v.2

 I got a couple more food related posts, hence the title.

A couple of  weekends ago we had lunch in the ‘hood at Jay and Lloyd’s Kosher deli. Sienna picked a hot dog for her kid’s meal but was soon discovered that she quite enjoyed Yves’ pastrami sandwich! I got some matzoh ball soup and a pastry knish (potato with the skins). During the course of our meal, they were also handing out free samples of liver (which nobody sampled), fried zucchini and potato pancake. Yum!

I know you can’t see the pastrami (it also seems like she’s eating her fingers!) but it’s there!

And here is a funny video of Sienna while we were having pizza for lunch the other day after the Little Gym.

Too Much! from Lisa on Vimeo.

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Last week instead of having a mixer, I went out to dinner with the ladies (Brenda, Ali and Joy). We went to Ippudo, a ramen noodle place. Yes, a ramen noodle place. The stuff you eat in college that you add water to. Go figure! But there were good things said about this place. If you go there too late, there is an hour to hour and a half wait. We made it just in time and when the whole party got there, we walked right in. It had a cool tree like (or maybe it was real? Couldn’t tell as it was dark and I didn’t go up to it) sculpture in the middle of the restaurant. There seemed to be a lot of workers there as they cheered when you walk in and there was always a bevy of different people filling your water or taking your plate.

We ordered 3 appetizers, well I guess it’s actually 4 since we got 2 orders of the Hirata Buns (steamed buns, filled with pork, served with lppudo original spicy buns sauce.) These were similiar in style to the pork buns at the Momofuku Milk bar. I felt like you get more pork at the milk bar but I guess because of the sauce, it was spicier, which I liked. We also got what I swear to remember as pork belly but I don’t see it on the menu at menupages! As well as a Phildelphia Cheesesteak egg roll. I was so curious about this! They were all delicious!

2 orders of pork buns

The pork belly

Joy breaking the egg over the pork belly

The Philly Cheesesteak Egg roll

The ramen soup I ordered (which Joy also ordered) is not on the menu on menupages so I can’t give the name or accurate description. I do know that it had duck and an egg in it! While it was very good, I have to say that the apps were way better and tastier to me. The soup was just ok and while I can’t seem to taste MSG (or know any effects it has on me), I read that they do use that and Joy did taste it.

My/Joy’s ramen

Brenda’s (I think she got this:Kogashi Miso tonkotsu based noodle soup, a dark, rich broth made from roasted miso, topped with slices of berkshire pork, fish cake, green bok choice cabbage, and glazed with a layer of oil.)

Ali’s classic (Shiromaru Hakata Classic ‘the original tonkotsu’ soup noodles with slices of simmered berkshire pork, kikurage, red pickled ginger, menma, 1/2 hard boiled egg, sesame & scallions)

Brenda ordered a salted egg on the side that she shared. When it came I thought the shell was still on it but that brown color is not the shell. I was told it’s steeped in tea? It was quite yummy. The inside was perfect!

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Back in early December, I met up with my friend Rachel and we hit up the Handmade Cavalcade craft fair and Martha Stewart’s craft fair. It was a rainy and cold day, not the most ideal weather for trekking in the city but it was fun regardless! We went to the cavalcade on Mott Street first, right when it opened but boy, it got crowded pretty fast! It was hard to resist all the fun goodies and I tried not to be selfish and buy just for myself. I think I did ok! I managed to snag myself a beautiful handmade Betta Fish screenprinted journal from fisk and fern. I recognized her name from her participation in my gocco postcard swap I hosted. It was great to meet her as her card was one of my favorites in the swap. She’s super sweet too! I also met Simone of craftevolution and whose etsy shop is Groundsel. I actually was introduced to her via facebook from a Bay Ridge mom who said that we were the 2 craftiest people she knew. It turned out that I was already a reader of her blog! She was really nice and I had meant to go back to her booth and buy her super cute hair clips but like I mentioned above, it got crowded really fast and I forgot! I did pick up some pretty hand soap from Nordea’s soaperia and picked up a present for my father in law. Peppersprout had these cool wooden coasters with the names of the 4 boroughs of nyc on each one (Staten Island was left out, hmmm, wonder why?) I thought he would appreciate the hand craftness of it. Sadly I forgot to take any photos of the fair. Then we headed to lunch at brgr, which is right down the block from where Martha’s craft fair was. I was actually there in November and while the burger wasn’t bad, the onion rings were the reason I wanted to go back! MMM, red onions sliced really thin!

Anyhow, I digress! Turns out there was a bit of a wait to get into Martha’s craft fair. A line outside of the building and then another line once you get inside! The wait wasn’t too bad and it was definitely more spacious once we were inside and also included lots of displays from MS Living Holiday magazine spread. It was fun to look around but I didn’t buy anything.

I parted with Rachel after that and did a quick stop for some Christmas shopping. The reason I called this post Inspiration was because of the last store I passed before jumping on the subway. Beads of Paradise is a store on 17th street full of beads (duh) and lost of other fun stuff. I didn’t go inside (too tempting) but the window display was enough! So amazing and inpirational! Really, these photos do not do it justice. I just loved how it was filled up with so much fun stuff! I love the colors! I love the little dolls and the button eyes! I love it all!

