last day of 2010.
finally finished a painting that i was behind due to a cold/slashed hand, etc,
and went for a bike ride into manhattan - which was kind of a mistake, it being
new year's eve - we got turned around at 3 places for food, with tourists pointing
cameras at us (bicyclists!!! oooh!!) anywhere we went.

we ended up at ciao for now, for a semi-humble meal.
their version of cobb salad (sans bacon) and a half chicken salad sandwich
with half lentil soup.

another stormy snowy (or snow blown in the wind) day,
good for a warm veggie dish.

sautéed kale, smoked tofu, king oyster mushrooms (!!), garlic, leeks & onion.
topped with our CSA egg over black rice, it's heaven.

snowed in due to the blizzard/thunder snow all day all night.
m made amazing mushroom tomato garlic farfalle.
so delicious and savory with full on umami from the mushrooms.
perfect warm dish for a cold windy night.

christmas dinner is always somehow mediocre at best, due to only being left
with our "plan b" places to dine at at best.
xiao long bao (Shanghainese soup dumplings), chinese broccoli, and kung pao chicken
at m shanghai was decent, though we always feel like we've been gypped after eating there,
knowing fully how much it should really cost in chinatown.
oh well.

my sweet friend amy sent me these cookies,
what a pretty cheer-up!

too pretty to eat - thanks amy!
♥

having been down with yet another cold, then with a cut up hand,
i've been pretty much an invalid hermit these past few days.
finally feeling better, we took a walk (gasp, no bike!) to find something
to eat on christmas eve. after being struck out at a few places (even with
prior phone calls, places were closed when we got there),
we ended up at black bird parlour - a place we'd given a meek try almost 2 years ago.
and we remembered why - the food was good, but not good enough for the $$.
butternut squash soup, veal/beef burger, requested medium rare but served well-done (still ok)
and my orzo salad. all decent, just not amazing.

m wanted more food, so we stopped by saints alp for taiwanese popcorn chicken
and some chocolate frosty drink with boba :



crazy christmas eve!

lunch at five leaves - a place we normally avoid for the douche factor,
but it's hard to deny that the food is great there (at least what we've tried).
my sage scrambled egg with aged cheddar panini was ace.
and m's grilled chicken sandwich was amazing - great fries too.

the only thing was that it's always packed in there, which wasn't great
when feeling sick. :(

breakfast at the newly open diner, coffee friends.
california scramble/omelet (tomato, bell pepper, avocado, mozz)
and a good ol' breakfast combo - pancake, overeasy eggs, & sausages.
decent for diner food, definitely better than lite bites, for sure.

then craving greens, kale salad toast for dinner :

bike ride out to pequeña in prospect heights just to eat this tonight.
(but then anything is a good excuse to ride bikes)
my mushroom quesadilla (the best i've ever had - so crispy)
and m's pork enchiladas in verde and also roja sauce.
so good!

soba dinner at the recently opened cocoron on delancey in the LES.
chicken soba special (chicken meat & meat balls), stamina (pork) soba,
yuba soba in veggie (mushroom?) broth, and my tororo (grated mountain yam)
& seaweed soba.
all so yummy, and i (we) fell in love with the place.
super cozy and unpretentious, really sweet people & open kitchen,
and extremely cute (thoughtful) branding throughout.

and for dessert, sweet cookies by super sweet audrey :


mmmmmmm~~~♥

late night dinner after a holiday party at village yokocho.
tuna sashimi bowl, shrimp & spinach gyoza, and shoyu ramen.
surprisingly so-so for them, except for the ramen.
still, all good for warming our body for the cold bike ride home.

cara's birthday potluck. delicious food (all vegetarian, no less).
sweet potato fries, chipotle sweet potato mash, kale salad (what we brought), samosas,
butternut squash ravioli, artichoke & cream cheese dip, edamame, eggplant garlic dip,
and of course, some drinks of various kinds (!!) and raspberry linzer torte courtesy of audrey.
♥yummy in my tummy♥

lunch specials at dokebi are such good deals.
soup or salad with the same portion food (a few select) as dinner for $8!
we get to try different things we normally deem a little steeply priced for korean food,
like yookgaejang m ordered
and the mushroom bibimbap that i splurged an extra dollar to have it in hot stone bowl (dolsot),
which makes the super yummy crispy charred rice bits.


then amazing dinner m made with the dried porcinis we got at the store the other day.
he even used the water he rehydrated the mushrooms with in the pasta sauce.
alone with broccoli florets, tomato, garlic, olive oil, adding up to simple
yet amazingly flavorful fusilli dish!

breakfast at lite bites - more subpar than usual,
probably because it was peak weekend brunch time.
avocado & veggie omelet and the good ol' short stack combo.

mediocre-ish, but didn't cost even half of this and didn't taste half bad.

bike ride out to red hook on a warmer (41ºF) night,
and dinner at the usual - hope & anchor.
mushroom swiss burger (wolcott) medium rare,
and my veggie burger was ace. as always.
i've yet to find a better one, especially for $6.

dinner at home : whole wheat fusilli with kimchi & mentaiko (spicy cod roe)
sauce, topped with fresh basil and nori flakes.
yummy despite its fusion-ness.

breakfast : baked butternut squash topped with sharp cheddar, mushroom, kale and egg.


then hot bowls of soup noodles at pho bang after the freezing bike ride in 20ºF weather.
seafood & egg noodles in broth and the classic pho #1.
(wanted to dip my toes in the soup, but i opted for a warmer pair of shoes instead.)

lunch at ashbox - their ciabatta rolls are great!
egg salad sandwich (different from my usual onigiri & salad) and m's turkey sandwich.

the pot of green tea is also good, especially considering how cold it's been this week.