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Archive | October, 2009

Eatery

I have been to Eatery at least half a dozen times, and it’s always a good meal. I happen to love their mac & cheese with the frizzled onions on top, however, I try not to pig out there TOO often. One thing I used to love about them were their shrimp chip-things (I call them “chip-things” because they aren’t really chips… they are more the consistency of puffed rice in a chip shape and size). Unfortunately, due to an apparent HUGE shellfish allergy problem in NYC, they have abandoned the shrimp chips and now just give out sesame seed chips. It is a big loss, however, these chips are tasty and nearly as addictive as the original.

One of our dining partners is only in the city every once in a while, so we told her to feel no guilt about getting the mac & cheese. I’m glad she did because I even got a bite!

Our other fellow diner got the burger which looked quite tasty.

I went with an appetizer special: duck ravioli. I am failing to remember the specifics, but I remember it sounded absolutely amazing and tasted good… but not great.

The winning dish was actually a last second ordered side of blue cheese mashed potatoes. This stuff was like crack!

Overall, I think Eatery is a good place to go where everyone will find something they like at a reasonable (for NYC) price (but not cheap).

Total Nom Points: 6 out of 10

Tags: blue cheese mashed potatoes, duck ravioli, eatery, mac and cheese, restaurant reviews, restaurants, shrimp chips, sweet potato fries

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Categories Eating Out

We are family

26 Oct

Sometime in the last few years, my cousins all realized that we actually like one another (rather than just being stuck together). There are 10 of us and we are all within about 10 years of each others’ ages, with most of us hovering around our late twenties/early thirties at this time. Most of us also have remained in the area we grew up (North/Central New Jersey) and have spouses or boyfriends. This usually leads to 20 of us total (which I’m sure is a nightmare for wedding seating). This year, we instituted cousin’s club so we can all get together on our own (without needing the excuse of a family gathering and our parents). Our second cousin’s club was recently, so I decided to bring Mike’s now famous squash souffle (we brought it to Thanksgiving last year and it was a hit).

The night before we whipped up all the ingredients in my mixer and then poured it into the spring form. (it’s crazy simple)

We then topped it with cinnamon and set it to bake for about an hour (my spring form makes it thicker, so it bakes longer than the usual recipe… next time I may do two so it’s thinner).

It seemed to be a hit at the party the next day (you can serve it cold or hot… I prefer it a little cold actually).

Mike’s recipe is a secret, however, so you’ll only get it out of me if we’re related or you’re REALLY REALLY special.

Our hostess of the gathering, Adena, also made some scrumptious food for us all to nosh on throughout the afternoon.

It was quite a spread

A breakfast casserole (that I photographed before it went back into the oven for more cooking)

My 1st favorite of the day, apple stuffed french toast

And my 2nd favorite of the day (made by cousin Kyle… girl Kyle), Pumpkin Cheescake (with the most unbelievable brown sugared nuts on top)

And of course some pizza bagels!

Tags: apple stuffed french toast, cousin's club, pizza bagels, pumpkin cheesecake, squash souffle

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Categories Baking, Cooking

Thank you BBQ

23 Oct

A few weeks ago, I got the hair brained idea to build a ~~screen…~~ ~~divider…~~ ~~divider with door…~~ divider with french doors for Mike and my new apartment. It wound up being quite a project, yet with the help of my fantastic dad’s building skills (and physical laboring) and tools borrowed from friends, Josh and Lillian, we managed to complete the undertaking. I seriously couldn’t have done it without dad, Josh, Lil, an Mike. Here is the finished product:

(doors closed)

(doors open)

Originally, I wanted to take everyone out to dinner, but Josh and Lillian had already taken out steaks for a BBQ and invited us over. I felt bad changing my treat dinner into crashing their BBQ, but I brought a thank you mini pumpkin, beer, shrimp, and veggies to hopefully show my appreciation.

When we got there, the steaks had already been marinated in Black & Tan beer. Lillian had thought up this master creation while BBQing a mushroom on a fire pit and determining Black & Tan to be the only viable liquid. Turns out it tasted great so we were treated to Black & Tan steaks.