New to the neighborhood, but not to NYC, is Chef Suchanan Aksornnan's Baoburg. Recently named one of New York's most badass female chefs by Thrillist, the creations at Baoburg live up to the hype. I stopped by late on a recent week night, and the tiny restaurant was pretty packed. The décor is cute and charming, very … Continue reading Greenpoint Bites: Baoburg
As a fan of hot pot, I knew I had to try Chinese dry pot! The new East Village/Alphabet City restaurant Mala Project serves just that. But what exactly is dry pot? A Sichuanese specialty, this dish is like hot pot but served dry sans soup. Dinners select 4-10 different ingredients from meat to veggies to … Continue reading Adventures in New York: Chinese Dry Pot
For New Year's, I spent the long weekend in the lovely North Carolina city of Durham. Of course, the first of the year has to be kicked off with eating a bowl of Hoppin' John's, black eyed peas and other vegetables like collard greens. It might be a strange way to start the day, but … Continue reading New Year’s in Durham, NC: Part I
Despite all of the warnings leading up to Saturday's record-breaking snowstorm, I don't think anyone quite believed this would really be the big one...until it hit. I went out that morning around 10am for yoga class, not realizing that a foot of snow had already fallen in Central Park and throughout New York. On my … Continue reading Adventures in New York: Snow Day!
Epirus, Greece A little bit of a departure from my normal format, I thought I would write a little bit about the cooking blogs that inspire me. First is Rachel Ray. While a lot of chefs tend to scoff at her, Rachel Ray recipes are the way I learned to cook (thanks to my mom) … Continue reading Blog Roll Call
After a lovely train ride, a trip to the grocery store, and a couple of wrong turns, we finally made it to our cabin in the woods. Eric Berelovich found the perfect place outside of Accord, NY. The cabin had plenty of bedrooms, the latest IKEA furniture, but weirdly no curtains on any of the windows. … Continue reading Hudson Valley Adventure Part II
One of my absolute favorite things is to make dinner and/or baked goods for my friends. I am notorious for forcing Tupperwares of leftovers on people. Here, I just wanted to make sure everyone got some treats! This past winter, I held a dinner party. I managed to make a total Frankenstein's-monster-esque table. Yes, by … Continue reading Sometimes I threaten my roommates with baked goods…
Sunday night, I decided to try a new mac and cheese recipe. This one comes from a friends Beer of the Month Newsletter, but they found it via livelovepasta. I've been wanting to try this one for awhile. I did make a few adjustments to the recipe just to save some money. I didn't add … Continue reading Adventures in Cooking: Beer Mac N Cheese
This past fall, I fully embraced the seasonal pumpkin fad as overdone as it might seem. One of the most exciting pumpkin adventures was the pumpkin cask ale at Brouwerij Lane, a fabulous beer store/bar in Greenpoint. Yes, that is a tap in a pumpkin that pours great beer. I don't know that I would … Continue reading Pumpkin Mania
To celebrate Spring (and a massive apartment cleaning effort), my roommates and I had a few people over on Sunday for dinner. I made an eclectic main course of Chicken Tikka Masala with Cheddar Bacon Biscuits. Yes, I know it makes no sense together, but they are both great foods. I also cheated a bit … Continue reading Adventures in Cooking: Chicken Tikka and Biscuits
Athena Pappas 