Sundaes and Cones!!!!

So, I finished my first day of classes early and went chillin with the sis Mona. After an hour of singing our hearts out at karaoke, we were pretty hungry so we traveled to the good old east village for some grub before going home. We were unsure what we we wanted to eat and decided to just check out whatever was in the area as my sister's main desire was for some 16 handles so we would deal with any other food in the neighborhood. I was really craving a panini and we saw a pizza/cafe thing that did paninis a few blocks away. I just wanna say that I LOVE SUNDRIED TOMATOES!! like seriously, they might be my favorite vegetable. Lately, i've been having a certain sandwich combo a lot. I love it. I get grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and mozzarella with some type of bread ( i really love it on a panini). it's like my favorite sandwich ever. it was soo good, but this one was nothing special so i'm not writing a post about it. I'm writing a post about the best thing I had all day. After that we went to 16 handles and got some froyo but it was just ok and then I had this chocolate pudding from Chickalicious Dessert Club which I blogged about before but it was too bitter for me (it was made of dark chocolate though). After we had ice cream from Sundaes and Cones, hands down we would've ditched the rest of the dessert we had all day for some more ice cream but we had no more money. I wanted to try every flavor but stuck to Tiramisu and Lychee.Lychee was ok but it wasn't a strong flavor. and tiramisu was pretty good. i heard toasted coconut was good but was still undecided. My sister got the toasted coconut scoop and mango scoop on a cone. It worked out cuz then I got to try two more flavors without asking. My god were those two so good. The toasted coconut had like some actual coconut flakes and some crunchies in it and screamed creamy coconut. and the mango flavor was soooo powerful you felt like you were eating a mango but just smoother. they complemented each other wonderfully. next time I might get tiramisu and will also try other flavors but I know if I wanna be safe, I'll go with those two. they were so delicious I will probably get the combo again after I try some other flavors. Now that I know their ice cream is this good, I'm going back for some whenever I have an ice cream craving and you should too. You'll thank me later.

(I didn't take a picture of the cone but for display purposes the one on the left is the toasted coconut and the orange one on the right is mango)

Wonton wrappers= Many creative desserts.

Now usually i only write about food that I believe other people can easily access. that's why i dont really write about a food i've made or had at someone's house because how is john doe gonna taste that deliciousness? however, after much thought, I have decided that i'll write about food that I have had that can't be bought if I tell you how you can experience that yummyness too. so i'll only write about it if i can give you the recipe and tell you how to make it. cuz otherwise there would be no point in just me writing about it if you cant taste it! case in point, wonton wrappers. I had heard about the versatility of wonton wrappers but haven't had the chance to get my hands on some for a while now so when my mom mentioned she would be making eggrolls, i got very excited! first i tried savory stuff. she made the eggroll filling (mainly just chopped up vegetables- your choice, we have celery,carrots, cabbage, etc) and shredded chicken and some noodles). but they wrap it and deep fry it. i sprayed a muffin pan with non stick and then scrunched the dough up and then filled it with the mix and baked it kinda like a tart. it was crunchy and just as good as its fried counterpart, frankly i liked it a lot better, much less greasy. then for dessert i did the same thing, but filled it up with fruit we had (we had several- blueberries, banana, peach were used) and a cream filling recipe that i kinda made up along the way that ended up tasting good (just cream cheese, a little ricotta, sugar, and some milk- you can taste it along the way to tweak it, i didn't use measurements). and ta da! fruit tarts, not as pretty as the ones in the store but still something. they were good. some of the fruits were tart but the cream filling complimented it very well and made it balanced. then i also made faux crepes by laying the square out and filling it with chocolate, banana, and peanut butter and then just folding it up into a triangle and baking it again. pretty good for at home stuff. if you ever have wonton wrappers on hand (get em at an asian store?- i dunno where my mom got them) try out this stuff and get creative with your own recipes too!

Bouchon Bakery: Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Everrrrrrr.

So on Friday, I was hanging out with Megan in Columbus circle because we decided to use a coupon for 2 hours of biking! We rented bikes from some place near central park and rode our pars through central park, pausing to take lots of pictures! After returning the bikes, we were both very hungry by then as we had both not eaten breakfast. While being in the columbus circle area and recently watching a segment on nbc about the best grilled cheese sandiwhiches in new york, I figured, let's go to Bouchon Bakery! I remember last time I went to Bouchon I hadn't even bothered to look at their food because I was focused on the desserts. I found them to be ok, not out of this world, hardly worth the trek back. However, this grilled cheese sandiwhich was AMAZING!!! THE BEST GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH I'VE EVER HAD!!! Doesn't it LOOK delicioso??!!

It's a different kind of grilled cheese sandiwhc, not your typical sandiwhich made with Kraft cheese. It has fontina and gruyere cheese thats melted between two pieces of buttery golden brown bread. I was really loving the bread. It was crispy and buttery and something about it was just gooood. And the cheeses were superb! Ooey gooey and perfectly melted, it was a new (and great!) experience. The grilled cheese sandwhich came with San Marzano Roma tomato soup. Now, normally I'm not a tomato soup fan. I think I tried it once and wasn't digging it cuz come on, it's just tomatoes. But, this tomato soup ROCKED! It tasted like fresh tomatoes and it was super smooth. Dunk some of the grilled cheese sandwhich in that soup, take a bite, and it is just pure deliciousness.Yum! The whole thing came out to about $12 which is kinda expensive but definitely worth it. It's tasty and filling, and I will definitely be going back again soon!

Circles Cafe!!!

Sooo, I haven't written on this blog for a while. Again! But, come on, it's Ramadan. so we haven't really been eating at fancy places or anything worth writing about. But, me and Mona decided to do some late night eatin'!!! Cuz we think it's cool. lol. So, we rushed to Carvel before they closed (11pm) to get an ice cream cone cuz I have been craving it. Now, I'm about to digress a bit. This post is about Circles, but I MUST mention the ice cream at Carvel. We (well, me most of the time) always get the cookies and caramel ice cream on a cone when we go to carvel. I think it's vanilla ice cream with caramel swirls and cookie pieces (not dough, like actual cookie pieces) and it is like omg, so good. the vanilla with that smooth liquid caramel laced through and when you get a gorge of the smooth caramel and crunchy cookie- it is unbelievable! go get some. i think it depends on the location though so go to the carvel in bay ridge on 73rd st and 3rd ave. also, their ice cream cakes are the BOMB!! i get it every birthday and it NEVER disappoints. I could probably eat a whole cake. it's that good. go try that for yourself too. words don't do it justice. Back to circles. So, after our little ice cream cone bit I said I wanna do something like go to a diner at like midnight cuz i find it cool. but there weren't very many open in our neighborhood. We would go to one called Emphasis but quite frankly, theyre food stinks, and they got a B on their health report sooo PASS. I've always wanted to try Circles so we came there and they happened to be open for about twenty minutes. I looked at the menu outside so we knew we were getting the English burger- a sirlion burger on an english muffin served with lettuce,tomato, onion and french fries (we added cheese cuz hello CHEESE FRIES!!!!).

   


The people were really nice even though we were going right before they were closing. I've never had a burger on an english muffin and it wasn't so bad. to me bread is bread. doused that sucker in ketchup and call it a day. i split it with mona and it was gooood. just a good ol burger with fries. then we did some walking and went home. A good day.