell was grounded it was because she had… (c. driven our car without a license)
  • Nell’s anthem should be… (b. “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”)

My mom sharing the answers to the "Nell" quiz

Another really sweet activity they organized was to have each guest fill out an advice card for me as I enter motherhood.  I read all the advice cards when I got home and was so touched by the thoughtful advice my friends shared with me.  What a special keepsake from the shower… of course, I cried while reading through all these as well!

Advice cards

Here are some more pictures from the day:

My lovely niece Monique and me

Pee Pee Teepees... I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of these!

my girl Amie and me - we're pregnant together... what's better?!

Cool mirror shot

Someone's having fun!

Brette and me

Me and my mom

And finally…

Me, my mom and my sister

Thank you so much much mom and Erika – for planning and creating such a memorable baby shower for me.  And to all my friends who helped me celebrate, I love you so much and I feel so grateful to have you all in my life!  This little baby boy is entering the world into a major love-fest.  What a lucky little dude.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Decorating Mania Has Set In…

12 Jan

Yes – I’ve become obsessed with home decor.  And it’s not just the nursery – it’s the entire apartment.  Though, to be fair, our apartment is an open loft space so everything is pretty much one big room!  Meanwhile, I can cross off one of the items on my list of thirty-three things to do when I’m thirty-three.  I’ve ordered myself a big cushy shag rug!

Zia Shag Rug from Crate And Barrel (Photo from crateandbarrel.com)

I’m having fantasies of this rug being like a big play area in the apartment.  I plan on spending much time lying around and hanging with the baby on this shaggy delight.  And the best thing… my sister has owned the same carpet for over a year and she says it hardly sheds and it doesn’t show dirt and it’s awesome.  How’s that for a customer review I can trust?

Then for some fun seating in the rug area… I’m thinking of some Moroccan Poufs!  I love these colors – but I don’t know if they’re too bold.  Have to give it a little thought:

Tangerine Moroccan Pouf - Found on Overstock.com

Dark Turquoise Moroccan Pouf - found on Overstock.com

In addition to the rug, I also ordered two of these reclaimed wood tables from a company called CG Sparks (via Amazon).  We are using them as nightstands and they have really brought our bedroom together nicely.  (Though one of them came with a chipped corner so I’m trying to exchange it – pain in the butt!)  I love the rustic look of these tables – AND I pretty much got two for the price of one nightstand I was eyeing at Pottery Barn.  Score.

Reclaimed Wood Side Table (Photo from CG Sparks)

 

I also ordered the tree wall decal for our nursery wall!  This one seemed to be the crowd favorite – thanks for your help deciding:

Design from "Surface Inspired" on Etsy.com

I switched up the colors though – I ordered the tree brown, the leaves lime green and the birds orange!  I think it’ll go nicely with the bedding we picked out for the crib:

Skip Hop Tree Friends Bedding

I also have this lovely upholstered chair in our living room (probably my most prized apartment decor possession).  When I lived on my own before I met Adam I saw this chair in the Anthropologie store and I completely fell in love with it.  So I saved and saved and watched it online until it finally went on sale!  And then I scooped it right up.   It happens to be one of my most favorite purchases EVER.  I’m thinking the little pops of orange from the birds will be a nice compliment to my chair.

My most adored upholstered chair from Anthropologie

So now… my latest obsession… LAMPS!  I want to get two lamps – one to go on each of our bedside tables.  And I’m also thinking I’ll need a lamp to go on the baby’s dresser.  I’ve been looking EVERYWHERE.  Here are a few of my favorite looks – though some are drastically out of my price range.  But just for inspiration purposes:

This one I’m actually considering – it’s from Anthropologie and it’s definitely a little pricey (though not CRAZY) – and I happen to have a birthday gift certificate from my lovely parents, which just about covers it.  Now I have to decide if I want to use the gift certificate on this lamp – or on some new cute clothes when I’m no longer HUGE and want to feel all stylish again.  Hmmmmm.

