Amorino

A couple years back I decided to try and keep only “wholesome” foods in my kitchen.  That sad day I sobbed while throwing out all the ice cream from my freezer.  But let’s be honest…this ice cream lover would never make such a crazed decision without some kind of loophole!  And here it is: if I feel like having ice cream, I better really want it enough to get off my bum, go out, and purchase a scoop (and notice I said scoop – no pint sigh).  Not a problem for me as I have several ice cream shops surrounding my apartment mhuahaha! 

On this particular night, I couldn’t pinpoint which flavor ice cream I was craving.  So I headed to Amorino where you can get as many flavors as you can fit onto your cone (doesn’t matter the size of your cone, as long as it fits)!  Not only does this gelato shop allow you to choose as many flavors as you want, but they also shape your creation into a unique flower design.   

My gelato shaped into a flower!

Class: Cake Decorating Basics (Class #3)

Ta da! The Piggys have graduated from Cake Decorating Basics!!  We even have a snazzy certificate to prove it! Of course, they are hanging proudly on the fridge...

After three classes, the Piggys now know how to pipe a couple of different patterns, ice a cake, decorate it, and pipe an assortment of flowers, yay!  For our last class, we brought in cupcakes to decorate (thank goodness these came out soo much better than our cakes last week - no unfortunate craters or [pan]cakes this time)!

We prepared a couple of different colors of icing and were ready to go.  First things first, we learned how to pipe icing onto our cupcakes in a swirled motion.

Swirling 'round and 'round, just like so...

Blast from the Past: Boston Market!

Now that fall weather has officially arrived, I've been feeling the call of my ultimate hot comfort meal: a simple rotisserie chicken dinner with all the tasty sides and gravy mmmm.  Where to go to satisfy my craving?  None other than Boston Market of course!

My favorite comfort meal: quarter chicken with large helping of buttery mashed potatoes and corn. 
Dont forget the extra gravy!

Growing up in suburbia Jersey, nothing excited me more than seeing my mom bring home dinner in Boston Market bags.  And to be honest, since I'm not a big turkey fan, a Boston Market chicken usually ends up on the table for me every Thanksgiving (don’t judge!). Thus, on this dire quest to fulfill my longing for chicken, seeking out a Boston Market in the city turned into a must do. 

I know what you're thinking - there must be some other option in this city that serves a fabulous rotisserie chicken dinner.  While that may be true, I was really looking for my chicken AND the nostalgic feelings of home and my childhood.  So looks like you’ll just have to bear with me as I wax poetic about my love for Boston Market.  I mean, don’t you guys just have those days where you crave Olive Garden and Cheesecake Factory (no need to deny – I know its true!!)??  So, now that I’m done making excuses, off I go to 23rd St and 8th Ave!

Pocha 32 (Late Night)

Pocha 32 is the type of place that is best after a night of (heavy) debauchery.  I've never been there before midnight and wouldn't recommend it either... it always seems like an awesome idea at 2am, but not so much the morning after.

Most recently, I happened to stumble in after a night of Halloween festivities.  It's in the heart of K-town and you'll probably have to weed your way through groups of other happy people milling around the countless late-night spots on the same street.  Through Pocha 32's second floor entrance, it looks completely absolutely shady* - loud and very dark with what looks like fish nets hanging from the ceilings.

*Important to note: this is a non-Korean's view of it; this type of dark, no fuss, alcohol-with food-centric place is very common in Korea.

Normal late-night scene inside Pocha 32 (except for the pumpkin and bunny ears which are special for Halloween!)

Fette Sau

This is my first "Piggy says no" review.  It's sad, but this day had to come eventually.  I hope you allow me to explain why I found my experience so disappointing...

Having heard nothing but glowing reviews about this BBQ place in Williamsburg, Fette Sau quickly moved to the top of my "must try" list.  It’s understood that there is a decent wait during peak times, so my friend R and I decided to give it a go on a weeknight at 6pm (and keeping our fingers crossed that no one else likes to eat at granny times which, btw, I specialize in). 

Upon arrival, we noted that there were only a handful of people in front of us and thought “Score - we beat the rush!”  Oh boy, were we wrong.  The handful of people in front of us turned into a miserable and slow 35 minute wait.  As we made our way to the front, I noticed that the inefficiency was due to the lone guy in charge of putting together your selection of meats.  While I appreciated the love he put into each order, it was frustrating to see three other people milling around behind him just waiting for side orders.  I can assure you, the side orders definitely don’t take nearly as long as the meat.  Isn’t there a more efficient way?  Didn’t anyone take operations management and learn about Just-in-Time systems (sorry, the business school side of me escapes every now and then…)?

The case of meats

Maybe I was just grouchy from a long day of work and hungry from smelling BBQ for the last 35 minutes.  Whatever it was, I decided to put my frustration aside and focus on what I was here for – glorious BBQ.  Lucky for eaters that day, it was the first Thursday of the month and Fette Sau offered “Fat Pig Thursday” where an entire pig is roasted for that night’s meal.  Take a look at the menu:

Cooking: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

After you carve your pumpkin, you can reward yourself not only with an awesome looking pumpkin, but also pumpkin seeds!

It's super easy and you only need a few ingredients to make these yummy crispy seeds:

Olive Oil
Salt
Garlic powder and/or your choice of seasonings

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

After scooping all the seeds out of your pumpkin, rinse them.

In a small saucepan, add 3-4 cups of water, the seeds, and 2 TB of salt.

Class: Cake Decorating Basics (class #2)

Isn’t this such an awesome cake?  Would you believe it if I told you it was made entirely from scratch by Piggy KL?!  Yes its possible because the Piggys are back in [cake] school and getting our learn on again! 

On an early Saturday morning, two sleepy Piggys dragged themselves to their second class of cake school at the NY Cake Academy (if you haven't had a chance to flip through our recap of class #1, you can check it out here).  There may have been some grumps and moans (*ahem Piggy KL*) but once we got settled into our seats the excitement for the day’s lesson turned us into eager students!

Step 1: Prep for class

Class #2 focused on how to ice and decorate a cake.  We had to come to class armed with our Student Kits, icing, and a pre-baked cake ready to go.  Sadly, this was apparently the most challenging part as my cake came out flat as a pancake and Piggy KL’s had a crater in the middle oyy. 

 

Piggy KL's ready-to-go cake - she flipped it over so that the crater was hidden on the bottom.  Smart girl!