Classic Cocktail: The Cosmo

The old classic, the Cosmo, has become one of my go-to cocktails. With prices of drinks ranging from $12-$18 here in New York, the Cosmo is an easy way to enjoy cocktails at home with friends without a $100 bar tab. Not to mention its super easy to make. 

This is to make a traditional cosmo, with Cranberry juice. There are a lot of great variations that I have had such as white peach, orange cranberry, etc. Here, I am sticking to the classic. As with any cocktail, the amounts are open to interpretation ;)

The Cosmo:

-3 oz (2 shots) vodka

-1.5 oz triple sec

-3 squirts lime juice (to taste) I swear by the "Nellie & Joe's" brand.

-Fill remainder of shaker with 100% Cranberry Juice

Simply combine everything in a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes, shake, and pour.

Tip: place your glasses in the freezer before so they have a nice frost on them when serving!

Enjoy!

With its red/pink hue this would also be a perfect, easy cocktail to serve for a Valentine's Day night in!

David Burke Kitchen at the James Hotel

If there is any day that is appropriate for brunch, it is Mother's Day. This year, I had brunch at David Burke Kitchen at the James Hotel. David Burke is a chef from New Jersey who was once featured on top chef America and has a few restaurants in the city. 

David Burke Kitchen is a more contemporary American restaurant tucked away in front of the trendy James Hotel in SoHo. The brunch menu features an array of classics such as eggs benedict as well as Burke's take on brunch. For example, there is a drink called "The Morning After."...it was actually very good!

Since it was a beautiful Sunday in the city, we sat outside on the deck in the "treehouse" near the bar area. We opted for the pre-fixe menu which included an appetizer or dessert, an entree, and a Bloody Mary or mimosa. The Bloody Mary was very good! I then had the "waffle grand slam" with waffles, eggs, bacon, and sausage. I hadn't eaten that much for breakfast in SO long. To finish brunch off we got a round of mimosas and the famous monkey bread. If there is one thing you must get on the menu, it's the monkey bread!

A Rainbow of Macaron

Photos: My Own

The Macaron is the perfect treat- not too big but full of flavor and able to satisfy that sweet tooth. Vendôme Macaron, based in New York, recently launched at the 5th floor cafe of Saks Fifth Avenue. Macarons have become quite trendy as a dessert option. The display of macarons available to guests for tasting created quite the rainbow of colors. 

The flavors ranged from Pistachio and Limoncello to Cassis de Provence and Strawberry. I must admit, the Vendôme Macarons were very good- a slightly firm outside and a soft inside, full of flavor. Of course my favorite color combination were the green & pink ones next to each other! You can read more about Vendôme by visiting in their website.

Tapas in Barcelona

Tapas, small appetizers and snacks, is very popular and renowned in Spanish cuisine. Thus, my trip to Barcelona would not have been complete without authentic, Spanish tapas. As you can imagine, the array of tapas restaurants from which to choose is quite overwhelming. Without a guidebook, we just picked one that looked nice from the outside.

We settled upon Taller de Tapas in the Gothic District. Situated on a pretty quite, narrow street, the location was perfect for people watching and enjoying the nice weather. The menu had over 4 pages of just tapas....the choices were endless. It's perfect for sharing, so a friend and I order a variety and just split everything. A bottle of cava went perfect with the meal as well. 

What I loved most about the Spanish culture is their relaxed pace of life. We could have stayed for an hour to eat or 4 hours- the waiters do not care! Needless to say, we sat for a few hours enjoying the cava, setting, and great food. When in Spain, try tapas!

Fancy Grilled Cheese

Some of us love to cook while others of us do not. I tend to cluster in the latter group mainly because I never have the time to properly invest in cooking. What a better way to "cook" than taking a twist on a childhood favorite: grilled cheese.

While browsing pinterest the other day, I came across a recipe for a modern grilled cheese so to speak: spinach, avocado, and goat cheese grilled cheese. Sounds amazing right? 

Source: diana212m.blogspot.com.au via Life Through Preppy Glasses on Pinterest

The sandwich includes a mix of avocado, goat cheese, and a "green goddess" pesto. You can find the full recipe at the Taste Spotting Blog here. 

In the Kitchen with Me

I would never claim to be good in the kitchen, or any sort of cook for that fact. The other night, a friend and myself decided we wanted to cook dinner. We finally decided on making some sort of tofu stir fry after trying to decide for what seemed like hours. Off to Food Emporium we went, sans recipe, sans list. The rest, in my opinion, is quite surprising. 

