As a woman in the social media realm, I have embraced Pinterest like I would a child who consumes all of my time, but makes me laugh. Below are five memes I did NOT make and am taking no credit for, but that literally made me EL-OH-EL. Which do you like best?
If none of these tickled your funny bone, please leave me a link to one that does! I could always use a good laugh. No matter what’s going on in life, a little laughter always helps 🙂
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I wrote this poem when I was 15. I called it “My Way.”Â
(I had big love for Sinatra… even then)
Me as a youth!
I am what I am; I do what I do.
I’m happy being me; I don’t want to be you.
I say what I think and I mean what I say;
I don’t let other people’s judgments get in the way.
I’ve been this way since I don’t know when.
I’m just me and I’m comfortable in my skin.
I have ambitions and dreams for life.
I know life’s hard and that’s alright.
I’ll fall in love as often as I can.
If I get hurt, I’ll just start over again.
I won’t let my pain make me too jaded to see
that, when I’m ready, love will come for me.
I’ll make my dreams come true, there is no doubt.
I’ll do what it takes, but I’ll never sell out.
And when I die, I’m going to be able to say:
I lived my life and I did it my way.
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About a month ago, the stars aligned in such rare form as to grant me and my paramour a week day off together. Even more serendipitous was the access we had to a car, something that is almost never the case (and never necessary) for us in Queens. But on this fateful Friday, we were in New Jersey and we wanted to go on an adventure. There was just one hiccup, it was pouring down rain. This only strengthened my resolve to have a great start to a 3-day weekend, so we scrapped our initial plans to drive down to Seaside for an impromptu interpretation of The Jersey Shore, and opted for the creepy Sleepy Hollow, a nearby town that had haunted my childhood.
Turns out Sleepy Hollow, NY is much more sleepy than creepy, but it was pretty and I’m glad we went. The little town next door, called Tarrytown, seemed to boast a more happening downtown scene, so we stopped there, after a roll through Sleepy Hollow, for a bite to eat. After checking out a few menus on the main street, the Sweet Grass Grill really tickled my fancy:
We chose two different IPAs. Jared’s was better 🙂
We had planned to stick to water originally, but the plethora of craft ale options on tap forced me to shrug and say, “YOLO, I’ll have a brewski.” Unfortunately I cannot recall the names of these IPAs, but I can assure you they were bold and tasty, just like an IPA should be 🙂
Next came the food:
Jared chose a chicken pesto sandwich, the food of his people.
It takes a lot for my man to overlook a chicken pesto sandwich on a menu. Unless another option is lamb or mushroom-based, he’ll almost always opt for something in a chicken-pesto variety. He said this was one of his favorites, and the fries were perfection.
And I chose the bacon mac and cheese, the food of my people.
Equally as challenging is for me to overlook a mac and cheese dish, especially one that includes bacon. This particular béchamel sauce was light, yet flavorful and the cherry tom-toms were a cool, fresh burst of yum.
If you find yourself driving around the sweet little villages of Westchester County, check out this little gem, you won’t be disappointed!
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We were invited to a BBQ in Queens last month, and I was asked to bring a dish but offered very little guidance as to the type of dish. So since no one said I couldn’t, I decided to whip up a batch of green bean casserole, just like we do down home. My version started with onions, garlic and mushrooms in one pot and green beans in the other:
Saute garlic, onions and mushrooms for 10 minutes.
Boil green beans in salty water for about 15 minutes.
Once the veggies were all cooked through, I threw them into the skillet and added a can of cream of mushroom soup. I then let all this cook together for another 5-10 minutes on low heat. Turn on that oven to 350!
I first threw everything down in a lil’ bit o’ butter.
Then add the soup, bring to a boil, then back down to a simmer.
Then I poured this tasty mixture into one of my uber-classy foil baking dishes, added french fried onions and baked at 350 for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and brown.
Mmmm…. smells like Thanksgiving, y’all.
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Since my man decided he was sick of taking sandwiches to work for lunch, my main dinner mission has been to cook meals that yield leftovers, which sounds easier than it is when you’re also trying to cook new things every week. Last week we decided to pay homage to our community and cook a nice Italian meal. I wanted to do a roasted veggie and lamb lasagna, but alas there was no lamb at my market, so beef had to suffice. It started with the veggies and the sauce:
Red peppers & zucchinis into the oven at 450.
I started the sauce at the same time.
I drizzled the zucchini  and the red pepper with some olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, then popped them into a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until they’re nice and blistered. For the sauce I used one can of plain, unseasoned tomato sauce and half a can of tomato paste. To this I added fresh oregano and basil from my garden, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 medium red onion, some salt and pepper and let that baby simmer! (The longer, the better).
We used whole wheat lasagna.
Then we added beef to the sauce.
I didn’t make the pasta, just picked a box of whole wheat lasagna and followed the directions. I then browned the beef with some garlic and onions and added it to the sauce (leave this step out to make it vegetarian). Since I’m far from vegetarian, I let the beef simmer with the sauce while I finished the rest of the dish.
Then I chopped up the veggies.
And started building the lasagna.
All I had in the house were loaf pans, so I made two “loaves” of lasagna and it worked out great. I layered them like this: sauce, pasta, veggies, pasta, ricotta, veggies, sauce, pasta, sauce; did you get all that? If not, just wing it, delicious will always be delicious no matter the order 🙂
Into the oven at 350 for 30 min.
Top with mozz and back in until it melts!