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The first weekend of 2010 was brutally cold (actually so was the 2nd weekend but finally some relief this weekend with a expected balmy temp of the mid 40’s). So we went back to the Staten Island Children’s Museum. The first time we went was back in October of ’09. It was Yves’ idea to go this time and he was even thinking of becoming a member. I don’t know who has more fun, Yves or Sienna!

For lunch, we opted to head on over to Lento’s, a thin crust pizza place that we loved in Bay Ridge (which closed in 2006). While I never thought the Staten Island location compared, it was better than going down the road for lunch as we did last time. Plus it made Yves so happy! We ordered mozzarella sticks, a salad for me and the pizza with half black olives/pepperoni and half cheese. Sienna enjoyed it was well!

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Since my parents do Christmas presents on the Eve, we didn’t have much planned for the rest of Christmas Day after opening our own presents. I was delighted that Starr invited us over along with Geneva, Layne and Phoenix. I always get so bummed out right after opening presents. So much preparation and excitement and hub bub for the one big day and then bam, all done. Of course it’s fun to play with all the goodies you got but I still get a little sad when it’s all over. So I was happy to prolong it just a little bit with a party at Starr’s house! Woohoo! I made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, my now “famous” homemade thin mints, macaroni and cheese and some pretzles with chocolate kisses and M&M’s on top and homemade chocolate lollipops.

We played a fun game while we were there. Everyone gets a sticker on their back with the name of a celebrity that made the news that year. We have to guess who we are by asking yes or no questions to everyone else. It was so much fun! I was Michael Jackson and I was suprised at how long it took me to guess him! Yves was Bernie Madoff and he was the last to guess. So a bit later we did the White Elephant. Everyone brings a gift and one person picks a gift and opens it. Then the next person on the list can either take away your gift or opt to open a new gift. I goofed by only bringing one gift from me and Yves. The kids each got a gift but got to keep the ones they opened! I ended up getting scratch off lottery tickets (no winners, boo!) and Yves got coffee mugs and dish towel/mitt because Geneva was nice enough to be the one short changed a gift. The big prize was the Blue Mountain coffee I gave as a gift. Geneva opened it and it got taken by Starr. LOL. Brian made pulled pork sandwiches with homemade BBQ sauce, collard greens, butternut squash and slaw. Geneva brought over a wonderful green salad with cranberries and walnuts in it. It was really a fun time!

Layne, Yves, Geneva and Starr

Sylvie and a messy cookie

Sienna didn’t do too badly with the chocolate!

Sienna got a platypus for her White Elephant gift, which she promptly called a duck.

Nico watching excitedly as his dad Brian opens his gift (2 frames and M&M’s)

Phoenix got our puzzles!

The kids flocked around Yves a lot that night!

Starr and Sylvie

Some great peeps!

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Yes, I realize I am really behind in my posts and in wishing you all Happy Holidays. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and got lots of great presents and spent time with the ones you love! I have the Jamaica vacation to write about as well as lots of swaps but wanted to start off with Christmas.

My parents came over on the Eve (as per tradition) and we all got our red envelopes. We gave my dad a OXO chopper and a melon slicer device. My mom got a calendar of Sienna photos. Sienna got a bunch of presents! She got some a new frog animal (she named Ribbit), wood blocks, a Winne the Pooh computer (which she promptly said that she was going to check her e-mail!), a vest jacket, fleece and sweatshirt with Tinklebell and some Tag books (she didn’t open the actual Tag device until Christmas morning since that was from us.) Then we went to eat at the East River restaurant in the Brooklyn Chinatown. It was all good!

Christmas morning Sienna woke up at 6:20 with excitement to open presents. They usually let me sleep a bit but Sienna came into the bedroom to wake me up! Well, how could I say no? Originally we were thinking of holding back some presents since Yves bought her a bunch of stuff and I bought her a bunch of stuff. We decided to just hold back one present (to save for her birthday) after spending 10 days with a certified brat of a toddler, it made us appreciate how well behaved Sienna is (for the most part anyway, she still is only 3 months shy of being 3!) And the fun begins! Yves got her a bunch of Melissa and Doug wooden toys. She got fake wood food, wood pots and pans and a set of instruments for her “band.” She also got the Tag Reader and another tag book from us as well as 3 more wooden puzzles and a tool set and bench from Santa. My brother sent her a Curious George write your own book set and from Jamaica, a ballerina wooden puzzle and some crocs. I gave Yves a diver’s watch, an F1 driving game, Boom Blox (2nd version) and sports set for the Wii. I also gave him the Christmas version of It’s Almost Sunny in Philadelphia. Yves spoiled me as well. I got the Hello Kitty sizzix that I wanted (for cutting fabric and felt! woohoo!) with a bunch of the dies. I also got a new pocket camera! Mine broke earlier this year and Yves was tired of me asking to borrow his (actually the one that broke was his too! He bought that one when Sienna was born to take quick shots of her!) We ended the fun by having a yummy breakfast of homemade buttermilk waffle and bacon. Later on we went to Starr’s house for a fun party that I will write about tomorrow!