Mirror Jar Base from Anthropologie

Then there are these two from Anthro – that are so appealing to me but WAYYYYY out of my price range.

Grape Lime Lamp from Anthropologie

Undersea Base - from Anthropologie

Then there are a couple I found in Restoration Hardware’s baby section:

Sofia Vanity Lamp from Restoration Hardware

This one is just so different and kind of funky.  It doesn’t look very babyish to me – so I could see it working on my nightstand.  And because it’s from the baby section – the price is a lot lower.  Not sure if it’s enough light for reading though.  Buying things online can be such a gamble!

Noelle Table Lamp from Restoration Hardware

This one also… not really babyish right?

So anyway – that’s where I’m at currently in my decorating-obsessed state.  Is this all part of nesting?  I don’t know – but I’m really into it right now.  And we didn’t really buy much stuff when we moved into this new apartment, so it’s fun to jazz the place up with a few new items!  Now I’m just waiting for everything to arrive!

Oh – and to fuel my fire… Adam bought me this awesome decorating book for my birthday… so excited to delve into this baby for some more inspiration!

As soon as things start to come together in the apartment, I’ll take some pictures so you can see how it’s all shaping up.  Oh – and please let me know if you have any favorite decorating blogs or shops for me to scope.  I’m on the lookout!

That’s all for now!  Have a fabulous Thursday everyone!

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A Sunday Filled With Muffins and Tacos is a Good Sunday…

9 Jan

I’ve had a first for the new year… I baked muffins!  That’s right – I don’t think I’ve ever baked muffins before.   Yesterday my friend Wendy came over and she was eating a delicious pumpkin muffin and there on the spot we got inspired and decided we were going to bake muffins.  I checked out my handy Cooks Illustrated: The Best New Recipe Cookbook (everything I make out of this cookbook comes out great – I highly recommend it!) and found a recipe for Cinnamon Sugar-Dipped Blueberry Muffins.  I had most of the ingredients on hand and off we went!

The blog Stylish Cuisine already outlined this blueberry muffin recipe here – but we made a few little tweaks out of necessity… and a sense of adventure.  

First, I only had shy of one cup of blueberries (I’ve been eating them with my cereal in the morning) – but I did have some blackberries… so we threw those in with the rest of my blueberries equaling about 1 1/2 cups of berries overall.

Then – I only had one cup of sour cream (the recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups), which I had bought for the tacos I was making for dinner).  Oh well… we threw that cup of sour cream in and then decided to add 1/4 of a cup of ricotta cheese, which I happened to have in my fridge from making turkey burgers the other night.  I figured – hey… it’s dairy, it’s yummy, I don’t want want it to go to waste – why not?

Well – I don’t know what these muffins would have tasted like without our little tweaks – but MAN – they came out DELICIOUS!  Oh – and when I went to get the ground cinnamon out of my pantry for the topping, I realized I didn’t have any.  But I did have some cinnamon sticks.  So I used my zester and made myself some freshly-ground cinnamon and wow… grating the cinnamon fresh like that is amazing!  It smelled SO good – much more intense than the usual store-bought ground cinnamon.

Here is a pic of one of our beautiful muffins… light and fluffy, perfectly moist, crumbly on top, with a nice coat of crunchy cinnamon sugar – YUM.

Cinnamon Sugar-Dipped Blueberry/Blackberry Muffin

 

Then came dinner.  One of our favorite dinners is TACO NIGHT!  I used to just buy those taco kits in the supermarket with the powdered seasoning mix and the taco shells – but after I looked at the ingredients on that seasoning packet I was determined to ditch the packet and do it up from scratch instead.  Here are the ingredients to the seasoning that comes in the box:

Maltodextrin, Salt, Chili Pepper, Onion Powder, Spice, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Corn Starch, Yellow Corn Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil (otherwise known as Trans Fats), Silicon Dioxide (Anticaking Agent), Natural Flavor, Ethoxyquin (Preservative).