I have to say, I surprised myself. Maybe cooking is my hidden inner talent? The stir fry came out pretty excellent if I must admit. So What was the recipe?

Our own Tofu Stir Fry

• Tofu
• Assortment of vegetables: we had tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, etc.
• Brown Rice
• Garlic
• Soy sauce

I started cooking the brown rice because the package told me it was going to take forever, and I had never in my life made rice before so who knew who that was going to turn out. I cooked the tofu in vegetable oil, garlic, and soy sauce until it was warmed through, and did the same for the vegetables. At the end, I combined the vegetables and tofu. Enjoy!

Dream Dowtown: Marble Lane

The ultra cool, ultra trendy Dream Downtown Hotel. Its one of the new "it" places to be in town. I recently went to the amazing steak join, Marble Lane, inside the hotel. Let me just start by saying that this was my favorite place I've been to here by far. 

We had reservations for 10pm so the night crowd was just beginning to come out so it was a lot of fun. The lighting was great, but the music was even better. The lobby DJ was playing some of the best songs, and even threw in a Robyn track. It was a mix between a night club, lounge, and restaurant- perfection in my eyes.

Needless to say, the food was amazing. We started off with a drink called the "wet dream". It was a mix of blueberry vodka and citrus flavors. Very good and quite strong i might add :).

For an appetizer, I did the tender bibb salad which consisted of bibb lettuce, maytab blue, and cherrywood bacon. A good starter.

For an entree, I went with the olive crusted salmon with flageolet beans and tomato in a fennel broth. It was excellent.

Finally, dessert consisted of pumpkin cheesecake. I hadnt had cheesecake in such a long time so it was extra good. It had spiced pepitas and pumpkin seed oil. A very good ending.

 

Like I said, this has by far been my favorite place I've been to. If you get the chance to go, go! There may even be a trip back here in the very near future...like this weekend :)

Fig and Olive

Fig and Olive is a restaurant and olive oil store with multiple locations here in New York as well as with one location in Los Angeles. They specialize in mediterranean dishes and flavors. I recently took the opportunity to dine there, and here is my review.

I went on a Friday evening to the Uptown location. The place was completely packed and booked full for the remainder of the evening. The space was a tad bit crowded- once you were in your seat there was no easily getting up. The atmosphere, however, was nice with dim lighting and great smells. 

We started out with an olive oil tasting. After all, they are known for their different oils. There was one with hints of strawberry and another with hints of artichoke. I really enjoyed them.

As an appetizer I went with the Zucchini Carpaccio. It was a fresh start with raw zucchini in olive oil with lemon pine nut and parmesan.

For my entree I went with the Pumpkin Sage Ravioli. They were absolutely amazing! I completely recommend this choice. They were home made ravioli with free range chicken, ricotta, pumpkin olive oil, roasted pumpkin seeds, parmesan cheese, and aged balsamic olive oil. SO good.

I finished my dinner with the Chocolate Pot de Creme. It was like a chilled chocolate mousse with praline and vanilla creme. It was pretty light and a nice size.

Overall the experience was good and so was the food. Even with that said I still do not know if Im in a hurry to go back. In my opinion it was a little pricey for what it was, but Im glad I tried it out anyway.

So if Fig and Olive is on your "list" I do recommend it!

A Healthy Chip: Kale

Over the past year or so I've developed into a minor health food freak, conscious of every little thing i choose to put in my mouth.

Im currently on a little diet and that always brings out the creativity in the kitchen when you are desperately craving a chip for example.

Here's the solution: Kale Chips

Kale is sort of a magical green with benefits ranging from lower cholesterol to clinical results showing a risk-lowering benefit for five types of cancer.

Ingredients:

• Kale
• Sea Salt
• Olive Oil

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees
• Wash and cut Kale, towel dry
• Toss kale with olive oil and sea salt
• Place kale flat on a baking sheet and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until crisp

Enjoy this healthy potato chip replacement!

Dinner at Gemma

Upon starting school, I developed this huge fear of "freshmen 15." I became so careful of what I ate, mainly sticking to salads, fruits, and vegetarian options. Fortunately for me, I actually lost weight my first year.

You can drive yourself nuts over watching what you eat. Sometimes we just need to indulge a little, and I did just that the other night. Some friends and I went to Gemma at the Bowery Hotel. You may remember a little about the Bowery Hotel from this post a little while back.

Gemma is a classic Italian restaurant. They are famous for their thin crust pizzas, and the pasta is cooked to perfection. The inside has a very inviting rustic feeling with lots of wood and dim chandelier lighting.

I snapped some pictures from our night at Gemma with my Blackberry..hence the poor quality