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It’s been a month since my semi-regular lunch date at Shopsin’s with Pete. It’s been so long that I don’t even remember the names of the sandwiches we got. I want to say one was gihadboy. They both had tahini in it. I’m sad to say that while these sandwiches were good, they definitely are on the bottom of the list of my favorite things at Shopsin’s. The very bottom. Well, it was bound to happen at one time!

Pete’s pick and the tastier of the two. This one had pignoli nuts in it and really added a nice touch.

My choice, had eggs in it.

Pete made this origami suit out of dollar bills and left it as part of the tip.

After lunch we headed over to try stuffed Artisan cannoli’s. I’m not a huge cannoli person but I had to give these flavored treats a try. We got 3 mini ones. Of course I picked Mint Chocolate Chip and Pete picked the peanut butter and chocolate one. And we both agreed on the pumpkin pie one as the 3rd choice. I think the pumpkin pie was my favorite. I did enjoy the other two as well. I’m glad they offered mini ones as I don’t know if I can handle a whole one. (Who am I kidding? I can handle a whole one but I would be more satisfied just eating a chocolate bar!)

Pumpkin, chocolate mint and Reese’s

A couple of their other flavors

Stuffed and Satisfied

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As I mentioned in the previous post, I met up with Brenda for dinner before the surprise baby shower for Robyn in October. We went to Kampuchea restaurant, they make Cambodian street food. It was quite tasty. We got the Num Pang (sandwiches) and did the tasting, a choice of three sandwiches. I’m afraid the photo of the sandwiches don’t really tell you much. Once I start eating, I forget about taking pictures! We got the oxtail, the pork meat balls and the house made pork pate and headcheese terrine. I was most excited to try the oxtail and sadly, I was disappointed in it. It was good but just didn’t have that oomph I expect from eating oxtail. Surprisingly, my favorite was the pork pate! MMMM!! We also ordered a side of bacon fried rice and drank fresh watermelon juice. I’d like to go back and try the crispy pork belly! MMMM!

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Speaking of babies, we had a surprise baby shower for Robyn during the October mixer. (Hmm, I guess you can’t really call it a mixer since no cd’s were exchanged!) We went back to the Magician, since it worked so well for the surprise shower they gave me back in January 2007. I was so glad that Robyn was surprised! Whew! Such pressure to keep it a surprise. Of course, we also bought a dozen cupcakes from Sugar Sweet Sunshine. Robyn and Eric both loved all the gifts, the cupcakes and the surprise (well, just Robyn since Eric knew about it!) It only took 2.5 years for another CDMOMer to get pregnant, who’s next?!!!

I met up with Brenda before the mixer for dinner. I suppose I should keep that post separate and will write about it next.

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Time for some Halloween fun! First and foremost, I want to note that I indeed finish the skeleton stuffie I started at Etsy Labs earlier this month!

I opted to do the face features with fabric paint instead of black felt. I like him!
These are the handmade items I made for the Harajuku Girls Group Halloween Swap on swap-bot. I included other Halloween related items but didn’t take photos of those. The black cat and pumpkin keychain are made of felt and I got the pattern from a Japanese craft book I recently purchases. The black and orange towels were blank from Kohl’s and I embroidered matching cute skulls, an image I got from a Stampin’ Up catalog! I used Saral transfer paper for this, which worked out really well although I initially bought it to transfer images onto felt, which does not work so well!

Then last week Geneva and Phoenix came over to help carve the pumpkin we got from Lawrence Farms. I never carved a pumpkin before! Geneva was kind enough to do the initial cutting and gutting. She let me and Sienna carve out the face. We even roasted the seeds, also something I’ve never done before!

The Jack O’Lantern barely lasted a week (we kept it indoors). I read that if you put cinnamon powder inside and the cut rim, it would last longer. I don’t know if this is true but it gave the pumpkin a dark and dull look. It started rotting about 5 days after. I was going to put it outside on the patio but wanted to wait until closer to Halloween. Oh well. At least I know how to do it for next year!

I am also proud of myself for making part of Sienna’s Halloween costume and the accompanying piece for Yves to wear.  You’ll understand what I mean when you see it. I’ll post it after Halloween so I don’t ruin the surprise.

Yesterday I made chocolate covered peeps and chocolate covered pretzel rods with sprinkles. I’m not really a peeps person but I saw this idea at Jacques Torres being sold for $1.25! (I thought I saw it for $1.25 but then saw on someone’s blog that it was $2.25) So since someone sent me peeps in a swap, I wanted to try it out. Of course the ones from Jacques Torres probably tastes better because of the quality of chocolate (it better for that price!). I still haven’t tried it yet.  I’ll probably give it away at the Halloween festival tomorrow.

The ones at JT had eyes on them. I was going to put them on but realized I had the gel frosting so it would probably get all gooey in the bag.

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