Bad news!!

So I found this recipe (I honestly don’t remember where I got it!) and scribbled it on a piece of paper and I’m telling you… it makes the most delicious tacos.  And now we’ve subbed lean ground turkey breast for ground beef and I actually feel like it’s a healthy meal (and we CRAVE it)!  Try it out… you won’t be disappointed!

  • 2 tsp vegetable oil (I typically use canola)
  • 1 small onion chopped fine
  • 3 garlic cloves minced (I often press them in the garlic press – easier)
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 lb. ground turkey breast (I use lean ground turkey breast raised without antibiotics)
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce (I use Cento San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes) and squish them – it’s fun.
  • 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth (I use organic)
  • 2 tsp cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp brown sugar

Directions:

  1. Heat oil over medium heat – add onion and cook until softened (stirring around so it doesn’t burn) – about five minutes
  2. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne and salt and mix together with the onion.  Cook until fragrant (smells DELISH) – about a minute.
  3. Add turkey and break apart and cook until no longer pink – about 5 minutes
  4. Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, vinegar and brown sugar and bring to a simmer
  5. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring frequently until thick and no longer liquidy about 10 minutes

That’s it!  Now – measuring out the ingredients might take a few minutes… but when I put them all in little ramekins, I feel like a TV chef and it’s fun.  And then once everything’s measured, you just throw it all in the skillet and it’s done in no time.  And it’s so much more delicious – and you don’t get that super dehydrated feeling from all the salt and MSG and there’s no trans fats to make you fat and eventually give you heart disease!  Score.

Usually, I heat up a can of fat-free refried black beans and put together some toppings, which include:

  • sour cream
  • chopped up avocado
  • chopped tomatoes
  • shredded lettuce
  • shredded cheddar
  • salsa
  • Frank’s Red Hot 

This time, I had used up my sour cream and my avocado wasn’t ripe – so I skipped both of those and I must say – I didn’t really miss them.  I might continue to skip the sour cream in the future because it just adds extra fat (and I go full-fat with my sour cream because I hate the low-fat or fat-free – they taste nasty to me).

Oh – and finally, this time, we bought these amazing white corn tortillas from La Tortilla Factory brand and Adam heated up them up in a little oil (next time I want to try doing it without the oil).  They were the perfect vessel for our delicious fresh turkey tacos!

If you end up making either of these (muffins or tacos) – do tell me what you think!

Anyway – happy Monday everyone.  Looks like it’s going to be another fairly mild week in New York.  Yay.

xo

 

 

 

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Birthday Lunch at Jean Georges… Utter Deliciousness.

5 Jan

Happy 2012 everyone!  I’ve got to say the year is off to a wonderful start!  It’s only January 5th and I’ve already had a sublime birthday, involving one of my top five best meals of all time (I’ll go into food detail in a moment) and our dear friends Brette and Ben got engaged!  SO EXCITED for them!  Meanwhile, I’ve been working on my list of thirty-three things I want to do while I’m thirty-three.  I’m not going to share the entire list here – but I’ll give you some highlights:

  • Get my Brooklyn Library card and get into the library system (in NY, you can apparently “hold” books online and then have them sent to your nearest library branch) – I’ve just been buying a lot of books and I need to really rediscover the library – especially with the arrival of the little one!
  • Make my own baby food – my friend Amie just got me this awesome book called Baby Gourmet by Jenny Carenco.
  • Work on a baby-themed photo project – I already have one in mind and am excited to get started!
  • Take amazing pictures from our baby’s early days and actually make albums/photo books out of them (instead of leaving them forever in my computer library!!)
  • Buy a new camera lens – probably a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8
  • Start an Etsy shop for my photography and link it to nellsdish
  • Blog at least three times a week
  • Get a big cushy area rug for our apartment (preferably ivory/natural color and SHAG!) – I’ve been obsessing over this purchase for about a month now.
  • Read Eat to Live - my dad read this book and it has completely transformed him.  He has adopted amazingly healthy eating habits and feels fantastic.  It is inspiring to watch.  My only issue is that he told me that the book says cheese is pretty much the absolute worst food for you.  I don’t know if I can get behind that.  But at least I can read it! :)
  • Take a trip to St. John 
  • Get both Adam’s and my skin checked by a dermatologist (just an annual check-up of sorts – to be safe)

