the brooklyn flea... dumbo

i love the brooklyn flea! mostly, i'm in it for the food... i mean there are some cool crafts/clothes/jewelry etc, but that stuff is sometimes out of my price range. on the other hand- i always have $5 to spare for a papusa or some asia dog with kimchi! today it was nearly 70 degrees, so Jojo BonBon and i headed to Dumbo, coffee in hand, sunglasses on--- in NOVEMBER. Jojo and i took a long walk around before we decided papusas were the right choice. the tables inside the flea were packed, so we took a walk to the Dumbo park by the water... i really LOVE this park, and have a soft spot for the tobacco factory in the background. Jojo and i grew up in Brooklyn, so i think sometimes we forget how nice it is to take advantage of places like this-- i don't come here enough.

so, i got a chicken and a bean & cheese papusa with cabbage, tomato sauce, jalapeno and sour cream- the works!



it was delicious as always! Jojo and i listened to some lady gaga and solange. we had some good chats and sat in the park until we got kicked out... i love you brooklyn. can't you be 70 degrees every autumn sunday?







also- i made a second batch of the pumpkin cream cookies, but i used a pastry bag to make them look a little 'fancy'... they taste delicious either way. i was mostly looking for an excuse to make them again because i thought they were so yummy.

condiments and cookie sandwiches

you know how you always have left over sauce after ordering in from your favorite take out place... for me that place is a toss up between lemongrass grill and bombay dream. i have to say--- that the biryani from bombay dream is seriously delicious and may induce food coma. i always get some paratha and chutney with any meal. i always have leftover sauce and feel someone guilty just throwing it out. this time i used my leftover sauce to make something for lunch the next day. i had some baby potatoes and an onion.
i chopped them up and tossed them with the tamarind sauce (courtesy of bombay dream), masala spice, salt, pepper, chopped garlic, olive oil, and black sesame seeds. i baked them in the oven at 400 degrees for around 30 minutes.



they were super delicious!

FOR DESSERT...

i came across this recipe on friday and knew that i had to make them! the season has me craving pumpkin and squash all the time. i had almost all the ingredients, so this was going to be an easy sunday baking sesh. i followed the recipe but added a few extra things to make it more to my taste. a bit of maple syrup and clove spice for the cookies and a bit of cinnamon for the cream filling. i am heavily debating eating these all while i watch the season finale of mad men--- some of them just might make it into the office.



the cookies themselves cook super fast and have a similar texture to black and white cookies (yum)- very cake like. the only unpleasant part of this very easy cookie baking experience was that my smoke alarm went off. i think my poor cat gombotz is still recovering. my cookies were not burned (in fact-- perfectly cooked), so the smoke alarm incident remains a mystery. maybe the guys of bored to death can help me out :)

popcorn, marshmallows, chocolate and cinnamon... oh my

happy halloween from sookie stackhouse! one of my favorite days/nights of the year. a chance to dress up, play pranks, watch old horror films, be a little naughty and eat candy... popcorn balls has always been one of my favorite halloween treats. i had never made them before, but i discovered the recipe is almost the same as rice krispie treats. i decided to try adding some chocolate and cinnamon to make them a little more exciting, after all halloween is about sugar overload, so why not go ALL THE WAY.

what you'll need:
half a stick of butter
bag of marshmallows
3 quarts of popcorn
1/4 cup of light brown sugar
1/4 cup hot chocolate mix (cadbury for me)
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips

in a LARGE pot, cook the butter, sugar and marshmallows. melt them down till you have a big pot of ooey gooey melted marshmallow goodness. after that, turn the heat to low. in a large bag mix the popcorn, hot chocolate mix, cinnamon and chocolate chips. add the bag of 'seasoned' popcorn to the marshmallow goo. stir till well coated. coat your hands with butter and roll the mixture into tightly packed popcorn balls. let cool on wax paper and serve. i added a few smarties for fun.

mahalo! civil liberties fighters collab on calamondin cookies.

i work for a very special organization that i love. we protect civil liberties. we defend those that have no voice. we take on the man. bill o'reilly hates us, we are keeping the human rights on lock, and rachel maddow (LOVE HER) is our friend. also- we have affiliates all over this great big U.S of A! recently, on a trip to hawaii, i got to hang out with our hawaii affiliates. they are super awesome. one affiliate in particular, who always sends sunshine in her emails, also mailed me some delicious calamondin jelly she made herself! i had never tried calamondin. it's sweet and tangy and looks like honey. i have enjoyed it on crackers- but i wanted to attempt baking with the jelly.


HAWAII/NATIONAL COOKIE COLLABORATION EXTRAVAGANZAZAZA!

*also- my co-workers and i watched obama land today- i guess these cookies are also in his honor- son to hawaii!

i used a very basic butter cookie recipe.

i made thumb prints. i added the calamondin jelly, which was sticky (not easy)-- i decided to make a few blueberry jam cookies on a whim.



15 minutes later:



i should also mention i work in an office of culinary savages/foodies/cookie monsters. get ready kids.

squash this!

it's fall, so squash is in season! i plan on making a lot of squash and pumpkin deliciousness in the next few months, but this was my first squash celebration. it's a warm, sweet, gooey, earthy and somewhat healthy dessert. not that i care about that... i mean, i can remember at least one occasion where i had tunnocks for breakfast. to be fair--- manda and i were waiting for a train in st andrews scotland and it was that or cigs. i think i took the healthy road.

your journey to a yummy maple acorn squash bake:

cut squash in half
remove seeds
sprinkle salt
brown sugar (to taste)
maple syrup (to taste- i fill it up good and coat the sides)
spices (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg are what i go for)
place in dish
put a bit of water on the bottom so the skin does not burn
bake at 400 for 1hour 15 minutes.

so easy. and so good. happy fall!

sprouts! by way of brussels.

you know what my mom never forced me to eat as a kid: brussels sprouts. i have discovered my love for them late in life, but now we are more in love than ever. brussels sprouts and chestnuts are one of the dishes i most look forward to at our annual brooklyn heights thanksgiving. these sprouts were a purchase from alice's farm. since they are organic i soaked them for a good while. i cut off the stems and halved them. i then coated them with the following:

salt
pepper
sweet paprika
lemon juice
olive oil

when it comes to ingredients, i say, season to your taste. i LOVE paprika, and probably put in more than most... then again i was raised on hungarian cooking, so i think i have paprika running through my veins at this point.

i baked it in my lovely le creuset casserole dish, which i got at the cooks companion (i love this place!).

i baked it at 400 (because that's what the mahi mahi from trader joes called for) for 20 minutes (give or take a few).

mmmmmmhmmm! brussels sprouts! where have you been all my life...

to the organic farm we go!

oh! autumn! the leaves are changing, i can wear sweaters, drink hot tea, and enjoy one last weekend in lake huntington before we close up the bungalow for the summer.

i had a lovely weekend in the catskills this weekend. my friends and i stayed in lake huntington summer community, which is a few minutes from bethel woods, site of the famous woodstock music festival (1969).

the farm we went to is called river brook farm, and it's one of my favorite places to go when i am in LHSC. not only is the produce AMAZING, there are goats and sheep to play with. the property is beautiful, and as well as amazing produce (veggies, fruit, meats, milk, eggs) they also sell locally made goodies such as beach lake bread (pies and challah breads that are made with love). my friends and i made out well at the farm: great veggies for salad, farm fresh goats cheese, potatoes, farm fresh bacon, and a blueberry pie from BLB.

we ate ourselves into a coma, watched he-man (who btw, is totally dating skeletor!), took some nature hikes, and drank lots of tea... goodbye catskills! see you next summer <3>