Thursday, April 30, 2015

L.I.C Food and Flea!

 


** All but one of the pictures in this post are not mine. The hunger that day was so real, I could not for the life of me wait to take pictures. I was totally in the moment and I can only blame myself... and the fork that was already in my hand before I even got the food.**

ANYWAYYYY...
 
Last weekend I got the chance to finally see my cousin, since I hadn't seen her in quite some time, and we decided to head to the LIC Food and Flea Market which was only a 30 minute walk away from her place. I might be exaggerating there because we did stop for doughnuts on the way there. I mean would it really be okay to not stop for doughnuts? I don't think so.
 
We ate such a copious amount of food that day and I still want to go back to try some more stuff. We skipped out on the fries and bubble tea cause we were too full and it was a tragedy. So to keep this post sorta short I only named my top three.
 
 So once we did make it there with our doughnut remnants which were merely crumbs, the first thing we had was a Okonomiyaki topped with original sauce
at the Oconomi booth. It's a Japanese cabbage pancake which is fried like a... uh.. well... pancake. Haha. Its crispy on both sides and it wasn't filled with filler and it wasn't soggy which was awesome. I also just found out that I should have had it with both original and white sauce. Shame on me. (You can't see but I'm shaking my head.)



http://myoconomi.blogspot.com/
 
Next up was a glorious personal pizza baked on a mini wood pizza oven. That's totally not what its called but Im gunna go with it. We had the classic that was topped with mozzarella and basil. It was so gooddddd! Like always the mozzarella burned the top of my mouth because I can never wait for pizza to cool down. Ever. Now in my mind whenever I think about pizza,  I think about Joey Tribbioni from Friends and the exact thoughts I was having was
"Cheese. Good.
Basil. Good.
Sauce. GOOD!"
Seriously that sauce though.



Last up and by far my absolute favorite... drum roll please... BUTCHER BAR!
Oh man. Let me tell you. This beef brisket sandwich was the bomb diggity. It was on a brioche bun, which was shiny as hell, with brisket, slaw, cucumbers, some sauce, some fiery smokiness, some tender lovin', and who knows what else. All I know was that this sandwich was perfection. It was creamy from the slaw, smokey from the crust of the brisket, and a teensy bit vinegary from the cucumbers, which were soaked in some magical elixir, but it wasn't at all heavy. Try eating that and overlooking the Hudson river and tell me that isn't the best day ever.


http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/116957-the-secret-of-the-lic-flea-food-market/

 

Friday, April 10, 2015

Mario Badescu Facial Spray Review!

I recently popped into the Urban Outfitters on 34th Street to do some Spring/Summer shopping. It's one of my favorite stores to go to in the city and I always spend hours upon hours in there. Is it weird that one of my favorite parts about all Urban Outfitters is that they use a lot of wood fixtures rather than metal ones? That's such a weird thing to like about a store...haha.


Anyway, I ended up picking up some goodies for my summer wardrobe but one of the things I got on a whim was the Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs, and Rosewater. I first fell in love with the cute homemade packaging and then the rose smell after I spritzed it on my hand.


Its main purpose is to hydrate your skin or to set your makeup. I use it for both and I absolutely love it! Its hydrating and calming to the skin and BONUS it smells like roses! Can you tell I really like the smell of roses yet? But don't worry, if you're not a fan of the smell, it doesn't very last long. Actually, more like the first 5-10 seconds. Haha. It also doesn't leave any sticky residue either.

What are some of your face products?
 

Friday, April 3, 2015

 Red Velvet Cupcakes for Easter!
 










 
 
These are definitely my all time favorite red velvet cupcakes. Funny fact, I bought the decoration at a Home Goods around February and I couldn't wait to use them so I made these cupcakes for Chinese New Year. What can I say I'm impatient and the decoration looked too cute for me to wait. Haha.
I really do love these cupacakes, though. I've worked on this recipe over the years and adapted them the way I felt necessary. They're super moist, fluffy, and not too sweet.
 
Ingredients :
2 1/2 cups All Purpose or Cake Flour (I prefer Cake*)
1 1/2 cup Sugar
1tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Salt
1 1/4 cup Buttermilk
2 Eggs (room temperature)
1 Tsp Vanilla
3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 Tsp Distilled Vinegar
1 Tbsp red dye
 
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounce of Cream Cheese (1 block)
6 Tbsp Butter
Confectioners Sugar (to taste*)
1 Tsp Vanilla
2-4 tsp of milk  
Whipped Cream*  
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line your cupcake tin and set aside.
Measure and combine all the dry ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
In a even smaller bowl combine the red dye, vinegar, and cocoa powder to make a brownish reddish paste.
Then measure out and combine the rest of the wet ingredients in a larger bowl. Finally mix your dry mixture into your wet one and add the paste you made earlier.
Scoop the batter evenly into your prepared cupcake liners. I usually go about 2/3 of the way, since these cupcakes do rise.
Bake for 22 minutes.
 
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
 Add the Cream Cheese and mix until smooth. Then throw in the butter and mix into the cream cheese. I do this just to make sure there is no lumps in the cream cheese. Then throw in the sugar and vanilla. Only add the milk to get the right consistency but if you think it's nice and creamy, then don't add any milk in. Whip until fluffy or 5-7 minutes. Then fold in the whipped cream. I usually set it in the fridge for a bit but you can use it right away.
 
 
*I only prefer cake flour for cupcakes or cakes is because it gives a softer and tender crumb.  
* I start with 1 cup and gradually go up by about 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar. I usually use about 2 1/4 cups total but sometime I use less. Just keep tasting it to your preferred sweetness.
* Whipped cream is optional but I really like soft cupcakes with beyond fluffy almost cloud like frosting. I also add it because I don't like a strong cream cheese taste and the whipped cream helps to soften that strong flavor. So I add about 1/2 cup of whipped cream and it does the trick. Once the whipped cream is in, don't over whip. You'll start to make butter and buttermilk. (The whipped cream doesn't have to be exactly 1/2, its just to add more air into the frosting.)