So that is a taste of my goals for thirty-three.  I’m not actually done with my list yet – but just mulling this stuff over and putting it in writing feels like a meaningful exercise and I’m sure it’ll help me focus on the things that are important to me in the year ahead.

Now onto the really good stuff… FOOD!

So – on my birthday, Adam surprised me with a lunch at Jean Georges – a restaurant on Central Park West owned and operated by world-famous chef and restauranteur Jean Georges Vongerichten and one of only seven three-Michelin Star restaurants in all of NYC (I’ve been to three of the seven… I think that is another goal to add to the list!).   As you can imagine… this was the perfect gift for me. Way to go hubby.

Now – I didn’t bring my camera along (with my extra pregnancy weight I’ve been less inclined to carry around my camera bag lately) – but we did take photos with Adam’s iPhone in order to share the dining experience with you.

Here is an interior shot of the dining room:

Jean Georges Interior

The lunch started with an amuse-bouche:

Amuse-bouche – Similar to but not to be confused with hors d’oeuvre. This is a tidbit, often tiny, served as a free extra to keep you happy while you are waiting for your first course to come. It gives you an idea of the chef’s approach to cooking and the restaurant’s attention to your appetite.

[From French, literally, "mouth amuser", from amuser (to amuse) + bouche (mouth).

In this case - we got three little amuse-bouches and they definitely did amuse our palates and get us excited for the meal to come:

A bite of Lightly Smoked Raw Salmon Wrapped Around Cucumber with a delightful Creme-Fraiche Topping, a Spring Roll filled with Truffled Goat Cheese and topped with Honey and a shot of Sweet Potato Soup with tart little Apple bits and Pumpernickel Croutons.  YUM.

Amuse Bouche

Then came the soup – one of the highlights for me (though everything was pretty much a highlight):

Parsnip Soup with Coconut, Lime and Mint

Parsnip Soup with Coconut, Lime and Mint

I love the way they served this soup.  The bowl came with just the Coconut froth and the the lime foam and then they poured the parsnip soup on top.  I tasted each element individually – the coconut froth was amazingly creamy and milky – I could have eaten it for dessert.  And the lime foam was super tart and sour – but when you blended the three together – total magic happened.  The smooth, creamy and silky texture of this divinely flavored soup completely rocked my world.  It was a food revelation.

Onto the next.

I ordered the Comte Risotto with Marinated Pear and Matsutake Mushrooms: 

Comte Risotto with Marinated Pear and Matsutake Mushrooms

Another completely rich, creamy and delectable dish… though I might have overdone it on the rich and creamy factor with this dish following that soup.  But I can’t imagine risotto being better than this.  EVER.

Adam ordered the Scallop Sashimi with Chipotle Mayo of Crispy Rice: 

Scallop Sashimi with Chipotle Mayo over Crispy Rice

Then came our mains… I’m sorry to report, we were so excited we forgot to take photos before we dove into these – so you’ll have to use your imagination on the visuals here.

I ordered the Red Snapper Crusted with Nuts and Seeds Served in a Sweet and Sour Jus.  This dish also blew my mind.  The fish was tender and luscious and the jus was mouthwateringly buttery and was filled with sour yellow and red grape tomatoes and chunks of potato.  I could have eaten that broth as a soup.  It was heavenly.