Then I sprinkled with the top with a little parmesan and into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, I topped it with some sliced of fresh mozzarella and then back in until it’s nice and brown.
Served with a leafy green salad!
Italian? Check. Leftovers? Check. Delicious? Double check. POP POP.
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In celebration of Friday, I thought I’d encourage everyone to get out there and TREAT YO SELF to a beverage and/or tasty treat from your local watering hole. Here are a few of my favorite haunts:
This is the “Windjammer” and a Peak Organic IPA
First up, we have my local Astoria bar, Blackbird’s, which specializes in craft beers and tasty appetizers. My favorite Friday afternoon treat from here is “The Windjammer,” a dip made of black beans, corn, avocado, tomatoes and onions. I also don’t mind that they serve my IPA to me in a mason jar, just like down home.
Buffalo Chicken Spring Rolls and a Harvest Wheat
Next up we have the most embarrassing of the three bars I frequent, the world famous Heartland Brewery. World-famous if you’re a tourist, that is, as these are the only folks I am ever sharing this bar with. I don’t care if it’s an over-priced NY chain, I like that they brew their own beers and these spring rolls are freaking delicious.
These are Fried Pickles with an Icy-Cold Shiner Bock
Lastly, for the Austinites who might be reading this blog, I recommend heading a few miles north to the sexy and risqué village of Round Rock for a nice visit to the HomeField Grill. The outfits are tacky, but the brewski selection is impressive and you really can’t go wrong with pickles battered, deep fried and served to you by a bartender in a referee’s uniform.
Oh, “Home Field…”… I GET IT!
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You may remember from the Spring that when Restaurant Week comes to town, I try to take advantage. I’m lucky enough to have a foodie friend who is always down to play Restaurant Week with me! We decided to do lunch at Sushi Samba 7Â in the West Village this time around. It’s only twice a year you can get a 3-course meal, specifically designed to highlight the chef’s talents, for $24.
My date opted to get the heirloom tomato salad, which she ate with chopsticks, like a boss:
I was smart enough to order an appetizer I could eat with my hands, short rib lettuce cups with red onion and cilantro, yeah:Â 
For our main courses, we both chose the sushi plate, which was a chef’s selection of sushi along with a special tempura roll with a yummy wasabi mayo dipping sauce:
The dessert section of this menu is what made me want to come here. I just had to try this concoction, called the “Samba Split”:
My date ordered this mocha shake of sorts, which I tasted, and it was terrific, too:
We were lucky enough to pick a beautifully sunshiny day for this fanciful adventure. We sat outside and relished being ladies who lunch.
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In order to spice up this week’s Tuesday, which can often carry an air of blah, we decided to partake in one of our very favorite weeknight activities: Pub Trivia! This is something we’ve never done in Queens before, so we had to do a little research. Finally, we decided on Raven’s Head Public House on Steinway and Broadway in Astoria, where Trivia NYC hosts Trivia on Tuesday nights at 7pm. My person had been here once before and assured me the food was good and the beer was great. My arm was twisted!
For our draught choice, we both selected the Founders Centennial IPA, which is apparently an award-winning brew from the folks over at Founder’s Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids. It was tasty, hoppy and came with a kick of 7% alcohol. If there’s one thing I know about my man, it’s that he loves himself a buffalo chicken wrap, so I wasn’t terribly surprised to see him order this:
He’s a man who knows what he likes!
I opted for one of my favorite foods (as previous posts may have indicated) macaroni and cheese! This particular mac was tossed with bacon and breadcrumbs, topped with additional cheese, baked in a skillet, then brought to me in a bowl:
Who won? I did.
We had a friend join us for Trivia, which we were terrible at, but enjoyed thoroughly. He out-ordered both of us with the delicious looking steak salad:
Yeah, I probably should have ordered this.
I would highly recommend this particular Pub Trivia to anyone in the area who enjoys such things. But I must warn you, this was not some rinky-dink gum ball machine trivia, host Jarrod Hornbeck is not messing around. Not only that, but he has a loyal group of regulars who I’m guessing dominate every week — they certainly did this week. It was a good time, I’d definitely go again!
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On my final night in Blue Eye, Mary must’ve known I had just crossed the Mason-Dixon and was hankering for some BBQ because she made my absolute favorite: Barbecued chicken with scalloped potatoes au gratin. BAM!
She started with the potatoes:
She began by slicing the potatoes and onions, to which she added cream and milk.
For 3 lbs of potatoes, add 3 cups milk and 1 cup cream. Let this simmer until it gets thick. Then remove the pan from the heat and layer the potatoes into a casserole dish with a good melting cheese in between each layer. Add the milk from the pan to the dish, which should cover the potatoes. Then shred some cheddar on top and pop that baby into a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until it looks like this:
…I’ll wait while you wipe the saliva from your lips…
I wish I knew what Mary’s secret was for baking chicken because she manages to do it in such a way that it turns out fork tender and this is something I’ve not been able to master. She assured me it’s not that hard, and I did see one trick I’m going to try: she pokes holes in the chicken, which allowed the sauce to get into the chicken, making it cut like butter:
Served in a Kentucky-Style BBQ sauce
with cauliflower, carrots and broccoli
To my extreme delight, there was plenty of this meal leftover for lunch the next day. It was tasty, it was tender, it was cheesy, it was perfect:
An insanely delicious southern dish.
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Check out this short video I cut of last night’s storm from Astoria:
Do you like thunderstorms, yes or no?
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Eat. Read. Ask. Do. Be. 