Adam ordered the Parmesan Crusted Confit Leg of Chicken with Artichoke, Basil and Lemon Butter.  He LOVED this… though I thought my fish dish was way yummier.

Then came dessert.  We ordered one dessert for the two of us to share – of course, it had two elements, so it was pretty much two desserts – A Cranberry Parfait with Walnut Nougatine Covered in Soft Vanilla Meringue and a Sweet Potato Souffle with Cranberries and Medjol Dates: 

Cranberry Parfait and Sweet Potato Souffle

Both of these were excellent… though the savory elements of the meal definitely out-shined the desserts in my mind.

Then they came out with a special birthday chocolate cake for me!  Oye vey.  We were totally busting at the seams full by this point… but I had to have a few bites!  It was so beautiful… the little gold leaf pieces were pretty much dancing and they looked so beautiful in the candlelight…  way to finish.

My birthday chocolate cake

The meal finished off with a server coming around and snipping off four homemade marshmallows (from one long marshmallow chain), which he pulled from a large glass jar and then four homemade chocolates (including a mind-blowing peanut butter and jelly-filled chocolate) and two mini macarons.  Too much.  But in the best of ways.

Here is us at the end of the meal:

Then we left, and I promptly fell asleep on the subway ride home – in my food-induced bliss/coma.

Best birthday EVER.

Oh – and just a note.  We’ve been to a few of these super high-end restaurants – but always for dinner.  This was our first lunch experience and I have to say… that is TOTALLY the way to go!  It was daylight when we left and we had hours to digest our food before bed.  It was also SO much cheaper than it would have been had we gone for dinner.  So we got to have this amazing food experience without the guilt involved in spending way too much money.  I’m definitely going to see if those other Michelin star restaurants serve lunch.  Thank you Amy Basset for the suggestion!

Now – I’m off to my OB for a checkup!  Saturday will be thirty weeks!  CRAZY!

Love to you all and may this year bring much happiness, inspiration and all things good.

xo

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Laughing Stock

31 Dec

Happy New Year’s Eve day everyone!  Ahhhh… the last day of the year… for me, always a time for reflection on the year passed and for looking ahead and pondering my goals and wishes for the coming year.  This new year is obviously going to be a life-changer for us with the addition of our new little family member.  And while typically, I tend to feel a little blue around the new year and my birthday (two days from now), this year I am just filled with excitement and anticipation for what’s to come.  Bring on 2012 baby!!

Meanwhile… “Laughing Stock”.  Let me explain.  I’m not sure if you remember my post from last June about “Squeenstock” – our friend Dan and Yvonne’s wedding in New Orleans.  If you are interested, go back to that post and just skim to get the background on the “Stockers” and how the tradition of the “Stock” started.  Ok… now I’ll move forward.  Sadly, Dan and Yvonne are now leaving us New Yorkers and heading out west to reunite with fellow Stockers Brett and Emily out in LA.  Every time there is a major life event in a Stocker’s life (a wedding, a move), we get the group together and throw a “Stock”.  Hence – “Laughing Stock”.  This year, “Laughing Stock” was created to bid farewell to our dear friends Dan and Yvonne.  Emily and Brett came to town from LA and the six of us spent Wednesday evening cramming the most fun possible into seventeen hours together.  One key Stocker was missing… Courtney – out in Minneapolis… but we skyped her in of course.  No Stock is complete without at least the virtual gathering of all of us.

So – way back when when the Jackson’s left NYC for Geneva, Switzerland we had a big two-day send-off party called “Jackstock”. For entertainment at “Jackstock” Adam invented a game – called “The Bag of Chaos”.  This is how it worked…  each member of the gathering came up with ideas for things to do, see and eat around NYC.  We threw all these ideas into the “Bag of Chaos” and one by one, we picked ideas out of the bag.  No matter what the idea – we all succumbed to the bag and just did whatever we pulled.  The game took us on a whirlwind tour of New York – from rowing boats in Central Park, to scoping out the waterfalls display from the South Street Seaport, to drinking beers at Zum Schneider, to a group trip to H&M to buy matching bathing suits, then finding this “Bar in midtown with a pool” (that’s what the card said – “There’s this bar in midtown with a pool”) and going swimming, to constructing a homemade miniature golf course on the roof of our apartment building and playing a round of golf. Crazy you might think?  Well it was a total blast.

Now for “Laughing Stock” we didn’t have an entire weekend… we had seventeen hours (some of which had to be spent sleeping).  We also have a pregnant woman in her seventh month (your’s truly), the Jackson’s literally came straight from the airport along with their pup Alfie, Dan and Yvonne had to spend the entire next day packing up their apartment and it’s winter.  Thus – the idea for the “Bag of Compromise” was born (Thank you once again Adam).  Over a finger-lickin’ good BBQ dinner at The Smoke Joint in Fort Greene, we all came up with ideas for the evening’s entertainment.  This time, activities were pretty much restricted to our apartment and there was an “A” side and a “B” side to each card.  When a card was pulled, we read both sides (each with a different activity) and collectively decided what we’d rather do.  Then… the fun ensued.

Here is a list of the evening’s events (in order) as pulled and chosen from the “Bag of Compromise”:

  • “Youtube Film Festival” – each submits one favorite Youtube video.  All watch.  All vote on the best.  (my submission was “Mommy’s Nose is Scary“.  I’m obsessed with that video. It came in second place to Michelle Bachmann’s bad lip reading video – submitted by Brett )
  • Brainstorm a “Stock Cookbook” – all submit a recipe
  • Skype Courtney!
  • Play a game of Pictionary and make milkshakes for while we’re playing
  • Draw a portrait of another stocker.  (We drew names to determine our portrait subject)
  • “Group pregger snap”!  Translated as group photo with me (AKA “pregger”) at the center.

  • Group Pregger Snap! Notice our matching PJ pants, lovingly crafted for us by Emily at a previous "Stock".

  • “Blind Activities” (For this activity, Emily and I compiled a group of ten household and kitchen items and gave each contestant the same blind smell test – Brett was the winner identifying seven out of ten!)
  • Champagne Toast for Dan and Yvonne!
  • “Acquire six-sided die.  Roll to see who gets to be the “Dolly”.  ”Dolly” makeover!”  (For this activity, Yvonne got to be the lucky stocker who received a ten-minute makeover from the rest of us).

  • Yvonne getting her "Dolly" makeover - Photo by Adam Reid

  • Upstairs closet party by candlelight.  (Yes… we have a large closet in our loft that is rather fort-like – so we grabbed a candle, all crawled in and had a little ten-minute closet party.)

That was pretty much the end of our “Bag of Compromise” excitement.  By this time it was after two in the morning and we were all a bit spent (me especially!).  So we packed it in and said goodnight and had a big sleepover at our place.  We rose early for cheesy eggs, toast and lots of coffee (thank you Breakfast Chef Adam) and by eleven AM – everyone was gone.  Another “Stock” gone by, leaving Adam and me – the only remaining Stockers in NYC.  Sniff Sniff.

I must say this…  I appreciate this group of friends for so many reasons… but most of all – how often are you surrounded by people that are so open, and energetic, and creative and goofy and GAME for anything?!  We only get to see each other on average about once a year at this point… but look how much fun is crammed into that once a year gathering!  It kind of holds you over – you know?  So – fellow Stockers… I love you.  Thanks for being so much fun!  My life is much richer having all of you in it.

Now – I must go take a shower and get ready to bring in the new year.  Oh – and speaking of… today is also a special day because it is my girl Faye’s birthday!  So Faye my darling… I’m sorry I can’t be with you this year (we used to spend all our birthdays together) but I’m thinking about you!

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday dear FAYE!!

Happy  birthday to you!

Have a safe and wonderful evening everyone!  Talk to you in 2012!

xoxo

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A little creative inspiration for the holiday weekend…

24 Dec

Carousel at Bryant Park

Happy holidays everyone!  It has been a lovely start to the day over here.  Reading in bed until ten-thirty (currently reading On Writing by Stephen King), a delightful egg and cheese sandwich on a toasted Bays Multigrain English Muffin, made with love by my breakfast chef supreme husband.  In a couple hours we are heading out to go see The Artist at BAM (down the street) and that is pretty much the main event on this quiet and sleepy Saturday.  Tomorrow we’ll probably catch another movie and a Chinese dinner (Jewish Christmas).  My kind of weekend for sure.  I hope you are all traveling safe and that you enjoy your weekend filled with family, food, friends, presents and all things merry.

I’ll leave you with a fun, creative, foodie-inspired stop motion short by an artist named Pes that Adam turned me onto this week. Enjoy!

Oh – and here’s a little stop motion holiday gem – created by Adam and the talented team at Bodega:

Happy holidays to all of you and warmest wishes for a wonderful weekend!

xoxo

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The Baby Zone…

22 Dec

Yup – I’m deep in it.  I’ve been educating myself lately on all types of baby products – strollers, swings, bouncy seats, pack n’plays, crib mattresses, etc.  You name it – I’ve read about it recently.  It’s amazing how much information you can cram into your brain when you are set on learning something new.  Meanwhile, we’ve ordered a crib and a dresser and now a rocker/glider – all being delivered in mid-February.  I cannot wait.  In fact, the nesting stage has started to get more intense recently and I seriously just want to set up the entire baby area today.  Like right this second.  But – I’ll have to wait.  In the meantime, I’ve come across some other little baby things that have made me swoon.  These are my faves so far:

Stick-on Tree Wall Decal:

I’m debating between these two:

Tree #1:

Tree Stick-On Wall Decal

or Tree #2 (in different colors) – I love the blowing leaves:

I am definitely ordering one of these this week.  I can picture it being so sweet on our big white wall with the crib right below – and I just love trees.  Side note… I never was one to want a tattoo because I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to put on my skin permanently.  However, after seeing the artistry involved in Adam’s awesome tattoo, I started thinking about it a bit more openly.  And you know what I came up with?  A tree.  If I ever get a tattoo (which I still probably won’t), I could totally see getting a small, beautiful tree – with roots – on the back of my neck (so I can hide it).    There’s just something about trees that make me happy.  They’re earthy and grounded and natural and peaceful.  Ahhhh trees.  Anyway blah blah… pardon my rambles.

Meanwhile, I just think these stick-on wall decals are a brilliant idea!  While researching, I found another site called Blik, which sells a bunch of really cool decals.  I think this one is awesome (maybe for the next phase) – I love how the doodles make their way all over the walls and even onto the floor.  So fun!

Baby Bot Doodles Wall Decal

Next obsession…

Zutano Fleece Stuff:

Ok – so the first thing I saw were this booties/mittens/hat combo which I totally melted over:

And then this one literally turned me into mush:

Elf Onesie

I mean for real??  A little baby elf wrapped in fleece?  I can’t deal.

Then yesterday I ran into this onesie at a great little natural products store in Fort Greene called Green in Bklyn (great store… you should check it out if you’re ever in the hood).

Brooklyn Onesie by Maptote

Cute right?  Our little Brooklyn baby to be.  This onesie is made by a company in Brooklyn called Maptote.

Anyway, forgive me – I’ll try to get myself under control… but this stuff is just ridiculous.  Now I can see how parents go completely nuts with baby stuff.  Everything’s just too cute.  Oh – and by the way… I haven’t really been having many weird cravings throughout my pregnancy, but the other night I was in rare form and had an intense craving for Chinese Food, sour patch kids and milkshakes all at once!  I refrained.  But wow.

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